breeding the tiny stallions

[RobinRTrueJoy]

My new young stallion is 28" Some of my mares are 32-32.5"

I am concerned about his not being able to reach.

I am about to make him a platform to stand on for the coming breeding season.

But... I would like to know how your tiny guys do... do you need to help? Do you use platforms, or dig holes for the mares..... How do they do pasture breeding versus hand breeding.

Thanks!

Robin

 

[whimsical]

I hand breed him. But he isn't a very aggressive kind of guy anyway. If a mare is too moody with him, he will just leave her alone.

But we have used a hill. It gives him just a little extra boost to get up there. However he is getting better at being on a flat surface with a mare that is about 33" and is getting up there. Sometimes I have to help guide it in

:

I think the little guys can hold their own. Another friend of mine has a stallions that is very studish and has no problems with any of the mares. Not even the 34". And the stallion is under 28".

So I would guess it would just have to depend on your stallion.

 

[drk]

I recently sold a 26.5" stallion that was actually one of the best stallions I'd had when it came to breeding the girls. He bred a 32" mare with no problem at all by himself. He wasn't nasty at all to any girls and they all loved him because he was a little lover boy to them.

He had no problems reaching them. He worked hard to get the job done and did.... He pasture bred and hand bred without any problems

I also have a 28" stallion now that does fine breeding the taller girls. It takes him several times but he always gets the job done

I would think it all depends on the individual stallion. Give him the chance to do his job but if he looks like he needs some help then make him a platform.

I have never used a platform.

 

[Ashley]

We do have a breeding ramp but dont use it anymore. We pasture breed now so we dont have stallions that cant reach the mares.

WE do have a 28" stallion who was able to successfully breed a 33-34" mare last year with out problems.

 

[Gena]

We pasture bred, the stallion we had was 28" and bred our mares up to 34" with no problem

:

 

[Ashley]

Actually Gena he bred mares up to 36.5" in height with out a problem. :new_shocked:

 

[Margaret]

My stallion has to breed mares up to 6 " taller than him. So far we have done well with him mounting the mare first, and me helping him by grabbing a hoof, or two and letting him pull a little further up, on the mares back to make a good breed.. It seems to have helped in the past, as my mares did settle afterwards. I have tried the other methods mentioned but they did not work for me.

 

[Amy]

Up until this year we never had a stallion over 29" -- they have NO problems with the 33-34" girls at all.

Those little fellows think they are BIG horses for sure. We hand breed

 

[Magic]

I used to have a 29" stallion that needed no help in breeding except for those mares that were 37 to 38". For those we used a ditch. :lol:

This past year I used a first-time breeding stallion that is 28" or so and he covered up to 34" mares with no additional help needed.

:

 

[Relic]

We have a couple shorties and most well breed the 34 and unders no problem and the others need to be brought to the garden where there is a low spot for the mare to stand in so they can reach without a lot of effort. l think most all can/could reach but we found that some just don't like to have to work that hard sliding or falling of during the act so it's the garden for those lazy men..

 

[Gena]

Actually Gena he bred mares up to 36.5" in height with out a problem. :new_shocked:

I almost mentioned that Ashley! I couldn't remember the height your Aunt told me. I will always love Hot Shot, he is a "gentelman" breeder!!

:

 

[eagles ring farm]

Hi Robin

We have a 28" stallion we have mostly hand bred and yes guiding him in often we also use a little hill for him to be uphill and the mare downhill

with 2 of us it gets to be quite "the circus" sometimes we are more tired than him,I get behind once he enters and hold him up (practically laying against his back) and my husband holding the mare tries to hold a hoof to support him

Its hysterical !! i'm sure to watch us.

but we successfully bred 4 mares with our little guy this year, one was 35" the others 33-34

Here is an example of all the other horses watching and laughing :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Lori

 

[RobinRTrueJoy]

Thanks for all your replies! I am encouraged. I started thinking that he might just be too small.

Lori, That must be some show!!!!

 

[rabbitsfizz]

Rabbit was 15 before I managed to get any mares that were his size and smaller- all his life he has had to stretch!!

I will say it does take it's toll on the hocks.

That being said, with management, he has successfully bred mares up to 12.2 hh, and routinely bred mares up to 40".

 

[RobinRTrueJoy]

Go Rabbit!!!!!!! He could teach my stallion some things!!!

 

[cherylsminis]

I have a 29" stallion that breeds to 36" mares. I have found that these "little" guys can surprise us sometimes. :aktion033:

 

[dannigirl]

I'll never for get watching my 30" stallion and my 37" mare. His feet were off the ground and it appeared he was holding on with his front legs. Sort of comical. Beautiful foal the next year.

 

[love_casper]

last august, a 27" stud managed to jump a fence, break through some mesh, and run into a pasture where my two girls, 34" and 35" were happily waiting for him.................................

we are expecting two foals in july. :bgrin

 

[Scoopiedoo]

Our stallion is smaller than all of his mares, but what we've found is that if there seems to be a "reaching" problem, the girls head downhill! Between them, they get it done.

:

 

[Charlotte]

Where there's a will, there's a way :bgrin These little horses can be quite inventive.

I've known of a number of very small stallions....under 28" ...who could successfully breed much taller mares in pasture situations. The mares do a lot to help too.

For us, with Cowboy, 25 1/2", we use a breeding deck and he has only ever been hand bred. He is too valuable to us to risk him in a pasture situation since he isn't used to it and neither are our mares. He has succesfully bred mares over 34" and could go a lot higher by using the deck.

He does breed up to 30" mares 'on the ground'.

I have noticed though that it appears to cause some stress on stifles when some stallions have to really stretch....so the mare needs to 'get down' for him.

Charlotte