This message is from: Julia Will <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> We keep two stallions, ages 4 and 11, and over the past 8 years have had more than a few young stallions pass through here, and a lot of stud colts born. As far as temperment goes, either of our stallions can be a challenge to handle in a breeding situation. Erlend especially is difficult to "lead" up to a mare, and will drag the handler, given half a chance. (Much to my embarassment!) He is full of pride and spirit...is beautiful to behold. Dutch, being younger, is a bit more cautious when approaching a mare, and not so hard to hold. However, both of these stallions would NEVER strike, bite or kick at the handler. Neither of them will pin their ears at a person. Both are very manageable at a show or at home, tho we have had our moments with the younger one as a two year old.
There are so many things to consider when deciding to geld or not, but to me, temperament is critical. I have raised a few eyebrows for gelding two grey stallions; in one case, the horse (a four year old we had purchased in a herd of 10 horses, 4 of whom were 2 to 4 year old stallions) came at me with teeth bared in the pasture, in the other case the temperament was excellent, conformation very good (won Overall Grand Champion at Woodstock at age 2) but he was not better than his sire, nor did I feel the bloodline was in short supply. A young stallion prospect should have a sparkle, class, a "presence" which shines out in a pasture full of weanlings or yearlings. This of course on top of great conformation, movement and desirable bloodlines. In my opinion, if a colt doesn't start out with that "look", not likely that it will come along later, so you might as well geld him. We have a combination of standing stalls, box stalls and run-ins, and each has a place. Our standing stall horses are on turnout from 7:30 am to 4:30 pm, and we frequently rotate which horses are kept where. Usually the horses that are being used the most are in the standing stalls. Unlike Carol, we have solid sides with partitions that prevent the horses from bothering the horse next to them. This prevents any kicking, biting, etc. (Not all my Fjords are angels.....especially when food is being served!)
