How do you keep a stallion? Stabling etc?

[Ignition]

Do you have to keep them isolated, or can you keep stallions stabled next to eachother or stabled next to geldings? I assume you cant keep them next to mares

Can they be ridden out with other stallions?


I'm just curious btw, don't worry i'm not about to rush out and buy a stallion

Thanks for any replies

 

[Enfys]

My boy lives out, he is by himself at the moment as I have no mares suitable to run with him right now. usually in Spring/Summer he runs with his mares.

He has a paddock of about an acre, 12" across the walkway is a mares paddock. 80' in another direction are ponies and weanlings. he can always see someone.

Stabling? Hmmm. he comes in the barn with everyone else, he is the only horse that actually has a specific stable, no bars or 7' walls though. It is next to a goat pen so he doesn't actually have anyone right next to him, but 15' across the aisle there will be mares. He'll stand out in the aisle for the trimmer and is as good as gold, apart from being an idle toad and refusing to balance on three legs that is.

Riding out together? Yes. For instance, an awful lot of racehorses are entire, also endurance horses. Mostly they (racehorses particularly)don't know quite what their bits are for admittedly. We used to train arabs, and had about 80% stallions on the yard, they worked together, we turned them out separately naturally, it wouldn't have done to have clients horses escaping and beating each other up. Obviously, you have to be aware that you are sitting on a giant hormone and they can be unpredictable, but I've never had stallions attack each other at work, try to jump a mare, yes!

 

[holiday]

Our stallions are kept next to each other in a barn alongside mares and youngstock.

Ours is an American barn type with bars and yes most will stable next to a mare although it is usually the mares that get cross after the initial huffing and puffing they settle and dont bother about the girls, my section b stallion even if they are in season gets bored with them after a while!!!!

The weanlings come in loose at this time of year and often run round to them to say hello over the stable door!!!!!

We try to turn them out with an empty paddock next to them as we only have electric fencing but some will go next to geldings and my section b stallion will run next to anyone any colts we have bred which will stay entire are turned out with the geldings for as long as possible so they have a normal life, although not colts together as they get too rough unless they are from the same year and have stayed together!!!

Yes they will all work in mixed company as most go out competing but of course as mentioned above yes they can be hormonal and you do have to be aware of any mares in season!!!!!! Our school is also surrounded three sides with paddocks usually mare & foals live in them all summer and often the children come and hang their heads over the school fence - not helpful but the boys have to deal with it!!!!!!

 

[cruiseline]

It really depends on what you mean by isolated. No horse, be it a stallion or otherwise, should be isolated, they are herd animals and need the companionship of other horses for their mental well being.

There is an article about the care of stallions in the Horse Breeders Magazine you can find it here.

http://www.horsebreedersmagazine.com/#/day-in-the-life-of-a-stallion/4537606390

This is our stallion, he is stabled in the main yard with all the other competition horses. He has 2 gelding (in photo) to his left and our pony stallion to his right. He is hacked out with any and all of the other ridden horses, including mares and is turned out regularly with the broodmares in adjacent fields.
Where he tends to do lots of this

Rather than worry about where the ladies are.

 

[ritajennings]

I have worked with stallions for a long time and have only been lucky enough to see a stallion running with his mares in the last few months, and what a wonderful sight it is, friends of mine run their ID boy with his mares and when the herd can running over to us with him at the head , it did bring a tear to my eye.
This is the best way by far to keep a stallion but not available to everyone.
I only do AI with Archie my RID stallion so hope I do the next best thing , he lives out with a companion pony, they have access to a stable 24/7, I did start to bring him in during the winter as he is clipped and competes (and because I was told I could not leave him out during winter) but have since rugged him up with 2 rugs and left him to decide for himself as there is hay both inside and out.
I only have the one stallion so this works for me.

Wanted to add photo but do not know how

 

[Simsar]

You wouldn't know our Stallion was entire he is in an American barn style too it has six stables within it, with back window that look across to mares (in the spring). He has his mate opposite and the mares will go next to him albeit ours. He goes out on his own either with someone next to him or not very relaxed (loves to eat) not bothered about company. He has a clip on you tube under Cressingham National Silver if you would like to see, not clever enough to put the link on!!

 

[Simsar]

Noddy we love noddy!! Try to upload Rita. xx

 

[cruiseline]

It is indeed a wonderful sight to see a stallion run with his mares, but a vast majority of stallions also compete, so to run them out and have them ready and fit for competitions would be almost impossible. There is also the risk of injury, none of our competition horses are turned out 24/7, they all get their time in the paddock, put injury prevention is always our top priority.

If you open a photobucket account you can post pictures from there.

 

[BigRed]

I just wanted to say how fantastic it is to hear so many people keep their stallions in such a natural way.

 

[Touchwood]

Vagebont who stands with us also lives alongside all the other horses, he is stabled next to our mare barn.
He also hacks out with other mares - competition stallions in particular, really do need to know that work time is work time, and they should behave. He's always been treated as any other horse which is very important if you want to be able to take them out safely to shows etc.

