Is this a good idea or not?

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walkoffaith

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I have been thinking about this for some time but I am not sure if it is a good idea or not. I thought this would be the place to ask as there are so many knowledgable people on this board.

I have been thinking about finding a small mare that cannot get pregnant (not should not but cannot) to keep with my stallion for company for him. I don't know if there are even any out there available??? I do have geldings I could put with him but I am afraid they would still fight. His pasture is about 2 or so acres and shares a fenceline with the rest of my herd I would like him to have company in his own pasture. What do you think (pros and cons)? thanks for your advice.
 
No Way! A mare that can't get pregnant can still get in season; she can still breed. So...you're running the risk of infection, constant breeding, and a host of other problems. Unless the mare has her uterus and ovaries out -which she probably doesn't-, why risk it? And if that's the case, put a gelding in. You can test friendship before throwing them in together.
 
Thats what i thought that he would still breed her all the time. Just thought I wouuld askabout it. Thanks for the reply.
 
wow, that really interesting, thanks for posting this. I recently put an ad up wanting a gelding to show along with my colt but along with other emails i got an email about a mare that can't get pregnant and she was wondering if i would like her. Now i won't get her, i wasn't thinking about it in the first place either.

Putting a gelding in with a stallion is fine, boys will be boys and they will fight. Now i have my 4h gelding with my colt and they are fine. My colt has also been with my friends gelding and he was fine also.

But we introduced them throught hte fence on a lead first then in the paddock on a lead and then let them go at eachother if they needed to.
 
I disagree. I'd rather have a mare who won't settle in with a stallion rather than a gelding. My stallions would fight constantly with a gelding. I don't want my show stallions all beat and scarred up from fighting with a gelding. I have a mare that I use as a companion for my stallion and they get along beautifully.
 
l wouldn't abuse the poor mare in that regard...
 
There are some mares who will not cycle. However, I once visited a farm where they had put an older mare who had ceased to cycle in with a stallion for a companion. OOPS! She later had a beautiful foal that went on to be a successful show horse.
 
l wouldn't abuse the poor mare in that regard...
Horses are herd animals. Why would having a mare and stallion in together, as they are in the wild, abuse? If that were the case, why would anybody pasture breed? In many cases, the MARE is the dominant horse.
 
I personally would put a gelding in with the stallion. I know quite a few who have geldings & stallions together and they get along just fine & are great buddies. It also depends I think on how your stallion's temperament is, could he get along with another boy, and introducing them properly is important. He could still breed a mare and I would feel bad putting the mare in that situation. It may be easier to find a companion gelding as well.

Rebecca
 
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My QH stallion and my mini stud both get turned out with my roomate's QH gelding and they get along wonderfully.

For a perminent companion for my mini boy I decided to buy him a mare. But, I have the ability to make sure she does not come in foal through my profession as a breeding manager.
 
He could still breed a mare and I would feel bad putting the mare in that situation.
I guess I'm missing something. Why would a stallion breeding a mare in season be an issue. If she can't conceive, but still cycles, the mare is as interested as the stallion in breeding. If the mare doesn't cycle, they won't breed. However, stallions and gelding will fight or "play fight" and beat on each other.

In 25 years of having horses, the only times I've had horses get beat up is when a stallion got in a pasture where a gelding was.
 
I have not ever tried this, but I think it could work out. I know first hand that geldings and stallions do not always make okay paddock mates as I had to remove my then 2yo stallion from the geldings he grew up with last fall due to EXTREMELY rough play... I do not think he was fighting, but that it would have led to fighting. My geldings were being harrassed by him. I'd think a mare who could not become pregnant may actually make a good companion and it's something I would personally be open to trying. I'd be ready to separate them if it wasn't working out okay for both him and her, but it is something I'd be willing to try. I do hate to see a lonely horse.
 
I think the stallion should have some company, and sometimes geldings and stallions together can get a bit rough when they play. I have a mare that lives with one of my stallions and they get along great. They do play and "rough house" but neither ends up looking "beat up" or unpresentable, and when he was in with other boys there would occasionally be chunks of hair missing, scrapes, bruises, etc. If cycling or breeding would be an issue, it IS possible to spay the mare! I don't know what it costs, but we have had spayed mares in the past and had great luck with them around ALL sexes. Plus it prevents a possible future owner from breeding a mare that shouldn't be bred.
 
I personally think, that if you own a stallion, they are going to have to get use to being alone. When my gelding was a stallion, he pastured alone, stalled alone. That was his way of life. When I gelded him, I put him out with other geldings. He still fought with them. Finally that ceased and I introduced my pregnant mare into the herd after 2 weeks. He chased her constantly. I finally had to separate him until his hormones were gone. And he was a calm stallion at the time. Personally, if you want companions, geld your colt. If you don't want to do that, he'll have to just handle being alone. Which is just fine, becuse in the wild, after the breeding is done, the stallion is away from the herd watching.
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He could still breed a mare and I would feel bad putting the mare in that situation.
I guess I'm missing something. Why would a stallion breeding a mare in season be an issue. If she can't conceive, but still cycles, the mare is as interested as the stallion in breeding. If the mare doesn't cycle, they won't breed. However, stallions and gelding will fight or "play fight" and beat on each other.

In 25 years of having horses, the only times I've had horses get beat up is when a stallion got in a pasture where a gelding was.

Pasture breeding is not the safest thing in the world. Injuries, infection, and pregnancy are just a few of the risks. I would never put a breeding stallion in a pasture breeding situation myself, the only reason I choose to do so with my pony is he has no true job other than being a companion, so if he lives a natural life and DIES a natural life, it was still a good life for him. Other than loosing a close friend and buddy, I have no financial or genetic investment in his bloodlines. Living with his mare is his ultimate dream, and allows him to have as natural a life as I can give him. Its by no means risk free! I just decided that the risks are outweighed by the benefits.
 
Everyone manages their stallions differently.........We choose to make sure that every horse has a companion if at all possible. Horses are a herd animal.

Yes, we have a mare that is infertile here and we have allowed her to be a companion for a stallion over the winter months, when there was no other horse to put in with him. It worked out fine. Let's just say they came to an "understanding" in their relationship.
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I have a mare in with my stud and there are no problems from it (yet). This mare is just too darn mean to put with the other mares. She was fine when there was only her and another mare. But, as soon as I added the 3rd mare she turned into a monster. My only option was to put her into the stud pen since she likes him. They run and play together. I even turn all 4 out to play (supervised) and that darn mare still is mean to the new mare. Ellie runs and hides behind me. So as long as it works to have the one mare in with the stud thats the way it will be.
 

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