Stallion Keeping

[starlasstable]

I was wondering if I could get ideas for how you are keeping your stallions. What I need to know is, are they kept in with another stallion, with the mares, a gelding? I might be purchasing a really nice stallion and I wouldn't want to keep him isolated. I have 4 mares 4 years and older, a yearling filly and a tiny 3 year old gelding at the moment. I also have a large paint mare kept in her own field, so i thought maybe about keeping the stallion with the mares I plan on breeding until they get close to foaling, in their little field which has electric wire 24 inches up on the 5' horse fence. I don't want to pass up this opportunity, and I have another 1/4 acre area we could fence in also, but just wanted some ideas on what others do. I have experience with all things horses and minis, including foaling out, but haven't personally owned a stallion here on our place, although I have ridden and worked with QH stallions before for ranch work and breeding. Thanks so much for any ideas, and things to consider.

 

[mini horse mania]

I may get flamed here..eeek..but, I keep my stallions with my mares...i have had no problems. even foaling in the past,my stallion never bothered anything.whatever I dont want bred, goes separate.

 

[Riverrose28]

Well i have three barns, a brood mare barn, a show barn, which we call the indoor, cause we also have a round pen in there, and a stallion barn. The stallion barn has four stalls, we currently only have three stallions. They each have a stall and are rotated out into an outdoor round pen daily. Now during breeding season, each stallion is turned loose with his mares until I know they are bred. I haven't bred any body for two years now becuse of the bad economy and the over abundence of horses in my area, but am soon going to place my Champion of Champion out with four mares that I am going to sell as bred mares. Once they are sono'd in foal I will pull them out of the field and leave the stallion in the field, he has been in the field before by himself and can see other horses that are about 20 feet away and he will be fine. My other two stallions are for sale or will be gelded which ever comes first. I never leave a stallion in the field with bred mares as sometimes they can overpower the mare and rebreed causing an abortion. I only put mares out with a stallion that are obviously in season, as I don't want him injured. You will get many different opinions on this subject.

 

[supaspot]

my stallion lives with his mares , when they come in at night he is stabled in the next stall , as they get very heavy in foal they get removed , although he has never shown any aggression I dont leave foals in with him, any mare that has a foal lives in the other group . mares that I dont want to breed live in the other group too Im not worried about him trying to cover a mare because if they say no ,he walks away ,

I try to give them a natural life but with added luxury ie plenty of grazing and herd conditions but a nice comfy stable to come into at night

dont be tempted to put your stallion in with your big mare , my friends mini stallion got in with her riding horse , the large mare came into season and while she was trying to get bred she accidently laid on the stallion leaving him crippled

 

[chandab]

I hand breed, it seems to work best for my situation; so mostly my stallions are kept separate but close to the mares. One stallion has a shed and paddock, and the other is currently in an over-sized stall with limited turn-out (just how it worked out for this winter). If my boys were closer to the same size, I might consider turning them out together (for winter), but the size difference is just too great; one is 31", the other almost 36".

 

[Barnmother]

I have my stallion living with a gelding (his actual half brother) they seem to do fine. I had him and the gelding running with the mares until foaling time then I seperated him with his brother to an adjoining field because I didn't want the mares rebred. I also didnt want to take a chance on him breeding his own daughter as she "came of age".

Mine have always gotten along; fine never had any issues with them. I had never tried it before but I have them at home where they are closely supervised and have lots of room to roam.

 

[mydaddysjag]

Until this afternoon, I kept a 12 year old gelding, a five year old stallion, and a yearling stud colt together in a field. We gelded our stallion today (to use as a youth horse, hes really exceptionally tempered) and they will still all stay together. I dont have any mares here to fight over though.

 

[valshingle]

When not breeding, my stallions are kept in a stall at night and turned out for the day. The exception to that is if I have a show horses that I don't want to get sunfaded, then they are turned out a night and in for the day. Most of my stallions can be turned out together, although I have one that I do not turn out with other mature stallions.

