Could someone please tell me roughly at what age does a colt become fertile?
Obviously I realise gelding should be done at approximately 6months of age if at all possible, but when can a physically mature colt actually begin to cover a very small quantity of carefully selected mares?
I do not have a colt myself, just very curious!
Any information greatly appreciated.
Jos
Posted on Friday, April 25, 2003 - 11:48 pm:
Colts can get a mare pregnant as early as 9 months of age in some cases. One would not however be wise to use a colt until he is about 2 years old, and even then not heavily.
Sandy
Posted on Saturday, April 26, 2003 - 11:51 am:
You say not to use a two year old heavily....what constitutes "heavily"? I have a two year old that I would like to breed to seven mares, is that too many?
Jos
Posted on Monday, April 28, 2003 - 12:46 pm:
2 year old: 5-10 if suitably spread out, and depending upon the individual animal's maturity;
3 year old: between 15 and 20;
4 year old: between 20 and 25.
It is important not to overuse a young stallion, as he may become discouraged or bored with breeding. Obviously there is tremendous variation from animal to animal to take into consideration too.
Sandy
Posted on Monday, April 28, 2003 - 06:11 pm:
How will I know if my two year old is mature enough to begin breeding? He is just now a yearling and is beginning to show some interest in mares, but he still acts like a baby also. Clacking his teeth and such when a mare tells him to back off. Both testicles have already dropped, although they aren't real big yet. Will maturity be evident by the size of the testes and attitude toward mares, or are there other factors to consider also?
Candy
Posted on Tuesday, April 29, 2003 - 09:29 am:
If you are concerned about whether or not a colt is fertile, you can have his fertility checked by a vet. They can train him to collect as for AI and check his semen quality. That is the surest way to know.
Some 2 year olds are not mentally ready to breed mares. Especially if they are submissive. Some colts (and 2 year olds are still mentally babies) just aren't mature enough to want to mount a mare. Some colts start mounting and trying to breed mares when they are 9 mos. old. It all depends on the horse. All I can say is ask lots of questions to experienced breeders.
If you have never stood a stallion, you may want to consider standing him where there are professional stallion handlers. They can train him in the proper way to breed mares. There is way more to hand breeding stallions than just putting the stallion on a lead and holding the mare still. It takes a firm hand to train a stallion to mount only when the mare is ready and not get so out of control that someone gets hurt.
I don't mean to preach to the choir, but if you've never bred a stallion, I'd take some time to learn from experienced stallion handlers, what you need to do and look for in a breeding stallion. Many breeders would be grateful to have some help and would love to teach what they know. Since you have some time before your colt is ready to go, maybe try contacting some local breeders and ask if they will teach you now, during breeding season. That way you will be more ready next year when he might be ready.
It would be unlikely that they would be fertile - in fact almost certainly not. 9 months is generally considered to be the youngest that fertility is seen. They may still however be breeding prior to that even though they are not yet fertile.
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