question about stallions - pointing sticks/whips at their face?

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Vicki1986

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My question is a little vague as i did struggle to see exactly what was happening as the warm up ring was packed and i was trying desperately to warm up and keep my pony away from several idiots at show yesterday. But can someone explain to me why when handling boisterous stallions people spin them around to face them and hold a schooling whip type thing up high pointed at the horses face? I've never seen this before and wondered why. I saw a couple of different people doing it.
 
Well whenever my boss turns out the stallion at my yard, if its that time of year, Ryan leads Maestro (the stallion) out with the whip in Maestros face, or a stick. Its like a threat I suppose, asin, don't you dare try anything, I never use it when I bring Maestro in as he just seems to behave with me. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I though it was to keep them under control, as a threat perhaps.
 
I've only handled one stallion before., and he was fairly easy.......but if the stallion was being boisterous I wouldn't want it in front of me lol!!

I have no idea....would be interesting to see what people say!

edited to say that when I used to lead Graffy out to the school, I was told by my boss to have a stick (some plastic piping) and if he was 'exhaubarant' (sp) then hold the stick against his face, not smack him or anything but just keep it there by his flashy part........he was never really naughty though, just jogged really

I never stood in front of him though.....death wish?!
 
I don't have any experience handling stallions, but I would have thought holding a threat up to the face of something that might already be thinking about rearing would just encourage it to do so!
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no, i think it's a bit "look, i've got this, remember, and i'll use it if you go up"... not necessarily something i'd do though.
i have never worked out why t.b. stallion men seem to like to get the stallions to rear for pictures - oh wow, yes, it's full of energy and it can rear, just what i want on my mare... does anyone know why they do it? h&h always used to publish pics of rearing stallions at parades etc.
 
I worked at a stud and never saw this being done, presume its a threat, but worryingly where are they going to hit it? across the face?!
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Were they winding the stallions up to go in the ring het up maybe?
 
Where they arabs by any chance - this is quite a normal thing to do with arabs as the whip is used to give then the queue to stand up and pose.
 
I used to work at a stud and definitely wouldn't have wanted a boisterous stallion facing me!!! I always carried a whip when handling them and would use it by their face in order to help direct them i.e leading past a mare whichever side the mare was one the whip would be up near their cheek as a warning to keep them in a stright line.
 
eak hope that this 'threat' isn't carried out at home
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. Sorry that sounds negative but has to witness EX instructors girlfriend cracking my mares uncle on the head for no reason before mounting because she wanted his 'respect', (m_m feels sick and gives up)


Edited to add, Fantasia, that sounds like the proper use of the whip as an aid not an object of fear, handy things when used right
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Yea, maybe its a reminder that they have the whip, don't try anything on. I have found when handling stallions is to not treat them any differantly, its when you wind them up I find that they get a bit hyper. The worst think Maestro has done with me is jog and start singing past a mare. Never pulled me or anything because I just said a sharp oi, made no big deal out of it and kept walking, dragging him with me!
 
thanks, peoples replies make sense i suppose its to help keep control. they were very on their toes and prancy. one looked like an arab type but it was coloured so you get the idea of what it looked like, it was stunning. there were some welsh's too they were all very full of prescence just a bit excited as there were a lot of horses in a packed indoor school!
 
Show horses are trained to stand up in their 'show pose' when the stick is held up towards their face - almost like a target.

They were probably doing that to keep their brains working to stop any disasters if they were packed in tight!
 
It is actually not a threat - or an attention seeking device - the reason is to actually dominate the stallion - to make yourself bigger and taller than the stallion is. In stallion worlds the biggest tallest stallion is the one that wins in a fight so you as an owner need to make yourself bigger in their eyes. In Germany my friend was taught to always handle her Hannovarian stallion like this - stand tall. raise a hand higher and it works. So no they were not all being threatened with a beating from the stick - just being made aware that they are not the most dominant creature there.
 
It's daft to get them to face you, stallions tend to strike out if feeling exuberant so thats asking for trouble!!

When leading our luso boy, if he's on his toes I'll hold a stick in front of his nose as a reminder and then I can bring it to the side of his face if he tries to turn across me. It keeps his front legs on the floor but he does try to bite it if he's cross
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The safest place with a stallion is alongside or slightly behind it, they very rarely kick.
 
I mainly hold a stick to get him to bite IT and not ME! It also draws his attention forwards and keeps him in front of me, so I can be either at or slightly behind his shoulder. Last think I want is for him to get in front of me and face me, he's bloody dangerous with those front legs.
 
In Arab showing, the stick can be used as a 'cue' to ask the horse to 'pose' with its neck stretched out slightly towards the handler, who stands in front of the horse, a few feet away.

When leading a stallion (or indeed any excited, lively horse), the stick can be held across in front of the horse (usually at about chest-height, but where the horse can see it). This is not really a threat but more an extension of the handler/trainer's arm, like putting your hand up - to say 'whoa - don't go past this, stay behind this'. It's to stop the stallion rushing forward or charging off.

I've also held a stick up alongside a stallion when passing mares, other stallions, etc., just to remind him to keep a straight line and not get distracted - again, it's an extension of the handler's arm/hand, not a threat.

Generally, it's not a great idea to stand directly in front of a stallion, as they can strike out in front - there are some exceptions made to this rule in showing Arabs, and I must say I have rarely seen a stallion strike out in this context.

I have only ever owned stallions, and my friends laugh their heads off at me when they ask me to hold or lead their mares and geldings, as I automatically handle every horse as though it were a stallion, and take totally unnecessary precautions all the time! Apparently this looks very amusing, especially when I do it with some perfectly docile old half-asleep riding school plod!
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I have a gelding, not a stallion, but if he's being a bit full of himself to lead I'll often put a hand about a foot in front of his face. I'd never hit him but for some reason it seems to back him off without getting into a tug of war (which I'd lose, he's a big lad & very aware of it) or giving him anything to argue with - I'd assumed it was because he thinks he might walk into it but maybe I was wrong. Whatever the reason I don't care because it works. I'd never stand in front & face him when he's in that mood though!
 
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