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| what stallions look like |
And only part part of that has changed. Not the tail-eating part either.
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| what a sexpot |
As in, they'd walk by with those wide, saucy, swinging hips, and he'd drop and make stallion noises.
Because that's not embarrassing.
He then spent almost our entire first dressage show hanging out annnnnnd as you might have read on Alyssa's blog, also tried to mount the indomitable Bacon at the last event derby.
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| only a stallion in his mind |
To this point, he's been perfectly manageable--I mean, he's very forward with the ladies, but he isn't aggressive to people or ignoring me or charging around or anything.
So aside from never tying him on the same side of the trailer as a mare again, anyone have some brilliant insights on how to manage a studly gelding?
I have no advice to give, but I will mention that there is a gelding at my barn that acts the exact same way with Chloe. Apparently it's okay, Chloe thinks he's about the best thing ever...and has been in heat for almost a month. My mare is such a hussy.
ReplyDeleteVicks in the nose. Gelding only turnout. A light whack when he drops at the wrong time. I had a rogue horse and he was a nightmare until his surgery. Learned all the tricks lol
ReplyDeleteI second the Vicks. We had a gelding who was all about the girls and this helped a lot.
DeleteRies turns into a muffin man for the right mare. He hasn't tried to mount anyone yet thank god. For awhile I had a gelding that was actually a stallion (cryptorchid and they thought they got it but didn't) and I dealt with this for awhile. In line up's he would strike out and overall be a douche. Little 12 year old me would cry and try beating him with my crop (lol) but he ignored me. We did vick's a few times.
ReplyDeleteAre you 100% sure they got everything?
ReplyDeleteI want to show your post to my previous BO who had a 4-yo stud that would JUMP 4-5' FENCES to get to mares AND attack geldings with intent to kill. I went bye-bye at that barn bc of that horse. She finally gelded him and kept swearing up and down that he would settle and be a normal gelding 2 weeks after being cut. *snort* Yeah right. And I was born yesterday.
ReplyDelete4 is considered a late castration. Which would explain his behaviors now. Most BOs and BMs where I've boarded at would have a gelding-only field for the studlier individuals. They played rough and hard but always got along. At one barn the BO even had lanes between the gelding-only field and all other fields: one of them would actually mount mares over the fence if turned out next to them!
You have great advice here already: these are all methods I've seen work. If his behaviors escalate it might not be a bad idea to get his testosterone levels checked. It's a blood test that can be done by your vet. They were 100% sure both testicles and all testicular tissue were taken out completely? I've met my fair share of proud cut geldings too. :/ If one testicle is retained in the abdominal cavity, it takes major abdominal surgery to remove-it rarely gets done in thse cases.
He flunked out of the rowdy gelding field by beating them all up excessively and is now on solo turnout again. He's doing fine with that and actually seems calmer/less distracted.
DeleteI haven't got the vaguest idea who gelded him--there's just an update on his papers to reflect that it was done. I assume it was done correctly, but I have no way to follow up on that.
Hmmm. 4 is pretty late to be gelded so it could just be learned behavior, even if it seemed like he didn't know what girls were when you got him, that was before he got comfortable in his new life. If he tried to mount her I'd say get a blood test done, just to be sure. Until then, Vicks and a dressage whip go a long way.
ReplyDeleteDepo :) But if he is managable just ignore it i guess?? lol
ReplyDeleteOh Courage, such a hottie!
ReplyDeleteMy guy lets it all hang out at the drop of a hat. Nice for sheath duties but otherwise embarrassing. He's busted fencing to get to the ladies. Mostly following around and making googly eyes, but no mounting behavior.
ReplyDeleteKate from A Year with Horses has a studdy gelding. She's used depo and tried herbal remedies as well.
i mean, Bacon is a pretty good lookin mare lol. idk anything about studly geldings, tho there seems to be good advice here already. i'm kinda in the opposite boat and my mare had to be relegated to the opposite side of the trailer bc SHE was instigating all the nonsense and ended up with a bloodied pastern from striking out and hitting the trailer fender... ugh mares
ReplyDeleteI used to run summer camp riding programs. We had a very studies gelding one year. He would mount the mares in turnout and make all the noises. He was still very well-behaved with humans though. One day in a lesson the kids were standing next to each other and I was telling them something. He was making noises at the mare next to him and the girl riding the mare reached over and smacked him in the face and told him to stop flirting. She was like 10 years old and I have no clue how she knew exactly what he was up to. But I swear to god, he shut up and minding his manners for the rest of the lesson. He would still mount them in turnout, but he was good under saddle from then on.
ReplyDeleteAll of this. I work at a breeding farm, mostly with the babies. Yearling stud colts can be a bit, erm, aggravating at times. At least they've still got their parts though and have an excuse! Vicks and a dressage whip will work.
ReplyDeleteDepo isn't a bad idea either, if you try everything else and need extra help. Seen it work on a few cranky/studdy geldings back when I worked in a show barn.
If it ends up being in a particular situation such as, only at shows, only when walking somewhere, whatever, you can always try a chain either on his lip or in his mouth. Don't love those options, wouldn't do it on my own (not studdish at all) gelding, but if it was a bad situation and came down to safety of me or other horses? Yup, I'd do it. Some stallions get handled regularly like that for control purposes. I've seen people use those plastic wiffle bats. Knew an UL dressage rider who had a crop with a screw in the end so if the horse got studdy when jogging, he just popped him in the nose with it and the stallion backed right off.
I find it odd that Courage hasn't been more aggressive towards the ladies previously though. It's not like you just got him or it was his first show... Seems like something else is going on?
If his testosterone level is normal, it's partly learned behavior and partly adrenal function. I've had very good success with chaste tree berry - 1 tsp. ground 2x per day added to feed - surprisingly my Red eats it up although it smells awful to me.
ReplyDeleteRed was very aggressive with other geldings and overly attentive to mares until we put him on chaste tree - now he's still the boss in our large gelding herd and notices the ladies, but is much less distractible and aggressive.
You know it seems pretty odd, but my jumper in high school had some studly habits (not the same things as Courage but same idea) and we actually gave him some mare hormones which made a world of difference. I don't remember what exactly we used because my trainer did all the handling but it's something you could talk to your vet about. You just have to be extra careful because if you don't handle them correctly they can mess with your own hormones. It really my gelding so much more manageable. You might also have the vet check and make sure they got everything when he was done before. I've definitely heard tales of geldings who had to have a second procedure done because the first one didn't get everything.
ReplyDeleteI have no advice but that's hilarious...
ReplyDeleteI laugh.
DeleteFelix prefers dudes so I am no help.
ReplyDeleteIt's common when they're gelded 'late'. Have known several horses gelded around that age that continue to show stallion behavior even decades later! It's just one of those things you need to be aware of in social gatherings. They obviously can't produce offspring, but they can mount mares (and I've seen some pretty bad vaginal infections from mares being mounted by geldings) go through fences and be a bit more spirited. I'm a self-confessed stallion lover, so it never bothered me. I reckon you'll grow to enjoy the little antics.
ReplyDeleteLolz, all good stories and advice. We had a probably proud cut 16h rent string stud muffin who decided out of every mare in his pasture he'd moint the pony. She was pretty slutty ;) Sounds like mostly just don't give him opportunities to remember his presnipped lifestyle. I'm the one with the screaming hussy of a mare now. Equally embarrassing when they stop to squeal, pee and shimmy up to the nearest gelding mid lesson.
ReplyDelete