Teaching a stallion "the ropes"

[Roguelet]

I would be very interested to hear helpful hints, tidbits, funny stories, etc. from people who have assisted a stallion in his initial adjustment from "racehorse" to "super-studly breeding machine."

[madelyn]

Step one, get him a hussy... sort of like taking the scion of the family to a bordello to school him in the "ways of love.."

[helen in FL]

Chestnuts have generally worked. Chestnuts who go into heat a lot and who have had a foal or with a foal by their side. Chestnuts are the genetic blonds and if they have a foal it means they put out, lol!

Get yourself a blond slut!

[Crystal]

LOL.. Grey mares don't generally "do it" for a new man.

[K~2]

All the suggestions so far are pretty spot on. I believe the mare is a very important part of the equation, you need one that is patient, and kind, so that his first breeding experiences aren't too 'challenging'.

There are some good articles on thehorse.com regarding introducing the novice stallion to breeding. You may need to sign up to view the article, but registration is free.

From Novice to Advanced: Tips for Stallion Handlers
by: Marcella M. Reca, Staff Writer
November 16 2004, Article # 1789


Even though we think a stallion should know his business in the breeding shed, that is not always the case at the beginning. "Starting a novice breeding stallion can range from a quick and easy project accomplished in a few brief sessions to a challenging and time-consuming effort over many sessions and even a few weeks," says Sue McDonnell, PhD, a Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist and head of the Equine Behavior Lab of the Veterinary School of the University of Pennsylvania (New Bolton Center), at the Hagyard Bluegrass Equine Symposium held Oct. 21-23, 2004.
Full Story http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?id=1789

[nythoroughbredvz]

Tell him he isnt going to lose the deed to his stall and paddock!

[Intrinsic Worth]

Changeintheweather was such an idiot that when he dismounted the test mare, he turned and kicked her in the leg and severed an artery. She nearly died.

[KBEquine]

Step one, get him a hussy... sort of like taking the scion of the family to a bordello to school him in the "ways of love.."

And whoever mentioned chestnuts . . . our ultimate "first mare" is one. She's the kind of girl who, when teased, never says "No!!!!" the way most mares do. With her its always either "Yes" or "Maybe". Plus, she always "breeds up" and in the past 2 years, her half-brother has set new track & course records at Turfway & Mountaineer, giving her an improving catalog page for the stud's first babies.

And whenever she's training a new beau, the new stallion can be doing whatever he really wants behind her & she will be casually nibbling a treat [no need for restraints of any kind] & waiting patiently while he figures out his new duties.

What a perfect 1st mare . . . unfortunately, her family's ultimate cross is with virtually any Northern Dancer-line sire & we've got 2 stallions with no Northern Dancer at all . . . sigh. Still, she did teach our "40-year-old virgin" the ropes & there are "non-ND" reasons to think there's a great deal of hope for the cross.

But you asked for stories - so here's hoping your new stud is better adapted to his new job than the paint colt my husband had to handle many years ago. It was before we had the 'perfect first mare' and let's just say he [the stallion] didn't know which end to breed . . .

In desperation, we finally let him loose in the round-pen with a very opinionated TB mare who told him EXACTLY when & how she wanted his attention . . . she was pretty much completely the opposite of the perfect first mare we now use. But admittedly, she did a much better job than the "vet behavioral specialist" with the shock collar who the paint stud's owner paid to train the horse. Then again, the stallion seemed to kinda enjoy the collar, which created a whole separate set of issues.

[Mahubah]

But admittedly, she did a much better job than the "vet behavioral specialist" with the shock collar who the paint stud's owner paid to train the horse. Then again, the stallion seemed to kinda enjoy the collar, which created a whole separate set of issues.

Oh, my, does that last sentence beggar the imagination. Maybe he just needed a dominatrix after that!

[SlewCrew]

Have a good solid platform,i.e. an overectomized draft mare...more patient,more stable,and can be brought in at your convenience with an injection of estradiol.Most important...patience.If the horse is jumping in the right areas,and maybe even penetrating and not finishing,when you sense they are becoming frustrated...stop.Pushing them will only ruin them for the future.Patience is the key.Bring them back the next day,and if it doesn't work then,bring them back again...they'll get it.The shed is a happy place...make it one.

[KBEquine]

Oh, my, does that last sentence beggar the imagination. Maybe he just needed a dominatrix after that!

In fact, I'm pretty sure the mare who finally explained the finer points of breeding to him was just that --

Have a good solid platform,i.e. an overectomized draft mare

And that's how we taught our current stallion to breed - she [the overectomized mare] wasn't draft, but she was steady & in the hands of the breeding specialists at New Bolton, so well-handled & well-experienced. I highly recommend it, too. A way better experience than the paint colt's [of course, it was a way smarter stallion].

At one point early in the paint colt's attempts, we did consider "World's Funniest Home Videos" as he mounted from . . . the front of the shoulder . . . but figured it just wasn't suited to Prime Time TV.

