Oh, the joy of stallions...not

[kudosirony]

I'm so embarrassed to post this and am expecting a ton of people saying, "Wow you're an idiot and unfit for horse ownership!" but I do need advice/insight so I'm hoping a few of you guys can forgive my idiocy and help.

Why am I embarrassed and an idiot to boot? You all might remember my new(er) horse that was a rescue. The club footed, swollen

Comments

[candysgirl]

Mika was a unilateral crypt. His surgery was $700. He stayed one night and there weren't any complications. I got estimates anywhere from the $700 all the way up to nearly $3000. I dropped him off on a Tuesday and picked him up the next morning. It took a couple of months for the incision to fully heal, but it went fine. It was a huge pain to keep clean and exercising him so it would drain, but it was doable. He was on stall rest the first day I got him home and then he was turned out in a small lot alone (they didn't want him running around). I was supposed to trot him for 15 minutes a day to help things drain. After a couple weeks he was able to go back out into his field (he'd been getting turned out in a field alone because everyone was scared of the 800lb goofball Arab).

As far as training goes? Poke around in my journal. I had Mika for the better part of a year as a stud colt before I gelded him. I had to wait out the bugs and mud before I could get it done. I ended up doing it over the winter when the ground was frozen.

As far as dealing with stud behavior goes? I simply didn't tolerate it. Mika had a handful (still does really) of rules for being on a lead:
1.) Above all don't pull. I don't care what scary thing is two feet away or what pretty girls there are, don't pull.
2.) Don't touch me. Again, I don't care what is scaring you or how badly you want to nip. Don't touch me.
3.) Stay behind me when you're being led. His head isn't allowed past my shoulder. I don't care what he does back there or really which side he's on, but he can't come past my shoulder.

He's allowed to dance around, prance, snort, act like a fool or do whatever as long as he follows those rules.

Breaking any of these rules got an IMMEDIATE blowup from me. He got whacked several times with either my lead rope or one of those fabulous "carrot sticks" and I shouted KNOCK IT OFF. None of the whacks were hard enough to actually leave a mark. The point was more for the 'holy shit, mom might kill me if I do that again...' thought to run through his little head. I'd blow up for about 3 seconds and then go right back to assuming he'd behave. After a couple weeks of explaining to him that I was willing to kill him if he did bad things and anyone on the farm could handle him easily. Even kids. He's still as cuddly and friendly as ever, he's just not obnoxious or pushy anymore.

Expect good behavior and you'll get it. Expect bad behavior....and you'll get it.

Another thing with a stallion: don't mess with his face. Handle his head only when you need to to halter him or something like that. Otherwise leave his face alone. This helps make it clear to him that he doesn't get to touch you with his face either. If he doesn't get to touch you with his face, he can't nip. Don't feed him anything from your hands.

I don't think a chain is necessary unless it makes you feel better. Mika has never worn one. I did use a rope halter some, but he'll walk just as nicely in a flat nylon halter or just a rope around his neck...or grabbing the neck of his blanket. Really it doesn't matter what's on his head or not, if he knows the rules.

[kudosirony]

I believe I have you friended. I'll need to poke around there. I feel sort of stalker like if I go back in entries though, lol. I shall take this as permission.

See, I don't care about the prancing or snorting either, but the yanking and biting is unacceptable. The "be aggressive" stand seems to be the most popular advice, so that's what I'm going for. And I know Mika is well behaved, so it definitely holds weight.

I've never smacked or did anything with his face. With my mare, I did, because that's what I was told at the time. Then someone came along and said, "No, this is better" and taught me the lead line smack. I have touched his face and ears to get him used to that as he likes to shake his head about when it comes to his ears. It made it better when he had to get his stitches.

I will have to tell my mom no more treats by hand. It will break her heart, lol.

[acoustic11]

Treats by bucket are still okay. Just not by hand.

[candysgirl]

Haha, no its cool. If someone else can learn something from my trials and errors, that's awesome. I made more than one mistake with him because he was the first stallion I've ever trained (I've dealt with several, just didn't do their training). His surgery was sometime around Christmas 2008 so you'll have to go back pretty far to find the stallion stuff.

Its not so much being aggressive as being assertive. Don't tolerate anything you deem to be bad behavior. Above all be consistent. Don't punish something today and ignore it tomorrow. If you're going to punish a behavior, punish every time it happens. Even if it happens ever 5 minutes and you're wanting to rip your hair out.

When you do punish, remember, 3-5 seconds to make him think he's about to die if he ever does that again. After that 3-5 seconds, go straight back to neutral. Don't hold a grudge. Assume he's learned the lesson and won't do it again. If you wait around anticipating it to happen again, chances are it will.

I wasn't worried about smacking in the face, just don't touch his face period. Some people like to cuddle, kiss, otherwise mess with their horses' faces. That's all well and good for most horses, but if you've got a stallion with a nipping problem, don't do it.

If you do have to handle his face, go for it. Mika got lessons in letting me mess with his eyes, ears and mouth because that's all stuff a horse needs to be able to deal with. However, I did it for a specific purpose, not just petting or playing around for the fun of it. That's all I meant.

And yes, treats by bucket are fine, just not from hands.

[candysgirl]

Sorry, posted twice, deleted the second one.

[kudosirony]

Oh! And also, is it okay to shop around for the surgery? I have a regular vet and I'm slightly worried if I do so that I'll offend them.

[candysgirl]

How are they going to know? Frankly, if you pick someone else, I just wouldn't say anything about it. If they ask in the future, just say "its done".If your vet is offended, I'd find a different vet.

I shopped around quite a bit. I got about 5 different estimates. All they can really tell you is what the base price costs. The problem with a crypt is that the retained testicles can be anywhere from just inside to somewhere floating around up in the abdomen. If they're floating around, they're usually tiny and can be hard to find. I got lucky with Mika's surgery and his was easy to find and they didn't have to go on a fishing expedition. If they had, the price would have gone up some. Also, he had no complications which would have made the price go up also.

[young_modern]

any sensible vet with a professional attitude would not be offended. ideally, they'd encourage you to get second opinions and help you find the best facility for your horse's surgery.

[velessa]

Do you mind if I friend you? I'm interested in reading about you and your horse progress.

[candysgirl]

Sure, go for it

[velessa]

Thanks! Could you please add me back? Most of your entries appear to be locked. ^^;