Horse Problems: Controlling a Stallion Around Mares

There are a couple of situations where a stallion is a better performer than a gelding. I think particularly of Spanish “dancing” horses, Lippizaners, etc. They perform many maneuvers that take tremendous back-muscles. Generally only a stallion can perform them to perfection. However, in almost all other activities, testosterone is a liability.

Many people want to keep a stallion for his bloodlines but also want to ride and/or compete with the same horse. That becomes a problem if your stallion becomes unruly around other horses. Untrained stallions begin to snort, fight your control, walk on eggshells, and generally become out of control in an effort to approach another horse. Given no restraint, they can hurt their rider, other riders, or get other people and horses hurt.

Not all beautiful boy horses should become breeding stallions. The vast majority, although loved and cherished by their owners, contribute nothing important to the gene pool (in fact might be adding detrimental genes). Unless you are an EXPERT geneticist AND an EXPERT stallion handler, a stallion can be a HUGE LIABILITY. Think it through carefully. It’s expensive. It’s a huge amount of work. It can be very dangerous! (I personally know a woman – a wonderful horsewoman – who had her arm actually bitten off by a stallion she had owned for many years). All of that for a couple of colts that look like Daddy.

If you really want a riding and competing horse, GELD him.

This is a good time to understand natural, wild horse behavior. What keeps a stallion in line in a wild herd? There is no human being there to teach him restraint. He learns to control himself.

In a wild situation, a stallion may approach a mare. However, mares who are not in season or who are already in foal don’t want to be pestered by a stallion. Therefore he is told in no uncertain terms by the mare if she is not ready for breeding. Her ears go back, she swings to bite, and she will ultimately double-barrel kick him if he persists. After experiencing this a few times, any stallion worth his salt will approach respectfully, notice the warning signs, and find a safe distance where he can watch, and even interact with the mares but stay away from non-receptive partners.

Stallions who are raised with other horses as youngsters learn a lot about horse etiquette during their formative years. If they live with geldings, a pecking order is established. If they live with mares, they take instruction from them.

The key to training your stallion how to remain respectful and under your control when you are both around other horses lies in giving him the deterrence training in a controlled situation – a situation you set up in your time, your space, and under your control.

Set up the scenario and be prepared to demonstrate to him what happens when he approaches another horse in a “studdy” way.

See Warwick Schiller’s demo.

From personal experience I can tell you that managing a stallion is difficult. I waited until the last minute to geld a beautiful baroque pinto colt hoping that someone would like to purchase him as a whole stallion. As it became more clear that he would not find that home, I finally gelded him at 27 months.

He was always in a paddock with his 1-year younger brother. The two played, the baby gave him proper deference. However, when his brother went to a new home, the older colt began to change. He got lonely, and with his desperation for companionship, he became pushy and demanding. A larger, younger, or more experienced stallion handler might have found him to be fine, but I was afraid he would eventually run over me, so the decision was made to geld him so that he could go back into the group of horses where he desired to be.

It made all of the difference.

A couple of other considerations

There are a couple of situations where a stallion is a better performer than a gelding. I think particularly of Spanish “dancing” horses, Lippizaners, etc. They do so much tremendous back-muscle work that only a stallion can do it to perfection.

Most boarding facilities will not allow a stallion. They have neither the room, the staff, nor the facilities to keep a stallion. Some municipalities or counties will not allow stallions to be housed unless they have very particular and very secure housing.

Stallions crave the contact of other horses as much as any horse, so keeping them in perpetual isolation only drives them to more and more desperate behavior. Stallions should be raised with other horses where they learn to be polite or meet the other end of another horse. It is good if they can be kept with other horses throughout their life. A nice older gelding is often the best choice.

It is a good idea for your horse to get used to breeding (or being collected) in only one place where only that activity takes place. It is easier for him to decipher when it is or is not appropriate if he has place-specific clues. And he should be allowed to meet and greet the mares in a safe environment. In my humble opinion, pasture breeding is always the best. A natural herd. A natural cycle. Plenty of exercise and natural horse behavior. Or AI will be just fine: no stallion, no mare, no problem.

I say again that not all beautiful boy horses should become breeding stallions.

Stallions can be gelded as early as 10 days old. Ask Pat Parelli, who gelds all of his colts at that early age with NO detrimental affects to development. If you really want a riding and competing horse, GELD him.

Horse training can be dangerous. Not all methods work on all horses. Instruction presented here is not meant to be prescriptive in nature, and Horse-Pros.com takes no responsibility for the welfare of any animal or person using our methods.

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6 thoughts on “Horse Problems: Controlling a Stallion Around Mares

  1. Hello. I acquired a 4 year old mare and her 1 month old stud colt in June. It is now February and I have been working with the colt for 3 weeks at least an hour at a time doing liberty but he keeps running from me. The only way I can get him up close is by sitting down, then he will walk up to me. I have been playing with the halter all over his face and head and he is comfortable with that, even standing up from a sitting position…..but as soon as I try to bring the closure of the halter hr bucks up and leaves. He has been a pushy colt as well. He has been challenging as I have never had a colt or Philly that I couldn’t halter. He needs his feet done so I am frustrated that I ca not even get a halter on him so I can go further with liberty.
    Can u send me a video of a stubborn colt who makes it difficult for you to get ‘close’ and some tips on getting him to soften.
    Basically he would rather run around the pen when I try and approach him even when he stops, faces me and steps one or two steps forward.

