The stud's a dud.........?

Question

A stud that has lost interest in his job.

This is a new one for me and I wanted to post it to hopefully get some insight.

About 3 months ago a friend of mine finally, after a long involved search found the stallion of her dreams. He is an 8 year old Haflinger stallion, with a show record and progeny on the ground. She bought him from a west coast farm. I don't want to say too much because it is a rather delicate situation.

She called me yesterday and asked me over to see him, so I took the 6 hour drive to her place.

She has had the vet out to look at him and says there is nothing physically wrong with him. He looked to be in great condition, in good spirits. He's nice, correct and friendly....he's just lost interest in girls.

I witnessed one of her foundation mares present to him, wink, etc. (basically act like a cheap date) and he just couldn't be bothered.

I have never seen a breeding stallion not interested in a mare.

The farm where she bought him from said they never had any problem with him and he completed his last season with them without incident.

What could be the problem? Any thoughts?

Answer 1

There are several things that may be influencing his behavior.  First off you are late enough in the year, that many mares will start to not cycle.  Or she may have been having an "off" cycle.  I have seen it happen before, mare will wink and pee, but the stud would have not a thing to do with her.  We led three studs in total up to her for a week.  Not a single one would do a thing about it.  We gave her a shot of lutalyse to short cycle her and bring her back in, that round all was good and bred like a charm.  

Other things to consider.  Was he used to hand breed or pasture breed or was he collected for artificial insemination?   If they hand bred with him, did they tie the mare somewhere specific, inside or outside.  Did they use a breeding chute?  Is he where he can see the mares or are they seperated and out of site?    All of these could be factors in his not being interested, any change his routine and he gets all messed up.

I find it curious that they didn't use him this year yet sold him in the middle/end of the breeding season?  Was he not "perfoming" for them this year?  I know you said that he settled mare last year, but... things happen, infection, injury, etc.  

Unfortunately unless there was a written statement regarding his fertility and breeding ability and a clause in the sell contract stating that there was any guarantee then your friend does not have much recourse against the seller.  

Don't count him out yet. I have the feeling come spring he will come around.    

  

Answer 2

Are you breeding to Haflingers?

We once had a stallion that when we was younger was beat on pretty badly by a white haired mare.  Every time we went to breed him to a horse that had a lot of white hairs he would refuse to bred to that mare.  The owners that had him before told us of the incident so that we were aware.  It was still a surprise to us when we went to breed him to a roan and he refused to perform and wanted nothing to do with the mare.

Maybe something has happened to your stallion.  Have you tried mares that look nothing like the mare mentioned above? Maybe he is a little gun shy as our stallion was.

We ended up having to collect our stallion every time there was a white haired mare that was needing to be bred.  He never did get over it.

Good luck!!

Answer 3

I know it must sound strange, but this is not all that rare. There is a very famous race horse named Cigar. He retired with earnings just shy of $10,000,000. When a race horse retires, he usually stands at stud at a Thoroughbred farm, sometimes with stud fees, depending on the stallion, of up to $500,000. When Cigar retired, he covered 189 mares, and not a single one got pregnant. He now resides at the Kentucky Horse Park. It is not unusual for a stallion to lose interest as they get older, and they also become less fertile. Your friends horse could just not show interest because he is not yet comfortable with his surroundings, or he could be depressed as well.

Answer 4

He may have been abused by a mare and is weary. Can you A I him for a while?  Introduce him to some of your easy going mares.

http://www.saferhorseracing.com/gpage14....

Answer 5

My mother has a stallion that would not breed until he "knew" them. Sounds weird but he would have to be in pasture with them at least 4- 5 days be for he'd breed.  So after they were together for a while he would breed. Who knows he may be the sensitive type!!! LOL

Answer 6

He may be depressed. Your friend hasn't had him very long. Could he be pining away for a horse that he was taken away from? I would find him a new friend and then just give him time to adjust. Hopefully he'll remember his job eventually. Good luck :)

Answer 7

well, i hate this way, but if your friend really wants a foal, then you should tie the mare up, then get the stallion, let him smell her, then make him got on her, like get him up close to her, then take him away and put the mare and the stallion in an open pasture.

i hope this helps!

Answer 8

Hey. I posted an answer back in our "group". I'll copy and paste it back here to you.

Chances are he's had some recent breeding mishaps such as a mare kicking or biting and injuring him. If he's been handled and bred at hand, most likely he was handled and familiarized with one person and trained to act like a gentleman with everyone else. My stallions have always been trained to breed in what we call their breeding halter, and they have a separate halter for all other activities. They know when the breeding halter goes on it's time to put their game face on. Weigh in how recent the purchase was and how many times he has been bred. He may need some more time to familiarize with your friend and her facilities, and he may have been over produced in the past and just need a sabbatical. You must also consider reasons why he was sold. If he's a top quality stallion that is producing well, then I don't really see why any horse owner would want to relinquish ownership. It makes me wonder if perhaps he wasn't producing often enough or if he's even breeding sound. If he's just breeding sour, just suggest to your friend if she has another stallion to put her new stallion and the other stallion in neighboring paddocks. Then walk the mare in front of their paddocks. Sometimes stallions need to remember the natural instincts and competitiveness and perhaps her new stallion will feed off the others energy and get back in the game.

Good luck and Keep us posted.

Answer 9

First off.. Cigar didn't produce bc he was found to be sterile, not because he lost interest in breeding all together. What tests did the vet perform? Did he actually unsheath the p***s and visually inspect it? Did he do a s***n collection? I work at a vet clinic where we do a lot of bovine s***n evals (I realize this is an equine....) and we find that some bulls that lack interest have very poor quality s***n. (Either inactive or very low sperm count). At 8, it's feasible, although somewhat unlikely, that he's developed a medical condition. It's extremely feasible that the farm knew this but didn't disclose it.

Also, a new location with all that it entails could have him thrown off. Although every stud I've ever encountered doesn't care where he meets mares! My best suggestion is to have a complete repro workup done by the vet.

If his s***n eval is ok, then your friend could still use him as a foundation stud... just through AI.. which could get expensive. But, if he's what she's been looking for, then it could be worth the extra costs.