Stallion Fencing

[Littlemissfusspot]

Hi eveyone, advice needed please!!

I have a youngster that I plan to keep entire and eventually, breed from.

I have plenty of experience dealing with stallions, but none of them have been allowed much freedom and I want mine to be allowed out!

I worked with stallions in France and Germany and they're treated far more like ordinary horses than they are over here and are allowed out near mares and with other geldings as standard with little more than normal fencing in between.

I only have one large field which I want to split in two, one for my colt and his gelding friend (who will stay with him as long as they're happy) and the other for two mares. I have strong, solid wooden fence posts, 7ft high with thick electric fencing every foot. I also plan to put high electric fence posts with two strands of fencing 8ft away on the mares side so that they can never be closer than 8ft.

Is this enough? One of the mares is the colts mother so I can't afford any accidents.... Any advice?

 

[LazyS]

I had my stallion from 5 months old. He is now 6. Kept him with a gelding - who is a year older than him, until the play just got too rough and the gelding started taking it out on me! Now they are separated by an 'Avenue' of electric fencing, about 8 feet apart, higher on the stallions side, which is on the side of a hill, so not difficult. He has also worn a trench the full stretch where he has paced up and down over the last 3 years! Anyway I also have a mare, not in foal this year, and their yearling son (who was gelded in Feb). Despite the old bag being raging in season twice this year and throughout the winter (probably because of their close proximity), he won't come through the fences. He does seem to be growing up now and accepts that as long as he can see everyone he is doing as much as he can to protect them! He has even given up the marching up and down, realises it is futile. But I know if he set his mind to it he could go through it or probably UNDER it. I have seen him duck his head under and lift it up in the past. The field is roughly divided into thirds (I am constantly being ribbed about my 'straight' lines of fencing - or rather they are not!). Anyway the stallion is in the bottom away from the road the gelding is in the middle, and the mare and yearling are at the top next to the road. This seems to be working well. The electric fencing I use is white 20mm tape with electric fencing wire to strengthen it and keep the current flowing - it is at the top of a hill and gets VERY windy up there, the tape flaps in the wind and breaks the thin wire running through it, hence the back-up fence wire. It will all break if crashed into, which seems to be quite an important issue with youngsters around. The boys are out 24/7. And the other two have been out at night for the last 2 weeks - as I am fed up of mucking out. I have to say that the stallion is happier out all the time and I treat him like a normal horse until he reminds me he is not! But I can get on his back and ride him from the field even if I don't ride him very frequently. I think I would be a bit more wary of all the pent up energy if he were stabled. He recently spent two weeks at a local stud being dummy trained and they kept him in most of the time and he was definitely affected by the confinement but has settled back to his 'routine' now. Hope that helps you with yours. Good luck and enjoy him.