Why Is My Stallion So Noisy When We Go On Hacks?

Question

he is 4 years old and only recently backed, but is a very sensible ride. I usually ride him in his field, which is right next to many other fields with other horses in. When I ride him in his field then he whinnies very occasionally (obviously to the other horses), unless there is a mare in season, or the others are running round the field, then he does it more often, but whenever I hack him out, then he whinnies almost constantly. Number one it is very annoying, and although it doesnt matter when we are out in the countryside, then I have to ride through residential areas before I can get into the fields etc, and I'm worried he is disturbing people. I have only ever hacked him on his own before, being a stallion, but I am soon going to try going with my friend on her gelding (he is sometimes turned out with this other horse, and they get on well).

Why does he do this, and is there any way of stopping him, apart from sticky taping up his mouth (lol. no i wouldn't really, even though it is very tempting!)

Answer 1

Your stallion is probably calling to his friends, he is alone on his ride and feels frightened. He want to know there are other horses around and if no horses answer he will get more and more frantic. Try going out on a ride with another horse for company and slowly move your stallion farther and farther out ahead of the other horse. This should happen over generous period of time so your stallion doesn't get nervous. Stallions especially want a herd to be with them at all times, give him a horse to ride with and make him think he has a herd so he won't be so nervous and loud.  

Answer 2

He's suffering from separation anxiety by being separated from his horse buddies. He panics when he is all alone and constantly looks for other horses, be them horses he knows or not. I think he'll be fine if you have another horse with you.

Some people may say this is a "stallion thing," but gelding him won't make him miss his buddies less.

EDIT: It would be interesting to see what answers you get if you leave "stallion" out of the title...

Answer 3

bc of all the mares  

Answer 4

It's those pesky testicles.

Answer 5

well its probably because he sees his friends in the pasture, and of course a stallion is going to show off if a mare is in heat.

stallions are very dominent and especially when they're young, they want to make sure everyone knows whos boss. as he grows older he'll probablly stop doing it sooo much

Answer 6

I'm not sure where you are all from.  This is the first time I have seen the use of the term Hacking.  Is this the same as riding him?

I have a stallion who doesn't whinny he lets out the loudest and strangest bellowing noise.  It even scares the cats and sends them running away.  Twist does this in his stall or at shows when I was showing him (western pleasure) or even out in the pasture.  I always thought he was telling all the mares "hey, look at me I'm a REAL man".

My friend has a couple of stallions and both of them are real quiet.  Sometimes it just depends on the individual horse.  Yes and even geldings call to their barn or pasture buddies when one is gone.

Answer 7

He whinnies in the field when you ride him because it's like he's telling his friends "look at me I'm being rode" but when he's out alone he's calling to get a response because he's lonely.

Answer 8

He may be calling to his friends back at the barn, he may be calling to see what other horses are in the area, or he may smell mares in heat that he is calling to.  He may be quieter with another horse, though.  Not much you can do, really...it's not like you can discipline him for it.  Keeping his attention on something else (i.e. asking for transitions, leg yield, whatever) might help too.

Answer 9

Me and my friend hack our geldings out ogether like twice a week and then my friend took hers out on her own whilst mine was lame, he whinnied the ENTIRE hack!!!!  When i took mine out on his own, he also whinnied the ENTIRE hack!!!  We just began hacking out alone in between our hacks together to get them used to going on their own.

We also began keeping their attention a little better by 'checking' him in the mouth often and once out of the way of traffic, started doing random circles every now n then and figure of 8s.  It keeps them thinking and listening and takes their mind off being alone.  This may not work the first time but keep going as from experience i know it works very well.  We can now hack out alone happily!

Oh, i know it sounds weird but actually talking aloud to our horses helped but we have a really strong bond as you might.

Try these things with your stallion and i'm sure it will work.

Our horses were 5 and 8 when we hacked them out alone and it is 6 months on and they are perfect!

Just give it a go...i wouldn't post this answer if i didn't see 100% positive effects on our horses!

Best of Luck!

L

XX

:-)