Any Natural Horsemanship Stallion riders?

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SarahF

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Just wondering how many of you ride stallions - Anyone ride bitless? Which bridle?
Also, how do you get on with the groundwork - yeilding etc.
Are stallions much more difficult when it comes to "leadership" issues?
 
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Stallions are easy and responsive an I wish people would stop thinking of them as something different or separate to a mare or gelding - it's a horse!
 
Thank you! I hear so often "a normally docile stallion can snap and bite your fingers off" - well so can any horse!

Where I live they hardly ever geld horses. All the horses that work the beaches for tourist rides etc are stallions. As long as there's no mare in season around they're fine!

I just wondered if they are more dominant when it comes to leadership etc? And I don't see any bitless ones where I am either!
 
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They will pick up on inconsistencies quicker but it's still individual to each horse, my mare is a lot more dominant than any stallion I've worked with
 
Yeah I understand the difference in terms of humans. But the stallion?
Maybe "are they more resistant to your leadership" would be a better phrase? I always imagined dominance was part of a stallions personality though - am I wrong?
 
hmm, I have a problem with the use of the term dominant as I don't think it means what many people think it means and certainly doesn't mean what many NH teachers would like it to mean. I think it helps to think of horses being socially ambitious and some are alot more so than others. equine relationships are also not linear. If you are interested in behaviour (not to be confused with NH) then I recommend doing some reading on that and also on equine learning theory. Lucy Rees, Emma Lethbridge, Equitation Science, Debbie Marsden and Marthe Kiley-Worthington are all worth a look IMHO.
 
I wouldn't label myself as 'natural horsemanship' - more 'doing what feels natural :)

We have 3 stallions and 2 colts in a herd with 6 geldings. All are hacked by adults and children. They're treated no differently to any other pony, and they're no trouble in the field or out of it. Any lapse of manners (when they're young and still learning) is taught to be not acceptable. Below is my Dartmoor stallion doing his job. He can be ridden in a headcollar, no problem, although he is a fast and fiesty ride if you're up for it.

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Stallions are just horses the same as any other they have varying temperaments just the saame and are just as gentle or temperamental as any other they are not caged lions unless you treat them that way
Sadly too many horses are kept as stallions and it should be compulsory to have them gelded unless you are an authorised breeder but that is a different debate
Bitless may be an issue as most horse society deem that all colts and stallions must be bitted to be on show/ competition grounds and as leisure horses because of the showing rules I guess that they would have to bitted in public places due to insurance implications but dont quote me on that
 
Ah Penny that's a lovely pic!
"doing what feels natural" horsemanship is another nice alternative (I'm gaining a few here lol!)
Where I live the majority of male horses are entire. It could be their breeding, the hot climate or their relatively poor diet (in comparison to say European/western horses) - but the majority seem no more feisty than the mares.
I'm looking into buying a stallion - I'd prefer a gelding but it'd be easier to find a unicorn here!
 
SarahF said:
Yeah I understand the difference in terms of humans. But the stallion?
Maybe "are they more resistant to your leadership" would be a better phrase? I always imagined dominance was part of a stallions personality though - am I wrong?
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I prefer to describe typical stallion personality traits in terms of aggressiveness, 'sharpness', reactivity, boldness - those kind of characteristics - rather than dominance, which (to my way of thinking) arises from quite specific situations in which there is competition for some limited resource. There may be dominance as well, but I don't like using it as a blanket term to try to explain everything - that's just too simplistic, imo.
 
Thanks Wind&Rain.
Well here there's no showing, horse insurance etc for me to worry about. It's all extremely basic when it comes to horse care (&everything else to be honest!) :)
 
The reason I was comfortable keeping an entire (Buster turned out to be monorchid, so the decision was by necessity), was that I'd travelled in many countries where gelding is something you do if your stallion turns out to be an unmanageable git, and is very much the exception. I've ridden tourist horses who're stallions, and watched them plough fields. People forget that mares are entire too, and less consistent in their approach to life.

If it helps I can tell you why mine are as quiet as they are:
They're out 24/7 in the company of other horses
There are no mares nearby (although they can meet and work alongside mares quietly, even with child riders)

It may also help that there are several entires together. There have been studies that suggest this suppresses testosterone in wild bachelor herds - not that Buster was a problem when we had only him and geldings.
 
SarahF said:
Ah Penny that's a lovely pic!
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Thanks Sarah. It's one of my favourites. There's so much love going on in that picture; the children are helping baby have a 'first ride', hugging the pony like he's their favourite teddy.
Buster's face says it all. He is very happy being the centre of attention!
 
Exactly Penny! All the horses that work the tourist beaches here are Stallions - which is partly the reason for my research. After years of dreaming my husband said I can get one (possibly two!) on condition that I don't spend fortunes keeping it!
So in tourist season he may well be working the beaches a little too (future horse - not husband haha!!)
 
I have sooo much to research.
It's likely I'm not going to be the only one riding my future horse/s - so I need to find a middle way between "natural" ways (my pref) & "conventional" (the roughly termed "standard" way here lol!)

I'm pretty sure I'll be going bitless - the rest I pressume is going to be an ad-hock adventure (I hope!)
 
Buster gives rides at the local fete every year. Up and down, up and down for 4 hours (with a little break), with all manner of nervous kids, babies being held on by dad, numpty teenagers who're far too big really. All this whilst posing for photos and being fussed around by parents, grannies etc, (many of whom think its a good idea to park push-chairs right next to the ponies :/) and the ones doing the leading are - my young children and their friends!

I can't think that tourist rides would be worse...
 
Go for it Sarah. As with any horse-buying exercise, choose a quiet, gentle soul who seems to like you. Treat him kindly but firmly, and go off on adventures together. You'll have a ball.
 
Here's my stallion in a headcollar :) I wouldn't generally ride him in it as he is very forward going and thinks he only has to behave and listen to the rider when he has tack on.

Like others have said, he is just like any other horse. He will only ever show stallion behaviour when there is a pretty mare in season (rarely) or if he hasn't been getting enough exercise. I find that being with him and riding him is all about having a good partnership, just like any horse, really. He gets grumpy if I try to be too bossy but he is very willing to do what the rider says.

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:) Thanks for the encouragement peeps - think I'd read a few to many "beware the stallion" type thing on the Internet and was feeling apprehensive.
I've gone back to excited again now though thanks!
Any other stallion related words of wisdom - & pics would be more than welcome! :)
 
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