The stallions are turned out together in a pasture that does not share a fence line with the mares. There is a pasture between them.

If pasture breeding, the stallions live with the open mares for a few months until the mares are bred. Bred mares are never left with the stallion. I do have one exception to that, in that I have one 'problem' mare that does best living with the stallion until about 6-7 months pregnant.

I do not pasture breed stallions that I am showing. Those are hand bred.

I have one main barn. The stallions are on one side, mares due to foal or with young foals are across the aisle. I try to alternate stallion with a gelding then another stallion - if the numbers work out that way. Right now it's stallion, then 2 yr old colt, then stallion, then gelding.

 

[Suzie]

We have 6 stallions and 4 geldings here. We also have 3 barns. During the winter 3 of the stallions are housed at night in the main barn along with the mares (each has his/her own stall). During the day, they each get their own round pens to exercise. 2 junior stallions stay with 2 geldings in a separate barn and they all get along. We have a gelding and a stallion in another barn together. We don't have any problems. We did not breed at all for this spring, but will for next spring. The stallions enjoy being in with the other mares during the winter. In the summer, all the mares will go to another pasture and the boys will get a pasture of their own. The only thing we do is keep the stallions in the main barn out of direct eyesight of each other. If they don't directly look at the other guys, they are just fine.

It always takes a couple of days each fall for everyone to get the hang of coming in and being "social" and not combative. Once things settle down, everyone is fine.

When we had less stallions here and bred most of the mares every year, we did leave the stallion in with the mares 80% of the time. Now, it is just simpler not to. We never had any complications from doing that then.

As an aside, we have found that the older, non cycling mares are excellent company for a stallion. We have one that stays in the round pen with the stallion and they have bonded quite well. She does not like being pushed around by younger mares and he enjoys her company a lot. Another job for an older mare when she is past her baby bearing years. She enjoys the "special" attention she gets with just the two of them in that pen too.

 

[sfmini]

It depends on the individual stallion. SF Mahogany Bay stayed with his mares, they were put with him soon after foaling and he is a wonderful Dad. Any time anybody would come in to mess with a baby, he was right there to see what we were up to. When we weaned the babies, the entire group came inside and he was the basket case.

Some of our stallions can be out with other stallions or geldings, one cannot be out with anything and has to be hand bred.

 

[REO]

Our stallions are in pens next to mares. The boys are surrounded by mares and seem happy. When a mare is in heat (they tease along the fence) I take the mare to the stallion of choice and I hand breed them.

I've heard too many horror stories of stallions (even famous awesome ones) getting kicked by mares and some, not just losing an eye, but some losing their "jewels" from those kicks. Or teeth knocked out.

Some get along fine & it works for others, but I won't chance that with my boys. My mares can be pretty spirited at times!

 

[starlasstable]

Lots of ideas and accommodations. Thanks a bunch everyone, I hope more people post what they do and how. I would never put a larger breed of horse with any of the minis. You gave me some ideas tho.

 

[Marty]

Mine was a very peacful situation. My stallions were always kept in the same barn with the mares and geldings. I never ran a mare with a stallion unless they were in heat for sure and I hand bred them first in the am before turning them out for the rest of the day together. Then I would bring them back to their own stalls at night. This way I could get a good handle on my due dates and also keep my stallion from getting the heck knocked out of him by a cranky mare going out of heat. REO said it all, too many horror stories and I wasn't putting my stallions at risk. Its well worth the extra five minutes to me to put a halter and lead the horses out separately. Also I kept all stallions from each other in their own fields where they could all see the mares easily. That way no screaming, no one getting frustrated or pacing the fence line. They were all good fence buddies and injury free for years like that.

