Jessica Jahiel's HORSE-SENSE Newsletter Archives

Using gelding as teaser

From: Marnie

Dear Jessica! You must spend hours doing this every week. I am so grateful for this service, I wanted to write to you and tell you how many of my questions you have answered before I even asked them. Right now I have a question that I don't think you have answered before and I hope you will answer it because I don't know what to do.

My horse Sam is a gelding. He is ten years old and according to the lady I bought him from he was gelded late, when he was about four. He behaves better than he did when I got him, but some days he thinks he is a stallion, he gets very excited by the mares and I have to yell at him and sometimes whack him with my crop to get his attention back on me. Now I am keeping hikm at a boarding stable where he can be turned out with other geldings, so he is having a good time. But he still notices the mares, but not as much as before, but now I have a problem because of it. The lady who owns the stable has three mares that she breeds. She wants to use Sam as a teaser because he gets so excited over mares in heat. But I am worried that he will carry over this behavior to when I ride him and we see mares. Also, won't it confuse him when I always tell him to shut up and behave when he starts talking to mares, and now it will be "OK" for him to get excited? I've owned Sam for two years and it's just this last year that he has started to listen to me about this. I like the barn owner a lot but I am really worried about this. I don't want Sam to start misbehaving and not listening to me, but I don't want to make the barn owner mad either. I tried to tell her why I don't want to do this but she says it won't hurt Sam because he won't actually get to breed the mare. Help! What should I do? My parents aren't helping me because they don't really know anything about horses. My instructor says I should not do this, but she is only out at the barn once a week, and I am there every day and so is the owner. I am thirteen so I don't have a lot of authority or anything and I don't want to make the owner mad.

Marnie

Hi Marnie! You're going to have to be strong and say "No". It's not a good idea. Breeding barns usually keep a stallion -- often a pony -- or a "studdy" gelding as a teaser, but it's for the convenience of the owner and to keep the valuable breeding stallions safe. A teaser's job is to investigate whether a mare is sufficiently in heat to be bred, and the teaser gets very excited in the process. If the mare is NOT ready, and she kicks, it's the teaser, not the valuable breeding stallion, that gets hurt. If she IS ready, the breeding stallion is brought out, and the teaser is put back into his stall. It's not much of a life. ;-) At the best breeding barns, the teasing stallion spends a lot of time in turnout with one or two barren mares, so that he doesn't spend all of his time alone and frustrated in a stall.

Teasers are NOT used for riding or driving -- they have a job, and that's ALL they do. The nature of their job makes them unfit for riding and driving. Teasers are encouraged to get as excited as possible, and to try to excite the mares as much as possible. These are useful habits in the breeding shed, but NOT AT ALL useful in the riding arena or in the show ring or on the trail.

Be polite about it -- show her this letter if you think it will help her understand-- but tell her "No." This won't do your horse any good, and it could get him -- or you -- hurt. If you need more support, enlist your veterinarian. This is not a good idea, and your barn owner needs to understand why it's not a good idea. Your vet can help, and will probably be glad to help. And although Sam is YOUR horse, you are right -- you're only thirteen, and the barn owner is an adult, so you need some adult support even though you are clearly right. Your vet's advice should carry some weight -- get it and use it, even ask him (her?) to talk to the barn owner if necessary. Your vet may also be able to help the barn owner by suggesting other methods of monitoring her mares.

Good luck!

Jessica

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