Horse not going forward when needing a wee!

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Charliechalk

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Ive had my horse about 6 months and every now and again when i ride him he just won't go forward in trot. He feels very stiff in walk and tense behind. Everytime this happens i have got off him and when ive taken him back to the stable he's had the biggest wee. Initially before i worked out that he's desperate for a wee i thought it may have been a back / teeth / saddle problem. All this has been checked and he is sound, so it is that he needs a wee! The problem is that he will only wee in his stable when his saddle has been taken off, my problem is that if i take him out to a show and he needs a wee i'm stuck. He just won't wee anywhere else but his stable! It's getting really frustrating and making me feel like i don't want to take him out because he clearly gets really uncomfortable. Has anyone else had this problem or does anyone know how i can teach / encourage him to wee in public.
 
His problem is that he does'nt want to splash himself when he wee's
My shire is just like this.
Try standing him on the verge/grass when you think he needs to go, it may take some time, but persaverance may pay off.
 
I trained my horse to wee to my whistle for similar reasons. He wouldn't go all day at an event and consequently I felt he wasn't relaxing in his dressage, and certainly wouldn't gallop on in xc.

It took me a while to train him, lots of patience and perseverence. Don't expect it to click immediately.

I keep mine at home so I could regularly be there when I knew he would be needing to go, so if yours is in livery it may take you longer still.

Now, I get him to wee before I ride or travel him so no chance of him holding it in.

On a good day when I'm home alot, I can catch them all day long, and get to have very clean beds and therefore clean horses as i hold a bucket under them.
I trained my other horse as well, but he is a little shy and won't go in my bucket, so i lead him into the entrance to the field and he wee's on the grass!
 
I had the same problem with R who used to go round dressage tests litterally groaning in desperation, but wouldn't wee until it was all over!

A couple of things worked with him:
1. Teaching him to wee on command. This took a while and doesn't work 100% but basically every time I saw him wee I would give him the command (you must say it as he wees to associate the word with the behaviour, repeating the word when he doesn't know it without the behaviour is like talking to someone in a foreign language they don't understand!), and then reward him afterwards. After quite a few repetitions of this, I now have a good chance of getting him to wee when I give him the command.
2. I always leave him undisturbed in the stable for 1/2 hour before a show.
3. Put some bedding down in your lorry.
4. When at a show if I feel him get desperate, I either get off and take the saddle off, or lately I can just take a huge breath in, exhale and let go of the reins relaxing completely and he usually wees.

Good luck!
 
I have had this problem as well! The replies have been great, think I'll get working on the commands! With Boo I just try and take him somewhere quiet on the grass then after about 5-10 minutes he relaxes and goes :)
 
Endurance horses are taught to wee to command (usually a whistle) as it lowers their heart rates which is useful in vettings. For those who are more reluctant, take some wee'd on bedding & put it on the floor. This way he gets the smell (they love to wee where others have) & minimises splash back. Do clear up the bedding after of the show wont like it though. Wont help on hack, but you can go out competing. Out hacking find a good spot & as above offer him the chance to go everytime you go past (make it a place you pass often).

I've got the opposite, a dirty girl who will go anywhere. Maybe he needs to hack with her??
 
My mare also won't wee in public, she did manage to go at a show, by hiding round the back of sisters car! :eek: She has been known to last all day (once on a day long picnic ride with the RC) and then as soon as she gets into the stable, before I had a chance to remove any tack, there was niagra falls! We think it is not wanting to wee in public! She did manage to go once at the back of a ride. The biggest problem with her isn't an unwillingness to go forwards, rather the opposite, she rushes so that she can get home to wee :D
 
Thanks for all your replies. He is on livery so will have to try and catch him weeing when i can. He is a very shy horse and sometimes won't wee untill you walk away from his stable. Hopefully i can solve this issue as it makes taking him out competing a complete waste of time sometimes!
 
I don't have anythng to add but wanted to share.... when my pony was regularly being boxed to the vets for scans of his tendon, he took to having a wee on the way home EVERY time! It was my friends box so very embarassing. What was that all about??? It was like he was showing off that he could balance for a wee in a moving horsebox! lol.
 
Whistling works!!!!
Used to do it at my old riding school for all the horses :)
My mare will only wee when away from company.:rolleyes:
 
I would try to catch him when he must be really needing and see if you can get him to go in the box (you will need bedding down). If you can get him used to peeing in there at home you could just take his saddle off and let him pop in for a pee at the show?

I used to have to do this with Skippy - he point blank refused to pee with me on board:)
 
I'm not really sure what to suggest, other than taking him onto a grass verge, or into a ménage, standing in the stirrups and whistling to see if that encourages him?

My new horse is sort of similar to yours, in that he often needs a big wee on a ride, and he feels awkward to ride before he does it...however mine doesn't care where he goes. The last time he did a wee it was on a road walk at school drop off time, near the school!

When he decides to go, he just goes, and much to my extreme embarrassment last week, he held up the traffic for a minute while he relieved himself in front of all the bemused/disgusted school children and their parents!
 
I feel your pain - my gelding is exactly the same and find it so frustrating, especially if on a hack as he almost feels lame behind trying to hold it in! He will occasionally go if I take him into long grass or bracken, but will get slower and slower until he has had one - normally 5mins before we get home and all the lovely galloping opportunities have passed. He is the same with poos, and have worked out to have him truly forward he needs 1 wee and 3 poos.....!

I have yet to resolve the issue and have given up putting him in the stable for a while before I ride as never produces anything anyhow - bl**dy horses!
 
It'a reassuring to know he's not the only one! OH thinks he's got 'bladder problems' because he just can't move when he needs one! Other people at the yard look at me strangely when i say ive got to put him back in the stable for a wee, usually 10 mins after ive got on! Hopefully he will respond to whistling and will try putting bedding down in the lorry. Fingers crossed!
 
Mine's the same: hated weeing under saddle ( or with anyone watching). I can always tell when he needs: he becomes slower and distracted.

I found that once he's finally wee'd once it was easier after that: he got lots of praise for going for weeing and each time it's been a little less reluctant.
 
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