What can I do with my stallion?

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I have owned my Arab stallion for 16 years and he has always lived happily with geldings for company. For the last two years he has been in England living on full livery. Recently a mare was put in a field 100 metres away and the inevitable happened! He became more and more difficult to handle and finally broke through a hedge when the mare was being led past his field and tried to mount her. He caused some injury to the mare and to a young child walking with the mare. Two questions: 1. The YO is holding me responsible for the vet bills and full livery billl for the mare whilst she requires medication. Is this normal? 2. He is being kept 24/7 in his stable now and I exercising him as much as I can to try to keep him sane but i have so far been unable to find anywhere else I can take him. Has anyone any suggestions? Everyone is stallion phobic! I have called a equine veterinary practice for advice on castrating him but he is 19 years old. Willl this make any difference in finding him a new home? I am desperate...
 
Owning and keeping a stallion at livery in this country is very difficult as most yards do not have suitable facilities and do not want the responsibility if anything should go wrong.
I think in this case the YO should have realised that your horse was reacting to the presence of the mare and taken some precautions to prevent the incident,I assume the hedge was not also fenced and temptation got the better of him.I feel that as he was on full livery this is her responsibility, not yours as it would be her making the day to day decisions.
I took on a young stallion at livery in Jan.this year as his owner lost her grazing and no other yard would take him in until he was gelded, I turned him out with two older pony geldings ,he settled really well,I have no mares in my yard, he then had his operation and in the spring she moved him to a yard nearer home.
Not much help for you but maybe approach a stud in your area they might be grateful for some extra income and be able to take him in.
 
Is there a reason he is entire? If not then I would get him chopped - it will make him much easier to home (around here I don't know of any livery yards that would take a stallion or have the facilities to - state of fencing really!). Alternatively, sometimes yards just take geldings, maybe they would be more willing to have him stay?

Do you have insurance for him - these guys would be the ones to speak to as regards your liability for him getting in with the mare. If not, are you a member of BHS or similar? Worth a call to a equine legal advice line to see where you stand on this - your/YO responsibilities regarding safety of turnout, where mares are put esp in season etc.

Wishing you all the best for this tricky situation!
 
Yes, it is very difficult indeed to find a livery which will accomodate stallions, or if they do, have the experience to handle and manage them properly (as you have found out). At 19 years old I would think it would be a bit traumatic to castrate him, could you perhaps find a dressage or competition yard which might be better set up to keep stallions?
 
My thoughts are you are keeping your stallion in a full livery situation where you do not have control over the day to day running of the place. The YO does, therefore she is the one making the decisions, good or bad. In this case it was a bad decision she made, not only putting a mare so close to your stallion but presumably having a young girl handling the mare when your stallion managed to get out. Legally I don't know where you stand but it seems to me that it was the YO, not you, who was negligent here. Standard practice on most yards is that all horses, people and belongings are taken onto a yard at the owners own risk so really the mare owner is responsible for any vet fees (although if her mare was also on full livery it could be argued that the YO should be responsible for this also).

You should speak to a good equine vet regarding castrating your stallion. 19 is old to be gelded. Personally I wouldn't have a horse of that age gelded and would try to find more suitable accommodation for him but as you say it can be difficult. Sorry you are in this pickle and hopefully you can find a solution.
 
I agree. It is the Y/O who is liable here... she set the whole situation up really - by turning the mare out where she did ...and also the handler of the mare for chosing to walk her mare in such close proximity to an entire male. She had other options even if there wasn't another route - like requesting that your boy was bought in / held while she led her mare past.

Yes, your boy broke out of his field but this was provided by the yard owner and the fencing was obviously inadequate.
 
Would definately speak to someone regarding the legal side of it, personally it appears that the YO was negligent, she knew he was a stallion, she made the decision to put a mare in a field close to the stallion and also didn't do anything about the mare being led past the field that was also in her care, there are several points here where this could have been avoided quite easily.
From a stallion point of view afraid I'm of the view that if they're not using them they should lose them, as you haven't mentioned why he's still a stallion that is just my opinion, as someone else has suggested maybe try and find a local stud or try every yard you never know who may be able to help. We did get someone asking us but we knew that our fencing wasn't suitable for a stallion and it would have restricted his grazing to only when the other horses weren't out and/or the indoor school (we only have 2 geldings and 8 mares), the owner decided this wasn't suitable.
Don't admit liability and speak to someone with legal knowledge.
 
If there was only a hedge between him and a mare it was negligent of your YO to put a mare next door...

