Studs at Rides?

[RoyalRain42]

I have always wanted to do Endurance. Probably nothing over a 50 mile, but I still want to because it is something I enjoy.

I ride a stud, he is my main ranch horse these days. He rides great on the ranch, I can go into the branding pen filled with mares and no one would know he was a stud till they looked between his legs. He knows how to camp, knows to behave himself when being worked with. He is a gentlemen.

The thing is locally i have always been met with a lot of resentment that ue is a stud. Not because he is a trash stud (well bred, has papers, has great all around conformation) but just because heaven forbid someone rides one and makes them work. I had some women gang up on me at a small local show, trying to get show management to boot me because their mares were acting up because of his presence, then a poker ride where one rider kept letting their in heat mare chase us around (even when asked to leave us alone)

So I am curious as to how most endurance riders view studs at rides? I am not an idiot about his handling, I know to take measures to ensure he is set up for success. I just dont want to take him somewhere where the people just seem to have it out for him

Thanks!

[prudence]

You have nothing to worry about if he’s well trained. I have seen studs in ride camp who were not and I wished they would leave. I’ve also seen stallions that I never would have known were stallions. Vets will disqualify you if he misbehaves.

In 2018, 4 stallions finished the Tevis out of 4 who started. In 1965, the two stallions, Siri ridden by Wendell Robie and Bezatal ridden by Ed Johnson, battled it out- Bez won the Tevis Cup and Siri got the Haggin Cup. Beautiful, well behaved stallions. Here are those results: http://www.teviscup.org/img/results/…de_results.gif

Endurance riding is a great skill to add to your horse’s resume. Whoever is hassling you is just jealous!

I forgot to mention that as a member of AERC you are eligible for the Jim Jones Stallion Award : https://aerc.org/rpts/Awards.aspx

[candyappy]

Nothing you can do about the ignorance or behavior of others. Just do your best to set him up for success and enjoy riding him.

[Lieselotte]

At a recent ride, I was parked next to a stallion who was very quiet and well behaved. However, being this close, he did throw my older mare into a bit of “confusion” and she just could not stop “winking” and peeing, so not ideal right before a competition when you want your horse to eat and drink and not waste energy. This is no one’s fault, and we did well, but I’ll be paying more attention to who I park next to, or would ask them to consider a different spot if I’m already there (as in this case.) Ride management could also reserve a couple of spots at either end of camp for this type of situation.
Good luck with your horse!

[Guilherme]

If you go to Brazil you’ll quickly learn that stallions are for riding, mares are for breeding, and geldings are virtually unheard of. The only time you’ll usually see one is when a dangerous stallion has been cut.

In the Anglo-American equine traditions stallions are gelded to make them easier to handle and work with. Breeding stock is kept intact. While in Brazil stallions are kept intact only a very small percentage are used for breeding.

Sadly, there are more than a few poseurs when it comes to stallions and it only takes one, bad experience to “sour” people (particularly equine event organizers) on allowing them in competition. The Brazilians are pretty strict in their handling practices (not much “touchy-feely horsemanship” in that world) and that means the stallions are well trained and well disciplined and well behaved. My wife got the chance to ride the 2002 Champion of Champions during the Marchador nationals in 2003. He was forward but always controllable.*

Maybe the reaction that riding a stallion draws is more “fear” than “resentment.” An out of control stallion going after somebody’s mare in heat is not a very happy thing to witness. The rear is unfortunate but not totally unfounded.

G.

*I missed out as I was suffering the aftermath of a bout of “Sandos-Dumont’s Revenge.” I did get to ride a dozen or so really nice stallions during our many farm visits.

[prudence]

G. Thank you for the interesting post! Sorry you didn’t get to ride in Brazil.

My daughter rode a perfectly behaved Paso Fino stallion at Aruba last year - forward and responsive but also very safe in her opinion. I think one of the reasons we geld so quickly is because our horses are often kept in much closer quarters than say South America. Barn managers are not crazy about stallions being boarded either.

[Brown_Derby]

Horses in Aruba are a little better off because of the Dutch influence. Horses in impoverished rural Central America are kept intact because of tetanus. They are lucky to live 6 years. A vet friend expanded RAVS to serve equids in those areas.

Even the tiny children (male) of our local charros ride and compete on stallions.

High-level endurance horses tend to be well-behaved horses, period. Maybe because they are not underworked or overfed; maybe because their owners tend to be very hands on and aware of their horses. Not quite the same in other disciplines.

[QHEndurance]

2019 was my first year doing LD rides so my experience is limited. At the 3 rides I attended, I saw several stallions. All were very well behaved and nobody at ride camp expressed any concern. Per the rules, the stallions were all double tied etc. and wore yellow ribbons, but otherwise you wouldn’t have known. I say as long as he’s well behaved, you would be welcomed at the endurance rides.

[Foxtrot_s]

We had a TB stallion who hunted in our Hunt club. You would never have known except she carried a dressage whip that she never used. Beautiful well mannered fellow. This lady actually bred her stallion to her appaloosa brood mare band and produced some super animals.

Then there is the gentleman who had a stallion who insisted of ‘training’ him by riding around the children’s Pony Club lessons shouting at the top of his voice,"I’m riding a STALLION - watch out " – gaaah, excuse me!

[Mulligan314]

At the CTRs, Stallions are double tied and marked with yellow, front and back(as was mentioned above). I rarely met a stud in the CTR world that wasn’t well behaved. There was a lady who had always ridden a wonderful, quiet stallion(whom she lost tragically to colic) and started riding one of his sons…he was a mess…haha…she would just roll her eyes and say ‘he’s gotta learn somehow!’ She managed him very well though. There is only so much you can do about others though and how they respond it not really your problem if you are doing your due diligence.

[Guilherme]

Stallions who work for a living are usually good equine citizens (so are working mares and geldings).

Stallions who don’t work for a living are often dangerous, unpredictable creatures (as are unemployed mares and geldings).

So it seems the common denominator is not the presence or absence of gonads but the presence or absence of a work ethic and good training and sound handling.

G.

P.S. I “get” that stallions are always stallions and can have Mondays that can be “interesting.” I understand that in some venues, particularly where large number of children or “civilians” are present then more restrictions might be in order.

[Larksong]

You’d be surprised how many people at an endurance ride won’t notice you’re riding a stallion if he’s reasonably well-behaved. Many horses are pretty nutty at the start—your guy may be more polite that many geldings I see flinging themselves around at rides 🤣