I have a 3 yr old hannoverian stallion who we are just starting to collect. Having no breeding shed of my own I ship him to a stud 15 min down the road which is very convient however I am running into a few problems and I am looking for advice. Donnegan has very good manners and is easily trained but I am finding that he is beginning to associate the trailering with the breeding and for an upper level dressage prospect this worries me. I was researching and came accross the method of groud collecting and it perked my interest as it seems to lower the risk of injury and I could do this on our farm. Donnie does not seem comfortable on the phantom (falls off, dances around becomes frustrated) is ground collecting a direction I should take or is his frustrations something that will work itself out? Any help would be appreciated!
Without seeing the entire picture it is really impossible to comment on the individual situation, as there are many variables that could be having an effect.
As a general rule, you will have better success ground collecting with a stallion that has good libido.
If he is not "getting on with the job" on the breeding mount, then one should look at variables (AV temp., handling, general stallion handling, height width and size of mount, etc.) to see if there is something that is discouraging him.
If he is starting to associate trailering with breeding, load him on the trailer multiple times a week and don't take him to be collected. Take him trail riding or just around the block!
We played around with the phantom height this weekend and I think that we have found a position that he is most comfortable with, lowered the front end so it was lower in front then behind and that seems to help stablize him. His Libido is great although he responds better to a vocal older mare that doesn't really cycle any more then to a mare that is in a raging heat. I will also take your advice about the trailering to other sites on a more regular basis. The one question that I really have is whch method of breeding is easier on the horse physically? Or is it 6 of one half dozen of the other?
Having the mount lower at the head end than the tail may be a recipe for future disaster. It tends to make stallions want to "climb" up the mount, and once they get into that habit, it can be difficult to stop them, and it can be dangerous at worst, and inconvenient at best. 56" is the best height at the back end for pretty much any stallion from 14.2 - 16.2 there will always be exceptions, but that is a good starting point. It looks high, but it's not...
If you have a stallion that will ground collect well, it is less stressful on them physically then collecting on the breeding mount. If you have one that never quite gets the hang of ground collecting, then it can be more stressful on everyone - handlers included!
I realize that the original post was quite some time ago but I just read this and thought I would make a suggestion anyway for anyone else in the same boat of having to trailer to collect your stallion....
I too was worried about my guy associating the trailer with collecting as he trailers to competitions and having him ready to breed when exiting the trailer at an event would be less than desirable. So I supplied him with a 'sex' halter for his trips to the breeding facility. It is just a normal nylon halter that I fitted with a fuzzy over the noseband in a funny colour (his everyday halter is a plain leather one). He figured out the difference in very short order and he knows where we are going when the sex halter comes out! He is just a normal guy when put on the trailer with his everyday halter on. Simple, but it works for us!
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. So I supplied him with a 'sex' halter for his trips to the breeding facility. It is just a normal nylon halter that I fitted with a fuzzy over the noseband in a funny colour (his everyday halter is a plain leather one). He figured out the difference in very short order and he knows where we are going when the sex halter comes out! He is just a normal guy when put on the trailer with his everyday halter on. Simple, but it works for us!
