Stallion and Stud owners

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eventing_chick

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I am desperate. My TB stallion whom i have owned and ridden since a 3yo (he's 8 now) has become unmanageable.
He has always had the best of tempraments and has always been treated as the other event horses with obvious care taken in potentally challenging situations.
He has recently had a period of enforced rest due to a bone chip and i've tried to bring him back into work but he dam nearly got me off the other day and he has never reared or bucked before (and i've sat a lot of bad b*****s)
I know it's his horemones and he needs to s**g something but as he is not currently at public stud it's not that simple.
We have mares at home which i'm in no doubt sets him off.
I am deeply cocerned now about being able to contol him at competitions and possibly the danger i would put someone in if he where to become loose.
He has always been a gent and i'm truely devastated that don't feel confident even to handle him currently as he caught me when he got giddy the other day and has now damaged my shoulder and as this re-occured when leading him today i need to find a stud to take him on as we're a small yard and i have a soon to be toddling baby i need some advice,suggestions? (gelding is not an option as at this point in his maturity as it is unlikely to make any real differance)
Please stallion people, what do i do?
 
Is he back in proper work now?
Is he turned out?
How does he behave on the lunge?

I'm not sure I agree gelding wouldnt make a difference- how sucessful is he in competition?
 
My friend has a horse at a show jumping yard where they had a stallion who became difficult to manage and his hormones got the better of him. They had him castrated (he's 10 yr old) and the difference was amazing within a short time.
Are you intending to use him at stud? If not it may be worth considering castration for his sake and yours.
 
Catherston Dougal was castrated at the age of 8 (or was it 9, I've forgotten
blush.gif
), he was still a beast for a while (obviously), but the difference in him after a period had passed was appreciable.
 
He's fine out
At the moment he's a nightmare to lead anywhere.
I have it on vetanary advice that gelding is unlikly to make any significant improvment to him being so 'horney'
and yes he is a good young event horse,he has points and qual parvo
 
It's interesting you both say that.
He was kept entire to be a stud horse,hes supposed to pay for the eventing!
Having him cut is not in my plan.
 
If he is difficult will people want to use him? temperament is so important and if you end up only getting a handful of mares is it worth it?
What level is he eventing at ?
 
if your aiming him at an eventing market then why not consider getting semen frozen and then have him cut.

also what kind of bone chip surgery has he had?
 
Well he really wasn't difficult till about a month ago he has always been outstanding because of it!
He is currently novice as he missed his 7yo year whilst i had a baby.

Opie, we trid last year...the bloody stuff does't freeze at all well.
 
hmm , a difficult one , some stallions can be succesfully kept doing mainly competition work with the odd mare in between , some travel , stable and work alongside mares with no trouble at all . but its still my personal opinion that if you have an entire stallion then he should be doing what hes there for and thats being a stallion , he has b***s for a reason and keeping him and not using him will lead to frustration unless hes an absolute saint , but in your stallions case he has always been kept this way i presume , so its more likely hes over fresh and naughty after his box rest , does he have turn out? i,d stick with him , have two people to lead him , lunge before riding him , and i certainly wouldnt compete him untill i was absolutely certain he was managable , you have a duty of care to other competitors .
if he remains unmanagable or unrideable i would geld him , i cant see many mare owners paying good money for a naughty stroppy hormonal stallion , we had our entire working stallion gelded at 9 years due to an unfortunate accident that would prevent him being used for breeding and he was a good deal calmer and less one track minded
tracy
 
sorry , just re read your post properly and you arent planning to ride him at mo , good luck with your hunt for a stud to take him , let us know how you get on
tracy
 
my stallion,if in the stable for any longer than two day, is a nightmare, he gets bored and does anything he can to show me, he can be pushy, spends more time jumping around like an idiot.if you could turn your boy out for the day it may help, my boy is now out full time next to mares that he has covered and couldnt be happier. he is a baby to handle now.boredom is not good for stallion or any horse for that matter.
 
Are you likely to be using him as a stallion this season? Do you hope to be eventing him again this season?

The reason I ask is that if you are not competing him or planning on using him then surely there are supplements you can add to his feed?

I can't remember the name of the product this morning, but hopefully someone on here might now. What was it that they used to give the soldiers in the world wars so that they didn't get horny in the trenches? Basically it's a powder which takes away the desire to mate. It is NOT competition legal and you would need to check how it affects their fertility. I know my friend was given some by the vet for her mare when she was on prolonged box rest and it helped to calm her and make her more manageable.

To be honest it sounds like you are now a little bit frightened by him which horses can sense and will take advantage of.

The most important thing here is to get the temperament of your stallion back. I'm not sure I can think of many people who would want to take on a naughty stallion for you so maybe you have to knock this season on the head, speak to your vet and see what your options are.
 
Sounds like any other horse that has been on enforsed rest and coming back into work .... doesnt help that this time of year makes them a bit sparkier!!
I think it is a bit harsh to say gelding him is the answer ...now he is coming back into work can you cut out any feed to just haty and water, what is he like hacking just bite the bullet and take him for long long walks till he gets his head right ...Quite rightly be cautious about him getting you off .
I have ridden lots of stallions from box rest to work ( worked at rehab swim pool) they do come right if you put the miles in rather than the schooling which winds them up.
 
Before you consider anything more drastic, I would try turning him out - at least all day, every day, if not 24/7 - and cutting his feed right back.

He sounds pretty much like any fresh horse coming off box rest to me, with just the added hormonal factor to complicate things.

If his behaviour does not improve with plenty of turn-out and cutting the feed, then you have to reconsider.

It would help for us to know a bit more about him - what level is he at in eventing? Has he been used at stud? Did he get many outside mares? What are you feeding him?

Most of his behaviour at the moment just sounds like normal post-box-rest excess energy, so I think gelding would be a bit drastic, but if he is not being used at stud, and becoming increasingly frustrated, then it would be kinder to geld him IMO.
 
We bought a gelding a few years ago who had been gelded at 9 .
He was cheap because they couldn't handle him.
We waited until we we certain breeding was impossible then turned him out in a mixed herd for over a year. He soon learned how to behave and afterwards could be grazed in company of mares/geldings or mixed. His only stallion like tendencies were to keep a few mares as his own little herd.
After another year he was as normal a gelding as the rest, so don't discount castrating him. yes it's a big op and you need as we had the facilites fro him to slowly calm down again.
The other option is if you aren't using him can't the vet give him some hormones to calm him down a bit?
It's difficult but unless he is a particularly nice stallion sadly you may have to have him pts if no other option.
If it's just lack of covering and he is a lovely horse try ringing a few of the studs, they may stand him for you.
It sounds like a combination of your circumstances not really suiting him anymore, and his injury hasn't helped either.
Are you sure he hasn't got any other problem like his back since his lay off? our stallion can also buck for England, but luckily rarely does!
I think the situation re controlling at comps will always be there with any stallion, we worry if the rider falls off what he might do, but the only time he got up after a fall, and stood looking at her on the floor!
I do take a portable fence to put round him, in the hope that he may respect the tape and stay inside if he ever got loose, but also to keep other riders away too. when he is tied up.
I hope you find somewhere for him, our stallion is only a loan one, so you might find a small stud somewhere with more time who are prepared to sort out his issues.
Just a thought, does he get turned out?
our chap is out around 8 hours a day at least, yes he runs the fences but he is very fit!
 
Just wanted to add 3 of my stallions were particularly difficult yesterday. Today they are back to normal. One of them is also on box rest but a long lasting (6 wks) light sedative has definately taken the edge off him. Hope things turn around for you.
 
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