Help! My mare is using her feed bucket for a potty!

[DarkChylde]

Okay, here is something I had only vaugely heard about, and now it is right in my barn. My mare is urinating in her feed bucket (with an impressive aim, might I add.) This is getting to be a pain for me cleaning feed buckets and all before feeding her. How can I stop this behavior? Will it stop on its own? I am lost here.
She is the most perfect horse in the world, btw, now my husband wants her and I am now training her for him. She was a rescue from a animal hoarder, and was food aggressive when I first got her (which she isn't now, altho she will allow only humans near her grain, no cats (or ducks or rabbits) are allowed.) She is with my youngest's paint gelding, and she is definately alpha. We recently sold two of her pasturemates, if that would have any bearing, but we rescue horses and so we've had a few come and go.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
blessings and inner peas,

[dreamcleaner]

lol this may sound totally stupid. But hang up another bucket. Not too near the first. Maybe you can have a feed bucket and a pee bucket. Think of the convenience. Now if you could get her to poop in one too.

Sorry no help at all, maybe she just likes to pee in that spot, (that I have seen), so move the bucket to other side.

[Hideaway]

I've heard of pooping and witnessed it often but never urine. Each to their own I guess. I'm at a loss as well. My only thought is maybe to hang her feed bucket higher or in a different area?

[eieio]

Some horses do this and you never can exactly tell why, but it is usually becasue they are mad about something. Hang another bucket, move the original and make it higher ore the only suggestions I have. The other thing that helps is to remove the bucket or floor pan right after eating

[DarkChylde]

I actually tried the moving the bucket part (fortunately it isn't mounted on the wall.) She urinated in it anyway. I don't hang buckets as I believe having the head down is the way they are made to eat, and it is better for them. So this morning after breakfast I removed it when she was finished(good suggestion, Eieio) and just brought it in when it was time to feed.
The most info I could find was some theories on it being a territorial thing with stallions, but they didn't say that mares did it.
She may be adjusting to the other two horses having left, when my youngest rides off on her gelding, Chara (the mare) is left alone, and she doesn't seem to like it. Maybe another pasture buddy will help...
That was funny, Dreamcleaner, you gave me a chuckle, to practice aiming her poop in another bucket sounds like just what she would do! (She is kinda a smarta**, takes after me I guess...)
Thanks for the help!!

blessings and inner peas,