Conference noted::equitation

    
    
    Sounds like you might need to consider bedding him with deeper 
    wood shavings...   if you clean the stall that frequently, it  
    seems like it might help.  The other thing you can try is convincing
    him to leave the droppings pile in one corner - this might sound
    crazy - and I admit to having the best results 'training' weanlings
    to be neat - but it might be worth a try.  The other consideration
    is how dry are your wood shavings?  Often if we get 'green' or 
    shavings from recently cut wood they are damp - it doesn't help
    
 

    much if what you start with is damp....
    
    Just some thoughts...  good luck - h

    Gareth, I don't have any suggestions but I also would love to hear
    some comments!
    
    My mother has a gelding who (when he isn't partly green,
    yellow and brown) is very cute. I think that he has been permanently
    yellow on his hocks and knees since 2 minutes after he was born!
    I can remember turning him out in the morning when he was a weanling
    and watching him check out his 3 acre pasture to see where the freshest
    and largest manure and then he would roll and grundge around in
    it until he was smelly, dirty, yechy, (you get the idea!)
    
    You should see the work my poor mom has to go through when a show
    comes up (and that's only to get the first 3 layers of stain off...)
    She does brush him daily and such but he is a real little "dirt-bag,
    grundge ball" as we (who really do like him) call him :^)
    
    Thanks also for any suggestions,
    
    Linda
    
    P.S. She has tried blankets, sheets, etc. but he works the dirt
    up and through them also...
    

    Hi Gareth,
    
    You didn't mention what kind of a floor was in the stall.  We had a
    horse in the barn that had the same problem.  The floor was made of
    wood and didn't drain fast enough- so they drilled a couple of small
    holes in it where the horse normally urinated.  There is nothing worse
    than dried horse pee on blankets and horses - especially when it
    rains or is damp out!!!!!
    
                                        Wendy

    Horses, just like people, some are cleaner than others. I had a
    filly that we called "swamp dweller" as she would drink 20 to 30
    gallons of water a day and then drench her stall when it came out
    the other end. It seems that every time she felt insecure she would
    get a drink."Mama?" I couldn't keep ahead of her stall it had to
    be completely stripped every other day. On nice days we would make
    her stay out cause if she could she would come in, pee and then
    go back out. I talked to my vet he felt there was nothing wrong
    with her. We tried limiting her water to 15 gallons a day, this
    seemed to help but I didn't like having to to limit her just incase
    I guessed wrong on how much was enough. Finally I found another
    home for her because I couldn't afford the time and the pickup load
    of bedding a week it took to keep her clean.
    
    Good luck,
    Sandy
    

    Thanks for your replys folks, I'll try and answer some of the
    questions.
    
    re. floor it is concrete and does drain well awy from the stable
    door. We have tried trying to build up into a deep litter bed but
    because he stales so much it is hard to get it built up. 
    We try and limit his drinking to the recommended 8-10 gallons  a
    day and we now have the water bucket in two car tyres to keep him
    from throwing water about the stable.
    
    	thanks again
    
    				Gareth

    how does one train a weanling to be neat?  The baby where I work
    has to be the worst!  His stall has to be stripped every day because
    he grinds everything in....what a mess!
    

    
    
    re;6...
    
    We make sure that there is always a small pile left in the same
    corner each time we clean the stall (in my case once per day)..
    The weanlings spend most days outside (no doubt that helps) but
    even when they don't... once they get the hang of what you're  
    doing, they'll follow suit.  I really believe that horses don't
    like to be messy in their stalls - but if they're inclined to  
    

    walk (alot - around in circles - out of boredom, etc) then it  
    does make it more difficult... You just have to keep trying.  But
    I can honestly say it works.  My yearling colt uses one corner of
    his stall and it sure makes life easier.  His mother is the same
    way - in fact I think if I left her in a stall for days there would
    just be this big pile against the wall!!  I got onto this idea be-
    cause I noticed that my horses only go in one or two 'special' spots
    when they are out in the pasture - seriously - they walk across
    a couple of acres just to leave a pile (ontop of their own pile)!
    
    Give it a try - in a couple of months you might be surprized!
    
    holly_who_'potty trains'_her_morgans!    smile

    Holly how about coming down to our place to do some potty training?
    I hate to be a doubting Thomas but...  We've had some babies pick
    up neatness traits from their mothers (so it probably is something
    you can train for) but some of those have been colts who when gelded
    went from the cleanest to the dirtiest in the barn.  In this particular
    case however, I would blame it on the concrete stall.  Concrete
    is not in any way porous, therefore, the only way to get ride of
    a liquid like urine is to drain it off.  Drains have a habit of
    becoming plugged and sloped surfaces require the liquid to run from
    one side or the center to the low side through a material which
    is very absorbant (i.e. it generally doesn't make it to the side
    before it is completely absorbed).  You probably don't have a lot
    of choice at this point on what to do but I would suggest if your
    floor is deep enough, to put about 4 to 5 inches of sand between
    the concrete and the bedding.  At least then you have a chance of
    running the uring through a non-absorbant material to the drain.
    
    Regards,
    
    Bob