Monday, April 13, 2009

Geldings Gone Wild

So I have two really close friends with a similar problem... they both own mares that tend to be a little....hmmm.... scanky, shall we say (during their heat cycle) and both of their mares are stabled with geldings who are in denial about their "gelded" status and therefor feel the compulsive need to over compensate for what they are lacking by demonstrating, more than once or twice a day, just how much of a stud they are!!

We are talking about two separate barns in the same town... (must be somethin' in the water! Which would explain a little about the people too! ) One of the gelding was in a herd of 3 mares and 1 gelding and the other was with 3 mares and 3 geldings.)

So what is with these geldings gone wild!!??

Some say they act "studdy" because they were gelded late.

Others say it is because they were not gelding properly (completely).

Some claim that these horses are just plain ol' studdy for no good reason at all besides the fact that they are, (despite a lack of testicles) simple male.... Boys will be boys, and all that...

Both of these geldings ended up having to be separated from the general herd because they were mounting and (excuse me) actually entering the mares!!!

Both geldings tend to be studdy outside of the herd as well... they can be aggressive to handle, difficult, nippy, pushy, and hard headed. Both will drive off other geldings from "their" mares and one of them actually charged (but deeked at the last second) a person coming to get her mare from the field.
Unfortunately both geldings are owned by "newbies" (go figure!) and I fear that both of them do not appreciate that this kind of behavior, IMHO, is a big flashing DANGER sign!

I think that if a horse acts like a stud, it should be treated with the same extra care and caution that you would if he actually were a stallion.

What is your experience with geldings who act like studs?

13 comments:

  1. Well Chelsi, I experienced this last fall with the Giant-Flaming-Jackass, or, GFJ for short. He was an old-style morgan. 15hh and about 1500 lbs. We were not aware of his studdy behavior before signing the purchase agreement (buying him on payments). First he got nippy and pushy, then he got bitey. Oh, and did I mention that he double barrel kicked at me on the 10' leadrope I was using AFTER he bit me good and I drove him away from me? Yep. I think I saw my life flash before my eyes when those hooves flew at my head. Luckily, I was quick enough to hit the dirt. The absolute last straw for us was when he bit a 9 yr old boarder when she walked by. We sent him back to his previous owner and forfeited the 75% of his cost that we'd already paid. An expensive mistake!

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  2. wow oregonsunshine, I gripe about Poco being a stud wannabe, but on his worst day, he has NEVER bitten, kicked or reared (lucky for him). When I first got him, I used a stud chain on him, but mostly he just gets a little too big for his britches. We have a come to Jesus, and he's fine. He can't be turned out with mares, but he can be made to behave without too much trouble. It doesn't help when the mares in heat come and stick their butts up to the fence to taunt him. Even Jaz gets a little full of himself sometimes.

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  3. bullet in the head horses

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  4. I am not a fan of mixed herds. I think it is expecting too much of geldings to ignore mares who reek of sex pheromones and are pushing their rear ends in their faces etc. Being gelded does not mean being rendered sexless. Some geldings are better than others at handling the drives, but overall I just don't think the mixed herd is a good idea.

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  5. WOW what a topic!! My Hubby and I just had this same conversation umm about 5 hours ago... And we too want to know why some do this?? We don't have any that do but know of some. On the thought of them not being "completely gelded" were they gelded by the same Vet??

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  6. We had a percheron gelding, years ago. He was eight, and had been gelded at five or six I believe. He wasn't a jerk at all, he was a HUGE chicken. Also, he ... mounted and..enjoyed his time with the mare that was at our place at the time... Strange, yes. My geldings pasture mate is a mare, and she is HIS mare. He basically guards her along the fence line, so that she doesn't "talk" to anyone else. I think some of them just do it, they just HAVE that in them. However, he is not a jerk on the ground.
    As for the geldings-exhibiting-studly-behavior-such-as-biting...I don't know, just bad manners I would think.
    Love the blog!

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  7. My friend had a gelding that did the same thing. Other than the mounting thing- he was a cool cucumber- good to ride all day, never any spook or buck. He was kind of a dummy though. Didn't learn things very quickly. He wasn't gelded late or badly- Just being a boy. But bad manners need to be stopped no matter what. I'd seperate them into a herd with a witch of a Bell Mare or into a pasture with geldings only.

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  8. Ah yes...I have had or been around many geldings who think they are stallions, until it actually comes time to do the deed....lol!! My old gelding would mount them and then stand there with this bewildered expression on his face, like "what do I do now???"

    I know that gelding them properly (making sure no part is left behind, especially if they are cryptorchid)doesn't always alleviate studly behavior towards mares. It should improve their behavior on the ground and their attitude in general, but their pituitary gland (I think it is that one, but don't quote me!!) produces testosterone, so they can still behave like a true boy...to an extent....

    My opinion?? If they are mounting and penetrating mares, then they may be cryptorchid and I would recommend that the owners have an evaluation and ultrasound done to look for a retained testicle.

    Sheesh..... :)

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  9. We had the same problem last summer with our two mares. Totally annoying. And it was two dumb drafties. When they started rearing up at each other less than 10 feet away from me, that was it. I'd had it. I had complained to the barn owner before and he didn't do anything, so I wrote a big nasty note on his little dry erase board that he needed to leave our girls inside the barn (which he hates to do because it uses more sawdust and he has to feed more hay = more $$ spent) because I don't feel like getting killed. Shortly after that he separated the three mares away from the rest of the geldings, which is what he had said a year ago he was going to do anyhow, and alls been well since then. Same as your situation, the owners of the two goof balls causing all the trouble are more so newbies and have no control over their horses. They have not taught the big lugs any ground manners what so ever and they are horrible to walk.

    I think you can just have some geldings that will always want to be the stud of the group and nothings going to change it. I really don't know what anyone would do about it.

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  10. I've seen my two geldings (that I had at the time) rear up to start fighting over a mare (in their 3 horse herd), but nothing really came of it. They both sortof went, "err hang on, what's the good of this?"

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  11. Ok, get this, I have a MARE that can act like a stud. She will strike and rear. She also becomes very protective of the other mare she goes out with, she will even herd her. She completely ignores the only stud at the barn and acts aggressively towards gelding, she'll even fight with them if turned out with them. When we had her teeth floated we discovered that she had one canine tooth...I just don't know about her.

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  12. Anyone have experience with a gelding who at age 12 after giving him to new owners - who keep him for 5 months saying the whole time he is "perfect". Suddenly say he is dangerous and drop him back off super skinny, with rain rot, horrible feet etc. He is now full of anxiety, acting like a stud, presenting and screaming at mares, attacking geldings across the fence. Stud pooping. Pooping and then smelling it and screaming. Very odd. Any medical conditions that can cause a change in behavior like this?

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  13. My arabian did that when we first gelded him. Stud piles, squealing the works, but after a couple years he calmed down, and realized he was no longer a stallion, and ignores all the stallions around and mares in heat.

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