[bcassidy]

The mare is critical, a safe and calm mare is ideal for a young stallion and hopefully one that is the correct size for the stallion. (don't forget a bump roll if the stallion is well endowed)
I would never introduce a stallion to a mare unless the mare has been jumped and stood like a soldier for a teaser. This is not a time for a transitional mare or a particularly squirmy mare. Some mild tranq is not out of the question if you can't come up with the ideal mare, just make sure she can support her own wait and that of the stallions if you have to go this route.
I always teach my new stallions good ground manners and I have a routine that I exercise for all covers. The routine helps the stallion and workers so we can minimize the places where something can go wrong.
I start with preping the mare close to where she will be bred and then get her positioned and supported for the way we will exercise the cover. If she has a foal by her side I like to have the foal stand at the head of the mare being controlled by totally separate handlers. I find keeping the mare and foal together during the cover is much easier on the foal and mare if you have the room and manpower to execute it this way. Once I have the mare (and foal) ready. I then introduce the stallion to the mare. I let him walk up to the mare and sniff and get acquainted with her for a very short period of time. Once he starts to show interest I back him off into a corner and start to prep the stallion, after he has dropped and been cleaned I start to walk the stallion to the mare in perfect alignment. If he rushes the mare or shows too much unruliness I back him off and start the whole process over again. In the first few covers I would accept a little less manners always making sure that he never loses interest. (If he raced for a long time, he has been conditioned many times to not show any sexual interest and you don't want to discourage his natural libido from taking over. As an aside---------if he is fresh off the track make sure you have given the stallion sufficient time to get off what ever supplements he may have been on while racing. I like to have at least 4 months prior to his first cover to clean him up.
After the first few covers, if they have gone well, I start demanding more and more manners from the stallion in the period before the cover and especially while approaching the mare. I don't accept any stallion to walk on his hind legs or rushing the mare uncontrollably. He MUST mount the mare properly or he is backed off and the whole routine started again. I have found that most stallions if started with high expectations will deliver very good results. If you don't know what you should expect from your stallion then he probably won't give it to you naturally. These can be very dangerous episodes and you certainly want the best mannered stallion you can develop---it will pay huge dividends down the road when you get to your problem mares.....
The proper facilities are nice to have and I like to have my collection cup and microscope handy for the ejaculate analysis but when you get to know your individual stallions----you know when they have completed their mission and can separate the couple. A good experienced crew is a must ( I can usually cover a mare with 3 men and myself without a foal and 4 men and myself with a standing foal.)
I hope this helps. This is how I was taught to do it by a very seasoned stallion manager. It works for me and you should plan on being flexible and adjusting whatever you need to adjust. Most of my covers are carbon copies but about 20% of them can be very unique. You must be creative and flexible in your approach when necessary. I just try to get a good sound cover with safety being of the most critical concern. And I mean safety for the mare and foal, stallion and helpers. These can be very dangerous episodes under less than ideal circumstances. Good luck and may you have a very high in foal rate at the end of the breeding season. I always shoot for 100%! A good repro vet is a tremendous asset!!! Expensive but well worth it..

[winds]

When we retired Majesty's Time to stud, we sent him to a farm in MD. The stallion manager a woman called me laughing hysterically. She asked me what did they do to him at the track? I said I had no idea, why? It seems when she would reach down to wash him, he would sit down. Years later I asked her if he'd gotten any better about it and she said, no, she just got faster...................

winds

[KBEquine]

When we start new stallions [the quirky paint notwithstanding because he had other handling issues], we do almost exactly what bcassidy said, with pretty much the same results.

The only difference is that due to our set-up. we try to keep the foal in a stall in front of the dam. That way should things start to go wrong, we know we don't have to worry about the foal getting hurt. But I think that has more to do with our facility & set up than anything.

And I can't over-emphasize how important that unflappable, solid citizen 1st mare [or whole first breeding season] is. I recently read somewhere that stallions who will mount & enter the mare but not ejaculate learn to do that when they've been kicked by a mare, so you want to make the whole process as safe, easy & predictable as possible while they learn their role.

Last year when we got our one stallion, we had to weigh the pros & cons of advertising to get mares to him, versus using that advertising budget to buy "the right mares" for him. In the end, we decided it was more important to get him a couple rock solid, easy breeding mares who matched him on conformation & pedigree than to advertise for outside mares [the fact that at the time we had limited stalls & would need to van breed any outside mares played into the analysis, too].

Given the influx of new stallions in PA, I doubt the advertising would have paid off & we were fortunate to have the luxury of giving him a good training year. [Although we would have happily bred 'the right' outside mare, and still will.]

But a consistent routine & 'training wheels' in the form of a couple unflappable mares is key.

[tammysinnett]

I had to laugh when I seen this post.....try a girl that has never seen a horse breed and her first Thoroughbred is a stud who has never bred.....dangerous combination...thank god my husband was a farm boy!!!He had to teach us both at the same time====poor guy of course I was full of questions . I have sooo many stories but the most recent is -- we just took our stud to a farm to stand him, he has a herd of mares that he bellars to everyday. Sunday we brought him a ole grey mare that bred to his daddy and made a great race horse......he will not leave the fence when she is near and when she goes to the other pasture he runs to the corner of his fence and strains to see her.....the other mares try to get his attention but for some reason he just cant get enough of that mare.....she is showing her age most definitely, so why her??? even his 1st mare and sole mate who goes everywhere with him cant get his attention. I asked a friend do you think she said something kinky to keep his attention for this long and I thought they were going to die laughing......really wonder what it is ????? that he finds her so fascinating???