    1. Hi Deb: So he is 9 months old now?
      Have you studied the article on first haltering? High Water is also a 9 month old colt being actually haltered for the first time.
      first haltering lessons here
      I think you could benefit from that discussion and might not even need any further tips.

      He must be desensitized to the look and wiggle of the halter before anything else. It sounds like he is fine there. Does he tolerate having his ears rubbed and you playing around with the top of his head? Can you rub his head and “scrub” the top of his head with the halter in hand? Or is it the nose loop sliding on that starts the bucking up? Are you using a rope halter or a nylon halter? Can you cup and rub his muzzle and face without the halter? I’m not sure of exactly where he starts the serious objecting.

      What do you do when he bolts off? Do you ask him to circle the round pen again so that he finds that his action causes him to be told to move. Then he can make a decision about the two activities: “Do I like to run around the pen, or would I rather stand still?”

      I’m not a fan of sitting in the round pen to get him to come to you – especially with some stud colts who can take dangerous advantage of that. If you are making yourself smaller (sitting) so that he is not intimidated, then you are doing something wrong with the round penning and join up when you are standing. Try not sitting but turning your back on him when he stops. That will make you less intimidating without tieing your legs together. (You can keep an eye on his demeanor kind of serrupticiously by sneaking peaks if you don’t trust him to approach gently.)

      This whole exercise should not take an hour. He should circle the round pen at liberty for just a few minutes, then stop and join up. Start the haltering process then. You should be able to do this at least 10 times in an hour. Each time he stops you try to halter. Each time he runs off you make him circle at a canter 4-5 times around the pen. Then start over.
      I have occasionaly had to use some “creative” ways to catch and halter a colt. Unfortunately I don’t have any videos.

      The most successful “trick” has been to round pen the guy for a few minutes, turn my back on him when he stops so he will approach me (or slowly back up to him at the edge of the round pen), reach behind me and start running my hand from point of shoulder up his neck to behind his ears while still facing away. After a few sessions of this, I repeat the process with the halter in my hand – now rubbing up his neck with the halter dangling (I use a rope halter because it is less “big” and intimidating.)

      Don’t ask too much. Ask that he stand still and get rubbed. If you can turn your body a little toward him over time, do that. But if not, it is possible to halter him almost exclucively from this backward positiion as you can mount the nose of the halter with your left hand and slide the tie up with your right hand that has made its way up to his ears. Don’t actually tie it at first. Get him used to having it mounted on his nose and dragged up a tad, then release the pressure.

      Rub his face. As he gets more tolerant, start reaching (rubbing) under his jaw with your left hand after you have mounted the nose loop, because that hand will eventually have to send the halter up the far side of his face and over his ears to meet your right hand. After a few sessions of this activity, you can usually manage to tie the halter in place. Tie it quickly even if not tight. Just make it secure enough that it won’t fall off. It is not necessary to leave it on him or try to control him with it at first. Just get him used to wearing it for a minute and then take it off. If he bolts with it tied, let him take a few turns around the round pen again, then back up to him and repeat the whole procedure to take it off.

      I hope this helps.

      I am going to copy this question to the “first halter” page in case anyone else needs some extra help.

    1. It is true that most Americans are not fond of stallions as riding horses. We meet many more Mexican riders that ride them. There are pros and cons, depending on the horse’s temperament, the rider’s abilities, and the purpose for keeping the horse uncut.

  2. Hello, Maybe it’s time to geld my stallion. He just this week started balking with me after my neighbor brought her mare over. The purpose was to help him get used to being around mares. I’ve had him since he was two. He’s going on ten. I’m going on 74. He got balky around the mare. I had a trainer with me. I was riding. Then the next day. He put the brakes on when I wanted to take a right lead canter. This was a problem for us when I first started riding him. Now he’s re-visited the issue I guess to test whether or not I’ll let him get to the mare. She’s in a stall on the other side of a fence which separates my property from my neighbor’s. When he balks, he threatens a rear. He hasn’t done it yet, but could. I’ve been able to get him out of it with a lot of work. I can’t keep doing this at my age, I believe. What do you think?

    1. Hi Carole:
      I understand that he has never been bred? If that is the case, geld him now, give him 6 months to drop his testosterone level, and he will probably become manageable again. (In the meantime, he MUST be moved away from the mare who is triggering his behavior. That situation is untenable if you want him to calm down.)

      If he is a stallion who HAS been bred, it is a little more tricky. You should geld him for sure, but his behavior may be harder to change. He’s tasted the “fruits of another”. More pushy, unmanageable behavior is common in late-gelded, previously-bred horses,, and owners must really keep the training going during the cooling off process.

      I take it that he is not pastured with other horses, which is a nicer life for any horse. But if you wish to let him socialize with a small herd (after the 6 months), you must supervise carefully to see how he interacts. First try other geldings or a group with a strong, dominant mare who will keep him in check. I highly recommend that all horses in the group be barefoot in case he irritates them into kicking him. And take his shoes off in case he kicks someone else.

      Let us know how it goes

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