Good. You have to manage the horse you actually have. We all get ideas in our heads about the ‘best’ way to keep horses. And it might even be the best on average - but that doesn’t mean its going to be the best for every individual.
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For sure. I’m quite flexible in my horsekeeping practices. Sometimes though it’s hard to defend one’s position when you’re in the “yes, I believe this for most horses, but this one is a special case”.
Either way, I can’t have him breeding boarder’s mares, regardless of his actual fertility status. Liability waiting to happen.
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No you can’t. Thats a very good way to end up with infections and injuries.
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Exactly, and he was starting to get a bit sassy with humans coming into the field to take his mares or to take him out of the field. I can handle that (and correct him appropriately), but a boarder getting injured because my dufus decides he’s going to defend his mares? No bueno.
Anyway, he’s now pacing and screaming which is delightful, but he’s just going to have to get over it.
On the flip side, we haven’t done any “focused” work because he’s so distracted right now, but he has been listening better than expected when worked with so I think this may be a huge piece of the puzzle.
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On the flip side, this is a great time to show that he has to follow your leadership, not his.
Do a ton of groundwork. His “wins” are paying attention to you, not the mares. That will increase to he has to follow you all the time. What mares? He will if you present yourself as “boss mare” or “alpha male”. You can be very kind but firm about these requests, which is what alphas do. You can word with others, if they are willing, that humans are alpha. No question. At all.
I suspect this is what you’re doing.
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I just wanted to add that, my 16.3hh spooky dude never walked on a loose rein despite the fact in my 5 decades of riding, I have always walked horses onn the buckle before and after working. Lad, however, always wanted his “hand held”, he felt more secure with a constant light contact of hand and leg. Just the way he was…I accommodated HIS wishes and made us both happy. 
ETA, He once spooked at something in the canter and slammed the brakes on so hard that I did a perfect flip off of him, winding up standing next to him, reins still in my hand! 
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Thank you for this. I had this happen once in an extended trot. No-one was there to witness it and to this day, I had no idea what actually happened. Makes perfect sense! I was stood there as though I was just casually leading him back to the stable or something, WTFing to beat the band, and couldn’t for the life of me figure out what had happened. It was a perfectly normal extension and then, boom, standing beside him. LOL!
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