Company for a Stallion

[ahorseandadog]

(Before anyone gets worried, I have no intentions of buying a stallion - the question just popped up)

So, I know a lot of stallions get isolated and, as many have said, this has a high likelihood of worsening the behaviour that caused them to get isolated at the beginning. I presume stallions who have never been turned out with others may struggle to understand how to behave around others but, say you've recently purchased a colt who's been turned out with other horses, what's the best course of action in terms of company:

a) An already established herd of just geldings or geldings and mares "to encourage natural herd behaviour"
b) Just an older gelding "to teach him manners"
c) Just an older mare "to teach him manners"
d) A fellow young colt, who is also not going to be gelded "to have a friend"
e) A fellow young colt, who has been gelded "to have a friend"
f) A bachelor band/stallion group "as those are the only ones he can be with"
g) Any old companion but not in the same field but in the field beside "for interaction but safely"

Ideas? Would love to hear people's stories with their own colts/stallions as well

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

Don't mix mares, geldings and stallions/colts. The geldings will get battered by both mares and the stallion. Mine go out with other colts/stallions and/or geldings. Always have. If the stallion is covering mares then he will have a few days to a week of chill time away from the mares before going back out with the boys.

 

[HashRouge]

And don't put them out with mares unless you are intending for them to be covered!

 

[rara007]

Limited experience- just 2 young stock colts and my current stallion. Mares is just asking for trouble but we've also just avoided having them. Some geldings seem to dislike the stallion 'smell' and try to kill them! Some of the more colty ones struggle to settle and they play too much, still only 'play' but pretty full on. An older gelding or gelding and colt herd are my best bets.

That's him over to the right, the rest are all geldings, a couple were cut late and covered beforehand but this lot all like him.

He can stand in a line up flanked by mares, work as part of a driving pair with a gelding (I have no mare to try that with!), calm enough away from home we can coral and camp like any other horse. If he wasn't he wouldn't still be a stallion!

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

My colts and entires have run together over winter.

Usually had 1 stallion, prob a 2 or 3 yr old too and would wean off and then put current colts in with them.
I have put an older stallion out with a couple of gelding, they got on v well over winter, but in covering season the boy was on his own for safety.

Never ever put a colt out with a mixed herd, it's asking for accidents of all sorts!

 

[Cortez]

I have an extremely laid back stallion who has a mule for a best friend (the mule is quite riggy and is actually more manly than Gavioso), they play and graze together. Don't ever put a stallion, or a colt over 1 year, out with mares unless you want baby horses.

 

[Pinkvboots]

I have an extremely laid back stallion who has a mule for a best friend (the mule is quite riggy and is actually more manly than Gavioso), they play and graze together. Don't ever put a stallion, or a colt over 1 year, out with mares unless you want baby horses.

Agree with this when my horse was entire he went out on his own but he was at a livery yard and I don't think anyone would have wanted there gelding turned out with him and to be honest I wouldn't expect them to, different if you have your own place you can decide who they can go out with and it's at your own risk if all the horses belong to you, I would be wary with some stallions not all of them can be turned out with other horses I was at a yard some years ago and my friends stallion attacked his field mate he had been turned out with for years.

 

[Equi]

My stallion was out with my gelding over winter and the mares over summer. My colt is now out with that gelding and they play about constantly but he also has learned when enough is enough so is a really sweet little colt.

 

[ahorseandadog]

Agree with this when my horse was entire he went out on his own but he was at a livery yard and I don't think anyone would have wanted there gelding turned out with him and to be honest I wouldn't expect them to, different if you have your own place you can decide who they can go out with and it's at your own risk if all the horses belong to you, I would be wary with some stallions not all of them can be turned out with other horses I was at a yard some years ago and my friends stallion attacked his field mate he had been turned out with for years.

Did they figure why he had attacked his fieldmate? I would have presumed, as they'd known each other for several years, they would have bonded by then.

 

[dominobrown]

I have a yearling colt at my yard, on full livery so not owned by me! Out with a gelding at the moment who is a lot bigger than him, is bossy but not aggressive and never kicks etc however I have found as he is getting older the colt is more bothered about mares in season. Even of they are not directly next to him but he can smell them and is slowly becoming more boisterous.
I fear by the end of the year he will need to be separated from the gelding and isolated. I am trying to persuade the novice owner to geld him as the owner doesn't have sufficient faculties never mind experience to handle as stallion, and although I have dealt with a lot of colts over the years this was by far the most coltish!
For me it would be a very big decision to keep a colt entire... it would need to have amazing conformation and temperament. I would need to be happy that I could always manage it and have good enough facilities to give him a good quality of life and finally that he would be good enough to be a 'working' stallion.
I would much rather have a very nice gelding that I could get out to shows etc and enjoy.

 

[dominobrown]

Did they figure why he had attacked his fieldmate? I would have presumed, as they'd known each other for several years, they would have bonded by then.

In the "wild" stallions will fight, to the death, to become head of the herd and to cover mares. For whatever reason the stallion may of felt it had to eliminate the competition.
Sometimes you can be lucky and the stallion doesn't have this instinct but you can't always be sure!

 

[Pinkvboots]

Did they figure why he had attacked his fieldmate? I would have presumed, as they'd known each other for several years, they would have bonded by then.

No the gelding was covered in bites and it looked like the stallion had chased him about both were covered in sweat, they never went out together again after that you risk it happening again or worse the stallion went out on his own quite happily afterwards, the gelding was fine after his sore bits healed.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

I have an extremely laid back stallion who has a mule for a best friend (the mule is quite riggy and is actually more manly than Gavioso), they play and graze together. Don't ever put a stallion, or a colt over 1 year, out with mares unless you want baby horses.

Interestingly, I know a breeder whose stallion lives out with his dam, unless he is running with the mares he is meant to serve. Mum keeps him strictly in order!



We used to have a novice neighbour who bought an entire 4 yr old who jumped the very poor fencing to attack a gelding owned by another neighbour because our mares were in an adjoining field. Fortunately, the novice owners were frightened enough to geld the 4 yr old and get him a gelding companion. Every-one involved was much happier.

 

[tda]

A lady I know has a barren mare as a companion for her stallion, (She has her own place , already owned the mare then found out she was barren)