[drivingpairs] stallion pairs
- From: JLO <cicera65@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: DrivingPairs <drivingpairs@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 6 Feb 2003 07:21:00 -0800 (PST)
Hi Kathy,
I need to clarify a few things.
My husband has been driving pairs for several years (BIG ones). I
have been driving pairs for about 3 years. It would be Russ with the
bigger pair. I stick to the smaller ones. It looks nicer and I don't
feel overwhelmed. We have lots of experience hitching up pairs and
handling the lines. I've been to many fairs, parties, drives and
parades with my pairs. The pair I'm considering will be no larger
than those I've been playing with so far. Although I haven't competed
I have 25yrs of horse experience, 7 years of driving experience and 3
years driving pairs.
Also, this project is at least two years in the making. By then we
will know exactly how well Comet and Dude behave in public as
singles. The other two boys will be driving well as singles before we
ever consider hooking them as a pair. I'm sure we could get our hands
on an experienced gelding if we need to. I could probably even
recruit my mini for Dude and Gator if I need to. No one drives more
solidly than he (taught him myself and everything!!). We have trained
all our horses ourselves so far. I don't think I've ever sent a horse
out for training in my life.
Gelding the younger boys is not an option. Especially with Louie. Ya
just don't geld that kind of quality. Unfortunately we can't afford a
Cob gelding just to pair up. They are kinda pricey.
I'm not sure why I understand that is it acceptable for mare owners
to be inconsiderate and then blame the stallions. If you take a 15
year old boy to a nudist colony I bet he's gonna look. If you don't
want my stallion to be making noise, is it really that hard to keep
some distance?? If I owned a mare that was a kicker and I warned
folks about it, I would hope they would be considerate enough to stay
away from me if I were off alone minding my own business. Why should
it be different with a stud??
I'm not that worried about breeding season. I can put off our
breeding if that helps. Here the driving season ends in April. We
don't start breeding until May or June. It's a myth that spring is
breeding season. Actually it's LATE spring early summer that the
hormones are flying. Also we do all A.I. Our boys don't really think
that a mare equals breeding. They think a block of carpet covered
wood and Russ with an AV equals breeding. I intend to refine our
methods to the point where a mare is not even needed for teasing
purposes. Nice urine soaked rag and maybe even ground collection. We
shall see. The more I can seperate the mare from the breeding
equation, the better our showing will go.
So far temperamentally these boys are wonderful. They live in a barn
together where they can touch noses and play over the doors. I keep
them that way on purpose. They have to know how to live together. I
NEVER pasture a stallion with another horse of any gender. I value
them too much to risk a badly placed kick. The young Sec A colt is
out with the Hackney Pony colt and a gelding for now. Hackney is FOR
SALE by the way.. DIRT CHEAP.. (shameless plug). So far he is
clueless about his stallionhood. We don't move them with chains over
their noses, unless we have a day or two of rude behavior. We correct
it and then go back to normal, but that happens with ANY horse. We
treat them as we do every other horse on the property. I wouldn't put
up with being shoved or bullied by anyhorse, stallion, mare or
gelding. The saying goes "Treat a stallion like a stallion you will
have a stallion. Treat a stallion like a horse you will have a
horse". They really aren't snakes in the grass waiting to jump on you
at any moment. They can be taught to behave well under all
circumstances.
We have had the boys out in public and so far mares are not the
problem. Shoot we drive Comet around mares EVREY DAY here. We own a
billion mares (ok.. not that many.. but a lot). Our biggest problem
with Comet is certain types of noise. Comet hates loud persistant,
echoeing noise. He was really hateful at the Stallion Showcase
because he was stalled backing on the bleachers in an indoor arena.
All the whooping and hollerin in an echo chamber made him quite uhhhh
disagreeable. Then again, ME TOO!!! I hate sustained echoeing noise
it's painful to me and actually makes me angry. As soon as I took him
out of the stall and out of the building he was fine. He was even
fine to "perform" in the indoor. He just didn't like being trapped
with that annoying noise for twelve hours. Dude was a doll baby, he
was kissing children all day long. There were stallions all over the
place and my boys never once got combative. There were also mares
because of all the performing drill teams and such.
There are tons of studs out there showing and doing it quietly. I'm
just wondering if they can be paired. If it has ever been done
successfully. I'm one of the biggest skeptics BELIEVE me. I can see
the pitfalls. If it seems that it can't be done safely or that it's
NEVER been done, I'll be happy to scrap the plan. But boy would it be
a cool way to campaign all our stallions at once LOL
We do plan to start taking lessons again. I would love nothing more
than to have Sterling out here regularly. Little hard for me to
travel to him because I'm the sole caretaker of a 13 year old child,
4 dogs, a pot bellied pig AND, for the moment 29 horses, (number
decreasing daily). Clinics are hard for us to get to because they are
almost always on weekends and we work weekends. They also tend to be
out of our price range.
We will see. Just a crazy thought that Russ has been having for quite
some time. I think it would look incredible. I just want everyone
safe. I'm in no rush. The babies are just that, babies. They aren't
ready to be started. I'm a VERY slow starter. Ask Comet. He turns 6
in a couple of months and this will be his first show season.
Jodi in Morriston FL
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