How do you stop a horse from leaving manure in the loafing area???  The idea of him being out on pasture in the summer is not to be shoveling every time I go to the barn...He has access to his pasture 24/7  and/or paddock year round....24/7 to his stall in winter.....In the begining he never messed in the stall or loafing area always in the paddock or pasture now it's never in the pasture or paddock....Just always where I have to shovel it....Defeats the idea of being out.....Anyone else have this problem???

 LOL Must be Murphy's Law of horse manure. I have had several times when a horse I'm riding doesn't poop in the arena or on the (long) walk back to the arena, or outside while we wait for x-ties to be free, but as soon as we get in those x-ties - out it comes.

It may just be a reflection of where he's spending his time. He may not have been comfortable in the shed initially, now he is.

Has it been really hot in your area lately?  I've found my horses, who have a very similar set up by the sounds of it (they don't have stalls though just a run in shed) and since it's been so hot they hang out under the shed and don't like to leave to poop, now that it's cooled off though the amount of poop has decreased.

i've wondered if there is any way of house(barn)training a horse.  my horse is let into the front yard regularly for hours at a time.  he never poops in the front yard or down the driveway.  he always runs into the dog run or behind the house.  it's really funny to watch too, cuz, there's times he actually trots really fast up the drive and into the dog run, has his poop and resumes browsing.

now, if i could get him to go in the spot of my choosing regularly (and it wouldn't be in the shelter), i'd have it made.  cuz he too poops in his shelter all the time.  used to just be on rainy days but now most of the time.  and he also has access to his corral and pasture.  he poops those places too, so, it doesn't cut down on the work.

 has anyone ever tried to develop a regular desired spot for their horse to go?

I've heard that racehorses are trained to pee on command, but I don't know how they do it. And you don't want your horse to poop on command, just take it outside. I've given up on everyone pooping outside: some of my mares are cleaner than others. I've never heard of any way to get them cleaner.

i think the racehorses are trained to pee on command.  i had 2 standardbreds (still have one).  the 10 yr old with lots of races under his belt peed everytime i was out there.  the 3 yr old with only 3 races under his belt, i've had to work at catching him peeing....and i was told it was cuz the older one was used to peeing for drug tests.

I realize this is more about the peeing than pooping, but they do encourage racehorses to pee on command.  You actually catch them peeing and whistle a certain way while they do it.  After a while, they will pee when you whistle that way.  It helps the people who collect the urine for the drug tests when they can hurry up the peeing process.  Some horses will take forever to go, but if they've been around a while they usually catch on fairly quickly.  My mare has been off the track for 11 years and I can still get her to pee when I whistle that way.  We haven't had any luck with pooping on command though, lol.

Horses are so funny and different. My previous horse always pooped in the shed (24 hrs on pasture). I was always cleaning it out. Wheelbarrows full. My now horse hardly ever poops in the shed. He steps outside in the grass and poops. A Morgan I owned would cover his poop in the stall like a cat. Always near the wall. And others just pooped where ever and it was all over the stall making it difficult to clean. I think there are certain smells that they like....my now horse always smells the ground before peeing. Pooping it doesn't matter....just where he is at the time.