Ridges - ITS PINK!!!

[AnnaC]

Sorry but I would never tie a mare up and leave the stallion loose! Too dangerous - if the mare decides that she is not in season and the stallion becomes 'annoyed', a fight could start and make it impossible to untie the mare. A mare should always be able to get away from a stallion if she is not ready to be covered/is no longer in season in my opinion - she should have the room to be able to tell the stallion to clear off and leave her alone without injury to herself.

If you feel that your boy's lead rope is not long enough to keep you out of trouble from possible flying hooves, then use a longer one, but i find a normal lead rope is just fine because if the mare looks as though she's gone past standing, then I just walk the stallion away - it never gets to the kicking stage. Bree is a very experienced person and knows her animals well, and her way of doing things obviously suits her, but I would always have the stallion on a lead and taken to a loose mare if I had no help - I would rather have the 'troublesome' one under my control!! LOL!!

 

[countrymini]

Fair point lol. I did check Sweeties reaction after bringing her in and tying her up and she put her back end toward Wazza and was squatting, tail up and squirting like she needed him bad! And last time I didn't have her tied up she was open to him but she kept moving sideways and he kept missing and she'd get annoyed. But I will give your idea a go Anna, I'll probably find what works best with trial and error lol

 

[Wings]

Was about to say we all have different ways, most important thing is the one you feel safe with, that keeps everyone safe and suits your stallion.

In my case holding the girls works for me but I know both my boys respect me and my whip and since I do all my teasing through the gate no mare goes in there who isn't at action stations

but again, Tinker is a very experienced hand and paddock breeder and Pallidon has only ever be hand bred by me so I can trust the boys.

But I never tie the mare, I'm happy to hold her or get someone else to on the rare occasions I have a second person but I don't like the way tie up gives them no options. On the lead they can move, they can correct the stallion etc

Also I'll second a normal or even a shorter lead. I probably stay within kicking distance (Im a bit nuts that way

) but I hate long leads around breeding horses, just feels like an accident waiting to happen, leads should always be just long enough to do the job

 

[AnnaC]

I agree with you Bree - even short leads can be too long at times!! Up close and personal is our motto here!! LOL!!

 

[countrymini]

I guess they'll get better at doing their part the more practice they have. Being maiden Sweety's probably not real sure why she wants what she does and how to do it lol. She kept throwing me looks like 'mum, whats happening!' lol.

So Wazza covered her on Sat, then today, I wont be home tomorrow so next will have to wait till Wed if she's still in season. Will that be enough?

 

[Wings]

I agree with you Bree - even short leads can be too long at times!! Up close and personal is our motto here!! LOL!!

So what if I get kicked... imagine if a leg got caught on a lead!!

No wonder people think we horse people are a bit nuts

We seem more then happy to throw ourselves into a risky spot to reduce the risk for our four legged beasties!

I also wrap tails, it helps keep those shorter hairs out of the stallion's way and it's easier for any handlers to see what's going on.

 

[countrymini]

I braided Sweeties tail coz Wazza isn't the best shot and it seems to have worked. Is a normal lead short enough? I think mine are about about meter long. I know I shouldn't be a woos but I guess not breeding before I was unsure how they were going to react to the covering but it does make sense in my 'still learning' case to probably have the control on Wazza.

Up at the hospital today with my boy, he's got osteogenesis imperfecta and having his monthly infustion to strengthen his bones. We were a bit worried about putting a not well know drug into him but he has been remarkable better so its been worth it. Started May 2011 and his fractures have been less and not as bad.

 

[Wings]

Normal should be fine, most of mine would be about that length or a bit either side.

Braiding is too much work

I use the coloured vet wrap and just wrap the dock.

Hope your boy continues to improve

 

[AnnaC]

Oh good luck with your son, hope this 'new' drug helps him towards a fully recovery, bless him.

 

[countrymini]

Thanks, he's doing really well, just a total drug junkie, bit like my daughter. Maybe I should dabble, they seem so happy lol

just edited this, remembering that this is a public forum not a private message chat lol

 

[Wings]

Unfortunate downside of keeping a stallion

I guess you either need to improve the fence in Wazza's paddock so he simply can't get through it no matter how stupid he is feeling or you need to remove him from the situation, either by a whole new paddock, gelding or sale. Probably sounds harsh but you're just seeing the start of the silly season for stallion's and he'll only get more determined.

Could you put a second fence up on the boundary lines in his paddock?

