pacing stallion

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pinck43

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I have a stallion that paces constantly. He is in a large pen. When he is on grass in a confined area, he still paces. It is hard to keep weight on him because of this. Should I eliminate some of his protein intake? He gets a grass hay mixture with not much alfalfa. His protein comes from a mineral and vitatmin supplement and oats. thanks, dionne
 
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Is your stud confined in an area by himself? I found when I kept the little bay stud in a 12 x 12 stall he would pace a path in his stall so I put down mats and put a gelding on each side where he could see them and he calmed right down. When I only had Dusty and one other gelding in the 2 acre pasture he would come to the top of the pasture and pace. Now that he has more "pals" around he is much calmer and always quiet. His pacing no longer exists. I don't call this a any kind of cure but I think he was just lonely and required more socialization. Now that he has the "boys club" he is much easier to catch in the pasture and often approaches for petting and attention. Maybe a friend or two would help your boy. Good luck.
 
I have a stallion that paces constantly. He is in a large pen. When he is on grass in a confined area, he still paces. It is hard to keep weight on him because of this. Should I eliminate some of his protein intake? He gets a grass hay mixture with not much alfalfa. His protein comes from a mineral and vitatmin supplement and oats. thanks, dionne
Why would you decrease the protein intake? What I would do, is put a mare or gelding in the stall / lot with him to keep him company. A friend of mine had a big time stall pacer, and she put a steril mare in with him to keep him company. He would work himself down to skin and bones and drip sweat if he was left alone.

But i dont see why you would decrease the protein, if anything, you would think that you would need to INCREASE it to meet the work he is putting himself through. I have a gelding, who will pace the fence line for hours if my father turns one of his big horses out in the next pasture over and i normally bring him in and stall him if its to warm out, he will just work himself to where he is almost in a panic.

I would "give him" a gentle friendly gelding or steril mare (or even a mare you are breeding to him) to keep him company.
 
It is not the protein that is giving him "energy" to pace the way he is. He is pacing because of hormones. This is actually quite typical stallion behavior if they are in a pen by themselves and/or "their" mares get too far away from him, or maybe there are none around.

My stallions have paced when they know there are mares in the next pasture, and they do not like it when they get out of site. Watch his weight, and increase his grain if he begins to drop weight.
 
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I agree with the advice given. Don't decrease his grain and give him something to ease / occupy his mind
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I have a stallion that paces constantly. He is in a large pen. When he is on grass in a confined area, he still paces. It is hard to keep weight on him because of this. Should I eliminate some of his protein intake? He gets a grass hay mixture with not much alfalfa. His protein comes from a mineral and vitatmin supplement and oats. thanks, dionne
Why would you decrease the protein intake? What I would do, is put a mare or gelding in the stall / lot with him to keep him company. A friend of mine had a big time stall pacer, and she put a steril mare in with him to keep him company. He would work himself down to skin and bones and drip sweat if he was left alone.

But i dont see why you would decrease the protein, if anything, you would think that you would need to INCREASE it to meet the work he is putting himself through. I have a gelding, who will pace the fence line for hours if my father turns one of his big horses out in the next pasture over and i normally bring him in and stall him if its to warm out, he will just work himself to where he is almost in a panic.

I would "give him" a gentle friendly gelding or steril mare (or even a mare you are breeding to him) to keep him company.
I would definitely not put another horse in a confined area like a stall with a stallion. A horse on one or both sides (stallions or geldings) in other contained stalls is safe, but don't be sticking a horse in the stall with him
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We have a "pacer" stallion who drops weight. We put him in a larger area this year, with corral panels and the black landscape fabric between him and the horses next to him. He can't stand another gelding in with him and we are not breeding this year, so no mares to put in there either. The black fabric keeps away eye contact and biting, etc through the panels but he can smell through it and it calms him right down. He kept his weight on a lot better this spring without a lot of added hay, etc. He knows the other horses are there but not a threat or a challenge to him without eye contact. Works for us. We enclosed the fabric between wire fencing layers so it can't come lose and used ties to attach it to the panels. Takes some work but well worth it to us.
 
Ditto Matt73. I don't know how many times we have been at shows and seen horses stalled together and had the owners tell us they get along fine. Then when the owners aren't around...late at night or some such... one horse is beating the tar out of the other and the one being beaten up on can do nothing but run from corner to corner and hide his head in the corner and just hunker down and take the hits. It is very upsetting to watch. This will go on for hours! Then the owners wonder why the one horse is doing so poorly or gets ulcers.

Cowboy is a 'pacer' and will work himself till he's ringing wet if he can see Skipper. I have to increase his feed in the spring/summer. But I have found it to be a big help if he is in a grass paddock next to the pasture where the mares are and Skipper is 150-200 feet away. He is calmer there. Every stallion has something different they need in order to do well. Try a number of different arrangements till you find one that works for that horse. Getting really hot and worn down can have an effect on their fertility too.

Charlotte
 
I think specific measures have to be taken to keep stallions content. Mine is always pastured beside the mares. He can always see them. Everyone has their own stalls every night and all is calm in the barn--even if a mare is in heat. He'd be a wreck if I ever kept him from seeing his mares.

My suggestion is to get a stallion strong fence and don't isolate him.

I remember visiting a appy fam years ago--big horses. The stallion was kept secluded in a dark stall. He was a monster. It was so sad. I'll never forget it. If I'm ever not able to keep my stallion content, I'll geld him.
 
I really think people need to pay attention and do what they can to keep their stallion's minds occupied and don't tempt fate with "always' because always works, until something goes wrong
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Our little stallion Ragtime Cowboy was doing this when we got him in his pasture, we put a mare in with him that is bred by him and she is in with him most of the time, he is very happy for her company and he does not pace.
 
