I have a new horse that happens to be a stallion. He is a professionally trained barrel horse. His background is he was trained and futuritied and then was taught the breeding dummy and did AI collection. His second home he was rodeoed and then put out to pasture breed. I haven’t bred him at all and will actually be gelding him this fall. Last week at a play date Gymkhana for our local club I brought him and he did great. Many compliments of how he doesn’t even act like a stud and how well behaved he is. I made the mistake of getting off him and chatting with someone and he had his “dong” out when a mare came by. I tapped him under the belly with the quirt to get him to bring it back up. He reared up and I grabbed him down and proceeded to longe him around me while tapping his belly with the quirt to have him get it up. He immediately listened and responded to my longing and when he was back up I remounted and loped in the arena a few directions to get his mind focused back on performance. Now the president of the club (which I’m a board of director on) has stopped by to ask I not bring him back as a stallion. He said some people are nervous about his behavior and also didn’t like how I corrected him. I will not apologize for correcting him as I have no idea how to train a horse manners if they don’t understand correction. He never got loose and he immediately responded to me correcting him. Also several people I know and respect as horseman said my level of correction was appropriate for the situation and that I handled it well. Like I said he was well behaved all day. My mistake was stopping to chat. Obviously cannot do that with a stud. I should have immediately brought him back to the trailer. I feel like it’s fine to be concerned and ask how we can avoid this in the future. I know now I will ride him to and from the trailer and we will not take time to chat along the way. My focus needs to be on him 100%. Last year he went to a cow clinic and stood peacefully in an arena with mares. He also was ridden at a dressage western show where the judge was amazed by him. This was his first show outing of the year. We had trailered to the same arena for several practices and I had taken him on a few trail rides where we rode with mares. We are in the north so we have long breaks over the winters. How would you all respond to this? I’m very hurt as I’ve been an active member of this club for years and even serve on the board. The president is my uncle! I am an experienced horsewoman and have worked on many horse farms and handled stallions at these farms. I feel that my horse misbehaving once shouldn’t be an immediate dismissal from showing ever again as a stallion at this arena. If he was misbehaving all day and was a menace I would not want to bring him either. But one isolated incident where I made a mistake, recognize the mistake, and will take action to not repeat the mistake should be taken into consideration. Thoughts?

How old are you???? ( Only asking because some facilities do not like Minors in direct control of a stud. Some won't even let you ride one). Just curious thanks! As far as your situation, they probably have the right to refuse service to anyone at the facility. Just remembered you said you were on the Board of Directors. Probably an adult then. 

My thoughts are I support the clubs request. Too much at stake.

Unfortunately, I think being on the board and having a family member as the president, means that you are under more scrutiny than someone else might be. If there were no reprecussions to this event, people would probably talk about you getting special treatment and being allowed to get away with things that others would not. Why do you have to wait until fall? I would geld him ASAP and continue competing and working with him. 

I'd respect the wishes of the club since you are planning on gelding him anyway, but I think I'd try to do it sooner than later. As far as correcting him, yeah.. you had to do it, people that didnt like it or agree with it, probably dont understand stud horses and how important it is to have their full respect and attention,  so they just have to get over it. You did the right thing. After hes gelded, is he allowed back? 

Yes, I’m an adult. He is allowed back if he’s gelded. The club is run by a BOD so my feeling. Is should be discussed and voted on by the BOD. Not one person making the decision. I feel that if they kick  my horse out for rearing than they need to have the same protocol for all horses.  The reason I’m waiting to geld in the fall is that is very buggy here now and also he’ll be out for atleast 6 weeks possibly more before he can barrel race again. 

I'm guessing being a stallion makes it no longer a three strikes kind of thing. Horses in general really can be and are a dangerous animal but adding to the equation this incident involved a stud the liablity might just be too much to risk a second issue with a stud in the opinion of those who have the ultimate say.

I do not have one and have never even handled a stallion (and have no business doing so) just from the outside looking in... if this is a family centered club being  a mom of two very little kids who just do leadline right now I would appreciate a pro active board who tried to make things as safe as possible. While I understand your frustration and do agree with you rerimanding him immediately I think, as unfair as it might be, him being a stallion is the key componet in you being asked to not bring him back as a stud. Its a tough situation but serving on the board puts you in a unique situation to set the tone for these requests. While it might not be the most fun, abiding by the request might mean more and be more important in the long run :)

I've been a stallion owner for 20 years and have attended many gymkhanas and play days. They are one place I don't think a stallion belongs. Doesn't matter how well behaved they are or how much you try and do right, some one else, usually a child can make a mistake and get someone hurt. I would have to agree with the president. Most ghmkhanas in my area have a strict no stallion policy.

I understand where you’re coming from. So if they decide he can’t be there as a stallion then I think it should be a rule that no stallions are allowed. They are only wanting to kick mine out and not make it anrule. And to reiterate he was well behaved all day and put in the trailer after each run (it was a cool day not hot). So they are requesting he not come back based on one rearing incident (also forgot to say it was when I was off him,  he’s highly trained under saddle and has never reared under saddle) that I handled. If it the general opinion anstud doesn’t belong at a Gymkhana than it should be universal rule. Also I have 3 young kids so I get the mom thing. I take all safety precautions with my kids at events. I have my mother that comes with me to help with them. They also ride in the beginner division. 