 

[Bananaman]

Fab pics cruiseline!

Spider, aka Amour g, is also stabled alongside others. We have outside block built stables but he is in a line with the two mares and a gelding.
He is turned out every day for as long as possible and in the summer even 24/7.
He hacks out with a gelding as that is all we have to ride with atm, but isn't any bother, goes first, last or upsides!

 

[AndyPandy]

As you can see from the varied responses, there isn't one specific "ideal" way to keep a stallion. A lot depends on your set up, and the individual animal.

Some general guidance is that:
*He should be able to see and interact with horses outside of the breeding situation
*If he is to be kept in a stable, then it should be on the larger size to allow maximum movement.
*He must be allowed some sort of turnout and/or physical exercise for mental well-being.

Stallions can be kept stabled next to/with other stallions, geldings, mares etc. and the different combinations will have effects on their behaviour and reproductive efficiency... perhaps that is for another thread, though!

In essence, the stallion should be treated like any other horse. If you isolate and punish a stallion, and are fearful of him - then you will produce a diffcult, angry and dangerous animal.

 

[ritajennings]

As you might have guessed not very good with the PC but anyone that wants to see Noddy can view pictures of him with Archie at www.avantistud.com click on gallery, if you scroll mouse over pictures details will come up.

 

[LynneB]

I was very sad to hear on another thread recently a stallion described as being kept "in prison" whilst on stud duty which is why he was so excitable when seen out at a stallion parade.

I don't think any stallion should be kept in prison conditions, none of the ones I have seen have been and that is why, after seeing the ones at Brendon, Touchwood and Lynaire etc, we wanted to do a series of articles showing that they really can live very happy and well socialised lives. As Cruiseline said the first one is in the Dec issue of the magazine.

 

[LynneB]

Bananaman I think you should post that video of Amour G playing

 

[cruiseline]

[ QUOTE ]
Bananaman I think you should post that video of Amour G playing

[/ QUOTE ]

So do I its fab and really shows that there are people who give their breeding stallions a happy fulfilled life out side of the covering season.

Most stallions are well adjusted, polite, happy horse to have around, but you will find that these horses have experienced, understanding and knowledgeable owners by their sides.

 

[angrovestud]

this might be of interest, when we went to see Ricco it was not to buy him but I had researched his pedigree and seen photos of him and we were just going to view him as a stallion.
at this point he was not standing at stud, and i had come to an arrangment with his owner to borrow him for a month to cover both my mares.
when we arrived that day I was shocked to find a 16.3hh stallion lying in his box with a man smoking a fag sitting on him, this was when we drove past his stable and the door was open and the electric tape across the front of his box, we got out and met the owner and then her husband who was new to riding and stallion ownership, we were taken in to his box to see him the roof was just above his ears and he was in a 12x 10 at best sized stable, he was taken out to an area outsixe which had broken fencing and kids on ponies riding over random jumps, ricco was then lounged at a canter in between bronching bucks.
he looked so sad had developed sarcoids around 15 or so.
this horse was bred by two dear friend of mine and he had know a better life we agreeded to taken him for his girly holiday, as he had not been out on to turnout for over 9 months, he had been allowed to walk on a lead but now he was scaring the owners so that had stopped all this lad got was 1/2 hour on a horse walker at 5.30 am then prison for the rest of the day.
as we left my husband turned to me and said if he ever comes up for sale we must buy him, well 1 month later he did we did buy him and we rehabilitated him over a year.
he now has his own paddock next to his wives and his children and he has six wives and a 2 year old son who also lives out next to ricco wives they are a family just like we have family and I will never change Riccos life as there are not many stallions that could have come through that to be what he is today .
that was 4 years ago
Edited to say all sarcoids gone 3 years ago all fell off when his first was born
sorry I am dyslexic..
Sorry it long.

 

[Carsmore]

My stallion is stabled within sight and sound of everyone else. Its only due to the fact that I want him to have the biggest stable, which is just outside the barn with the other stables in. He had last winter stabled next to an old gelding. He goes out in the field along with mares in the field next to him. I have run electric fence so he cant get to the wall. this is more due to the fact that the wall isnt 100% brilliant! Up until this summer, he was turned out with a couple of geldings but I sold one and the other is a geriatric sec A and the old boy cant be ar**d with with the stallion trying to play with him all day! By the way he is 15hh and in luuuurve with my friends 18hh Shire mare who has come to stay for the winter.

 

[koeffee]

both my stallions are stabled in a mixed yard, one isnt turned out much as he never has been so its something im working on, my other stallion hg calypso is out with geldings in his field, its taken a year but he is so happy to be out with others. i wouldnt say it works for all but it works for me.

 

[luckilotti]

Thats such a nice story Angrove - in the respect that Ricco found you, its not acceptable how he was previously kept.

