I do not own a stallion, nor have I ever owned one and I don't plan on doing so.
I was just wondering, for those of you who do own a stallion, where do you house him?
This is mainly geared toward those who have breeding programs of their own with mares and multiple stallions.
How many stallions do you own?
Do you run the stallions all together or do you give them their own individual pastures? Do you run them with geldings? Do you not have "herds" that you put out together?
Just curious as I assume you don't run them with the mares :wink:
I have one stallion right now, though I have had up to 3 at one time. It depends on the stallion whether he can be with another one or not and it depends on how big the pastures are. I had one that would not tolerate another stallion and really preferred no geldings, so had to be pastured alone or with bred mares. The stallion I have now, has 1 colt and 1 gelding for company and would have cheerfully tolerated another grown stallion but the other would not have it. So, the objecting stallion is now a gelding and in the mare herd and the stallion has a boy herd. When stalled, he has a nice stallion stall and is stalled in the same barn as all the other horses. The 3rd stallion I sold for being too pushy and he's now a lovely saddle gelding.
I had a 2 1/2 QH stallion and won a lovely little grey 16 mo. old Arabian stallion at a silent auction. My QH, Tag, was an easy going fella - never had any problems with any of the horses, and since he'd never been bred, he wasn't even studly. At most, he was mildly interested in mares in heat. I stalled the Arab in a pipe stud pen outside the barn with a shade - only because there weren't any open stalls in the barn.
One day, I put the Arab out in the back turn-out (about 150x200 ft) that connected to the back of the barn. I was mucking out stalls, and suddenly I head horsey screams and the thunder of hooves. I race out to see what's going on.
Tag - my lovely, sweet, 1100 lb boy evidently decided to let himself out to meet the new kid. Rusar, maybe 700 lbs, is chasing Tag, biting at his butt and flanks. Suddenly, Tag pops up on the back end, kicks out and CRACK! I yell, and my sweet boy comes racing back to me. I push the swing gate open and he trots back to his stall and hides in the corner. He couldn't understand why the little guy was So Mean!!!
Rusar was shaking his head and blood was flying everywhere. I go running out to him, sure his nose is broke. Quick check, nothing broke except his small, studly ego. He was gelded as soon as he turned 2!
I have one miniature donkey stallion.
He divides his time between running with our full-size geldings and guarding our male goats.
Our one miniature mare (who has a 2 month old colt at her side) divides her time between running with the geldings and being with our female goats/kids.
Each pasture has its own shelter.
We rotate pastures/herds quite a bit, so everyone gets along with everyone.
The mare and donkey will get some time together in about May or June for a 2016 mini mule foal.
Can I ask, related to this, what makes a stallion stall a stallion stall, other than its resident?
I like lots of airflow through my barn and to that end, I have pipe panel "walls" for everyone except the stallion stalls. They are made with 4 X 4 posts, 2 X 6 lumber 5 ft tall and have heavy mesh screens that go up to 10 ft, so the stallion can be next to anyone and no "hanky panky" is possible. I use the 2nd stallion stall for a beyotchy mare who likes to lunge as other horses go down the aisle. She's a peach everywhere else but once she's in her stall, Katy bar the door, if another horse is led past her stall. So, I've fixed her so she can't threaten anyone.
I have one at present, have had as many as 5 at once. My 'stallion stalls' are pretty much the same as the mare stalls, other than the attached paddocks with 6 ft board fence and hottape. Any I have raised have lived in groups with other stallions or geldings. Any I bought that hadn't been raised that way were carefully introduced to a companion if amenable, usually geldings or barren mares. The one I have at present likes to have his sons for companions til they are sold.
I own one stallion, who is a very agreeable boy and thankfully quite easy to handle. He was raised pasture breeding mares, so that is what I let him do with my own mares and he is a gentleman. He is currently boarded at another barn for training, where he is kept alone bordering other horses. He is extremely respectful of fences, we keep three strands of hot wire, which is more than he has ever had for fencing. The BO told me one day she tried putting him out with a gelding, which made me nearly have a heart attack considering I've only had him for a year and didn't know how he is with geldings, but she said all he did was sniff him for a good while, then left him alone. Really was NOT her call to make, but the two of them are stalled next to each other and hadn't had any adverse reactions to each other thus far.
When he gets back home he will have a paddock with a run-in stall to share with one of his mares that he bred this year, and she will be with him through foaling as that mare will be rebred on her foal heat.
I know a lot of people look at pasture breeding as a sort of taboo, but honestly it is what works best with him and he has been with his mares and foals for the majority of his life. If he has a son next year, they will likely stay together until the colt is sold. I will need to get a new stallion in my breeding program in the next few years, so I would like to pasture the two of them together over winter and during the off season, so time will tell. Posted via Mobile Device
We have had up to three. No stalls all pasture raised and except one an immense respect for electric. The one with none walks through no matter how hot, how many strands or type of carrier. He is gelded now. It wasn't that he would indiscriminately bred ours but that he would make a run for the perimeter fencing in a far pasture to scream after a neighbor's older mare. He always knew when she was in heat. Perimeter fencing was a mix of panels, stand off wire and two strands of wire topping. He'd pass our other stallion's herd and ignore those mares. Even after a year of that stallion's death he pointedly ignores those mares but still keeps his close. We have big enough pastures the herds would be run together at times with no problems. Young stock and geldings fit in wherever they could or would hang out together. They tolerate each others sons and coveted each others daughters. The third is pastured on another property because of his size. he is a dream to handle but because of his size I can't take any chances mixing him. He has a mare for a companion that is sterile.
The paint lived with a gelding until he decided that having a gelding for a girlfriend was better than nothing (he was 4 or 5) then he had to start living by himself but still shared fence lines with other horses. He was never kept in a stall but had access to one. At night I'd put the mares in a smaller pasture and let him out in the big one. I didn't breed all the mares every year so he couldn't live in the mare herd.
Both are geldings now and the mini still lives with the mare and the one daughter I kept. The paint lives his dam and another mare. What's funny is that his dam is the lowest in pecking order when she's out with any horse on this farm except him. Separated for 9 years and while he's bossy with the other horses he still takes backseat to her. The gelding he tried to make his girlfriend still hates him. LOL
Typing all that reminds me of how old they are all getting, how depressing.
My boys all live out together happily for the most part. One could get a bit funny with Ricky but that's not a problem any more. They are in 18 aches and are happy and away from girls. At the minute there are 3 of them and the are more then happy with geldings.
I have one stallion and a stud jack who love each other. They are across the farm from the other horses only because my sisters pony wants to get in his pasture if she can see him and that wouldn't be good since she is so small. But he is fence to fence with our neighbors horses and we haven't had any problems with it. We don't stall our horses at all but if we put them in the barn at all he can be in any one of them.
I work on a breeding facility and we house our stallions in a barn for stallions only. Regular style barn. When we turn them out, they are in paddocks close to one another but not close enough that they can reach one another and fight. They are housed clods to mares but cannot get to them. We handle them enough that they have great manners. And never get into the "breeding" mind much till they come to our dummy.
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