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Why do people think stallions are so unpredictable2007-11-24 21:23:21

While there are some wonderful stallions like Zippo Pine Bar who was one of the kindest horses that ever lived, he is the exception to the rule and to think otherwise is foolhardy.

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I have seen many stallions standing next to mares with absolutely no problems. I had one of my own. I also had one that you could not even tell was a stallion by his attitude. So gentle, laid back etc.

Then...I was hand breeding him.. not a problem. One day I went to take him to rebreed, and he reared up, knocked me down, stood on me.. He makes a GREAT gelding.

They are stallions... they can be "crazy" from the start or be a total gentleman.. til that one time. It's just in their nature and no blame can be placed on them. So I say crazy lightly, not to mean psychotic. LOL

Just remember that you should not TOTALLY trust one and don't let your guard down, and you will be fine. Stallions make just as good a horse as any mare or gelding.

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If you are not going to breed him why keep him a stallion? What if your horse gets out and breeds with a mare? You'll have an angry owner and possibly an unwanted baby. I'm not saying your horse will, it's just so much safer to get your horse gelded.

I agree that stallions can be just as good as any other horse if trained right, but there's alwasy going to be that if. If he gets out, if he breeds with a mare, and your stally can't control his hormones.

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You answered your own question. First and foremost, the stallions are well trained. And second, you have experieince in handling them. What I see a lot of times is someone who has never owned a horse goes out and buys a stallion thinking it is going to be like in the movies. All hearts and flowers. It winds up more like ER. I have a two year old stallion that we have handled since birth. And he has been taught early on to behave. BUT this does not mean I can totally trust him like I would my geldings. At that age, he is still prone to being a bit foolish. But when a person has no experience in horses to begin with and then start out with a stallion, they are asking for trouble. And then when they get hurt (or worse), who gets the blame? That's right, the horse. That is why you see a lot about "crazy" stallions.

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I own a 15 month old stallion. He is very well mannered and behaves good around horses. Sometimes he acts up but all horses do. Now I did have a friend that worked with a woman that owned a stallion since he was born and trained him and ran him in barrels. She won alot of money with him. One day some people came to look at some of her horses and she was showing them her stud. She was standing next to his stall when all of sudden he reached over a bit her cheek off! You never know. She had no idea why it happened except that she let her guard down. So I guess it really is just the individual horse but I think that stallions are a little bit more unpredictable than other horses. Especially when an inexperienced person is working with them.

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Some stallions ARE hard to handle. I'm sure it has a lot to do with manners training from a young age. I worked briefly at a farm where there was a young stallion who was barely ever handled at all, and the result was that he was an absolute nightmare.