Few questions..

[kayla221444]

I have someone coming in about a little over a week to come view my stallion for breeding to her mare. I have never shown a stallion to someone before for breeding, so was curious on some things to do.

Since I live in upstate NY a full body clip is out of the question! I do have his head & neck clipped but do plan to re-do them the day before she comes, and "doll" him up as if I were going to a show, but the weather is still too cold to bath as well, expecially with our cold well water.

How would you suggest I clean him up (hes an overo with alot of white undearneath his belly & white high on legs)? He is really dirty under his belly & legs, do I just give him a bath & heavily blanket him afterwards, along with a fleece hood? Weather has been around below 20's at night and 30's to high 50's during the day.

So, when you all go to look at a potiential stallion to breed to, what do you want to see? Other than looking at his overall conformation legs bite etc & attitude & show presence, do you want to see him loose in the pasture doing some "liberty", so you can see his movement? Anything else to suggest, that would be helpful for someone to see?

Thanks ahead of time!

 

[lil hoofbeats]

i like to see movement of the stallion, so maybe stall him for a couple of days, and then put him in a ring to let him "kick up his heels" and strut his stuff for the potential breeder. Disposition is a MUST! so i would want to handle him a little if i were thinking of breeding a mare to him. I would not bath him because of the weather, just brush him well, and a little show sheen goes a long way in cleaning him up. Just a touch up clipping to show his wonderful head and neck. A copy of his extended pedigree would be nice to have on hand to show. And of course the facility that the mare will be housed in would want to be shown. Good Luck!!

 

[MiLo Minis]

If you keep him stalled and just give him turnout in your driest pen you can start brushing him daily now and he should be fairly presentable by the time she arrives. Pose him, trot him in hand and turn him loose for her. She should understand about no clipping at this time of year. Have good photos on hand for her to see what he looks like when he is clipped if she hasn't seen them already.

 

[kayla221444]

Thank you both for the replies. They both have really great ideas!

 

[Little Wolf Ranch]

All of the above are great ideas!

If you are comfortable with the idea - I would let the prospective breeder get "hands on" with him. If he likes certain treats or certain places are his favorite for scratching, let the person toss out some treats or give a good scratch to him - it makes things more personal and he/she feels like they know the horse and got to see the horse's personality as well.

Hope I helped

 

[MountainMeadows]

I once went to look at a stallion to breed to and walked right by him on the "farm tour" without a second glance. Went to the pature and saw baby after baby after baby with gorgeous heads, straight legs, tippy little ears and was absolutely in awe and couldn't wait to see the sire. The owner politely said that I had walked right by without a second look and that he was back in the barn if I chose to go and take another peak

. I didn't need to - I booked 3 mares right on the spot - what he produced was far better than he could ever have looked!

I do have to qualify this tho - the stallion had at one time been a Res National Champion Jr stallion, but had gotten into a fight and broken his front leg, so staying in shape was pretty much out of the question - and he looked like a rolly polly little bear -- but again, it was due to an injury more than genetics.

I could not have been happier with my resulting foals. So, for me - what the stallion is producing - is he propotent, etc is far more important than what he actually looks like in person (not that I think you should present your stallion all grubby and all), a true breeder will see thru all of that and place far more emphasis on what he produces.

JMO

Stacy