Insider is having a good day.
In fact, he's in for a good few months. He and Sandstorm will be sharing a paddock for the foreseeable future.
For the foreseeable future? Certainly! It may not be the usual practice these days, but I can't think of a way to keep a stallion happier than to let him have a companion. Some, like Tuetano, get along with certain geldings -- in fact, our Tuetano and Crackerjack co-exist quite nicely. Many, including Insider, are quite civil and content in the presence of a bred mare.
Like many breeders, we at In the Night Farm are taking care to avoid a surplus of unwanted foals in these tight economic times. Luckily for Insider, an individual commissioned this breeding, which will lead to our only 2009 foal. We're expecting a winner!
10 comments:
A stallion more agreeable when he has pleasant female company? Now who would have thought that?
:)
Seriously, why isn't that "standard practice?" Seems reasonable, no?
That's a nice photo. Looks like somebody's whispering sweet nothings into somebody's ear... :)
Planning your next endurance ride yet?
sj
Planning her NEXT endurance ride??? More like planning next YEARS endurance rides!
What a lovely picture.
My stallion, because he was raised badly, never cold have been kept with either a gelding or a mare, regardless of whether she was in foal to him or not. He'd have continued to ravage her.
Though he is kind to people and really fun to be around, he must be handled competently and confidently at all times. I wish he were more like a stallion and less like a savage.
But a poor upbringing from birth to age 14 simply cannot be undone when hormones are the largest part of the picture.
You are very lucky and skillful to have such an amazing horse.
Hi, dont know if you remember me from the Owyhee Fandango. We chatted on line before the ride and then said hello to me and Shana at the ride (you spotted me because of my little dachshund)well anyway; I see that you and your gelding have moved up to 50 milers and are basically rockin it in endurance, so I just had to say WAY TO GO! :) Lara
Hey sj! It's uncommon for several reasons. One is that mentioned by FBG -- some stallions are too rough with other horses. I believe one of the primary causes of this is that many stallion prospects are isolated from other horses from a young age (even as young as 6-9 months), so they never learn proper social skills. Naturally gregarious creatures, they're frustrated by lack of equine company (and often human company as well), and are often overfed and under-exercised to boot. Then there's the fact that some trainers feel they need to carry a whip...or worse...to control any stallion, who in turn becomes the expected raging beast in an attempt to defend himself.
Also, a lot of stallion owners don't want to risk their stallions' health or appearence by leaving them in with other horses. Some mares will kick and could ruin a stallion's knee -- especially if said stallion isn't sufficiently socialized to "get it" when the mare warns him away. Stallions kept together will play fight (and sometimes really fight), resulting in superficial injuries and possible scarring that most stallion owners won't tolerate.
Insider had the benefit of being raised in a bachelor herd, as a young stallion in the wild would. He ran on 40 acres (note that there was plenty of room for horses to get away from each other!) with about 20 other colts. They fought and played and generally learned to understand and respect other horses. So now, when Sandstorm says "no," he BACKS OFF! Smart man. ;-)
Hi Bax. You know me too well. Next year's rides are indeed on my calendar...as much as they can be, anyway, considering only a few of the actual dates are posted on the AERC calendar this early...
Hi Lara! Of course I remember you, and thanks for the congrats. Do I recall correctly that you've moved across the country? Darn it!
Hi there! Just found my way to your blog and haven't had time to read up yet, but do you guys really have Barb horses? So do we!
Greetings from West Africa,
Esther
Hi Esther, and welcome! We have what breeder Robert Painter of Quien Sabe Ranch in Idaho considers to be pure Barbs from ancient bloodlines. As I wrote in my March 11, 2008, post "What Have We Here," I give credence to Dr. Bennett's studies of equine history, which indicate our horses have at least some old Spanish influence.
I would love to see photos of your Barbs and discuss their similarities and differences!
Dear Tamara!
So glad to be talking to someone who shares a barb horse interest!
I've been riding Nigerien barbs since 1998 and bought my first mare in 2004. She's a beautiful eight year old from the Gouré district who just had her first offspring - sired by another 100% Nigerien barb.
Our second barb mare is Sahara, from the Guidemouni district (also known for its beautiful horses, although people generally consider Arwen's line "finer" as she is of nomadic descent). Sahara is expecting end of January and the sire for her offspring was also a 100% barb. We have here in Niger what they call "Sudanese horses", which is a larger breed. The Nigerien barb is rather small but I think that's mostly from generations of malnourishment. Our 2 month old filly Isolde is already looking like a 5 month old foal from the bush, and I know there is no difference in lineage, only good feed... So I'm pretty exited to see what the Nigerien barb really looks like! When I bought Arwen, she was 4,5 years old, and only "grew" in width. Sahara however was only 2,5 and after eating for three horses during a period of seven months, she had grown 7cm in height!
I have lots of barb horse pictures on my site. All our horses have their own tags:
http://esthergarvi.com/tag/arwen-sarauniya/
http://esthergarvi.com/tag/sahara-taurin-kai/
http://esthergarvi.com/tag/isolde-yararwen/
There a special horse racing in Niger tag:
http://esthergarvi.com/category/nigerien-culture-traditions/horse-racing-in-niger/
although you'll find Sudanese horse racing there as well
Finally, everything that concerns horses in Niger can be found under the following tag:
http://esthergarvi.com/tag/horse-related/
Looking forward to compared notes!
Greetings from West Africa,
Esther
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