Well, I'm looking into the possibility of purchasing a stallion as a competition horse (dressage). I've got the experience, etc. to handle a stallion, but have little knowledge in the area of collecting and breeding. How much would it cost to have collections done by an outside source? I doubt I'd have the time to learn everything immediately, so for some time at least I'd need it done for me. I hope I'm not asking a stupid quesiton here, I just really don't know that much about this. Thanks for enlightening me :-)
Anonymous
Posted on Sunday, March 09, 2003 - 03:00 pm:
In my area, Southern Ontario, collection farms or tecnicians charge about $160-$200 per collection. That includes processing and packaging. This cost is passed entirely to the mare owner, with a deposit for a returnable shipper and shipping costs that also are paid by the mare owner.
Hi, I have owned horses my whole life. (geldings and mares) I have the opportunity to buy a stallion with very nice bloodlines. I personally have never owned a stallion and dont know anything about breeding but it is something I have always thought about doing. My question is, should I take this leap into the whole breeding world or should I be happy and count my blessings with what I have. My biggest fear is saftey. How dangerous can this be and how often do people get hurt hand breeding? I feel I am a very experienced horse handler and this stallion is very quiet hes 8 yrs old but has only been "used" one time, three years ago, the woman just let him sit. She bought him just to say she owns a stallion. And then did nothing with him.
There really is no one answer to your question I'm afraid Janeel!
There are so many variables to take into account that will play a significant role in the outcome.
Handling a stallion can be relatively safe, or extremely dangerous - it will depend upon the individual stallion and the competence of the handlers. Some stallions are pussycats to handle, some can be raving lunatics - a lot of that is environmental and can be altered either for better or worse, but that means that we have to look at the handler ability. Obviously a raving lunatic stallion and an inexperience, frightened or inept handler is a recipe for disaster.
People do get hurt breeding horses. How badly depends upon the situation, and even the most competent handler can suddenly find themselves in a bad situation in a heartbeat - that is where the experience tells, and the ability to get the heck out of the bad situation makes the difference between survival and a bad outcome. The more experience you have, the less chance of injury is present, but it can happen to the best of us...
Handling a stallion - especially in a breeding situation - is not the same as handling any other horse. In the breeding situation you are probably as close to nature as you will ever be with your horses, and it is important to understand all of the natural behaviour and accept it - or at least most of it - and know where it's going and how safe it is (or isn't).
The fact that the stallion you are considering is 8 years old and has been "left to sit" is not a good omen. Typically those stallions that have been handled and worked in a variety of situations - breeding and other - will be better behaved and easier to deal with. That of course is assuming that the handling has been good! The other question that is worth contemplating there is if he is a decent stallion and is 8 yo why has he been left standing and only bred one mare? There are a lot of good geldings in the world that have "excess baggage"...
Probably a good starting point for you in making this decision is to find a couple of different people local to you who are breeding stallions and see if you can become involved (even if it's just watching the process) and see if it is something that still want to contemplate after seeing it happen a few times.
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