Stallions as a First Horse

I just wanted to address something I recently encountered. I must say at the outset, I am a horsewoman. I love horses. I have nieces and a nephew who tolerate me as a horsewoman. I have been doing my best to teach them about safety first and fun overall. That being said, I don't allow them to be unsupervised. They don't spend enough time around the horses to have an feeling yet.
I monitor them and usually it's with a very centered and kid friendly gelding.

I wanted to address this issue, because even though I have stallions, I usually have the kids steer clear of the stud pens. It's not that I don't trust the kids or the stallions, but the two together could be fire and dynamite. So I was deeply disturbed this week when a friend called and had bought a long yearling stallion. The disturbing part, she's never owned a horse before and has two small boys.

I want to address this now. As a natural horsewoman, I think stallions, especially very young stallions, are meant to be handled by experienced horse people. After hearing how he cute and sweet he was, she explained how he'd been neglected and was underweight. I bit my tongue. He was being fed "Junior" feed, but they wouldn't be giving him alfalfa, it makes them go blind, and he could eat grass. They live in the Texas Hill Country, which grass is scarce.

They have turned him out in the yard. Great! What do you say to that?
Even though cute and sweet come in to your vocabulary, at no time is a stallion permanently cute and sweet. Trust me, I have 3 stallions currently and have had 6 stallions at one time, in the recent past, but have owned them for almost 15 years. My stallions have been hand raised, schooled for manners and nurtured for their personalities. Not one of them has been left in the yard. Each one has specially monitored feed and hay regime, and I keep them socialized for sanity.

Stallions are herd animals, just like mares and geldings. They need to be schooled, taught where the boundaries are, who the leader is, and at what time they get to play. Purchasing a stallion is like taking on a 1200 pound baby, for the rest of his life. These babies need leadership. As a stallion owner, you need to be qualified. I usually don't recommend someone own a stallion unless they have many years experience. I don't recommend stallions as a first horse. I don't recommend stallions for children with no experience. I don't even recommend them for intermediate riders, either.

What do I recommend? Geldings and mares with plenty of riding experience, usually older. I try and hand pick horses with gentle, easy going personalities. The reason, they are less likely to get upset or even worried when kids or inexperience adults do something wrong. I have a gelding in my pasture the kids can basically hang off of and he won't do a thing. This is what I recommend. At some point they will graduate to more lively and spirited horses.

On the other hand, I think stallions are amazing, beautiful creatures. I love them. I love the spirit, personality and power they have. I enjoy the mental sword play with them. Playing with them is a treat, but I'm not new at this. I am often called when people have unruly horses, or even rouge stallions. I get to see first hand what inexperienced owners can do to them. Stallions often get a terribly bad rap when they are left to their own devious devices. They become unruly, uncontrollable and all out brats. One minute on the outside of their paddock will give you a clue. I teach them what is accepted and what isn't, but I do it with love. I am an avid Parelli student. I play with them, I don't force them. Anyone who doesn't give them the utmost respect, is sure to find out the good, bad and the ugly.

I wonder if anyone else feels the same? Do you? What do you think about giving a young stallion to a beginner? What about for inexperienced owners? What about for kids?

The reason I asked this, they've been trying to learn about stallions on the Internet.
Maybe they'll find this entry.

Your comments will be a definite eye opener.