Stallion attack

It has happened occasionally in the New Forest when somebody has ridden a gelding too close to a stallion's mares. Any New Forest stallion guilty of attacking in this way is removed from the Forest though and local people know not to ride too close to a group of mares with a stallion as well. The more usual scenario is a mock charge but no harm done if you yell and move away.
 
It's happened to me 6 weeks ago.A Shetland stallion appeared in my neighbours field,it climbed over a wire fence,through a hedge,through my electric fence and tried to kill my yearling gelding.It chased him until he jumped into my other neighbours field .Luckily it only managed to bite him on the chest and he cleared the fence.Since then the Shetland has spent all day every day throwing itself at the fence,for some reason it has chosen my yearling as it's target and is not as interested in other horse.I have put up a six foot high fence but the little horror tries to climb over it!
 
I have a been to a yard (not kept my horse there) where the stallion was kept behind a single strand of taped electric with just those plastic posts. Always made me a little nervous, especially as the stallion would run up and down the fence wildly whenever a mare -- such as the one who's owner I was teaching -- was led past, and his paddock was on the track between the barn and the school so there was no way to avoid him if you wanted to use the school. The yard owner always insisted he was fine, he respects the electric. Aye right.
 
Breaking out to get to mare would be the more common scenario, but I know of fence-bustingly aggressive attacks on geldings too, so it can happen. In one case, the gelding was in a fenced field the other side of a narrow lane and sensibly defused the situation by himself by pootling off to the other side of his field rather than hanging about at the fence. Typically stallions aren't that bothered by other males as long as they aren't seen as rivals for mares, but occasionally a stallion can take a particular dislike to an individual that seems irrationally extreme to us.
 
Maybe someone can explain this. My Highland stallion is unusually quiet. Small children ride him. He is taken out from his mares, spruced up to go to a show where everyone thinks he is a gelding, then back home and in with the mares.

Last year he was nurse maid to a couple of yearling colts and a gelding. That works well because the colts acquire manners! Duties over, he was then put back in with the mares. Recently, he was taken away from the mares again and put in with the two same colts and the gelding. There was some chasing around but they soon settled down. One colt (2yo) walked up to the stallion and did the foal mouthing behaviour and was accepted immediately.

Then I introduced a yearling colt (born June 2013) the stallion has not met since a foal. They did initially meet through the gate and all seemed to be well. But when I opened the gate, the stallion chased the yearling around the field and I feared for his life. I managed to shut the stallion off but then the leading 2yo colt took over the bullying. So the yearling is now in with the girls (all heavily pregnant, so no risks there!) and peace is restored.

I'm in a bit of a quandary as I'd like all the boys to run together as it makes life a lot easier and the stallion keeps everyone in order. (The colts have been left entire to get a bit of shape -- which is working -- and are scheduled to be gelded autumn 2014). But what do I do? The stallion has always got on well with other males, even refusing to load on one occasion until he knew a small Welsh stallion he had befriended over night would be going on the same trailer! They were grooming each other over the stable partition! Could it be the yearling's colour? He is a rather nice yellow (which has a fancy name I can't remember, cream dun?).

Any suggestions? Sorry to hijack the thread!
 
Dry Rot said:
Maybe someone can explain this. My Highland stallion is unusually quiet. Small children ride him. He is taken out from his mares, spruced up to go to a show where everyone thinks he is a gelding, then back home and in with the mares.

Last year he was nurse maid to a couple of yearling colts and a gelding. That works well because the colts acquire manners! Duties over, he was then put back in with the mares. Recently, he was taken away from the mares again and put in with the two same colts and the gelding. There was some chasing around but they soon settled down. One colt (2yo) walked up to the stallion and did the foal mouthing behaviour and was accepted immediately.

Then I introduced a yearling colt (born June 2013) the stallion has not met since a foal. They did initially meet through the gate and all seemed to be well. But when I opened the gate, the stallion chased the yearling around the field and I feared for his life. I managed to shut the stallion off but then the leading 2yo colt took over the bullying. So the yearling is now in with the girls (all heavily pregnant, so no risks there!) and peace is restored.

I'm in a bit of a quandary as I'd like all the boys to run together as it makes life a lot easier and the stallion keeps everyone in order. (The colts have been left entire to get a bit of shape -- which is working -- and are scheduled to be gelded autumn 2014). But what do I do? The stallion has always got on well with other males, even refusing to load on one occasion until he knew a small Welsh stallion he had befriended over night would be going on the same trailer! They were grooming each other over the stable partition! Could it be the yearling's colour? He is a rather nice yellow (which has a fancy name I can't remember, cream dun?).

Any suggestions? Sorry to hijack the thread!
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Perhaps as the stallion has not seen the yearling since he was a foal, he thought of him as a rival because he was not in 'his' herd? Most stallions raised correctly get on with most other horses (as yours evidently does), but he is still an animal who may see the yearling as a 'threat' to 'his' herd, and therefore try to protect his herd by any means necessary (a hard wired instinct). This could be especially apparent if your stallion is getting on in years, which could indicate that he feels threatened by a younger male.

Just a guess but I do understand your dilemma, having a gelding-like stallion myself. :)
 
I had a gelding-like stallion who used to particularly dislike Arabs and Part-breds. He used to charge for them, chase them away, bite and kick. He was next to my Anglo-Arab mare for a while, and although he initially hated her, he got over it eventually and they were put in the same field as each other after a long time of socialising. He did keep her in her place though, bless her.

So it can work out but given extra time to interact with a safe barrier in between, and maybe positive re-enforcement given when appropriate.
 
DR - bearing in mind that horse 'language' is based on subtleties that we mere humans couldn't hope to pick up on, I would assume that there was something in the manner of the new colt that your stallion and his sidekick felt required disciplining. I doubt it was the colour.
You might find that your mares iron out the issue in their own way and allow you to re-introduce the colt at a later date.
 
I have a stallion + 3 mares in the field opposite me, they are inadequately fenced and the stallion did get out into another field with 2 mares (not mine, thankfully) and caused absolute mayhem as they then broke out of that field onto the road. Although the owner is an experienced person she is just slapdash and everything is done on the cheap. However, what worries me most is the stallion is a coloured youngster, part WB, I believe but he has nothing that in my view would make him good for breeding purposes and the mares are nothing special either. I just feel we have too many poorly bred horses on the market already.
 
I am fascinated by stallion behaviour. My two boys Shagya and CB both dislike my Highland Pony gelding. The Shagya does not like my old ?? part-bred CB gelding but the CB stallion does not see him as a threat.

My CB stallion dislikes one of my CB mares intensely but is as gentle as can be with all the others.

`I only have double strand electric fencing. The stallions are very respecting of the barrier. I keep them several fields a part though. They are always stabled beside a favourite mare with a grill between and get loads of turn out in big fields with plenty of grass.

They are happy horses.
 
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