My Orion

[BuckNappy]

Im having a tough time with this decision...I am 'trying' to cut back on my stallions.I have 3 leopard appaloosa stallions,one I am currently placing,2 will be available soon.I have my gorgeous Tango from Critter creek who is a few spot,he is ready to breed this year so I hope to mainly use him this year.Now the hardest decision.My gorgeous boy Orions Reflection.He was born last year,we fell in love with him the second he was born.I had no intentions of keeping a colt back but my goodness how could I not have fallen in love....So now I have yet another boy who is just about ready to breed and shows 'alot' of interest.Now if the boys got along that would be wonderful,Id leep them all because they are all gorgeous but as you know the stallions do not get along so I have to seperate, seperate, seperate...lol..Im running out of space

When I started into the appaloosas I would look at appaloosa horses and say Oh my gosh Orion Light Vant Huttenest is the most gorgeous horse I have ever seen! He was like a dream,then I got my dream

Now my question is this...He is currently AMHR.I will be hardshipping him into AMHA this spring(very soon) I will be hard shipping his momma as well.Mom has Kobecks and Toyland behind her,Dad has NFC and Dell Tera behind him.Because I am hardshipping him Im not sure if I should use him as a 'valuable' stallion.I have Tango who has excellant lines and will surely produce color.Im wondering if I should geld Reflection so that I can keep him in the large pasture with my mares.I love to look at him.The mare pasture is right down from our picture window,we also have our bench above the mare pasture.Not that we cant see the stallions at any time of course but the mare pasture is always in view....So my question is this...Would you geld him or would you hardship him and use him as a stallion?I mean he is about as close to Orion as I could ever ask for!He will be a year on the 22nd of this month,he is 27"... Because he will be hardshipped wouldnt that make him less valuable as far as pedigree is concerned? I hope Im not confusing everyone

 

[Maple Hollow Farm]

I would def. hardship NOT geld him. He is gorgeous and if he is just what you were breeding for why would you geld him, I am sure you have enough mares to share between two boys!

 

[Littleum]

Honestly? Nothing there screams "stallion quality" to me.

Then again I'm one of those crazy big horse people who believes 99% of colts should be gelded.

And of course pictures are deceptive and neither picture is really very good for evaul work. Bad angles, he's obviously squirming, not really set up well ect.

And as a yearling, they can be ugly ducklings (been there) You could always just wait and see how he shapes up as a 2yo if you're really torn over it. You can't hardship him this year anyway, so no rush.

In both pictures it looks to me like he's wide behind and cowhocked? Looks like something funky going on with his hind end, but it could also just be how he's squirming/set up in the pictures. Is there something going on there or is it just the pictures?

 

[BuckNappy]

Your right the pics are not great,I took them lastnight with my daughter holding the lead rope.Reflection was NOT a happy camper as I just clipped him and my husband was down at the barn feeding the others which is where Reflection wanted to be.He was 'trying to get away' but I wanted a few half decent shots before it got dark...

 

[garyo]

Gary and I have four stallions out of 18 minis and a shetland. We have a friend who is always asking us why... All four are different and one belongs to my in-laws so gelding him is their decision. My point is that you are the owner of the horses. If you can responsibly handle keeping him a stallion and you like him as a stallion, keep him a stallion. If your physical setting (acreage, fencing, shelter, etc.) or his behavior makes keeping him a stallion dangerous or extremely inconvenient then it is a different matter. If you are keeping him a stallion in order to breed him then you just need to be prepared for all the costs and possibilities there.

By the way I am not a big appy fan and I think he is nice.

Ruth

 

[Tango]

I would definitely NOT geld him! He is a gangly yearling right now. I would give him at least another year to see how he grows out.

IMO "stallion quality" is in the eye of the beholder. Not every stallion quality horse is going to throw "quality" foals. Off course, you should always start out with the best conformation possible in breeding stock, but when people also breed for color it makes choosing breeding stock that much more challenging.

Pedigree does NOT make a horse. And just because a horse has such and such pedigree does not guarantee the resulting offspring will be highly sought after. But I think this colt would be well worth hardshipping.

THE most challenging color to breed for is appaloosa. If you are wanting to breed for appy and pintaloosa I think you have a nice start in the right direction with this colt. If his conformation is lacking in a few places, choose mares that have strengths in those areas.

Not many people can say they have raised a foal from their own breeding program that has a striking resemblance to Orion.

Edited to add: I DO love geldings, I have seven of my own. But once you take "them" off you can't put them back on. But bottom line, he is your horse and your decision to do with as it suits you best.

 

[midnight star stables]

Pedigree means little too me so.......

I Love geldings and geld almost anything I can... So my opinion is GELD him!! He'll make a nice show gelding and a beautiful lawn ordiment(sp)

With a horse like Tango around, you'll only need one stallion, so by gelding your "Orion" you can have your cake and eat it too!

