the phrase "what a stud"....

[wingnut]

With only 4 years of horse ownership under my belt, I *know* I'm not ready for a stallion. I also know that I do not want to breed horses at this stage in my life. So gelding is a must for our situation because I do want a boy for my next horse. What others do is up to them. They have to do what's best for their own particular situation.

 

[MyMiniGal]

I guess I should of pointed out, that the stallion/stud, I was talking about is a breeding one. He is also treated like a pet, as he is still very sweet. He is their main stallion. They have one other, and that is it. I was just meaning he was sweet, as he is. I agree that if one isn't breeding, and doesn't plan to, and has a stallion, gelding would something I would do, anyway. My friend, has several she has had gelded, and has kept as pets. So she is very responsible.

 

[BigDogs & LittleHorses]

With only 4 years of horse ownership under my belt, I *know* I'm not ready for a stallion. I also know that I do not want to breed horses at this stage in my life. So gelding is a must for our situation because I do want a boy for my next horse. What others do is up to them. They have to do what's best for their own particular situation.

It really doesn't have anything to do with experience... any adult in good health can successfully and responsibly start with a miniature stallion if they have an appropriate / escape-proof setup for one and the correct mindset. I'm sure you would do fine.

I'm not saying it is the best choice; it's not for most, and some males simply don't handle their hormones well and only really prosper once cut. I'm talking mini horses here, LOL.

 

[amysue]

An old time horseman shared an expression with me once; "out of 100 colts, you should geld 90 and shoot 9". In my opinion, many mini colts are kept in tact not just because individuals have dreams of grandeur expecting to make lots of money breeding, but also because they are smaller and a bit (although not always) easier to keep than a full size horse. Its one thing to have a 250 pound "screaming penis" in the barnyard, but a 16hh 1,000 pound one is another problem entirely. It is understandable that nature provokes stallions to behave a certain way. But common sense and safe horse keeping practice makes all of the difference. In my opinion, most colts make terrific geldings. How does it go? Mares are from Venus, Stallions are from Mars...but geldings are from Heaven.

 

[MountainWoman]

You can't make money breeding but if you do it right, you can definitely count on spending lots of money. All you have to do is look at the Facebook mini horse sales pages to see how many horses are up for sale and quality horses at give away prices and how many people are posting that they need to cut their numbers sometimes in half. I guess going back to the original thread boys are awesome but geldings are great fun too.

 

[Riverrose28]

I have three stallions here, from experience I panic if one gets out! I consider myslef a responsable b reeder, although I haven't bred much in the last few years becuase our market is flooded. It is flooded with good quality and pet quality. I just can't add to it. Our main stallion Lucky Four Sugar Boys Sundowner is worth a fortune, he has his own paddock with a four foot stock fence that has electric wire all around by the house, he can see mares, but is no were near them. If he ever got out, I would have a heart attack! No lie! He also has a stall in the main barn in case of bad weather, and does have a run-in in his paddock, right now he is fat and frustrated, but that is another story. The other two stallions are also fat and frustrated. No one is getting bred because our market is so bad here in the east. They are stall kept and only get out for a few hours every day. If one of my horse ran across the road they probably would be road kill. I'm with Marty here, you need better fencing for your stallion before something terrable happens such as an unintentional breeding or hit by car.

 

[AngC]

Sorry, I was in a grumpy mood when I posted that... because:

That day, we spent the afternoon removing a half ton of hay out of the barn and loading up $20 buck/bale hay to give to someone I like and whom I thought could get some use out of my mistake from last year. While we were doing that our “wild” stallion, in between supervising us, was patrolling the fence line, not to be mean, but to “see” (he’s pretty much functionally blind) what was going on, like he always does. [i've learned my lesson on hay; take a look, prod at it, sniff it; buy one bale; take it home and crack it open. Then run back and buy a load if it's worth a squat.]

Anyway, a couple neighbors were going to ride past on the road; I heard them say something about the minis are out of the barn. I headed out to grab Nicky’s neck to steer him in the barn (‘cause I forgot where I left his halter.) That neck steering thing is pretty tough to do on a feisty stallion; yup!

They can’t ride for squat; my husband refers to one of them as moon-walker. And I’ve always tried to be polite and shove Nicky into the barn if they want to go past, because their horse get all cranked up if they try to ride past Nicky. It would have taken me 5 min. max to get all 3 of ours locked up so they could ride past. But they yelled at me to get a “real horse.” ...not sure if they were trying to be funny, but I was hot and the crummy hay was making me itch and... That just really yanked my chain!

Sometimes I feel like I’ve learned more from our horses than I ever learned here on the forum or anywhere else on the internet. The hay went bye-bye because I didn’t like how it looked; and I didn’t like how the horses reacted to it.

