# Horse won't poop while being ridden



## sharon1927 (Aug 17, 2015)

Lately my 11 year old gelding has started trying to drag me back to the barn after only five or ten minutes in the saddle. I am primarily a dressage rider, although I no longer compete so this horse is strictly for pleasure riding. Sometimes I ride him in an outdoor ring, sometimes we'll go for a trail ride. For about the past month he has started trying to leave the ring, or if we are on the trail, he'll try to turn around and head back for the barn. Without fail, he gets back to the wash stall in the barn and poops. Every time! I try to give him lots of opportunities in the ring and on the trail to stop and poop if he needs to, but he doesn't do anything. He just stands there. So I make him walk on (or trot or canter) and he gets kind of snarky and tries to spin around again and head back. It is becoming pretty annoying! Any suggestions? I honestly don't know if he genuinely has to poop after five or ten minutes of having a rider on his back, or if he is just using this as an excuse to get out of work quickly. You would think that if he really did have to go, he would take the opportunity to go when I halt him in the ring or on the trail, right?


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## SteadyOn (Mar 5, 2017)

I suspect the need to poop, and the turning back towards the barn, have nothing to do with each other. Soooo many horses get sort of wired that when they go to a certain place, they poop while they're there. But that doesn't mean they'll actually seek out that place to do it. My old horse would poop EVERY time I put her in cross ties in the aisle, but that never meant she was seeking out the aisle just to poop there. My current lease horse poops every time I bring her in to her stall, but that doesn't mean she tries to enter her stall just to poop.

It sounds like you have a barn sour horse... who happens to like pooping in the barn, so once he's there, he does it. I am pretty sure he isn't running back TO poop.

Wow, I don't think I've ever typed the word "poop" so much in one place in my life!


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## LoriF (Apr 3, 2015)

I highly doubt that he just wants to go to the barn to poop. You can always do an experiment. When he starts doing his thing, bring him to the barn and let him poop. When he's done go back and finish riding and see if his attitude changes for the better. If not or if it does but only last for a few minutes, you've been being duped.


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## rambo99 (Nov 29, 2016)

Called to bad keep going, I wouldn't tolerate this behavior. Tries to spin around I'd give him a good old fashioned, whack with a crop make him move direction I wanted. 

He'd be going for a good long hard trail ride, guaranteed he'd poop before it was over.


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## Kalraii (Jul 28, 2015)

I don't know... I'm 24/7 turnout and see my mare what feels like most the day. I sit in my chair while shes stuffing her face with hay. She will then ask to go back to the field, head up, restless - she goes out into the field picks her spot, does her business (one or both) turns around and asks to come back into the common area to continue stuffing her face. No hesitation. Poop then comes back. It's like a dog asking to be let out and happens at least once a day during my longer visit. But she also does her business out when away (both) if she has to go... definitely doesn't like going toilet in the common area where they are fed. 

Also knew another horse if you got out one of her buckets she'd position and let you catch her wee. So I'm not entirely against the thought that maybe this horse only wants to be vulnerable and go toilet where its safe.... but I also agree that the turning back and wanting to leave the ring is more anxiety to get back home/to friends is a separate issue and not 100% connected. I like the suggestion above about letting him toilet then continue what you were doing. So you're being fair but he also learns that toileting doesn't equal finishing work and see how it goes.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

A lot of horses poop as a response to stress. Either right when they are feeling the stress/fear/anxiety, or as soon as it is relieved.


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## knightrider (Jun 27, 2014)

My daughter's horse Windy does not poop on the trail. We joke about it because I do my own fecal exams, and when I want to put her manure under the microscope, it is a real challenge to find some from her . . . since all 4 of my horses are out together. When it is fecal exam time, I carry plastic bags on our rides to scoop some poop. But Windy won't ever do any. Once we rode 3 hours hoping to get some from her. She just has a thing about not pooping on the trail. Luckily, she will poop in the trailer (sometimes), and I either get it that way, or see her doing some in the pen and run inside and get a plastic bag.

Like @tinyliny said, it can be a response to fear, and Windy hates cows. I have been known to get some when we ride near cows. But not always.

I like @LoriF suggestion: after he poops in the barn, take him back out to do his riding.


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## sharon1927 (Aug 17, 2015)

Thanks everyone. Last evening when I was trail riding, we got about five minutes into it and my horse tried the old "oh I can't possibly work right now...I have to go back to the barn and poop!" So I tapped him with my whip to let him know we are DOING this, mister. He straightened out and walked on like I asked him to. Then I asked for the trot and we trotted along nicely for about 10 seconds...at which point he stopped suddenly...and POOPED! When he stopped suddenly like that, I thought at first that he had spotted something scary. When I realized he was lifting his tail to poop, I made sure I praised him and let him know it was okay and that he was a good boy. Before I acquired him, he was a serious show jumper who was quite good at his job. I do not think he was allowed to poop in the show ring. I reached out to his former owner yesterday to ask her if he was quirky about pooping and/or peeing under saddle. She said he had no problem doing his business on the trail, but he never pooped or peed in the show ring. So since he's a pleasure horse now, I wanted to make sure I let him know it's totally fine (great, actually!) to poop or pee while I'm riding him. I'd rather stop and let him do his thing than be dragged back to the wash stall or grooming stall so he can go potty. Anyway, after he left that massive poop pile on the trail, we had a very good ride afterwards. 

As far as being barn sour or wanting to get back to the barn to be with his buddies, I don't think it's the buddy thing because he doesn't have any friends in the barn. It's a 20 stall barn and there's only one other horse in there at night, and my guy doesn't seem to care whether that horse is there or not. BUT I may have created a monster because after every ride, I give my guy a carrot and some treats and he gets a flake of hay for overnight. He may be trying to drag me back to the barn thinking that the sooner the ride ends, the sooner he gets his treats. So I stopped doing that. I'd rather have him thinking, "Good effort equals treats....no effort and spinning back towards the barn gets me a tap on the butt, harder work, and no treats."


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## jgnmoose (May 27, 2015)

This is called "barn sour", he has it big time and he is probably pooping when he gets back because he kind of succeeded in clocking out for the day.

I don't know the horse or who rides him so won't make any suggestions other than if you fix the barn sour the quirky pooping thing will probably resolve itself.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

Well done.


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## LoriF (Apr 3, 2015)

My poodle Miss Kitty came to me from a breeder who showed her dogs. This dog absolutely would not pee or poo while on a lead. It was frustrating as it was really hard to get her to relieve herself except for in her own back yard. Otherwise she would just stand there and stare at me. I would tell her to go on and she would walk off about 100 feet and turn around and stare at me from there. This was a lifelong thing that lasted until she passed.


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