ETA: I used to work with a stallion and he had his own paddock. With 6ft fencing and then around the outside of his field, there was tape leaving a gap 2.5m wide so he couldn't touch his next door neighbours. Even at that mares were not allowed to be turned out in the field next door to him.
I would be asking your YO why she did something so stupid as to put a mare next door to him and allow a young girl to bring the mare in. Sounds like the YO is pushing the blame onto you to cover her back tbh.

Find somewhere else that will accomodate him. There must be a stud, or dressage yard near you that will take him on livery?
 
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We have an Andalusian stallion on our yard.

He's stabled night and day when here, when he's at home with his owner she allows him out in the field with her geldings.

I agree with those that say the YO should be held responsible for negligence. I can imagine thats not going to be a pleasant conversation :(
 
So the other mare that was put in this field was not another livery and no other mares have been within 100 meters of where he's always been grazing?

Sounds like the YO is trying to get you to folk out for what he or she is being asked to pay by the other owners, but if the YO instructed them to turn the pony out in a field too close to him and didn't warn the other owners (childs parents) then surely the YO is negligant for either not having a safely fenced field or some kind of health and safety/common common sense aspect if having a stallion on a yard, is this place a proper licenced livery yard, do they not have insurance?

You could just have him gelded, we had 18yr stallion gelded and there was no issues, so it is something you could think about doing in the near future.

Has he spent most of his life covering mares?
 
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You have my sympathy, I have owned stallions in the past and yards in this country just arn't set up for them.
That or you lack experianced grooms, it is just not fun.
Unless your keeping him entire for a reason, i would castrate. It will make your live and his so much more pleasant.
I had my guy castrated at 10 even though i hated doing it it was the right thing to do.
 
Thanks for all the advice and support. Have spoken to two vets this afternoon and they both think it should not be too much more of a risk for the op. I think I must go this route and then hopefully find him a new, happy, quiet home.
 
I have owned and run a livery yard (35 liveries) and keep my own seven stallions all on the same premisies ...but very separate.

Your YO is totally responsible for the safety of any one or any livestock on the premises.

To turn a mare out in a field next door to a stallion with only a hedge separating them is wholly irresponsible. The stallion owner (you) the mares owner and the injuried party should and are entitled to claim against the yard for negligance leading to severe health and safety issues.

By accepting and agreeing to take in a stallion, the YO must make the necessary preparations to house and keep safe the stallion, all other livestock, staff, clients and general visitors, by providing a safe and secure stable, enclosure and providing signage warning that the horse housed in that particular stable is a stallion. her risk assesment must be updated and all clients on the yard must be made aware of the rules and regulations and safety issues regarding the stallion. ( I know this sounds all OTT as your stallion is probably as meek as a gelding, but a stallion is a stallion and must be respected by all as such)

because of the risk, special needs and requirements that is needed most YO would not allow stallions on their yards, and afterall it is not the normal in the UK to have a stallion unless it is used for breeding)

For my stallions I have 14x14 boxes with grills and a small 14x25 adjoining enclosure at the back of each stable for the stallion to be able to wander in or out, as they are not turned out for huge long periods. The turnout paddocks have 7ft high deer fencing with a 3ft wide and 4ft high hedge on the inside to a) make a bit of a wind break and b) make them look a bit more pleasing. The stallions are turned out in the afternoons after schooling / covering etc for 4 hrs each - during which time during the summer all mares are either brought in or are turned out in the paddocks across the road. In the winter this doesn't cause too much of a problem but I would never turn a mare out in the next field. It takes a lot of logistics to house both mares and stallions and it would appear that your YO does not have the experiance or knowledge to be able to livery a stallion.

Your best bet would be to talk to dressage/ studs and or comp yards as these do tend to have the facilities that you require. At 16yrs it is a pointless exercise to castrate as he has been a stallion far too long and the problems arising from castration at that age would be far too problematic.
 
gelding him at this stage in life wont change his mind set much because he has been a stallion too long, but at least he will be a gelding so therefore you would find more available livery for him and someone might be interested in him. Doesnt it just annoy you when as soon as something happens it is the owners fault, never the other parties involved, it does my head in!
 
In response to those saying try a competition yard - bear in mind not all competition yards have experience of stallions. I sent my boy to a competition yard, run by someone who had showjumped, who reassured me there was no problem. Sounded very convincing. Worst decision I ever made and she completely ruined him. We did 'get him back' when we moved to a small yard run by someone sane and sensble who wasn't frightened of him but it took time and my boy who would be led past mares on a headcollar and leadrope spent some time in chiffneys and bridles. I wouldn't keep another stallion on livery in the UK, ever again.
 
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