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RE: [RC] [RC] - heidiIt ain't philosophy. I didn't say they WOULDN'T pee on the trailer. I don't TRAIN them not to...they PREFER to pee outside. Horses are big on ROUTINE. If they EXPECT to be taken off from day one, they will adjust accordingly. I will GUARANTEE if YOU have to go and there is no alternative, you would even pee in your pants. I prefer to stop and pee myself instead of "hanging it out the window" so to speak. I don't like peeing on myself...and I doubt horses do either. It's a damn sight more comfortable to pee outside on terra firma that bouncing down the highway. If a horse has to go, he will pee...regardless of whether he is in the trailer or not. You must have some pretty damn weird horses if they won't! You go ahead and "cringe". I do what I feel is best for my horses comfort and well being....and standing on a trailer for hours and hours with no relief ain't it. Glad I'm not one of YOUR horses. Jeeez! Not trying to get grouchy, Jim--but yes, this IS about a different philosophy. Yes, horses are big on routine. But by expecting to be gotten off, if at some time they get ON with a full bladder, and you don't get them OFF for four hours, they could get damned uncomfortable. Yes, some horses will "hold it" until they just about burst, and it doesn't do them any good! I've met many horses so inhibited about peeing that they will go clear through a 50-miler without peeing, and you think they're trying to colic, they hurt so damn bad. My point is that I'd rather have my horses uninhibited about where they pee, so that they pee BEFORE they get uncomfortable, no matter WHERE they are. Under saddle, in the trailer, whatever. If they always EXPECT to have an "ideal" pee spot, then if they don't get it for some reason, they ARE creatures of routine, and they WILL hold it. Not good, IMO! As for going while bouncing down the road--they usually go when we stop, but I'm sure glad that they feel that they CAN go while bouncing down the road, rather than maintain a painfully full bladder. They don't have a little message system up to the driver's seat to tell me that they need a potty stop--and I have one stallion who drinks so well that he would go every hour or two in the trailer, or on the trail, or anywhere else. It is PRECISELY for his comfort and well-being that I prefer he go anywhere he pleases. That said, if one is hauling in areas where one can't get away from the asphalt jungle (the greater Los Angeles area comes to mind), many of my male horses (stallions and geldings both) do NOT like to splash their legs, and are FAR more apt to relieve themselves in the trailer where there is a bit of hay on the floor to dampen the splash than on the asphalt outside. (It has been at asphalt unloadings that I've had the instances where the horse would get back IN the trailer to pee, even though I unloaded him--and can you blame him?) I AM talking about my horses' comfort and well-being here. Most of mine are as at home in the trailer as they might be in stalls, if they lived in same, so it isn't exactly like "holding it" until you pee your pants. Far from it--many of mine will pee the very first time I stop, so they haven't been "holding it" long enough to be uncomfortable. They are simply sufficieintly comfortable with their surroundings in the trailer that it IS a safe and comfortable pee stop to them. So again, this is just an issue on which we will have to agree to disagree. You have your philosophy, and it apparently works for you and yours. Mine seems to be in the best interests of my guys. And I suppose I could make the same wisecrack about being glad I'm not one of YOUR guys--I'm just glad mine are uninhibited and WILL go before their bladders get full and uncomfortable. That's the point of what I'm saying here. Heidi =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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