Horse peeing during classes! Help!

We just returned from a four day show where my daughter competed in Western pleasure classes. During both of her classes, our 8 yo gelding stopped and peed. Of course this resulted in being penalized. He has always been obnoxious with his peeing problem, sometimes stopping to pee up to five times in a one hr lesson. I have had him scoped by a vet and there is no medical reason for his behavior. Does anyone have any advice? I am so frustrated with him!

I'd call another vet. The only time I've seen horses pee that often is when there's a problem.
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I agree with Dancing Arabian. Have another vet look at him and see if there isn't something causing this. Does he do this when just riding? How often does he urinate when just standing around the pasture?

A friend's TW has to stop usually once or twice (sometimes more) on a trail ride of around 2.5 hours to urinate or try to. He is insulin resistant. We know he has this problem so we all stop while Rogue tries to go or does go. On the trail it is not a problem but during a show I can see where it is!!

Well, scoping was a last resort. We did blood work and a urinalysis that were both fine. What is ur opinion of this being a learned behavior so he can stop working? He has gotten much better over the past 6 months at home. Only stopping once to pee when initially mounted.

He may be marking territory. This is a behavioral issue. If your vet is sure it is not physical, he may need to be swatted with a crop when he stops to pee. He can surely wait 10 minutes to complete a class.

Also I would pull the water for maybe the two hours before his class is to start, if that would work.

That might help you somewhat.

But would also do some more research as to what might be behind this.

Does he drink an excessive amount, and is he a soggy mess in stall?

If the vet says that there is NO way there is a problem ...
Then it is behavioral. And it is possible - I've run into the event.

I once rode a Mule (very smart little boogers...) named Willie. His owner/trainer told me this story-

When she first got Willie, he had this habit. Any time she would ask him to canter, and at any given time, he would pee. So, she obviously went to the vet. Nothing. Blood, Urinary, Scope, everything came clean. So it was obvious Willie was just getting out of work. Her solution?
Don't let it happen! Don't even let him stop. Kick, kick, kick when he tries to slow down. If he does manage to halt, and especially if he parks out, a good pop with the crop on his butt is in call. If he bolts at a canter - good boy! You asked for forward, that's what you got. DO NOT scold him for bolting. Let him canter for a few seconds, then bring him back. Now, of course if he bucks or something dangerous, act accordingly. I'm just talking him going a little quick.

Fixed the problem :) Willie was pee free! :p

I had a similar problem with a young gelding I was training. He would stop to pee little bits at a time everytime we got into the arena. Found out he doesn't like peeing in his stall (he was turn out 24/7 but was always brought in an hour or 2 before I would ride him) anyways everytime we got into the arena he would hit that lovely sand and decide he had to go! To fix this I would take him outside to one if the small paddocks and let him relieve himself before tacking up. If I felt him slowing or trying to pee while in the arena I would keep him going by any means necessary, do a couple more rounds of the arena then take him back out to the paddock. Didn't take him to long to figure out he could go outside but not inside!
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I'm not quite convinced that a horse is smart enough to associate peeing with getting out of work...and then being that calculated in their mind to do so. They don't have that rationale/reasoning capability. It COULD be some type of learned behavior, but not related to getting out of work...they just aren't that smart.

If he can pee that many times, in that amount of time...something else is going on.

I don't know... Clementine sure seemed to do that when we first got her. She HATED trotting, and hated me asking her to do it. She was a trail horse for a company for a while, and then when they stopped she sat in a pasture and got fat and didn't have to work. So, I would ask her to trot, and she would flatten her ears and throw a fit.

Eventually, it got to the point where, after the first time in a session I would ask for a trot, she would stop and dramatically set herself up to go pee... Wait a good ten seconds... Pee a tiny bit... Wait again... Start sauntering forward. A few times per session. Sometimes with pooping too. And it wasn't a medical issue - it ONLY happened when I asked for a trot, never if we just worked together at a walk, and never in the field or any other time. I am convinced she was trying to get out of trotting. If she had to stop to go to the bathroom, I stopped and waited until she was done. So, if she has to trot and doesn't want to, if she has to pee she'll know that I will stop and let her go.

Needless to say, I stopped that pretty quick. No stopping, if she slowed, she got some pretty good kicks and a whack on the butt. Now she loves trotting and cantering, now that she's more in shape. But we had that issue for a while, and I 100% think she just didn't want to go faster than a walk.