I really think people need to pay attention and do what they can to keep their stallion's minds occupied and don't tempt fate with "always' because always works, until something goes wrong
It's really not a problem at all. We've added parts to make it work beautifully. Takes a little extra time, but worth every minute for a horse to be content. We don't have a lot of land, but made it work. pinck--PM me if you want to know how I arranged pastures keeping a stallion's happiness in mind. Or there are photos on my website.
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Good luck!!
 
Thanks, Karla
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I'd be glad to help you with advice, too. Anytime!

But, what I was hoping to point out is for others who maybe haven't had horses as long as some of us, who may not realize how when things go wrong, they go very wrong and that with horses, "always" is a dangerous term.

Also, know that some of that flexible metal rectanguar mesh fencing on metal posts will NOT work to keep some stallions safe. I know readers can find it pictured with many miniatures, but it's not sturdy enough in my opinion to keep a stallion safely from other horses if you need to do so. Someone else here once told me to pretend you are fencing in elephants, and experience has told me that is good advice
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My stud does the same thing this year. HOwever he is in fine shape.

He is with his mares all the time, except and night. He gets stalled. I cant trust him not to destroy the fence. I can not stall anybody next to him or he goes nuts. He is stalled with nobody around. When he is out during the day he is pretty good, except paces the fence where the gelding, big horses and another mare I had come in for breeding is. He wasnt bad until I brought the outside mare in, who is leaveing shorty as he hates her and will not breed her.

I am not sure elephant fenceing would work for my boy. He respects the 5 strand fence with two of them electrice. But the paddock is another story. Its 3 board fence with 3 strand wire inbetween. Lets just say I have lots of boards to replace.
 
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I have a stallion that paces constantly. He is in a large pen. When he is on grass in a confined area, he still paces. It is hard to keep weight on him because of this. Should I eliminate some of his protein intake? He gets a grass hay mixture with not much alfalfa. His protein comes from a mineral and vitatmin supplement and oats. thanks, dionne
Why would you decrease the protein intake? What I would do, is put a mare or gelding in the stall / lot with him to keep him company. A friend of mine had a big time stall pacer, and she put a steril mare in with him to keep him company. He would work himself down to skin and bones and drip sweat if he was left alone.

But i dont see why you would decrease the protein, if anything, you would think that you would need to INCREASE it to meet the work he is putting himself through. I have a gelding, who will pace the fence line for hours if my father turns one of his big horses out in the next pasture over and i normally bring him in and stall him if its to warm out, he will just work himself to where he is almost in a panic.

I would "give him" a gentle friendly gelding or steril mare (or even a mare you are breeding to him) to keep him company.
I would definitely not put another horse in a confined area like a stall with a stallion. A horse on one or both sides (stallions or geldings) in other contained stalls is safe, but don't be sticking a horse in the stall with him
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She said her pen was large, now that is just what i have heard of others doing and what i have done myself with one stallion. Big difference between sticking two horses together in a 10x10 stall and letting them "run loose" together in a stallion paddock with a run in and outside area for him"them". What works for one person i guess will not always work for another
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I have a stallion that paces constantly. He is in a large pen. When he is on grass in a confined area, he still paces. It is hard to keep weight on him because of this. Should I eliminate some of his protein intake? He gets a grass hay mixture with not much alfalfa. His protein comes from a mineral and vitatmin supplement and oats. thanks, dionne
Why would you decrease the protein intake? What I would do, is put a mare or gelding in the stall / lot with him to keep him company. A friend of mine had a big time stall pacer, and she put a steril mare in with him to keep him company. He would work himself down to skin and bones and drip sweat if he was left alone.

But i dont see why you would decrease the protein, if anything, you would think that you would need to INCREASE it to meet the work he is putting himself through. I have a gelding, who will pace the fence line for hours if my father turns one of his big horses out in the next pasture over and i normally bring him in and stall him if its to warm out, he will just work himself to where he is almost in a panic.

I would "give him" a gentle friendly gelding or steril mare (or even a mare you are breeding to him) to keep him company.
I would definitely not put another horse in a confined area like a stall with a stallion. A horse on one or both sides (stallions or geldings) in other contained stalls is safe, but don't be sticking a horse in the stall with him
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She said her pen was large, now that is just what i have heard of others doing and what i have done myself with one stallion. Big difference between sticking two horses together in a 10x10 stall and letting them "run loose" together in a stallion paddock with a run in and outside area for him"them". What works for one person i guess will not always work for another
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Oh. I thought you said something about putting them in a stall together. Sorry if I misunderstood.
 
There is a really good article on Scott Creeks Website about Stallion Management. I am a firm believer in not keeping stallions seperate all the time. It can lead to behavior problems. Stallions are herd animals just like any mare or gelding.

And I agree everyone has to do what is right for their situation. The op asked for opinions and has gotten a variety which is what the forum is all about. Sometimes there is no "right" answer. Its just whatever is right for that farm

Edited to add link to scott creek article on stallion housing/handling

scott creek stallion article
 
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When my gelding was a stallion, he would pace constantly too during the breeding season. I don't believe in putting other horses with stallions because of the risk. So I would give him hay 24/7, 6 cups of beet pulp, 4 cups of a 4-way grain, oil, and a cup of power phat. A lot of food, but it kept the weight on him and he looked nice for the show season. Good luck!
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thanks for all your suggestions. I thought by maybe eliminating the protein, his energy level would drop. He had a gelding with him for 2 years. We had to remove the gelding because he started picking on him. He sees the mares all the time, but does have another stallion penned next to him. The other stallion is calm. They do play through the fence from time to time. I could try placing a bred mare with him and see if that helps. thanks, dionne
 
I personally would try removeing the other stallion first. He might see him as his competion which would be creating the problem.
 

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