From: Susan
Dear Jessica, I'm too embarrassed to talk to my vet about this so I'm hoping that you can help me. I bought a Paint colt off the show circuit two months ago, with the idea of making him my breeding stallion. He has just the coloring and the bloodlines that I want. I own five mares. It's going to be breeding season soon and I thought I had better be sure that he was fertile and everything. My vet checked him out and said he is, but then a couple of days later one of the mares went into heat and I took the stallion over to her paddock and there was a real problem trying to get him to breed the mare. He seems sort of interested and then he just shakes his head and starts walking backward. When I called my vet he said "Well he might be gay." I think that he might have been joking, since he's always cracking jokes and he'd just finished telling me a funny story, but now I'm really starting to wonder. Do you think that's possible, could my stallion be gay, and is there anything I can do about it? And if he isn't gay, what do you think is the problem? I can't believe I had him in a paddock with a mare in heat, and he wouldn't even try. I'm so worried that my new stallion isn't a real stallion after all. Help! If my vet were a woman I could probably talk to her about it, but since he's a guy, I'm just too embarrassed, especially since I don't know if he was joking or not. Please help! Susan
The act of breeding is probably, at least to some extent, a learned behaviour. It's easy for a colt in a herd to know what to do; he'll have seen it often. For a colt that has never seen a stallion breeding a mare, there may be some assistance required the first time or two.
Horse assistance is the best - and the ideal teacher would be an older mare who knows just what she wants and can convince your youngster that sniffing, "talking", and generally feeling and expressing sexual interest is perfectly acceptable, and that breeding is equally acceptable. It will take some time, but she'll probably teach him what he needs to learn, including how to tell when a mare is ready and when she isn't.
Human help can also be useful, and is essential when dealing with terribly expensive young stallions and/or maiden mares. But the help needs to be experienced and calm - not nervous and excited. If you weren't so embarrassed about discussing it with your vet, I'd suggest that you ask his advice about helping your stallion the first few times. Have you considered talking to your vet's wife about this? I know several horse-owners who use their vet's wives as intermediaries when they want to discuss a subject they don't feel comfortable discussing with a man.
So don't write off your colt's ability to become a breeding stallion. Apart from lack of experience and the expectation of punishment, there may be other things to consider, too. Your colt has been in the show ring. You didn't say what classes he was in, but as a Paint, his winning (or not) would have had a lot to do with his musculature. There's a tendency among many trainers to try to give their young QHs and Paints a bit of an edge by injecting them with various muscle-enhancing substances - and steroids are among the most popular drugs. One of the side effects of steroid use is loss of libido. It isn't permanent - but if your colt has been pumped full of steroids for a year or two, he may need a year to get all of the drugs out of his system.
If you aren't in a terrible hurry to begin your breeding program right now, I suggest that you let your colt grow up a little more. Work with him, get to know him, find out whether he's really exactly what you want. You know that you love his color and bloodlines - now take some time to find out about his intelligence and personality and athletic ability. And while you're at it, reinforce all of his good ground manners. A breeding stallion should lead perfectly - he should stay at your shoulder and accept your directions to go, stop, stand, and turn. A horse that just follows you most of the time, or one that has to be pulled around by his halter, or - heaven forbid - one that pulls YOU around by the leadrope, is not trained to lead, and that's very dangerous behaviour in any horse, but even more dangerous in a breeding stallion. Manners are very important - see that your youngster keeps his.
If you can keep him turned out with one experienced older mare, whenever she's in season, you may find that by the end of summer, he's figured out what to do.
We make it very hard on horses when we ask them to breed at a time of year that is not natural to them. Horses are meant to breed in the summer - that's when mares are most likely to conceive, and that's when both the mare's and the stallion's sex hormones are running high. It's a sensible plan, from nature's point of view, since it means that foals will be born next year when the weather is warm and the spring grass is at its best.
It's important that your youngster's first experience be a good one for him. If you and your vet can arrange this, do it - and spend the next few weeks following the first breeding by quietly and calmly training your colt to understand and accept everything that comes with breeding. He'll need to learn about the washing routine, the teasing routine, and the breeding procedures. A special halter that's used only on breeding days is a good idea; it lets the horse know what today's job will be, and provides a positive signal "Yes, today's the day!" that is probably the best way to help you discourage him from showing too much interest at other times.
Pain, fear, and confusion can result from inept or inappropriate handling of a young stallion, and pain, fear, and confusion can all lead to vastly decreased libido and sometimes an inability to breed. If you do hand-breed your youngster, be sure that everything is set up for success. You already know that the handlers should be experienced. The floor in the breeding room should be one with a good non-slip surface. The mare should be experienced, patient, strongly in heat, and you should have verified this with a teaser - probably not your youngster! The mare's tail should be bandaged, and the mare and stallion should both be clean. The stallion handler should keep your youngster in position behind the mare - overenthusiastic youngsters can try to climb mares' shoulders or sides, which is a bad idea - and should be calm, encouraging, and willing to take the time it takes for the stallion to mount and complete the act.
Handling breeding stallions is a specialized area of horse management - PLEASE don't be embarrassed to ask your vet (or his wife!) for advice, help, or a recommendation of someone else who can help. Until a stallion has learned what's acceptable and what's allowed and how to do his job, he will need educated, experienced assistance. You don't want anyone to get hurt - stallion, mare, or handlers. You don't want your young stallion to become discouraged, but you must keep him under control. This is really a job for a professional - find one who can help this colt, and who can teach you how to help your NEXT colt.
Good luck!
Jessica
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