Essence of Stallion
December 23rd 2008 02:13
When I was younger and only newly immersed in the horse world, I had it constantly drilled into me the horror of stallion ownership. I was told they were monstrously strong, emphatically huge, testosterone driven beasts that do nothing more than foam at the mouth, attack indiscriminitely humans and horses, fight and search for mares to breed. That a stallion on your property meant constant fixing of the fences he bulldozes through, listening to him roar in rage, vet bills for the horses he attacks, hospital time for you, because no one can handle a stallion without serious injury.
I jumped on the 'all stallions should be geldings' band wagon, and rubbished stallions just as I had heard everyone else do.
When I started my horse breeding classes, I remember sitting down for the first day with the teacher and he wanted us to talk about stallions. Me and every other person in the class instantly gave information about what complete nutcases they were, and how they should only be handled by 'stallion handlers' because they were all psychos.
The teacher - a lovely little gay fella who painted our show jumps an enticing combination of pink - smiled and said to us, "Have any of you actually handled a stallion?"
Well, um, no, none of us have, but we know someone who knows someone who was mercilessly attacked by a colt/stallion, it tore off her face/trampled her to death/kicked her in the chest etc etc.
The little gay man teacher laughed at us. He said a stallion was a beautiful, magnificent creature. He should be awed, revered, and yes, MORE than other horses. So much more. And if you love horses, you should thus love the stallion. He was to teach us that yes, they are different to other horses, but in the end, they are still a horse. Handled with more care perhaps, but still a horse.
For all his teachings, there were no stallions to interact with there, and I got my first dose of stallion at the stud. I realized quickly if I was a 'stud hand' then dealing with the stallions was simply part of my job. Years of prejudice is hard to break and I found myself terrified of them, and even more so the young colts. I found myself cleaning out SK's box everyday, and thats how it started.
As you know, SK ended up being the sire of my first two foals. We were getting along ok and I was starting to appreciate him as a horse I could enjoy, when one day when I was patting him he placed his lips against my shoulder.
Now I'm all down with mutual grooming - its one of the best ways to show a horse you are friendly and confirm a strong bond with them. But the day SK put those lips on my shoulder I thought I was a goner. Im thinking he could tear a chunk out of me, pick me up and hurl me across the box - the possibilities could be endless. But amoungst all that fear I was also feeling something sweet - a beautiful singing energy that spoke of something greater than usual horse/human relations, if I would only trust.
Most horse people dont trust. They have good reason, and I have those reasons too. Ive had every toe broken, my right wrist. Seven serious head injuries, Ive been trampled and barged and bitten and wrestled. Its just better to not put yourself in that situation, its a mark of a great horse trainer.
But SK is one of the few true horse wizards I have met. I'd like to mention that the standard 'psychic abilities' displayed by most horses are merely the effects of their senses - a horse can hear heartbeats and breathing rhythyms in any living thing in about a mile radius around itself. This is how they read us, as well as observing scent and changes in muscle tissue. They are that good. However, some horses - like SK himself - take this to a new level and try and project to their humans along this same communication. If a horse can see you trying to read him, the way he is reading you, he will reply. They want to communicate, they just need a chance.
So on this day, Im feeling a relaxing tingle all over my body and he's got his lips on my shoulder. I decide to go with the flow. So I get bitten. Wont be the first time. To my amazement, SK begins to massage my back with his long muscular lips - the horse equivalent of a hand - and even the few times he grips my skin in his hard teeth I dont fear. The sensation was beautiful - one of the best massages Ive ever had! It became a regular thing with us. We would groom each other for hours and I trusted him utterly - something even little gay teacher had told us not to do - "Never trust a stallion!"
In deciding to keep Zayfir a stallion I realized from the beginning how lucky I was. He encompasses all the right bloodlines, is beautiful, and stunningly well behaved. Good temperament is so rare, that to have it appear in a stallion is like being kissed by the gods. Though I live in fear of him escaping, attacking the geldings or going after Teshan, still, it hasnt happened. He remains sweet, loving and obediant, with only the smallest amount of 'coltish behaviour'. I can sit underneath him, blind fold him, ask him to bow or wave bags around his face. I can groom him and pick up his feet and rug him without him even being tied up.
Recently I joined a stallion forum to discuss stallion behaviour and problems. I appreciated this place, as all the p[eople on it understand ultimately the stallions role - herd protector - and work to fulfill it. The stallion kept alone, locked away from the other horses, is a mad stallion. All stallions have been kept like this up until recent years - even SK was kept like this. People think its just 'the easiest way' when really they are doing it backwards. So I was extremely pleased to find a whole forum of people who understand the stallion mindset and work towards a happy and productive stallion. I posted on Zayfes agression - only very mild at this time, but has started to attack people when I'm around. I mentioned he went after a friend of mine and I had to get between them.
I was stunned to see the charge in the response - straight away I was told to geld him punish him, get into him. I had not been expecting that. One of my major training 'bricks' is 'benefit of the doubt' for the stallion. He needs leeway. With no one to fight, his instincts still drive him to do so, and allowances need to be made for these instincts. The longer I have handled stallions the more I have learned they need to be treated just a little like a big gaurd dog, as they have that mentality. Its like for all the good stuff on this forum, and encouraging people that stallions are not monsters, they still want to be able to say, "Ah, I tamed the savage beast". There were good responses mixed in that basically comes down to retraining him in regards to strangers, and Im all for that. Zayfe has needed work with strangers since he was a foal.
