Imported Spanish PRE - Advice please!

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Weasel78

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My first post so hello...and I hope this is in the right place!

I am after a bit of advice if possible but to give a bit of background, I recently imported a 3yr old PRE stallion from Spain. Not as crazy as it sounds as I am very lucky in that my boyfriend is Spanish and his uncle works with some of the best studs in Andalucia, training the horses so I knew I would only be shown the best horses and that all PRE paperwork etc was present and correct.

I visited one of the studs on a couple of occasions and decided to buy a beautiful bay. I later when back before bringing him over for some training on their horses and to see their daily routine etc so I could make the adjustment to the English way of life as easy as possible for him. While I was over there I did mention the possibility of gelding him because we are not really set up for the keeping of stallions over here but they just looked at me as though I was crazy as it is just not done over there! Particularly as my horse has extremely good bloodlines (mainly Yeguada Militar by a calificado stallion) and this is tantamount to a shooting offence!

Anyway, due to his excellent temperament I thought I would wait and see how it went before making that decision (and so that I was out of shooting range hehe). He has been over here now for over 2 months and after some initial precautions and slow introduction to grass etc he is now very settled out in his paddock during the day and stable overnight. He is a gentleman under saddle, very quick to learn and we are happy doing some basic work in the school and pootling about the local roads.

My question is...should I geld him now? My only faults with him are that he is quite vocal (as expected) and a little nippy, though not aggressive, and he is immediately reprimanded for this and improving. Despite his good behaviour, it is always in the back of my mind that in not so long I will be meeting other horses on hacks, taking him to his first show...and am I just setting myself up for additional problems?

I have no intentions of breeding from him myself but I do plan to sell him on at some stage and to hopefully make a bit of money. Would I be significantly reducing his value by gelding given his good breeding or narrowing my market by leaving him entire? He is beautiful, incredibly intelligent and full of potential (or at least I think so) so not sure what to do for the best.

Any advice gratefully received!
 
I had a pre stallion, who hadn't been out and about very much.

I started taking him to shows, and found him a bit excitable at first but eventually he settled down. I always kept him bust, and slowly he realised if he behaved, he got to be near the other horses.

Look at the piccies on my profile if you want to see how laid back he could be : )

Don't ever fight him - distract him. Polos and a wee bit Vics up the nose work well too !! ; )
 
Thanks Jenni.

So maybe keeping him entire is the way to go. Reassuring to hear you didn't have any major problems. I know it's down to the individual horse and temperament but still good to hear!

By the way, your boy is lovely :)
 
Hello, I have both a PRE gelding and a PRE stallion who are very different personalities. I have had numerous stallions over many years, both breeding and competition horses. The gelding was cut before I got him, (and was also extremely well bred, had sired foals in Spain, etc.) he's a complete gentleman and quite sensitive, but that was his personality before hhe was gelded too. The stallion is a little crazy guy, but I wouldn't geld him now (he's 10 this year) as in my experience you will certainly lose the presence but won't necessarily gain a different personality.
 
There is one PRE stallion around here who is the quietest horse and always has the best manners of all, goes to dressage shows, etc. etc. I see him quite often.

A friend imported a stallion, that was good to start with but in the end they had him gelded as he got a bit ott and they wouldn't go out and about to advertise him as a stallion, plus they had a mare, so it was easier all round to have him gelded.
 
Sorry, forgot to add that a 3 year old is still very much a baby and will most likely get more stalliony as he grows up. As long as you are prepared for him to be a proper man
and teach him appropriate stallion manners NOW, then he should be OK as a mature stallion. Horses in Spain are VERY well disciplined, far more so than most people realise when they view all those "perfect" stallions behaving themselves in situations which would be considered extraordinary in England.
 
If you want to keep him entire, set the ground rules NOW, desensatise him NOW. Can you ride him in with a gelding and build it up? He has to learn he is expected to behave, other horses or not.
I knew a PRE stallion. Lovely nature, hacked out with mares and geldings. Owner just ensured he was infront and made it a common occurance, so it was "normal" for him.
I also used to ride a stallion and he ha been taught he was to behave full stop. He had his moments but nothing you couldn't handle.
 
When I was working abroad had the job of riding all the staallions and I have the opinion it's not to do with wether they are gelded or not it's with their training. There was one stallion I fell in love with and I use to lead hacks on him, lead beginners and he was a star. Also if they have never bred before they tend to be easier to handle. And another was crazy and needed two people to handle him.
 
Thank you very much for the replies, it is really useful to hear about other people's experiences.

I luckily got to spend a bit of time out in Spain observing how they work at the studs over there and you are right in that they will stand for NO nonsence whatsoever and I am trying to keep that discipline while allowing him a bit more freedom to be a horse (turnout and being around other horses for example). It's all a bit of a learning curve!

Although I don't envisage doing so in the near future has anyone had any experience when it comes to selling as to whether being kept entire/gelded has an effect?

Thank you!
 
As long as you know that at 3 he is nowhere near fully mature and might (only might!) change considerably in temperament as he gets older.

I think in terms of presence, movement, mane, extra zing in the arena a stallion will almost certainly have the edge. So I guess it depends on how important that is to you.

Personally, I feel that stallions are much maligned in the UK. That said, with my set up at home and the other horses in the area it would be impossible for me to keep a stallion anyway. If you do decide to have him cut, don't leave it too late though.
 
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