Something I was told about mucking out, is it true?

tonitot

tonitot

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I had to hold my laughter in when told this by a friend at work, but then had a ponder about whether or not it's true :)

My friend at work told me that when mucking out you shouldn't take out all the dirty bedding, as if you do some horses will reject the stable because they won't recognise the scent ... because you've taken it all out (I guess by 'reject' he means refusing to go in, not settling etc) :rolleyes: I just said "oh .. really ..." and he then told me that if they can't find their own scent they try to find the scent of the horse stabled next to them. One of our horses was put down recently, and he told me that the filly stabled next to the one who was put down would reject her stable if mucked out completely as the horse next door is no longer there and there isn't another horse on the other side of her.

Now, I personally think this is rubbish, but I thought I'd ask you lot in case it is infact true and then I can stop chuckling every time I think about it :D
 
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Perhaps ... if so mine both seem to deal with this by having a wee and a poo within 14 seconds of being back in their nice clean boxes ! :-P
 
Erm, despite the straw being banked up to let the mats dry out as much as possible in the day - my stable definitely still has eau du horse wee when I go down in the evening.

Like ladylina, mine gets over any problems pretty quickly by making a mess as soon as he can :mad:
 
I would say rubbish!

We have a few horses that come for a few weeks here and there. We chuck their clean bedding on the rest of the beds when they leave. none of them refuse to go in.

However if I am moving yards with a horse i doo take some of the old bedding to put on the new bedding at new yard. I think its a bit comforting. Not sure how much difference it makes though!
 
JanetGeorge said:
Basically, it's rubbish! However there is a GOOD reason for leaving a little dirty bedding in one area - particularly with mares and stallions - because it will encourage them to use that area as a toilet - leaving the rest clean!
Click to expand...

Ah, I wish I had known/figured this out some time ago. We have a mare who is a bit messy, it would be nice if she chose an area of her box rather than spreading the love. We replace most of her bed every day, and she has a big bed!
 
I thought it was a load of rubbish :D Apparently he was told this at the Northern Racing College, but I know a few others from there and they've never mentioned it :p
 
rubbish, I once put a poop from my friends horse in my skip in my stable and my horse hated it, I had to take it out. but as for not wanting to go in their own stable thats stupid
 
Mine has a special disgusted look if I put him back in his stable before it's mucked out! He checks the bed and haynets and if not done to his (very high) standards there will be stamping of feet and ears back.

I think even if you completely emptied and swept out the stable it would still smell like home
 
I think there is an element of truth in this. When moving to a new yard I mix a small amount of bedding from the stable at their old yard in with the new and hang their rugs over the door so that they have familiar smells to help them settle. Similarly, when I get a new horse, I introduce things that smell of my other horses to the newbie and then move on to using one of their rugs for a day or so before turning the horse out with the others. This way the horse picks up the herd smell to help with acceptance.
If smells are important to people when visiting a hospital or home that smells of smoke/beer/dogs/dirt etc.. how much more acute is a horse's sense of smell ? Sure, horses will settle in time anyway, but its easy to do and it doesn't cause any inconvenience, so why not ?
 
JanetGeorge said:
Basically, it's rubbish! However there is a GOOD reason for leaving a little dirty bedding in one area - particularly with mares and stallions - because it will encourage them to use that area as a toilet - leaving the rest clean!
Click to expand...

That might explain my horse's approach - he always dungs and wees in the exact same spot in his stable - although I do skip out and take out the wet everyday I'm sure those areas are strong smelling to him so he keeps using them (the rubber matting remains damp). Real blessing as the manure is all deposited in one neat pile just in front of his bed right up against the partition :). Though he will do a random one at the back of the bed but again that's always left in the exact same spot. Saves a lot on bedding as I don't have to take out quantities.
 
JanetGeorge said:
Basically, it's rubbish! However there is a GOOD reason for leaving a little dirty bedding in one area - particularly with mares and stallions - because it will encourage them to use that area as a toilet - leaving the rest clean!
Click to expand...

Really? I didn't know that!

As for them 'rejecting' their bed, my horse gets fresh bed every other day near enough and as yet hasn't refused to go in :p
 
JanetGeorge said:
Basically, it's rubbish! However there is a GOOD reason for leaving a little dirty bedding in one area - particularly with mares and stallions - because it will encourage them to use that area as a toilet - leaving the rest clean!
Click to expand...

I wish someone would tell my mare that! She poos everywhere and then walks around in it . . . . . .
 
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