 

[countrymini]

I knew owning a stallion would be challenging, I just didn't realise how bad the poor boys are affected by their testosterone. I think the most practical thing will be either geld or sale. If I put up another fence every time I hear a noise at night I'll freak that its him getting over, even if there's no possible way he can.If its only going to get worse I think my nerves will fold in lol. Normally I think I should be fine, but having other stresses in my life kinda makes this one feel massive even if its not that bad. Hubby thinks it would be a good idea to sell him and just pay for stud fees to use other stallions in the area. Going to sleep on it, see what I feel in the morning...

 

[Wings]

I'm a bad horsey momma.....I hear "geld" and my skin crawls. I've only ever had 1 gelding here, and I had to sell him, since my stallions hated him, and he had been gelded far along in his breeding career, so mares were not safe with him in their pasture -- he would always mount them and I was afraid of abortions.

You know I'm a stallion girl myself... wouldn't be without my boys (even when Tinker went through that escape artist stage and I wanted to strangle him

) and I love running on a colt to work with but I'm also a huge fan of gelding. Let's face it most colts don't make the grade and there are far too many out there, I also hold the opinion that a stallion should be distinguished in some way before being used otherwise what's the point when there are so many proven, winning stallions out there for very fair fees?

My first horse was gelded at 7 and I do believe he had been breeding. They did it because he was a terror and yet once gelded he became a beginners horse! He was friendly with everyone in the mixed gelding/mare paddock and regularly buddied up to the youngsters. My retired appie Apache has all the markers of a late gelding, he doesn't do mixed groups that well (bit of a bully) but in with just geldings or just mares he is a gem. He ran with mares and very young foals last year, never mounted but flirted enough that they teased up for breeding really well

the foals adored him as well.

I always think the problem 'late gelders' have something wrong with them personally or the job wasn't done properly.

Now there are still some options to play with in regards to fencing additions or moving paddocks around etc but I certainly wouldn't be shying away from gelding if there is an urge to keep him and other options are proving too stressful.

I hope you guys work something out

 

[countrymini]

Thanks and yes you are bad Diane haha. I think I will put him up for sale, don't want to see him wasted as a gelding, and just see how it goes. In the meantime I will reinforce the yard he's in so he doesn't try anything silly. I really wanted this to work, but we only have limited space so options are running out. The yard he's in has pretty much no grass now and I don't mind feeding him but he can't stay in there forever. I've attached a picture for you. All the paddocks added up together are approximately 1.5 acres. The small yards back onto our house and are small. The goats in the big section have a massive tin shed roof on the ground as well as concrete blocks and wood posts lying around, which the goats love but can't put the horses in there. "Goats that need moving section" is also unsuitable for horses. We spent all the time clearing and fixing the left side for the horses not knowing about the filly's arrival.

 

[countrymini]

There are a few things that I'd thought of doing but we've just spent so much time getting it right and hubby has helped so much but he has a full time job and does beekeeping on top of that so he's flat out. And even then, Wazza wouldn't get any herd time apart from his 5min mountings. I think its just the 3 hour trips to Brisbane for the kids for treatment and keeping them in health on top of it that makes it a little bit hard to have to worry about one more stress that we didn't need to have.

*sigh* so I have decided to sell him

Hopefully Sweety gets preggas before he goes. the thing I"m trying to be happy about is Apoco D stud is literally only 5 mins down the road and one of her boys is standing to stud (has appy), and Tracey Fillicity has a lovely boy 15 mins away too. Of course they might not approve my mares, but its worth a try.

 

[cassie]

as Diane said, I'm sure you will make the right decision

here's hoping Sweety is preggers before he goes!

I'm sure you will figure it out

 

[countrymini]

The practical side of my brain has won but my heart is still not so sure. Here are some photos and a video I took of Wazza for his ad. Please let know if they are ok, or if I need to take more, different angles etc.







http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yvt-gd-aVgY&feature=g-upl

I think this is the best thing to do. If we get a bigger property down the track (with no close neighbours) we might be able to have a stallion again.

 

[Wings]

I think you have a fair assortment there, you can always take more if a buyer wants to see something different

 

[countrymini]

ahh the clip has gone all juttery, hmmmm

 

[countrymini]

Seems to have sorted itself out now. Can one of you experienced ladies tell me if he has an ok trot, or a lousy one. I think all horses trot cute so I can't tell the difference.

Btw, got Wazza to cover Sweety again today, me holding Sweety and Rod with the stud muffin. Sooooo much easier, why didn't anyone tell me earlier!!!!