 

[Eagle]

I kept my stallion in with the herd for several years until I came here and was advised to remove him. The girls weren't happy about him going and neither was he,

at first I removed him at night and one of the girls even foaled during the day out in the field and I am sure it is cos she wanted him there to protect them. When I arrived she was still down with the foal just out and he was walking the fence line as if to keep the coast clear

My stallion has had health issues ever since I took him out but maybe that is just a coincidence. He now lives with his 2 sons, they get stabled at night and then go out to play together during the day. This year will be the first year that he hasn't bred cos I am going to have a few years off so I will have to see how he copes in with his sons once he finds out that the girls are in heat but he can't go in to play

 

[MindyLee]

Seperate! There is no way I'm letting them run with my mares 24/7 and not ever knowing when my mares will foal out, or have foals the wrong time of the yr.

I have 2 stallions who want to KILL each other. So I have 4 dry lots all togather with 4-sided lean-toos in each. The boys have their own 22 feet apart from each other side by side and 45 feet across from them is the mares. That way they all can see each other at all times.

I only use the 2 stalls I have for foaling or showing. Rest of the yr its full of winter hay.

I have 8 minis total.

2 sr stallions

4 sr mares (3 prego)

1 jr mare

1 yrling filly

 

[Becky]

In order to properly manage my acreage, all horses live in dry lots at least part of the day. My stallions live with a small group of mares (usually 2 - 3 year round) in their dry lot. The mares do go in the pasture at least part of the day. I keep accurate breeding records and know exactly when my mares are bred. My stallions stay happy with no fence pacing and no abnormal behavior. Their weight is good and living in a herd situation works well here.

The stallions are generally separated by 2 dry lots, so there is no challenging between them.

 

[rabbitsfizz]

Well, I think I have tried just about every way in the book now, and Carlos my senior stallion is in with two of his sons and two other boys (two gelded, two not) for the winter. In the spring he will go with the mares he is breeding, and that works for him, and for me.

His father ran with the mares all year round and that was a nightmare, I will never do that again, no idea when the mares were due and two dead foals to prove it! Fred was an exemplary father, but he could not help if a foal was stuck.

Running out did not suit Rabbit, he has never liked to be in a herd, he was always a very neurotic boy, Now he is in his twilight years he is very happy next door to his mares, where he has free access to chatting over the fence (post and rail)

The new colt, who is two, will breed in hand only for his first year.

I have also used controlled natural breeding, and a method I call "sticking the mares bum through the gate when she is in season"

They all worked.

The only one I shall never, ever use again is running all year round. For a start, it suits me far better to have the boys in one field, the girls all in another and the yearlings in their own field, and, form a feeding point of view, it is easier, quicker and fairer. I have just two mares I pull out for separate feeding, everyone else piles in together with no problems.

I think you have to work out what suits you best, and what sort of nature your stallion has. Of course, unless you are going to breed seriously, and the mares and stallion are all really good animals, my first reaction would be to geld the stallion, that would, basically, solve all problems at one fell swoop!

 

[Magic]

We have three mature stallions and a three year old stallion that has yet to begin breeding. The youngster lives with a gelding about his size and a two year old colt who will soon be gelded. I imagine that once the 3 year old begins breeding mares, things will change, but it would be nice if he could go back in with his buddies at least during the off season. The three mature stallions each have their own stalls with attached runs, surrounded by mares. The further apart the stallions are from each other, the happier they seem to be. I only hand breed, for safety's sake. Several years ago I leased a stallion who was used to pasture breeding so I did allow him to pasture breed several mares, and then one day he ran one of my mares (I thought it was his favorite mare) through a fence, and that was the last of the pasture breeding here. Our stallions are sweet and good to handle. As I've aquired each one, I've made adjustments to make sure that they are happy.

 

[starlasstable]

My concern was keeping the stallion in a 35 X 45 pen next to the mares field, if that would agitate to the point of pacing or getting hurt along the fence. But it looks like that is what many do without problems. And hopefully after springtime hand breeding I might be able to put the boys together if they get along. Thanks for all the advice.

 

[REO]

I forgot to say, even though my boys are in pens next to the mare pens, they don't pace. The mares are always there and they have comfort in that and are always calm.