Anyway, when someone makes a blanket statement, I react because there is so much information (or lack thereof) that people blindly repeagt on the internet and in horse forums in general that makes no sense to me. There’s been some comments in this thread that I disagree with wholeheartedly, based on my observations of my horses BUT I really have no intention to argue or irritate other users here, so I’ll shut up now. Nicky got a couple extra kisses today.

 

[MountainWoman]

Ang, I totally agree with you. We each have our own way of doing things and our own personal experiences with our horses and nothing better than learning through real life experience. Just want to add though that the MareStare board has been amazing and the "Aunties" have taught me so much and when I do post a specific question to this board, I get lots of helpful answers but nothing ever replaces our real life experiences (both good and bad) with our beloved horses. I've formed some really strong friendships through this board and my horses and I do cherish those. I think it's good we can all agree to disagree about certain topics. Here's to giving our horses kisses.

Sometimes I feel like I’ve learned more from our horses than I ever learned here on the forum or anywhere else on the internet.

 

[FurstPlaceMiniatures]

Here's my reasoning for keeping my stallion a stallion -

1) I have access to the best facilities I could ever ask for. Like, seriously awesome, pretty, safe, stallion appropiate facilities.

2) I can handle him. He's my first mini, but this isn't my first rodeo. Been riding 18 years, showed for 6, work in the animal health industry. He wants to have a "testosterone moment?" He will regret it. They are few and far between.

3) He's not a jerk. I take him places, we show "off the trailer," and it's enjoyable. If his hormones ruined show day, he would be gelded no questions asked.

4) Performance wise, he wins very consistently, only been halter broke a year (he's 7, long story) and is easy to train. Gelding to improve performance would be stupid on a horse that wins a lot as a stud.

5) He knows when to use which head. Had an 11 yr old boy with no horse experience handling him in a strange place while his sisters pony pretty much begged for it, he never even thought to try, and focused fully on the little boy.

6) IM TIRED. Im tired of buying other people's problems, and yes, until weaning is plenty of times for someone else to make problems. Im tired of not finding the genetics I want, Im tired of having to rehab horses, Im tired of having to deal with the crap and suprises that come with purchased horses. I trust no one selling a horse, and at this point, for good freaking reason. I've had a few suprises, even with the opinions of professionals going into it all.

And will I "flood the market with more crap horses?" NO. When I breed him, its two foals who will have a forever home for a driving team for a close friend out of a darned nice mare, and someday, when I find a mare I like as much as him, I will breed them, (after her show career is over) and get my super foal or foals.Started the way I want, with the genetics I want, with the quality of care I want. Not worth it in some people's eyes to keep a stallion whole for 3 or 4 foals, but you know what? They can go shove it, they don't feed him, therefore, their opinion is void. I don't really plan to breed to sell foals, I don't really plan on offering public covers, but wouldn't necessarily be against it if people that weren't total morons wanted a baby or two, I plan to breed for ME, and play in my own little sandbox.

I fully agree with gelding ugly, unregistered,wild, just pet, and dwarfy animals, however, my boy is none of those, and therefore, he will stay whole!

 

[MountainWoman]

FurstPlaceMiniatures, when I read your part about taking over other people's problems wow could I relate!!! That could be an entirely different thread.

 

[FurstPlaceMiniatures]

FurstPlaceMiniatures, when I read your part about taking over other people's problems wow could I relate!!! That could be an entirely different thread.

O. I am just, so, DONE with other people's stupidity transferred to horses! Between the App colt that was a strangles survivor riddled with hoof abcesses, the pony with a "suprise" heart problem from severe worm damage, the Arab 300lbs underweight found in a cornfield who was once a barrel champion, the "creature from the black lagoon" (an EVIL backyard bred saddlebredX), the horrifically "trained" (aka beaten and screamed into submission) paint that had her mind 10000% BLOWN but you couldn't tell until you pushed her, and finally the mini stud horrifically overweight, wormy, with feet that were "Top five worst" the amishman had ever seen that was origianlly a VERY high dollar colt off a VERY nice farm, IM DONE.

No more rescues (ive said that before too though....) No more purchases, I am retreating to my sandbox.

 

[Tab]

FurstPlaceMiniatures, when I read your part about taking over other people's problems wow could I relate!!! That could be an entirely different thread.

Been there too. That is why I like to make them from scratch. Fortunately not very many negative purchases with minis, but with large horses. There is a money grubbing trader around every corner! About keeping minis whole or not? They may remain whole as long as they are gentlemen. They are innocent until proven guilty! The way I feel about it... Just because he has the equipment doesn't mean he has to use it, and just by being a stallion doesn't make him a reckless savage.

 

[AngC]

We had no intention to “make money” off horses (gotta’ say anybody with that pipe dream, in this economy, is a bit nuts.)

