Just had to post so that anyone else considering buying a stallion will read this.
I have handled stallions on the racetrack and at stables and farms and thought I knew enough to buy one. Boy was I wrong.
I bought a miniature stud to breed to my mare and stud out. He had nice bloodlines, was a perfect gentlemen and was pretty as a picture. The only probelm was he was used to hand breeding, not pasture breeding and had not seen a mare in two years. Being small did not change anything in how he was handled.
I put him in with my mare foolishly thinking if she was not in heat, then she will re-buff him and he will wait patiently until she is in heat. No such luck. The first day was fine. They ate together,my mare kept him in his place and all was fine. The next day however, he decided that he would rape my mare over and over without her being in standing heat. He ran her for 30 minute intervals (with a 3 minute break in between) and ravaged the daylights out of her. My mare kicked him all around the field but he would not listen. He wanted to breed and that was it. They had hold of each other's haunches by the teeth and were spinning, they reared, chased, bit and kicked. Since it was not safe to go in the pen with them, we tried a longe whip, yelling, clapping, throwing water on them, you name it we tried it. There was no stopping this stallion. He finally dragged my mare to her knees and she lay there screaming for help. We had to get help as there was only two of us, one of which has no experience with horses. So we called the horse experienced nieghbors over who could not believe what they were witnessing. Both horses were lathered and dripping in sweat. My mare was covered in bite wounds and he was STILL going after her. He finally got her to submit and bred her forcefully, steam rising off both of them. He didnt't even complete the copulation as my mare was still trying to kick him. In short, I had a more experienced neighbor go in the pen and grab hold of the stallion. We got him tied to the front tree and there he stood for 24 hrs. Because no one wanted a mini stallion with no manners in the breeding game, I had to give him away. I lost all my money, but the way I look at it, is my mare is safe and it was a costly, eye opening lesson.
If you don't know how to handle stallions or how breeding works..please don't go through what I just went through. It was a genuine nightmare!
What a story Jen !!!! OMG that poor little mare!! I believe I would have went in there with a shovel when he brought her to her knees!!!!!! Is your mare OK?? I hope so. I am so sorry you had to witness that. It's sounds like it was a horrible experience, but I thank you for sharing it to help some others to realize what CAN happen.
Jen- Stallions ( even small ones ) can be very dangerous, and the most quiet and well behaved ones can revert to instinct in the blink of an eye. I'm glad no one was seriously injured and that you were able to get him out of the pen before he did permanent damage to your mare. Thanks for sharing your story, I hope the readers here who have considered buying their own stallions will consider carefully whether they have the experience to deal with such an event prior to taking that step after reading your story. Ev
Just wanted to let you know that the same thing happen to me except that my stallion was 17 hands of fury. The most terrifying experience of my life with horses I must tell you. I posted about it on COTH in the Horse breeding section If you search under Stallion Savaging Mare you will get the whole story. My boy is now gelded and I'm kind of turned off the whole breeding thing.
Thanks, No we are still breeding, but my black guy will not be passing on his wonderfull traits. He will be a wonderfull gelding. We have one more foal by him due in February. Sniff, sniff but better for all involved. Very scary episode.
Thanks all. My mare is now at the facility where the stallion went being bred in heat, by hand. Everything is going well as they are both in knowledgable hands. My mare is fine, yes, and surprisingly has no fear for the stallion. It was indeed the scariest thing I have ever witnessed!
Jen, Good Luck! Hopefully she will get pregnant on the first try and you will have something good to look forward to this next year! Fingers and toes crossed for you!
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