Help--I need advice

[buddysmom]

Okay, background first we bought our first little mini boy about a year and 9 months ago. We had him gelded by our vet when he was old enough, he is mellow, does great with us. Two days ago we picked up 2 miniature studs, who are brothers, one is 3 years old and one is 4 years old, thinking that it was a great deal...they have been together their whole life. One is a class A one is a classB. Neither are gelded. They quite frankly are little *#(@. The little guy is the dominant one, and since having them home they have jumped our fence (it's high!) and tore through the neighbor's fence, and the little one jumped into the neighbor's field (another high good fence) with their horses...we brought them home and tied them up, and the bigger one mellowed out pretty fast. The little one it took him 2 hours before he calmed down enough to put in the pen with the others (they have been getting along pretty well all 3 of them together) well today they kicked the chain on the fence and broke it, and got out again, same story it was sooo hard to catch them and get them in, etc.

so my question is, if I get them gelded, will they really calm down a lot? (I have been planning on getting them gelded from the start but it's a holiday weekend, etc) the bigger one I think will calm down and be okay, but the little one I'm just not so sure...I haven't had any minis other than my first one and boy he sure seems like an angel compared to these ones...can you all give me your advice on your experience with them? I need help!!! THANKS!

 

[LAZY J MINIS]

HI! GELDING WILL HELP ALOT, BUT SOUNDS LIKE SOME GOOD OLE MANNERS ARE NEEDED. I DON;T KNOW IF THEY HAVE BEEN HANDLED A LOT. START WITH BASIC MANNERS AND GO FROM THERE. MY BOY IS ONE OF THOSE WHO WASN'T HANDLED A LOT UNTIL I GOT HIM,HE IS STILL A STALLION BUT A VERY GOOD BOY. IT TAKES A REAL EFFORT AT TIMES TO CHANGE A "STINKER" TO BE A GOOD AND RESPECTFUL GENTLEMAN. BUT SOOO MUCH FUN, AND WORTH IT. KEEP US UPTO DATE ON THE PROGRESS.

 

[lildrummer]

HI! GELDING WILL HELP ALOT, BUT SOUNDS LIKE SOME GOOD OLE MANNERS ARE NEEDED. I DON;T KNOW IF THEY HAVE BEEN HANDLED A LOT. START WITH BASIC MANNERS AND GO FROM THERE. MY BOY IS ONE OF THOSE WHO WASN'T HANDLED A LOT UNTIL I GOT HIM,HE IS STILL A STALLION BUT A VERY GOOD BOY. IT TAKES A REAL EFFORT AT TIMES TO CHANGE A "STINKER" TO BE A GOOD AND RESPECTFUL GENTLEMAN. BUT SOOO MUCH FUN, AND WORTH IT. KEEP US UPTO DATE ON THE PROGRESS.

Yes, Geld as soon as possible. It will still take a few months for them to settle, and alot of handling. It will be woth it.

 

[krissy3]

From my personal expierence ... new horses need time to settle in . Even the best temperment horses are a bit wild and out of control at first...I think that once they settle in and get use to their new place things will be a lot better. i also think having them in a herd together will help, they will be happier , and more relaxed living like this. This being said , YES I would geld them , geld them all if you are not a professional breeder. Boys will play fight, there will be cuts ,bumps scrapes , name calling, kicking , biting, poking , etc... so run out and buy a bunch of Betadine and neosporine . Once they are gelded and together , sit back , have a cocktail, and watch the gelding game . ( betadine close at hand) have fun !

 

[Michelle@wescofarms]

Gelding will work wonders, but its not a cure-all! Manners definitely, but the 'boss' will still be that way after. I've been told one month for each year of age to really mellow into being a gelding. The oldest we've gelded was 6.

Good luck.

 

[love_casper]

Stallions in new places certainly seem to react way more than mares and geldings. When we moved to our new ranch a few weeks ago, my stallion took 2 days to quit pacing. He always does that in new surroundings, even enclosures he hasn't been in before. Yesterday we had to play musical stalls to work around a new boarder, so he got moved 2 stalls over and is still rearing and trying to kick the window off his stall....

boys!

When I had my other boy gelded, the change was immediate. He went from rearing and kicking and nippy to calm and lazy as soon as the sedative wore off! He was 1 year at the time.

Good luck with your escape artists!

 

[buddysmom]

Thanks so much guys...I have one more question. When they are calm, they are really well behaved, no biting or kicking, they stop when I tell them to, etc. BUT when they hear a neighbor horse neigh, they go crazy! That's when they are looking for a place to get out, etc. They are really wound up...so if I geld them will that help with them going crazy when a neighbor horse neighs, or when the buffalo across the highway are running (that made them all crazy too) I just am not sure what to do to help the little guy. I think gelding the bigger one he will be just fine, he settles down quickly...but like I said the little one it takes him HOURS to settle down, and he is constantly just running up and down the fence trying to get out.

 

[buddysmom]

Okay I posted that and then realized I had more responses, LOL! So it sounds like if I give them some time and also geld them ASAP there might be hope

yay, thank you all so much! I will keep you all posted on how things go. I'm calling the vet this morning!

 

[Bunnylady]

I can't say anything about the stallion/gelding issue (the only entires I have ever handled were still babies) but I do have a little experience with known escape artists. Do you have a hotwire on your fence? My girls were going under, no over, fences at their previous home, a well-flagged wire at shoulder height taught them to stay away from the fence! I'm mulling over the possibility of putting an electric fence to the inside of your fence, close enough to the fence that they won't have room to jump them individually, but far enough back that they can't take 'em both at one go. Wiser heads may nix that idea, but I'm trying to figure out how to keep this little pistol in, until he's had time to learn where the boundaries of his new territory are (and time for the drop in hormones to take effect).

It's only natural that he would want to be where the other horses are (especially if your neighbor owns any mares!!). He's trying to establish himself within this new population of equines, he doesn't understand that his "herd" only numbers 3. It may take a while, but IME, mares and geldings do learn to pretty much ignore the neighboring herds, most of the time. Of course, when one horsey runs, all horseys must run, so stampeding hoofbeats will probably always cause at least a little excitement, but is should be more fun than frantic in time.

 

[buddysmom]

Thanks for the advice guys! I have hope that with gelding and little time and training it might be okay!

We have an appointment to get them both gelded tomorrow at the vet. So far the little one hasn't been able to get out after we adjusted the fence some (our gelding sure looks lazy compared to these little guys! LOL our fence was never a problem with him!) so if they do get out again we are definitely going to put up some electric fencing to teach them their boundaries.

I will keep you all posted on how everything goes! Thanks so much for all of your great advice! I'm just new to this...learning as I go