ends up with a young stallion next to him who is easy going and doesn’t challenge or aggravate him. They form a friend- ship. Then when we go to a show, I ask the show secretary to arrange them in the same way they are at home. That way, they just walk into the stall and start eating. I don’t have to get four tack stalls to separate the four stallions I’ve brought. When you isolate them and treat them like big, bad stal-
lions, they become big, bad stallions. The more socialized they are, the easier, happier and the less aggressive they are. They just act like a horse. We have a lot of ways to manage them, as individuals. We have great well-mannered horses. We call the stallion
barn the frat house. They’re happy there and have their pals and enough stimulation to keep them happy.
WT: How do you handle breed shows? Natalie: I love breed shows that run concurrently with reg- ular shows because it helps build a bridge between breed- ers and trainers. We want breeders to understand what competition riders need, and we want trainers excited about U.S.-bred, up-and-coming young horses. But these events are tough on stallions because they’re surrounded by broodmares and babies. It’s a learning atmosphere. You pay attention all the time. For example, if someone walks up to your stallion’s stall with a mare and foal be- cause they want you to see his baby, you move them away from the stall and you can see the foal a little further away from the barn. Shows where breed shows are running at
the same time may not be the best environment for every stallion.
WT: How do stallions react to eventing with its three phases? Drew: Because stallions have a strong sense of self-preser- vation, eventing is not a natural sport for them. Sometimes they worry about themselves rather than do the job. Yet some like the constant change and new things. Those are the ones that excel in eventing. With a stallion new to eventing, at some point he will
have a problem with some element and say ‘I’m more wor- ried about myself than about you.’ They will either go for- ward or not. I can’t push them through that too early, before they know who I am and want to work for me. If you say to a stallion that you have to jump ditches and up and down banks, and I don’t care if they scare you, you have to obey, he will shut down pretty quickly. It’s about having the rapport, where they have decided they want to do it for you, before you have obedience.
[
Clearly, the consensus among these experienced stallion managers is that success in the breeding shed and on the show grounds are not mutually exclusive. They are, however, contingent on careful and thorough communications with mare owners, show management and surrounding competi- tors—and most of all with the stallion himself.
Warmbloods Today 41
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100