Pete and Penny are peeing in their little shed all the time now. Of course, with it being summer the smell is nasty! Dh and I have a little 3 sided shed for them with nice shavings that we change out alot now; but my husband said he just put fresh shavings in there and Pete (gelding) went right in there and peed!!!! Is there any way to get them to pee somewhere else?? Is it the shavings that make them pee there? Would really appreciate any ideas!! Thanks!
My paddock always had a small dip in it, probably 6X6X1, from where the previous house owner had dug for some topsoil to landscape another part of the property. One day I decided to fill it in with the used stall shavings I had just stripped (minus the manure). After that, my gelding almost never peed in his stall unless he was locked in, he peed outside on the area with shavings. Because it got rained on or hosed regularly it didn't smell and it saved me a TON of money in shavings. I topped them up as needed replaced them about once a year as I found the shavings got dusty as they broke down over time, but I still just replaced them with used stall shavings. Like uwharrie said, they just don't like to be splashed! They also feel the need to "mark" the fresh shavings, many equines can't resist spoiling a freshly bedded stall. I just pick out the wet spot with a shovel, but leave a few wet shavings behind so they don't feel the need to re-mark. In fact, I know a number of people who will freshly bed a stall just to try to temp a colicking horse to pass manure.
Edited to add that leaving the stalls bare floored or rubber matted for a few weeks would give them time to build a routine of using their new outdoor "potty".
