In Thoughtful Equestrian: Plan Your Pee, a blogger discusses her horse’s weird urination habits. So, it got me thinking about urination habits around here.
Milton hates to pee in his stall. If he’s in for an hour, if he’s in for three hours, the first thing he does upon exiting is to park out. As the person who cleans up after him, I am pleased with this quirk.
OTOH, Rodney is a proponent of contained urination. He loves the stall. He thinks of it as his. If I give in to his demands to let him in for a few minutes, he checks out the feed bucket, has a big drink (carried water in a bucket tastes so much better than trough water), and pees. He also stomps around the stall, mixing the poop into powder. Rodney is not the chambermaid’s favorite.
Or perhaps he likes padded piddling. If the stall is not available, he has been know to pee on his hay. This does not slow down his consumption of said hay. Perhaps he dislikes splashing?
Recently, once or twice, Rodney has peed after leaving the stall. Is he learning from Milton?
I’ve said all of this before [Daily Routine: Housecleaning, Let Me In]. but not as its own post. Yes, these are the sorts of things, one thinks about when minding horses. In fact, we have added the ability to take a good solid stance to our list of horse evaluation tools.
Speaking of peeing. Have you even noticed that before a class you always have to pee, even if you just came from the rest room? Then, after the class, you’re good to go. You don’t have to pee for the rest of the day. At least, that’s what happens to me.
Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott
Virtual Brush Box 
Almost missed a ride time because of this…..
I remember hustling you onto the pony!
When I groomed under FEI rules at a two-star, we discovered that the fastest way to get the official “samplers” on their way was to take the mare out, put lots of fresh bedding in the stall, and bring her, and the “sampler”, back. Bing, presto.
Most of the horses on our yard can’t resist peeing in a fresh made bed. But because mine is shy he camps out and then looks at you, requesting you leave or look away before he releases into the bed you just finished.
What is it about shavings? Clearly a domestic horse habit. I wonder if wild horses have favorite pee spots or surfaces.