If you've never owned a stallion before but have a colt that you are considering keeping entire, this article is for you.
For the majority of people who have never owned a stallion before but are considering dabbling in it, it is because they have a sweet and pretty yearling that they think might grow up to be a nice stallion prospect. And… he might. But there is a lot to consider before you make the decision to keep him intact.
When does a colt start acting like a stallion?
It isn't necessarily the day he reaches two years old. The hormonal and reproductive changes that turn a colt into a stallion happen gradually, and the timing varies between individuals and breeds.
Research has found significant increases in reproductive hormone activity during the second year of life, with puberty occurring anywhere from roughly the early teens of months of age through the second year. This means that there isn't really a magic birthday when your colt suddenly becomes a stallion. Some colts will start showing obvious sexual behavior relatively early, while others may remain remarkably uncomplicated for longer.
A stallion may change after you think he's already mature
One thing that can catch first-time stallion owners by surprise is that sexual maturity doesn't necessarily mark the end of behavioral development. A colt may be successfully breeding mares at two or three years of age and remain remarkably easy to handle. Some experienced breeders report that a stallion's behavior can change noticeably at four or five years, even after he has already been breeding successfully.
Testosterone rises substantially around puberty, which generally occurs much earlier. However, research shows that aspects of testicular function and reproductive development continue to mature into approximately four or five years of age. At the same time, the young stallion is accumulating sexual experience, confidence and social experience. These factors can all influence behavior.
In other words, a two-year-old stallion who is easy to handle isn't necessarily a guarantee that the same horse will behave identically at five.
This doesn't mean that every stallion becomes difficult with age. Many remain exceptionally manageable throughout their breeding careers. But anyone keeping a colt intact should plan for the possibility that his behavior may change as he matures, rather than assuming that the temperament he displays as a young horse will remain unchanged. Establishing good groundwork and respect for the human/horse relationship early on will help any young horse develop into a solid citizen, but is all the more important for a stallion prospect.
Training the stallion prospect
Any young horse will benefit from age-appropriate training. Selecting the correct trainer for your stallion prospect is important, and possibly not for the reasons that you think.
Many very good horse trainers are inexperienced with stallions. A stallion is not a dragon, and you don't need a dragon trainer. But stallions are not the same as geldings and mares. They often require a different type of trainer, and that might not be about the trainer's toolkit as much as it is about the trainer's personality, disposition and experience.
Be wary of trainers who are overly disciplinarian with stallions, and trainers who do not understand normal stallion behaviors.
Excessive or inappropriate punishment can actually make some unwanted stallion behavior worse. Stallions can display behaviors such as vocalization, nipping, striking and increased interest in mares as part of their normal sexual and social behavior. Oklahoma State University cautions that excessive punishment for normal stallion behavior is likely to increase undesirable behavior rather than eliminate it. A trainer who can't distinguish between a stallion that is acting out and a stallion that is displaying normal stallion behavior can be problematic.
This does not mean that dangerous behavior should simply be tolerated. A stallion still needs boundaries, manners and training. The important thing is that the person training him understands the difference between normal stallion behavior, unwanted learned behavior, fear, frustration and genuinely dangerous behavior.
Fencing and housing
You might think that you already have good fencing. Owning a stallion will often teach you that you don't.
Fencing that keeps mares and geldings in place isn't necessarily the same as fencing that will keep a stallion in place. One of the most common ways that first-time stallion owners get caught out is when their docile, sweet little colt suddenly isn't in his pasture when they go out in the morning.
Stallion fencing needs to be high, secure and free of weak spots. Depending on the individual horse and the surrounding horses, a secondary barrier or hot wire may also be appropriate. A fence that has been perfectly adequate for your mares may prove completely inadequate once you have an interested young stallion standing behind it.
Some stallions can happily live with other horses in a pasture situation. Some absolutely cannot. This is down to the individual stallion, the other horses and the environment — and keep in mind that the situation can change as the horse matures. A stallion who has previously been perfectly happy living with other horses may become less compatible as his social or reproductive behavior changes.
Meeting your horse's needs
The stallion who cannot safely live out with other horses is still a social animal. He is still a horse. Isolation is not ideal for any horse. As his owner, it will be your responsibility to make sure that his social needs are met to the best of your ability. Complete social isolation can contribute to stress, stereotypic behavior and behavioral problems, and it is generally inconsistent with the social needs of a horse.
If your stallion is pacing fence lines, or displaying other stress-related behavior, then you need to work out why he is stressed and what you can do about it. It is your problem to solve, and sometimes solving that problem can be expensive and frustrating.
At the very least, a stallion should have regular opportunities for safe social contact with other horses. This might mean living alongside other horses with secure barriers, having visual and tactile contact over suitable fencing, or, for appropriate individuals under appropriate management, living in a compatible group.
