Veterinarian explains how to be firm with the aggressive stallion and encourage the timid one

SUCCESS in any breeding operation depends on quality stallion management, including proper handling and a good rapport between the stallion and his handler. These are essential because some stallions are more challenging than others.

According to Marlin C. Baker, D.V.M., who operates Alpha Equine Breeding Center in Granbury, Texas, stallions whose behavior presents a challenge can be divided into three categories: aggressive, timid, and those with erectile dysfunction. The key is to figure out the situation in which the stallion will perform the best and then handle him the same way each time. Because each stallion is an individual, it is important to match the horse with the handler who works best with him and then have that same person handle the stallion each time, because consistency is important to achieve the best results.

Aggressive stallion

When handling an aggressive stallion, Baker uses a cotton lead shank with a 30-inch chain. The chain is put over the horse's nose or through his mouth, depending on how aggressive he is.

"We try to never be mean to the horse, but some we have to get quite firm with," Baker said. "The worst thing about an aggressive horse is he'll either try to bite and savage the mare or try to strike."

To solve a biting problem, Baker puts a muzzle on some stallions or he might put a heavy pad around a mare's neck and withers to protect her. To safeguard the mare from being kicked, Baker said he always tries to back the stallion away from the mare after the stallion dismounts rather than turn him around with his hindquarters toward her.

Baker said it is important for the stallion manager to know the personality of each stallion to determine what will work best. For some aggressive stallions, the handler will exercise them to take the edge off before bringing them into the breeding shed.

"Others we bring directly out of the stall, wanting them to be as fresh as possible," Baker said. After breeding the mare, the stallions are turned out in a paddock or hand grazed as a reward.

Some stallions need to be schooled in breeding etiquette, so when one is overly aggressive, Baker has the handler remove him from the breeding shed and then return. This might take several attempts until the horse learns acceptable behavior.

"Some are so aggressive they can't enter the vagina of a mare properly or easily," Baker said. "With some, we use a little xylazine [tranquilizer] to take the edge off their aggression, and this helps them ejaculate a little bit better. It only takes about three-quarters of a [cubic centimeter] to be effective for this purpose."

When the stallion is washed, "we always approach him from the shoulder and then work backward," Baker said. "I am a real stickler about having the same crew working together each time."

As a general rule, once the stallion has teased the mare--starting at the mare's head and shoulder and working back toward her flank--Baker's crew tries to get him to mount from directly behind the mare to avoid problems.

"This is not always easy, especially with a young stallion you are training," Baker said. "Some of them want to get up on the side of her hip. With those we try to turn the mare under them or push them into proper position. Probably the most difficult ones, however, are the stallions that are very timid."

Timid stallion

Instead of putting a chain over the nose or through the mouth of a timid stallion, Baker attaches a simple lead rope with a snap to the ring at the bottom of the halter.

"We always find a gentle mare with an easy-going disposition to tease to the timid horse," he said. "We seldom reprimand him, even if he tries to bite her. We try to do something other than reprimand him, so he knows that teasing her is okay.

"We start teasing at the shoulder and let him nuzzle her neck. A lot of horses like to get up around the ears. As long as they don't bite, we'll let them nibble each other there, and then work back to the flank."

Baker said a lot of horses are very timid about letting someone handle the penis, "and we never handle it unless they have a full erection. If they lose it, we wait for them to come back with another good erection.

"We don't discourage them in any way," Baker said. When we wash those horses, we do it very gently, whereas with the aggressive horse, we might be a little more forceful when cleaning him up."

Sometimes the breeding shed crew will stand a gentle teaser mare beside the mare to be bred and allow the stallion to focus his attention on her. When he is ready to mount the teaser mare, Baker will have the mare handler move the breeding mare into position and let the stallion mount her instead.

"We often have a lady holding the mare to be bred, or the [teaser] mare," Baker said. "For some reason, this does not intimidate the stallion as much as if it's a man holding the mare. The same with the stallion handler. If there's a lady who is capable of doing it, some of those stallions are more [manageable] and less timid with a lady handling the horse rather than a man."

A timid stallion might run backward and lose his erection even if a mare just flags her tail a little. So, if a mare wrings her tail a lot, the mare handler will tie her tail around to her neck with a rope using a quick- release knot in case the stallion gets his foot through the rope.

Some horses allow extra people in the breeding shed, but a really timid horse might be distracted by noise or by people talking. With some stallions, Baker said it helps to use blinkers so the horse cannot see what is happening back toward his flanks, especially if a handler has to touch the horse's penis to guide it into the mare.

Some timid horses are affected by bright lights, so softer lighting is preferable.

"If you have enough light so everyone can see and it's safe, this is less intimidating to a stallion than bright lights," Baker said.

The temperature of the room also is important. The breeding shed at Alpha Equine can be heated or air-conditioned.

"We keep it about 80¡ in summer so when the horse comes in, it's cool and refreshing to him," Baker said. "In winter, we try to keep the room at 50¡ or above."

Water for washing the stallion's genitals should be body temperature or a little warmer so it is comfortable for the stallion.

"We don't use anything but water on the stallions once we get the penis clean and start the breeding season, and we always use warm water so we don't discourage an erection," Baker said.

Erectile dysfunction

According to Baker, some stallions do not want to ejaculate or do not ejaculate well. At one extreme is the aggressive stallion that does not ejaculate because he is too aggressive; at the other extreme is the timid one that quits at any little distraction or movement. Some horses also have a very low sperm count.

"The timid horses may get up but won't actually ejaculate very well into the mare," Baker said. "With these, we'll use hot compresses on the penis and the base of the scrotum to stimulate them more."

On horses that do not ejaculate easily, Baker might administer a small dose of imipramine, a human antidepressant that facilitates ejaculation. He also periodically uses yohimbine, a drug that enhances blood flow to the penis, especially on timid stallions that have trouble ejaculating. The important thing, Baker said, is to not discourage the horse.

"Once he has ejaculated, we allow him to rest on the mare as long as he wants to, until he decides to dismount," he said. "Some get off right away, but some want to stay there, almost like they've gone to sleep. If he stays too long, we don't pull the stallion off; we just move the mare forward a little or pull her to the side so she moves her rump, so he will dismount. We never jerk on the horse's head or push on him."

Safety first

Keeping the stallion, the mare, and the handlers from getting hurt is the priority, so it is important to work in a safe, enclosed area large enough for breeding purposes.

The area where the stallion is handled for teasing and breeding must have clean, safe footing. The teasing chute at Alpha Equine is lined with heavy rubber mats. To prevent the stallion from slipping on the slick rubber surface, the horse can wear hind shoes dotted with borium for better grip.

"We prefer to never breed a mare that has shoes on her hind feet, and we don't like front shoes on the stallion," Baker said.