RC: Re: Stallion behavior

[Lif Strand <fasterhorses@gilanet.com>]

>So, my question is what do you do when your stallion desides that he
>would make a better herd leader than you?  I'm talking about a stallion
>challenging you.

No offense, but when it comes to physicalness, I'm always going to be at a 
disadvantage over a horse - at least  any horse over a few days old!  I 
gave up using any physical attempts at besting a horse in favor my one 
advantage (or at least the advantage I feel I have) - my brains.  My 
experience is based on our buying an 8 year old stallion who had been 
through whip training and resented it.  More whip "training" wasn't going 
to work obviously, but using my noodle did.   There are pleanty of books 
out there about this - I'm not trying to say that we developed anything 
unique - however we didn't learn through the books, but through our 
stallion.  Aggression from us didn't work.  Kindness and consideration did.

Everyone is free to use whatever method they choose to deal with horses.  I 
am a believer that violence begets violence, not because I saw some movie 
about Ghandi but because I found out over the years through trial and error 
that it works.  Our best teacher was that stallion we bought, Ben 
Nasrif.  Go at him with a whip - 14 years ago or today - and he will fight 
back.  He wasn't born with that response, people taught it to him.  So if 
anyone wants to go ahead and whip their stallion on the legs or anywere 
else, just do it.  Just don't cry later about the results.

By the way - we don't try to pretend we are the herd honchos - he is.  He 
breeds the mares, he's not stupid and neither are we, and we don't pretend 
we're the alpha stallion.  That's not the same thing as respecting us, 
though.  The more respect we gave him for his rights as a being, and for 
who he was/is - the herd stallion - the less argument we had over 
everything.  And - coincidentally - the less force we had to use with him.

Don't take our word for it.  There's plenty of people who saw Ben Nasrif in 
the show ring before we got himand plenty of people who saw him in 
endurance ride camps.  He had 9 owners & lessees by the time we got him at 
8 years old.  He was angry and aggressive.  Now he is not.  No whips necessary.


____________
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