Maybe stallion ownership really is all about power, knowing you've got a force like a rino that responds only to you. I certainly enjoy the power, but its a dangerous thing. I just share it. And I'd much rather have it known that when raised and trained correctly a stallion is a real kitten, and have the new generations of horse girls considering stallions as show horses rather than spouting off on how you can never show one because they're too uncontrollable.
I jumped on the 'all stallions should be geldings' band wagon, and rubbished stallions just as I had heard everyone else do.
When I started my horse breeding classes, I remember sitting down for the first day with the teacher and he wanted us to talk about stallions. Me and every other person in the class instantly gave information about what complete nutcases they were, and how they should only be handled by 'stallion handlers' because they were all psychos.
The teacher - a lovely little gay fella who painted our show jumps an enticing combination of pink - smiled and said to us, "Have any of you actually handled a stallion?"
Well, um, no, none of us have, but we know someone who knows someone who was mercilessly attacked by a colt/stallion, it tore off her face/trampled her to death/kicked her in the chest etc etc.
The little gay man teacher laughed at us. He said a stallion was a beautiful, magnificent creature. He should be awed, revered, and yes, MORE than other horses. So much more. And if you love horses, you should thus love the stallion. He was to teach us that yes, they are different to other horses, but in the end, they are still a horse. Handled with more care perhaps, but still a horse.
For all his teachings, there were no stallions to interact with there, and I got my first dose of stallion at the stud. I realized quickly if I was a 'stud hand' then dealing with the stallions was simply part of my job. Years of prejudice is hard to break and I found myself terrified of them, and even more so the young colts. I found myself cleaning out SK's box everyday, and thats how it started.
As you know, SK ended up being the sire of my first two foals. We were getting along ok and I was starting to appreciate him as a horse I could enjoy, when one day when I was patting him he placed his lips against my shoulder.
Now I'm all down with mutual grooming - its one of the best ways to show a horse you are friendly and confirm a strong bond with them. But the day SK put those lips on my shoulder I thought I was a goner. Im thinking he could tear a chunk out of me, pick me up and hurl me across the box - the possibilities could be endless. But amoungst all that fear I was also feeling something sweet - a beautiful singing energy that spoke of something greater than usual horse/human relations, if I would only trust.
Most horse people dont trust. They have good reason, and I have those reasons too. Ive had every toe broken, my right wrist. Seven serious head injuries, Ive been trampled and barged and bitten and wrestled. Its just better to not put yourself in that situation, its a mark of a great horse trainer.
But SK is one of the few true horse wizards I have met. I'd like to mention that the standard 'psychic abilities' displayed by most horses are merely the effects of their senses - a horse can hear heartbeats and breathing rhythyms in any living thing in about a mile radius around itself. This is how they read us, as well as observing scent and changes in muscle tissue. They are that good. However, some horses - like SK himself - take this to a new level and try and project to their humans along this same communication. If a horse can see you trying to read him, the way he is reading you, he will reply. They want to communicate, they just need a chance.
So on this day, Im feeling a relaxing tingle all over my body and he's got his lips on my shoulder. I decide to go with the flow. So I get bitten. Wont be the first time. To my amazement, SK begins to massage my back with his long muscular lips - the horse equivalent of a hand - and even the few times he grips my skin in his hard teeth I dont fear. The sensation was beautiful - one of the best massages Ive ever had! It became a regular thing with us. We would groom each other for hours and I trusted him utterly - something even little gay teacher had told us not to do - "Never trust a stallion!"
In deciding to keep Zayfir a stallion I realized from the beginning how lucky I was. He encompasses all the right bloodlines, is beautiful, and stunningly well behaved. Good temperament is so rare, that to have it appear in a stallion is like being kissed by the gods. Though I live in fear of him escaping, attacking the geldings or going after Teshan, still, it hasnt happened. He remains sweet, loving and obediant, with only the smallest amount of 'coltish behaviour'. I can sit underneath him, blind fold him, ask him to bow or wave bags around his face. I can groom him and pick up his feet and rug him without him even being tied up.
Recently I joined a stallion forum to discuss stallion behaviour and problems. I appreciated this place, as all the p[eople on it understand ultimately the stallions role - herd protector - and work to fulfill it. The stallion kept alone, locked away from the other horses, is a mad stallion. All stallions have been kept like this up until recent years - even SK was kept like this. People think its just 'the easiest way' when really they are doing it backwards. So I was extremely pleased to find a whole forum of people who understand the stallion mindset and work towards a happy and productive stallion. I posted on Zayfes agression - only very mild at this time, but has started to attack people when I'm around. I mentioned he went after a friend of mine and I had to get between them.
I was stunned to see the charge in the response - straight away I was told to geld him punish him, get into him. I had not been expecting that. One of my major training 'bricks' is 'benefit of the doubt' for the stallion. He needs leeway. With no one to fight, his instincts still drive him to do so, and allowances need to be made for these instincts. The longer I have handled stallions the more I have learned they need to be treated just a little like a big gaurd dog, as they have that mentality. Its like for all the good stuff on this forum, and encouraging people that stallions are not monsters, they still want to be able to say, "Ah, I tamed the savage beast". There were good responses mixed in that basically comes down to retraining him in regards to strangers, and Im all for that. Zayfe has needed work with strangers since he was a foal.
Maybe stallion ownership really is all about power, knowing you've got a force like a rino that responds only to you. I certainly enjoy the power, but its a dangerous thing. I just share it. And I'd much rather have it known that when raised and trained correctly a stallion is a real kitten, and have the new generations of horse girls considering stallions as show horses rather than spouting off on how you can never show one because they're too uncontrollable.
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