(By that I mean breed with a stallion with a great pedigree and still own your "Orion" AND keep him with the herd!

Win, win, win!

 

[midnight star stables]

THE most challenging color to breed for is appaloosa. If you are wanting to breed for appy and pintaloosa I think you have a nice start in the right direction with this colt. If his conformation is lacking in a few places, choose mares that have strengths in those areas.

I would think Frame (+LWO) is pretty hard to breed for too - if not the most. There are a number of Appaloosas patterns out there, like leopard, snowflake, varnished, blankets, etc. For a loud frame, in each cross there is a 25% chance on getting a visual frame, 25% chance of getting a carrier and 50% other. It you breed two frames together, there is a 25% of getting a dead foal.

Good horses are every where, and in this economy, why add to the numbers?

 

[CyndiD]

OH MY...you can ALWAYS geld and when its done its DONE.

I would wait till he is older to make that decision and since I am a BIG fan of Orion I happen to think he is GORGEOUS

 

[Tango]

To clarify my statement of "THE most challenging color to breed for is appaloosa" - currently there is not a test to identify a homozygous appaloosa. Anyone breeding for appy is breeding on theory of what pattern types are more likely to throw color. Without the availability of a homozygous pattern test for appy, it puts the appy breeder at a greater disadvantage than those breeding for frame overo or any type of pinto pattern.

(And I agree with Cyndi, he is a gorgeous colt.)

 

[mama 'n me minis]

In my humble opinion...do not geld him. Hardship him. He is good looking boy. I thought the comparision pictures were great. I would wait and see what he looks like a little more mature at least. You can always geld later but you can never take it back....

 

[Irish Hills Farm]

IMHO and based on those photos, he should be gelded. Getting PAST his coloring, I do not see a colt who is, agian IMHO, stallion quality. We need to get past color and pedigree and look at the horse. If you have a photo editing program you can easily turn him into a solid color horse and after do that, look at him and ask yourself if he is worthy of being a stallion.

 

[Coventry Lane Farm]

I would geld him. No need to keep him a stallion from the way the pictures look of him. JMO and also from a breeders opinion, color is just icing on the cake, if he doesn't have the correct conformation, no sense of keeping him a stallion. He looks cow hocked to me and not square and needs more groceries.

 

[Jill]

I've had some horses gelded who were really nice stallion quality and I've never, ever regretted it.

In deciding what you want to do with your guy, maybe one trick I use when looking at new potential purchases will help. We all like certain colors and some colored horses will catch my eye always, no matter of build. So what I do is in my mind paint that horse my least favorite horse color (brown bay in my case). IF I still think the horse is amazing, then I may pursue purchasing it.

If your guy was your least favorite solid color, what would you want to do with him? If you would want to use him as a stallion, maybe you can make a couple smaller stallion runs to house more boys. But if you wouldn't want him as a stallion if he were a plain solid color, you may enjoy him a lot more as a loud, flashy gelding

He is very eye catching, but I am not sure he has the most desirably conformation for a herd sire... but the reason we all have our own herds is that we all have our own ideals when it comes to perfection.

 

[BuckNappy]

Thank you for all your opinions.I have also recieved many personal emails with opinions.Unfortunately its about half and half so Im still not sure what I will do but I think for this year I will hold onto him until next year to see how he looks then.No he is not cowhocked but yes I see in the pictures he looks to be.I guess thats what ya get when you take pictures in a hurry and Reflection was in no mood for pictures.I tried to get him to stand a certain way and he would just squirm and get upset but I snapped away anyway.Actually I have included a picture to show just how much Reflection was not in the mood for pictures...lol...No Pam he does not need groceries,he is in good condition.The one picture has a dirt spot on him that makes it look as if he is sunk in there,no he isnt,its just a dirty area,I didnt want to bath him because it is still a bit chilly for that...

 

[Manyspots]

We just gelded a palomino stallion of ours that I really debated on. (even after the vet cut one testicle off, I had to ask the vet, could he still produce? Vet quickly took the knife while answering me and cut the other one off , knowing what I was getting at! ha!) by the next day I had no doubt it was the right decision. He is going to make a fun gelding to show especially driving. I too beleive there are too many little stallions out there and they would be happier as geldings enjoying families more! Good luck with your decision. Lavonne

 

[horsehug]

My vet wants me to be SURE before he will do it for me. He always tells me he can't undo it!

He is still a young little guy. My advice is to wait until you are sure you want him gelded. Once you are sure..... do it.

By the way, he sure does look a lot like Orion

Susan O.

 

[ruffian]

If you are going to hardship the mare, you can then register him with late fees, but without the huge hardship fee.

On one hand, pedigree isn't everything. So I wouldn't geld him over that

On the other, conformation IS everything, so you need to decide if he's absolutely the best stallion you could have for your mares.

Big help, Huh??

 

[Genie]

I wouldn't geld him.

 

[ShashwatAcres]

Im not going to be much help but you can send him to me