Stallions

     Women should not handle stallions.

    Yes, that is what I heard 40 years ago.  Females were solemnly informed they were too weak to handle an intact male horse.  Not only that, but a stallion would smell when a woman was menstruating and become unmanageable.  (The horse, not the woman - but perhaps, now that I think of it, the condition was often associated with both.)

    The sentiment has been disproven so often that the myth that women cannot deal with stallions has been almost forgotten, but I certainly remember disapproving looks when I handled our colts.  My husband, the less experienced horseman, took them into the show ring until they were gelded.  That was the way the system worked. 

    Yet, my relationship with our stallions has routinely been a positive one.  For a short time we bred Quarter Horses, although we did not own a breeding stud.  We always took our mares to the stallion. 

    Then we bred Miniature Horses.  We had stallions.  Finally, we acquired Devon, an Exmoor stallion, when we attempted to increase the number of Exmoor ponies in the world.

    Although we had a couple of Miniature stallions, we ended up gelding my favorite, Shadow.  Donny became the primary gene donor to our mares.  The decision to geld Shadow was not an easy one, but he tended to have progeny that was taller than desired in a breed that valued height more than temperament.

    Temperament in stallions is not always a condition that is desired as much as I think it should be, although owners do take it into some consideration.  Certainly draft horse people do not want a ton or more of horse who can be difficult to control.  Even Thoroughbred owners demonstrate sense.  Chinook Pass set a North American record at Longacres in 1982.  I believe it is a record that still stands.  Chinook Pass raced as a Thoroughbred gelding.  Years later, he was boarded at a facility where I had my mare, Splash, trained.  He was involved in a second career as a dressage horse, and he was noted for his friendly demeanor.  Apparently, he was a nasty, unmanageable stallion, but a model equine gelding.  At least his owners and handlers realized he would be more valuable as a gelding.

    The stallions under my care have always been gentlemen with an emphasis on the gentle.

    Donny could certainly be handled by anyone, even children (although I didn't encourage it when he was a stallion).  He was small, but powerful.  Donny loved and trusted his people, perhaps more than he loved his mares.  He was a fertile little guy.  He was also a showman, demonstrating that horses are thinking animals, anxious to please.

    We did geld him when we decided that breeding Miniatures would no longer be part of our business.  I have to admit that I am not comfortable selling the animals who come into our care.  Passing them on for money feels like a betrayal, especially when I am not sure of the homes that they will be getting.  We did try to sell Donny as a stallion, but when no one wanted him (their loss) we decided to keep him as a gelding.  He more than made up for his lack of breeding potential.  Donny, with his amazing temperament, became an ambassador for the equine world.  He did it all.  He traveled to events.  He pulled a cart.  He carried toddlers.  He did it with a cheerful disposition, the same disposition he exhibited as a stallion.

    Later we tried breeding again.  This time it involved Exmoor Ponies, those amazing equines that have survived history, and several extermination attempts.  We had a couple of Exmoor mares, and they were almost too old to have foals.  We wanted to try to get them pregnant.  We were offered a stallion from Canada.

    Devon had been used to breed Exmoor mares in Canada and on the United States East Coast.  He had been suffering from Canadian winters.  He needed a climate where he wouldn't have to stay in a barn for months at a time.

    He arrived with a commercial hauler, and he promptly endured himself to all who met him  He was a beautiful fellow, and always well mannered.

    No, he did not manage to get our older mares pregnant, and not for lack of trying.  Age or the equines involved was probably the primary barrier.  Certainly, it wasn't Devon's fault.  He had proved himself, and he left some Exmoor foals in the world.

    Devon didn't leave us with any progeny, but like Donny, he left with people knowing that even if Exmoors are direct descendants of wild horses, they have manners.

    Donny and Devon were known for their wonderful personalities, and they were trained and shown by women.  I'm not sure either of them exactly favored women, but both of them usually behaved better for females.  Maybe it was because the mares had taught them respect.  Men might be competition, but women were to be esteemed.

    Perhaps we should start a new "myth."  Stallions should be trained and handled by women.