I agree with Krystal. Studs are a HUGE liability at play day and 4H type of events where novice type riders tend to show up.

If it’s an issue and you are wanting to geld him anyhow, just get it done now. Then the problem is solved for everyone.

If at your age and the experience you claim to have handling stallions and you are just now realizing that you need to keep both eyes and focused on your stallion 100% of the time ... (no need to say more)!!

Your uncle is trying to protect you from a law suit in the future ... with this one grand standing act ... and if the stallion even wags his winkadink .... you could be in serious financial trouble when a jury decides on granting $10 million to someone that sues due to fear, panic attacks and nighmares ... 

If it was my facility .. you and horse would be barred immediately and also all stallions  ..  since I am not going to let you place my facility open to a lawsuit and enormous cost increase on liability insurance !!

It sounds like the stud is 9-12 years old and needs at least a year of riding at home to forget old habits and zero hormones before you take him out in public again. 

Be an adult and apoligize and you will be respected at how quickly you handled the situation and continue to be on the BOD ..   GOOD LUCK .. 

Agreed!!!Just geld him now :))

Can you run him in a different group/club or rodeo circuit? I can see for sure not wanting to lose out on time during your racing season. I have no idea how long until you could run him again?? I would probably switch circuits until I felt the timing was right for me to gelding him. Around here our winters are long so I would probably wait until my season was over gelding him and have all winter to recover. Then next year race your now gelding in the original circuit.

I agree with everyone here! Just geld him now, you will not lose out on your season. Ours are back in training within days of being gelded. It's actually good for them to keep moving after being gelded. I like the idea of keeping him home for a little while after too. They will probably make the no stallion rule sometime in the near future. But you have to be held to a higher standard, being on the BOD and having a stud. And I'm sure that any stallion owner would be also. Not only are you putting yourself at risk of a lawsuit, but also the facility. It doesn't matter if he acted up when you are on him or off of him, that is not the piont. 

One other thing to consider is he has been a stallion a long time and was already used to breed mares. Even with gelding some of his behavior may never change. I ran a gelding that was gelded for 3 years prior to me buying him as a 9 year old. He was pasture bred, hand bred, etc and he was ALWAYS a stud. But he was very well mannered to begin with and respectful but he would get all huffed up if some person walked by him and their mare was in heat. He would drop and nicker etc.. SO just be prepared. 

The problem is he acted like a stud.   I have been around a few studs at shows and the owners were respectful, but you could never tell that they were studs.    They never hollered, they never got their man parts going, and they didn't do anything stupid. Getting the man parts going is a huge red flag for me. 

Since he forgot himself, I can see asking that he never return.  If he had gotten loose and chased the mare that he was interested in down, that could have gotten real ugly, real fast. 

If he's gelding material, do it.  Otherwise, you'll probably have to keep him home.   We mostly have no stallions with handlers under 18 around us, but if one was to act out, I'm sure the rule would go to no studs period. 

It's the people, not the horse.  I'd tell them to get stuffed and I'd go somewhere else.  

Is there a reason why you are waiting until the fall to geld him? Why not just geld him NOW and solve the problem?

My guess weather and less fly problem/cooler temps

Is there another club you can join in the area? In my area there are so few so its slim pickins, I'm not even a member of any of them because of all the drama I've overheard. Doesnt sound like it's going to be very much fun or enjoyable for you anymore if they are retaliating against you. 

I can't believe this is even an issue with someone that has been around studs your whole life.  You should know better than to take him to an event with children on mares. I don't care how much you think that you know but you will not be able to control a 1,300 lb stud that wants to  mount a mare in heat.  Your  not just playing with your life but your are playing with someones elses life if something happens.

Just curious, do you have children? 

Been trying to find that thread that someone posted about their kid/dog gentle stud that turned dangerous on them in a blink of an eye. 

I think you are referring to this one -  http://forums.barrelhorseworld.com/forum/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=484713&posts=33&mid=7427505&highlight=stallion&highlightmode=1&action=search#M7427505

yes that one, I could not for the life of me find it, you did a good job

I'm going to bump it up

Thanks

I think that is a good idea!!  =]

So i read the OPs post yesterday and all the replies.  Today I went back and read it again.  I have a few comments.

1. The club is absolutely within their right to ask him to not be brought back.  What I missed the first read-through was that this horse is NEW to you and NEW to the club.  He is 0 for 1 in their eyes by misbehaving (even for just a minute) his first trip to an event with you.

2. Please read that Stallion Attacking thread. Now whenever I see or hear someone say "You cant even tell hes a stallion" I cringe.

3. Frankly, No matter how nice he is I can't imagine you'd want the stress of the "what ifs" trying to run at playday events with a stallion.  I can understand promoting a big time stud at big time events but this is a small scale deal with kids.. I would not want that on my shoulders. 

Just lick your wounds in private, be the bigger person and get him gelded now - since that's the plan anyway.  Good luck!