Compulsive Urinating on Hay

My 10-year old Paso Fino gelding consistently, and sometimes frantically, urinates on his hay. I have tried to place his hay where he can’t urinate on it, but he will try his hardest to get to it. Could this be some sort of “marking” behavior?
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Q: My 10-year old Paso Fino gelding has a very strange habit. He consistently and sometimes frantically urinates on his hay. I have placed his hay deep in the corner of his stall, and he will squeeze his body into the corner to urinate on his hay. If the hay is placed in a hay net he will circle around and around his stall, releasing short bursts of urine, kicking the walls as he is circling around his stall. He does eventually settle down and eat his hay, but always after this type of display.

I purchased him from a bad situation of neglect. He was in a small paddock with a very aggressive/dominant gelding. My gelding had tons of scrapes, scabs, and scars all along his neck and back. The other gelding appeared very well-fed, whereas my gelding was extremely underweight

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Written by:

Sue M. McDonnell, PhD, is a certified applied animal behaviorist and the founding head of the equine behavior program at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Veterinary Medicine. She is also the author of numerous books and articles about horse behavior and management.

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