Nicky is an unregistered “mutt.” And, under my watch, he bred our unregistered Craigs-List mare. We now have an unregistered yearling. I love her to pieces and, even better, my husband does too. The husband used to be afraid of horses, but Baby cured him of that. She is the sweetest little thing, and sometimes when I read a post here where someone has their magnifying glass out peering at the 1 white hair on their appaloosa trying to figure out if it’ll get spots, I giggle to myself just a little. Baby has spots aplenty, and she’s built like a brick outhouse. I think she’d be able to pull a cart quite well; (heck, she’s so muscle-y I think she could pull the husband’s truck around.)

We’re probably doing a whole bunch of things incorrectly, but Nicky is going to remain intact. We have the facilities, and considering his vision, I think he’s about as happy as an old guy can be. All it took was me digging through older posts here and reading where someone ran into issues gelding an older stallion. I just don’t have it in me to put him through any more.

 

[rabbitsfizz]

If you have the facilities for a stallion, fine. No real problem and it's your horse anyway so it's also your business. If you do not have the facilities and your stallion is getting out then it is going to very quickly become someone else's problem, and yes, I do feel justified in saying that horse should be sold or gelded, pronto. Forget for a minute the possibility of the horse being kicked and seriously injured by the BH's, and think of the family of four in a small car who come round the corner, swerve to avoid the horse in the middle of the road and are killed. Still amusing??

 

[horse_apples]

I live on a dirt road that has about 4 cars travel down it a day, one being mine. My stallion is secure in my mom's pasture. I don't find it "amusing" that he ran away to woo the mares across the street. I was just bringing up the subject about how he thinks he is god's gift to mares and every creature lucky enough to gaze upon him. He is a joy to own, friendly, respectful to me and he's not getting gelding. I won't post here anymore, I'll just read what I need to learn about - there's a lot of super nice people on this forum but I can not stand the grumpy "you're stupid" comments I read. Not everyone is a breeder or shows horses.

 

[BSharpRanch]

Our mini stallion, 20 years ago, Learned how to go through the barbless barbwire pasture fence and he would go up to our neighbor's house, 3/4 of a mile up an old skidder trail. I could hear him up there trying to woo their arabian mares. I'd saddle up the big stallion and ride up and get him. My friend's would be laughing so hard they just about would fall over! We finally had to limit his turnout to the roundpen. We didn't have to worry about autos, but we did have black bear, bobcats and pumas up there, all of which could have eaten him.

 

[MountainWoman]

HorseApples, I hope you won't leave the boards.

 

[MyMiniGal]

I have been reading this thread and even tried to post about how one of the stallions where I have my mini boarded, is so sweet and well-behaved. It seems to me, that many just "assume" that because a mini is a stallion, it will get out and cause havoc. My friends two stallions have never gotten out of their paddocks/pastures. They have a pulsing hotwire about 12-18" inches from the ground, on all paddocks, be they for mares or stallions. If I remember right, the person who started this discussion, said, due to her stallion going across the street all the time, to her mother's, that they have now kept him across the street so that won't happen anymore. If she plans on breeding him, she of course, wouldn't want him gelded. I see the need for gelding, if one isn't planning on breeding. But just because someone doesn't geld. I don't think they should be put down for it and that doesn't mean, that the stallion would for sure be one to get out and cause problems. I got what she was posting about...how funny her stud is, due to he thinks he is God's gift to all mares. But once again, like I have had happen to me, the main reason of the post is overlooked, and she was jumped on, for something she didn't even ask for any opinion on.

 

[Rhondaalaska]

I agree with horse apples and my mini gal.

I have stopped posting as much due to how negative it gets at times.

I read this post when it came out.

I saw what horse apples was trying to say.

Her boy likes her moms mares, so they keep him over there

So he doesn't keep getting out.

He thinks he is hot stuff and god gift to the lady's .

In other words a male .

People need support not torn down and criticized , that is what I have been seeing happening lately.

There are some very nice people here and some with good ideas.

But the negative can be to much.

Not everyone is a breeder for years, but all of us love our little horses.

Everyone should be treated with respect.

Sorry for the rant, I just see more of this happening lately.

 

[BSharpRanch]

And my take is this on breeding. The backyard breeder is always the first one blamed for many of the ills in the breed (no matter which breed), from poor quality foals to flooding the market with foals. However it isn't the backyard breeder who may or may not have 1 or 2 foals a year or so. It is the big breeders who breed 50-100 mares per year. And contrary to popular belief, they are not 50-100 perfect, show quality babys, there are only a handful if the breeder is lucky, the rest range from dwarfish to upper pet quality. I currently have two very nice mares that are unregistered. Both came from a huge breeder of miniatures, shetlands and show ponies. I have their email to the person who purchased them and inquired about papers for them. Kind of an interesting response from one of the "leaders" in the industry. So to all of the big breeders who keep telling everyone to geld their stallion, maybe you need to look in the mirror sometime and realize just how much you have contributed to the overpopulation of minis.