Sales prep help with COLT

[jennywho]

Maybe this belongs in sport horse breeding IDK but I know there are a lot of experts on here.

I am no stranger to raising colts and have handled stallions in the past, but this year’s colt is making me question my abilities.

He has always been a bit mouthy and been corrected accordingly, but is overall a smart kind colt.

In the past week it’s like his hormones have completely taken over. I handwalk him 30 min a day and today he absolutely would not pay attention and constantly had an erection. I would back/turn him until he retracted and 30 seconds later he would be back at it again. He tried to walk all over me due to inattention and corrections only lasted a few seconds. His biting has also gotten out of control and he is constantly going after me. He’s not mean, just colt like. I am constantly getting after him and he stops bad behavior but only for a very short time.

If it were up to me he would be gelded tomorrow but my partners refuse and he goes to the sale in 5 weeks.

Any advice?

I’m going to switch him to a lip chain tomorrow to see if that helps keep his attention but I’m worried that it won’t.

He is turned out at night with an old gelding that doesn’t tolerate really bad behavior.

Any supplements out there that may help? Reserpine? Ace?

I can experiment with the Ace but I feel like I’m suddenly out of my element and would love ideas from others that may have dealt with an exceptionally hormonal colt.

[snaffle1987]

talk to your vet about dosage and such with Ace. they can advise. Good luck. Personally, now is the time to really get after him about behavior. maybe extending that working time to two half hours per day or upping it to 45 minutes and really making him mind his P’s and Q’s. If he’s smart then letting one nip slip is only going to come back 10 fold. I think the lip chain will help but might need something else. Looking forward to what others add

[Texarkana]

Have you tried him in a chifney?

[Palm_Beach]

[QUOTE=Texarkana;8764536]
Have you tried him in a chifney?[/QUOTE]

Yes, that might help the mouthiness. But there is no excuse for bad manners. Do you do ground work with him?

[LaurieB]

I second (third?) trying a chifney.

[EventerAJ]

I was in charge of prepping a barnful of colts for the sales. Most were pretty good but there was always a tough one or two. He should already be in a chiffney, but that’s not quite enough control for the naughty ones. Use a lip chain, or my favorite trick: hook a small, thin bungee cord to the side rings of the halter and use that over his gums, and lead him with the normal chiffney. The bungee keeps light pressure under the lip, it’s kinder than a chain and you don’t have to worry about it slipping off. It’s enough to keep his attention and make your 30 minutes of walking much safer.

Carry a crop, too, and bump his muzzle with the butt end when he goes to bite your hand. Keep him out of your space.

Buy the multi pack cannister of bungees at Wal-Mart or TSC for $10. There will be a handful of bungee cords about 6" long, thin as a pencil, perfect for rotten colts. We use them at the sales, too, because you can keep the colt in a chiffney for a better, relaxed walk performance, and the bungee is barely noticeable.

[Texarkana]

AJ, I’ve never done the bungee cord thing. But I have used these with a chifney:

http://www.udderlyez.com/stableizer.php

A bit less discreet, but the same idea.

[halo]

Unless he’s really well bred, if he acts up like that at the sale, buyers will lose interest…quick. I have a 2 year old colt this year, nice colt. First time he ran, he was on 5 legs in the paddock. Tried to mount the pony. Second time he ran, he was so bad in the paddock that they sent him right out to the track ahead of everyone else, without the pony he tried to mount.

He’ll run again in 10 days. He’ll also be about 6 pounds lighter. Some of them just get raging hormones. Id be concerned with how he acts at a sale with horses out and walking by him all day long.