This subject is very close to my heart. In my local area, the majority of stallions dont get turned out, a lot of horses full stop dont get turned out in one particular area due to limited land (as in yards with 20 or so boxes, and maybe 1.5 acres grazing max for the WHOLE yard!) Its not just resitrcted to a certain breed, i know if a welsh stud and a arab stud whos stallions dont get turned out - in some cases - not even in a sand paddock - they are stabled 24/7!!!
i took one such stallion on during 2007, he was due to come to my yard for a couple of weeks to cover my mare, he ended up staying from july until november - the reason, he was enjoying himself and i knew what he would be returning to.

i think the problem with this country is lack of knowledge. i certainly know in this area, people automatically assume that any colt or stallion will rape their mares. even if they are no-where near. This leads some stallion owners i believe to 'keep them locked up' As a YO, i get asked when people look around if we allow colts and/or stallions, i say on occassions we do, the reaction - they are not prepared to stable on a yard with them, even though said entire would be in a different block etc.
as a child, i was stabled on a riding school whereby the yard manager had a stallion there, he was a joy to be around, hacked out with the riding school hacks with mares etc and was never a problem. are there many riding schools now that would 'risk' a stallion being there with the sue culture we live in?

i'm going to stop now as i am going completely off in a different direction!

i think the key is that every stallion has different traits, and his management has to be adapted to suit the individual, but at the end of the day - they ARE horses and need to be allowed to live as such.

 

[magic104]

"Do you have to keep them isolated" - From what I have seen this is almost a thing of the past. Most stallions I have seen now have often been on mixed yards. I also know of an ID stallion The Crofter who runs with his mares. Stallions seem to be a lot happier these days then the ones I remember who were kept in isolation. One of the worse for temperment was a Welsh D who lived most of his life in a barn, except when he was in work or covering.

I would think it would be near on impossible to keep a competition stallion in isolation

 

[Bananaman]

Your wish is my command!!!

This is what a young stallion gets up to in his spare time, or in reality probably attention seeking! The horse I'm on at the beginning is a mare and is obviously far less interesting than playing with his empty water tub! It was a sad day when I had to take it away from him but he'd made the edges rough and I didn't want him to hurt himself. He does love his ball but this was his favourite and it's a shame I missed him galloping round with it up in the air!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mftSWXrIAFU

 

[levantosh]

My boy goes out first thing through the winter for couple of hours, then the mares go out when he comes back in. He is stabled next to other horses (mares and geldings depending what I have in) but he is more interested in his hay rather than what the others are doing! Only one of my mares is not allowed to go near him as he is madly in love with her!!

 

[angrovestud]

luckilotti you are so right we have been chosen by Ricco, and hes looked after us ever since.

 

[TayloredEq]

"I was very sad to hear on another thread recently a stallion described as being kept "in prison" whilst on stud duty which is why he was so excitable when seen out at a stallion parade."

I made that comment and now feel that perhaps I need to clarify it as it was obvioulsy misunderstood.

What I meant was that as the stallion was being liveried at the stud and was being collected from multiple times in the day that he was not living the same lifestyle he is over th e winter - ie ridden work, turn out etc.

The stables he is kept in are in a stallion barn, where the stallions can see each other and put their heads over the door. I suspect he would also go on the walker and I know when I was enquiring about having my stallion there that I was told there was limited turn out available.

So my description was not meant to suggest that he was kept isolated in a cage unable to lead a normal life but rather that it is a big step to go from just doing stud work with the odd bit of walking/ridden work to go out to a stallion parade and see lots of other horses, sights and sounds.

Hope that clears that up.


To the OP - my boy has his own field which he will occasionally share with the shetland (depending where the shetland wants to be!) and apart from that he has the same routine as any of the other competition horses.

He is also kept in an American barn and has been kept in the low or the high fronted boxes and has been next to or across from mares. He will whinny at a mare as she is walked past him and he does get a bit excited when he watches the mares on the walker but other than that you would not know he was a stallion.

As others have said treat him like a horse and he will be a horse, but always have it in the back of your mind that he is entire. As with the others he will hack out with mares and geldings and is worked in the school with them. He is a walk in at a local stud so I expect him to act like a horse at home and that he only gets to think about sex when he goes to the stud.

 

[Tempi]

We have one stallion on the yard, hes 14 though and very well behaved. Hes stabled on a block next to and opposite geldings (his top bar grill is kept shut at all times). He gets turned out everyday in a post and rail paddock that is next to another paddock which will have one of the geldings in.

 

[Simsar]

Brilliant vid Bananaman.

 

[shirleyno2]

Excellent video!!
My stallions are all in a mixed barn, some are stabled next to mares but not the norm! Each one is an Individual.

 

[Simsar]

Don't know if this will work.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVbppYRy9WI

 

[almorton]

last year my 3yo colt was stabled overnight next door to another 3yo colt on one side and a chestnut mare on the other!
he had all day turnout next to 2 other grazed fields, and never a moments bother. he was easy to do in every way, probably due to his fab early start in life where he was well socialised! (thanks koeffee!! )
he was only cut as he should have made a hand bigger but must have some dwarf genes somewhere!