What is the secret to pasture breeding ?

[WLS]

I would like to know how to get mares and a stallion live happily together. We have been breeding minis since 1994, and always hand breed because I like to know exactly when foal will arrive. I guess I like to be in control of foaling season!! But we have tried pasture breeding over the years and the stallion always ends up getting beat up. So I have the mares on one side of the fence, and the stud on the other side of the fence, and they seem to get along well. When a mare comes into heat, she starts teasing the stud through the fence, so we do our hand breeding till the mare is out of season. All goes well.

But this year we have one mare who has never come into heat, and did not get bred last year either. So I had this brilliant brain wave, I would let the three mares assigned to our 5 year old stud, run together and business would be taken care of. Two of the mares have already been bred by this stud over a month ago, and I was convinced they had settled.

Yesterday, I let the stud in with the three mares and what a circus. The stud took off after the one bred bred mare and was determined she needed breeding immediately!!! I think he actually got her on the run. The second mare, decided she should defend her friend, and kicked the stars and stripes out of the stud all while he was raping the 1st mare. Stallion never missed a beat.!!

The 3rd very shy mare stood and watched the entire circus going on around her, with her tail up over her back and peeing like crazy. This mare was in dead heat, and neither I nor the stallion noticed this. So after the stud got kicked up pretty bad by the two bred mares, he noticed the mare "in dead heat", ran over, jumped her and she was bred in like 30 seconds. And he managed to breed her three times before I got them parted. Note: This stallion is a wonderful boy for hand breeding, gets his job done and nice to the mares and respects me as the handler.

So what is the secret to having the stud run with the mares? I can't stand the chasing, squealing, kicking and worry about broken bones and kicked out eyes........all known as "vet bills". Life would be so much easier if they could all live together over the summer months, but does not seem to happen at my place. What am I doing wrong?

 

[minie812]

I usually hand breed Fiesta to the mares but have one mare that has trouble with the hand breeding so this year I just keep him with her in HIS pasture (the only mare) and she finally started cycling and is now pregnant. He NEEDS to have a mare with him or will run the fence 24/7. Fancy stays with him as a security blanket of sorts and if another mare needs bred he comes out of the pen and takes care of business and then goes back in his pen with his blankie. I have had as many as three kept with him but it was only for a short time as I think it could be to dangerous for the stallion as I had a girlfriend who lost a stallion to being killed by the mares he was with.

 

[kaykay]

This is just my own theory. Stallions that have been hand bred for years are very hard to get to go back to pasture breeding. Stallions that have always pasture bred seem to be smarter about what days a mare is actually ovulating and when to breed them.

We tease them first and if he lets down then we put them out to pasture together. We have found our conception rate is higher this way. I always watch and write down the dates so to be its just as accurate as hand breeding.

 

[Becky]

I'm so sorry you are having those kinds of issues with your stallion and mares. Fortunately for me, I haven't had that kind of problem. Every stallion I use here is used to running with mares. They generally live with mares year round.

Are there any other stallions in the general vicinity? That will frequently cause overly aggressive behavior in a breeding stallion to the mares that he lives with. If I have one mare that wants to 'block' the stallion from breeding a particular mare, I remove that mare from the group. If I have a mare that the stallion just doesn't like for whatever reason, and wants to run or attack the mare, I will remove that mare. I will try her again with the group at a later date and if the problem still persists, I will remove her completely and breed her to a different stallion.

I guess I've been fortunate here as generally, my mares and stallions that I choose to live together, do so without issues. Good luck with yours!

 

[Miniv]

We're like Becky, we don't have that many problems......just some "pecking order" stuff that happens and is over with in about 15 minutes or so.

One thing we have always done with our stallions is to hand breed them the first time around before turning them into pasture stallions...... It does teach them how to "flirt" and have some manners.

And yes, as Becky stated, there has very occasionally been a mare who just didn't get along with a stallion which we had to pull. That's why we have always kept watch after the initial introduction.

Kay is right on about the experienced pasture stallions. Our fellows eventually seem to know by smelling when a mare is "ready". If they have several mares to service, this ability helps them so they don't waste their energy.

Be sure to keep a "Breeding Calendar" for your pasture breeding. Document when your mare is turned in with the stallion and when you pull the mare. Document when you see the mare in heat and document any witnessed breedings. (We also use the same calendar for listing births!)

 

[muffntuf]

I dont' know if it is a stallion issue, or is it a mare issue? The mare that sounds like she is in heat is demanding his attention, but he is trying to court the other mare, maybe because she is ready???

I usually hand breed, last year I put my stallion out with a younger,maiden mare and an older mare. The older mare immediately went to her defense and kept the stallion away from the young mare, who was in standing heat. Well that lasted for a couple days, they all finally figured it out and they both got bred. But the young mare did not settle, the older mare did!

What is the secret, I don't think there is one.

 

[WLS]

Thank you everyone for your comments. Maybe I am being over cautious, and yes, I have heard of violent mares that can actually kill a stallion. I am beginning to think my dear sweet Rosa mare could be one of those "killer mares." For now the stallion has settled down with one mare that is definitely in heat, and the other two bred mares remain on the other side of the fence. Just the safest solution right now. I will get all mares ultra sounded in a month or so and we will know if they are in foal. Thanks again, it is interesting to learn how how other folks handle things.

 

[Miniv]

In the MINI world, I have never heard of a mare killing a stallion. However, with full sized horses, YES, I've heard it happening. But we are dealing with a huge difference in weight and kicking power.

If you are at all apprehensive with the personalities of the horses you breeding, I would hand breed initially.

 

[Joanne]

One of the safe ways to introduce the stallion to the mares is early in the year before they actually start breeding, or in your case, in late fall or winter even. Like Becky, our stallions are with mares year around and they get over the silliness rather quickly.

If put together before all the hormones kick in , they seem to get their pecking order together and learn to share with each other.

The stallion calms down A LOT, which benefits EVERYONE (humans included)!

Many of our stallions tend to breed their mares at night when it is more romantic (??) But it is normally clear to us that the mare is in heat by the way she acts.