How would you keep a stallion?

[Crazydancer]

My lad's sire (Arab) was kept as any other horse, he was turned out during the day with 2 geldings (one was his son) and a Shetland stallion. Hmmm, guess who was boss..... the Shetland. Even when he was gelded (became a bit of a problem and was trying to break out if he caught a whiff of an in-season mare miles away, and a Shetland is quite a difficult thing to contain!!) he was still boss.
The Arab stallion wasn't used regularly for breeding, and my lad was the result of him running with mares for the summer and covering naturally in the field. In fact when my lad was a yearling, the stallion protected him from another mare if she got a bit dominant with him.

 

[SusannaF]

My lad's sire (Arab) was kept as any other horse, he was turned out during the day with 2 geldings (one was his son) and a Shetland stallion. Hmmm, guess who was boss..... the Shetland. Even when he was gelded (became a bit of a problem and was trying to break out if he caught a whiff of an in-season mare miles away, and a Shetland is quite a difficult thing to contain!!) he was still boss.

Someday someone will do a study of just why Shetlands are so "boss". Napoleonic complex, perhaps?

 

[laura_nash]

My instructress has a lovely lusitano stallion. He lives out in a mixed herd, mares, geldings and youngstock. She has two herds, so the mares that aren't being bred go in the other. There isn't anything about his behaviour now hacking out etc that would make you realise he was a stallion. When he came to her he was a bit of a mess (came as a rearer), don't know how much of that was to do with living conditions (he was imported from Portugal).

He's great with youngsters, when she gets bargy or under-socialised youngsters she puts them in that one, because in the other (stallion-less) herd they get bullied by the mares but the herd with the stallion seems to be better at teaching manners without beating them up.