07/09/2022
I am the ALPHA BITCH, here at Whirlwind Acres Morgans!!🥰
STALLION MANAGEMENT:by
Patti Demers Bailey
So I got a little irritated with an anthropomorphic nouveau horse person that said you shouldn’t discipline your horse on another thread. I figured I would share this on my page since it is good advice. Take what you will from it.
You know , I have handled Stallions for over 50 years and I have known some really mean ones.
Every time we had a mean or nasty or oversexed stallion it was because whoever raised him from a youngster did not set boundaries.
You have to be so consistent from the time they come out of the sack if you are going to raise a well mannered stallion.
I Totally do not believe in Kissy facing them or feeding them from your hands. It works for a while until the day They catch scent of a mare in heat and they decide to take your breast off. I have seen these things happen several times.
Also I don’t believe stallions should be able to stick their heads between your boobs and nuzzle you. They need to learn to respect your space and you need to learn to respect theirs!
I also never feed my stallions from my hands because when little kids come along and do it they might mistake their finger for a carrot so I always put their treats in their feed bucket.
They get just as many treats they just don’t get them from my hands. Many stallions will start searching your pockets, rip your pockets off etc. if you feed from your hands. All of this is dangerous.
Stallions communicate with their teeth so it’s not always their fault when they use their teeth but they must be taught that you do not allow communication that way even if it takes some pretty tough lessons.
You can Be a good partner and a good friend to your stallion but you must use common sense.
I literally meet mine “coming out of the sack” with a little soft halter just for the time I’m drying them off and checking them and I teach them from week one that a halter and lead rope means you act normal in the barn like any other horse.
Later I introduce them to the breeding bridle or halter set up which is totally different and usually has a chain. The chain just helps to let them know that it is breeding time.
If chains bother you you can wrap it with latex and put it in their mouth if you want. The point is the Breeding bridle is totally different and that way they get to scream and holler and drop but only when they’re in that breeding set up.
I Get very annoyed when people don’t know what they’re talking about When it comes to disciplining horses.
So many good horses are ruined and end up at the kill buyers because people Spoil them by not setting boundaries and making the Horse mind. There’s nothing worse than a bad mannered horse!
I’m just trying to be helpful here because I made the very same mistake with my first horse which thankfully was a mare .... I Spoiled her so rotten and I had to live with her obnoxious manners for 35 years!
Worst thing that bugs me is when people say or make excuses for their bad mannered horse by saying....
“oh he must’ve been abused when he was little“.....
Bull S#*t ....
The horse is probably like he is because his first handlers did not give him proper parameters and teach him what community behavior is acceptable. Most of these people “love” their horses too much. I have seen it over and over and over.
It is Up to you to teach a horse to be a good equine citizen.
And stallions, as well as most horses, are different as people. Some have very nice dispositions and others have rotten ones. We can argue the point all day whether this is nature or nurture but you have to face the fact that horses are as different as people.
I do not like using whips either although if they are used only has an extension of your arm and to give the Horse direction it’s perfectly fine.
I prefer to buy cheap whiffle bats from the dollar store .... They don’t look as bad as whips and they make a big “twack” sound if you have to smack a horse on the chest or the neck to get them to move over or whatever and it won’t hurt them at all but the noise intimidates them usually.
I do want to say in closing that when you have 1000 to 1500 pound stallion with raging libido coming at you to tear your face off or kill you just because he is seeing you as competition to his desires when his testosterone is flowing you must have something to get him to back off.
And there are unfortunately just some psycho stallions like Ted Bundy or Charlie Manson. Sometimes it’s a matter of genetics.
I just want everybody to be safe so I thought I would put my two cents worth in. Take from it what you will but please don’t argue with me unless you have been handling stallions all over the world for as long as I have.
I was at equine affair a few years ago and a whole Lotta trainers lined up to watch me unload all of my stallions out of the same trailer. When I was done they asked me “Patti Bailey, how do you get all those stallions to trailer and mind you so well?”
I just smiled and said to them....
“ BECAUSE THEY KNOW I AM THE ALPHA BITCH”
Bottom line they must know you are the boss ... horses, especially stallions, like to follow strength.
Peace & Love 💕
PS If you don’t know what alpha means when it comes to stallions you better not try to raise one.
