I would like to see a thread started on the ups and down of breeding and training a stallion. I am sure there are alot of members that own and have worked with Stallion that could give alot of advise.
I forgot to add a poll to my first thread on this subject.
Cathy C

sorry I can't seem to figure out how to start a poll on a new thread. Anyone?
Cathy C

Cathy;

just scroll down before you hit submit reply. You will see "Ad a poll" click that then submit and it will take you to your poll question. I always click 4 options unless I only know I will need two.

Just to be safe.

Does anyone have any opinions on what time of year is best to train a stallion? I think I might try to start my stallion in the fall. He is pretty busy in the spring and early summer.

Has anyone here ever trained a stallion before? Do your methods change? Any advise would be appreciated.

As far as training him for riding I would do it like any other horse. The only thing that I would do different is make sure he knows that it is unacceptable for him to nicker, look, at other horses/mares. When he is under saddle he needs to have his full attention on you and you alone. If he is taught well by the end you should be able to stand in a crowd of horses and no one would know he is a stallion.

It would definately be better to teach him something new when his hormones are not raging. So doing it in the off season would be a good idea.

Well I have to agree, I own a stallion and he is 100% hormones but knows his place. He is my 3rd stallion and i have learned so much after making so many mistakes with the first two. I have been so lucky to have other careing stallion owners to jump in and help me learn the thing I need to learn.
So My first advise would be if in dought seek a stallion handler close by to help. Handling a stallion is not a game! it can be very rewarding adn very dangerouse if you do not know what you are doing.
The stallion I have now I have had sence he was 3 months old and from day one I have treated him with respect, and let him know I am the alpha mare.
If you star them out from day one it's not so hard but if you say ok today we start training your infor a ride.
You ask when? well it depends on were your relationship is with your stallion.
If you have started him of right from the beginning with training cews and a breeding rutien then you shouldn't have a proublem, but if he is already breeding age and your just now begining then it's a differnat story all together. To much to get into without knowing more about you and your stallion but if you'd like to email me privot I can try to help and guied you. jcpaintedacres@yahoo.com mention horse chitchat
Cathy C

i got my stallion as an older horse, he was 5 when i bought him, and abused to boot. The previous owner had used him for breeding, kept him in a too small paddock and didnt keep it clean, he was fed when the kids remembered, so i started to take care of him when i decided that he was going to be mine. the thing to remember is that you need to teach them that you are heard mare. once that is established things will go a bit easier. i trained mine thru breeding season, but it depends on the horse. last year we did all the breeding at night, so during the day he was ok with us working with him. he has developed an awesome attitude and i couldnt have gotten this far without natural horsemanship. it helped me turn this horse from the man hating killer stallion to a puppy dog that follows me around. dont get me wrong, he still get his moments, but after all he is a stallion

I own 2 studs. Judge is my oldest. Got him as a yearling. judge was trained that when he is out working(riding) he is not to speak at all. Because i have trained him corrctly i can take him to a show I can tie him right next to a mare in dead heat and he will not even look at her. I walkk him around in a rope halter, lead him with a loose rein. BUT when he is at home and turned out then he can talk, siff, play all he wants.
He wears a rope halter when its work time and when its time to breed she wwears a nylon halter with a chain. not looped or over the nose, just snapped just like reg. lead.

If you train them right, they do not give you a problem at all.

I agree with what has being said - your stallion needs to know what is right and wrong, what they can and can't do. I've had a stallion since he was a yearling and one that I bred. The older boy is fantastic, but like any "man", he has his good days and his bad days - we've had so many compliments on him over the years, including people coming up to our truck and patting him and getting quite a shock that he is tied up one end of the truck with geldings and mares lining around the whole truck when we tell him, "oh no, he's actually our Hanoverian Stallion".

He knows he's NOT allowed to scream or nicker when we are handling him and he knows that his manhood has to stay packed away when we are handling him as well as at shows. Nothing worse than seeing a stallion screaming and rearing and carrying on with his manhood stuck out - really not a professional way to "show off" your stallion, remember, these are the images that people will remember about your horse and when it comes time for local people to book him at stud, that is what they'll remember.

Start from day one when you have them - and honestly? Training with stallions is everyday, there isnt' a "break" from it at all. You need to keep reminding them what they can and can't do, because they will slip up occasionally.

Just to lighten the thread a funny story about my boy:

We were at a show and waiting to go into the arena for a lead class when he was young, and he KNEW he wasn't allowed to call out. Anyway, he was watching a few mares and I would poke him in the neck occassionally with a "oi... attention back here bucko" and a mare walked past him, HOT in season, doing everything to woe him and he puffed himself up, looked at her, looked at me giving him the evil eye and went "uh oh", deflated his neck and let out this restrained squeal/grunt sounding them - well I looked at him and he looked back with that total "I TOTALLY DID NOT MEAN TO DO THAT!!" look and I just DIED laughing at him! He honestly tried so hard not to nicker at her and because he stopped himself he sort of squealed, oh god I was hilarious!!

Another funny story (this is about breeding so young eyes avert now!).

He was young again, quite proud that he was breeding mares and it had being raining and his "serving" yard was wet but nothing major. Anyway, we tease at the fence, send him into the stable to wait for the mare to come in, and then give him a signal for him to come over and do his job - anyway, he came prancing up to his mare, all proud and like any young man ready to woe his lady, and as he jumped up, he slipped and fell over, slapping his chin on the butt of the mare and landed face first in the mud - well Dad and I just lost it laughing and King polietly got up, stuck his nose in the air and stood in his stable. Not kidding you - he REFUSED to serve the mare!! We backed her in there, pulled her out, backed her in, pulled her out and he just stuck his head in the corner and refused to have anything to do with her or us.

We had embarressed him and heavily bruised his ego!!

It was hilarious though - poor boy!!

But yeah, they do give you a laugh at times, but other times you seriously would rather take a knife to their "manhood" yourself to save you the headache - they are funny though.

Just thought I'd lighten the thread - hope you got a giggle!!

~Sam
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I train the stallions at my ranch like any other horse, even during breeding season. They need to know that even though its breeding season, they have other jobs too. Also, working during the breeding season seems to calm our stallions (we have 8 of them) down and make them easier to handle, even when breeding.

I'm currently working with our toughest stallion, a black purebred arab named Knightyme Affaire. He's incredibly smart, almost too smart, you know? But he's great to work with. Stallions will let you know when they're ready to be started. He was started (badly, by someone else) a few years ago and was an absolute terror.

You really have to have a lot of patience to work with stallions. Like most men, they don't always think with their brains.