Owning a stallion can be limiting
Many boarding barns will not house stallions. Some schooling shows will not allow stallions to attend. Many hunts will not let stallions go out. Most recognized competitions do not allow minors to ride stallions. These are just some things to keep in mind.
Whatever your discipline is, look into what you want to do with your stallion prospect in terms of showing, riding, clinics, boarding and travelling, and make sure that stallions are permitted.
This is something worth investigating before you buy the horse or decide to keep your colt entire. It is very easy to fall in love with the idea of owning a stallion and only later discover that the barn you want to board at won't take him, the trainer you want to use won't work with him, or the competitions you want to attend have restrictions.
The important part: will you make money?
This is a difficult question to answer, because it depends on the breed, the discipline and of course the performance and popularity of your stallion.
The top of the pyramid — racing Thoroughbred stallions — rake in hundreds of thousands a breeding season. But that's not most of us.
There is no good industry-wide dataset that tells us exactly how many outside mares the typical sporthorse stallion gets each season. Industry experience suggests that many smaller sporthorse stallions are dealing with relatively small books, often in the single digits or low teens, rather than the dozens or hundreds of mares seen at commercial Thoroughbred studs.
Take into account that it is generally more expensive to keep a stallion than it is a gelding or a mare. Now take into account that for each one of those breedings you may have to put your stallion in the trailer and trailer him to a stallion station for collection and shipping. Depending on your location this could be a 20-minute trailer ride each way, or a two-hour one.
Now add onto that the inconvenience that mare owners, and the reproductive vets managing them, despite their best efforts, often do not know very far in advance when a mare is going to ovulate. You may often get as little as 24 hours' notice that you need to collect your stallion for a mare. Your plans for tomorrow just got bulldozed, because now you have to drop everything and trailer in for a collection.
Now, let's rephrase that $15,000 in the context that in order to earn it, you may not be entirely in control of your schedule for the entirety of breeding season. You are at the beck and call of your mare owners, and if a mare doesn't take the first time you may have to trailer him in to collect for one mare multiple times.
To avoid this, you could have him stand at a stallion station all season, but that will cost a lot in terms of board, which can significantly reduce your profit. For the typical small sporthorse operation, standing a stallion to outside mares is unlikely to be a high-margin business based on stud fees alone.
Many stallion owners stand a stallion out of passion for a bloodline, because they believe in what the horse can contribute to the breed or discipline, because they want to breed their own mares, or simply for the love of breeding horses. Breeding income may help offset the cost of keeping the stallion, but that is very different from "making money."
Should you keep your colt intact with the view to stand him?
We cannot answer this question for you. But we can give you some pointers.
These include pedigree and genetics, a clear disease panel, exceptional conformation, a good brain and attitude, and hopefully down the line… a performance record.
It can be difficult to thoroughly and objectively assess your own animal for these qualities. Look to experienced breeders and listen to their feedback on your horse.
Standing a stallion is a labor of love. It can be incredibly rewarding.
But it is also a commitment.
You are committing to a horse who may require different housing, different management, different training and different facilities from the other horses you own. You may find that some of the things you enjoy doing with your horses become more difficult. And if you decide to stand him to outside mares, you are taking on a breeding business that can require considerably more time and organization than the stud fee initially makes it appear.
If you understand all of that and still think your colt is worth it? Then perhaps you really do have a stallion prospect. Perhaps one day we will see his profile here in StallionApp.
References
- Kosiniak, K., & Bittmar, A. (1987). Analysis of the physiological processes connected with sexual maturation of stallions. Polish Archives of Veterinary Medicine, 27(1), 5–21.
- Rua, M. A. S., Quirino, C. R., Bastos, R., Bartholazzi Junior, A., Santoro, P. N., Ribeiro, M. da S., Matos, L. F., & Barreto, M. A. P. (2015). Evaluation of the sexual behavior and testosterone concentrations of Mangalarga Marchador stallions. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 171, 101–107. doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2015.08.014
- Rua, M. A. S., Quirino, C. R., Bastos, R., Bartholazzi Junior, A., Santoro, P. N., Ribeiro, M. da S., Matos, L. F., & Barreto, M. A. P. (2016). Evaluation of the breeding behavior of Brazilian Pony stallions. Animal Reproduction Science, 172, 137–142. doi.org/10.1016/j.anireprosci.2016.07.011
- Hiney, K. (2018). Stallion behavior and management (AFS-3935). Oklahoma State University Cooperative Extension Service.
- McDonnell, S. M. (2001). Stallion sexual behavior: When is he mature? The Horse.
- Noue, P., et al. (2001). Sexual behavior of stallions during in-hand natural service and semen collection: An observation in French studs. Animal Reproduction Science.
- de Oliveira, F. A., & Aurich, C. (2021). Stallion management: Current concepts on social interactions and housing. Veterinary Clinics of North America: Equine Practice.