# Stud Colt



## Ladybug2001 (Mar 15, 2011)

Alright, in your experience, what is the youngest you have seen a stud colt acting studish? Also, what to you is being "studdish" to you?

This is just a general question for information, at least I'm thinking it goes here.


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## banman (Dec 14, 2009)

i had a paint cold that started acting what i call studish at about 1 1/2 maybe a little younger. and to ME studish is nipping, thinking they are all tough guy and acting more agressive then most colts and pushy and stuff. they tend to test you too


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## Piaffe (Jan 11, 2010)

I bought a stud colt once that was about 5-6 months and he was a nasty little thing. He would charge,bite,rear up,kick out,try to get loose every time you led him,tried to fight with other horses,would run right over you. He got snipped pretty quick


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## yadlim (Feb 2, 2012)

I have owned two stud colts, who were complete polar opposites. My first colt was pure Arab and about seven or eight months he started to get pushy, mouthy, and wanted to rear up for no good reason. Three days after surgery it was all gone!!! He made a great gelding. 

My Saddlebred/Arab never acted studdy, accept he would 'talk' to the girls. He liked to call to any mares, but they always throught he was a twerp. One call and he was done. He never got mouthy, never got pushy, never showed off for the girls, was easily handled my daughter who was 7 or 8 at the time. He was a great stallion then I had to go and geld him at 22 months old... and he turned into a lousy gelding. The last nine years have been plagued with dominace issues, confidence issues, showing off for all the girls human and horse alike, and just generally being a butt. I liked him so much better as a stallion!!!!


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## trailhorserider (Oct 13, 2009)

If being studdy is nipping, rearing, trying to get away while being led, being pushy and mouthy, then my colt was born that way! And I got him gelded at 5 months and he is STILL that way and he is 19 months old. 

I never considered that studdy. Just rude and disrespectful. I have never seen him exhibit any sexual type behavior. Well, unless climbing up on another gelding in play is considered mounting, but it was a play behavior. He will also dangle his, um, "thingie" out and bob it around. I know he was gelded at 5 months because I was there when the vet removed them. So it that normal for him to be, um, bobbing? Maybe my guy has extra testosterone being produced somewhere else in his body?

He's my first foal, so I don't really know what is normal behavior and what isn't for a young colt/gelding. 

Now if "studdy" is more like showing interest in mares, then my neighbor had one that was trying to mount his mom at 7 months! She didn't actually get him gelded until 9 months. It's a miracle there wasn't an unplanned pregnancy there I suppose.


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## trailhorserider (Oct 13, 2009)

Piaffe said:


> I bought a stud colt once that was about 5-6 months and he was a nasty little thing. He would charge,bite,rear up,kick out,try to get loose every time you led him,tried to fight with other horses,would run right over you. He got snipped pretty quick





yadlim said:


> I have owned two stud colts, who were complete polar opposites. My first colt was pure Arab and about seven or eight months he started to get pushy, mouthy, and wanted to rear up for no good reason. Three days after surgery it was all gone!!! He made a great gelding.


So did getting them gelding almost instantly help with those behaviors? 

Because it didn't do a thing for my guy. He was rude before and he is rude now. I know gelding is not training and my guy still needs training, but I honestly did not see any miracle change at all after getting him gelded at 5 months. 

I am still battling pushy, rude, mouthy, testing behavior.


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## yadlim (Feb 2, 2012)

Yes, some geldings never stop acting 'studdy'. There is a very very slim chance that your vet did not get all the glands etc that produce testosterone, but it is possible. In the past, horses could be what is called "proud cut" where they were allowed to keep all the hormones, but were steralized. This got you a stallion in behavior without the foals. 

Stallions are not that much different from geldings... they bond a bit closer with their humans, play a bit rougher with the other boys, show off a bit for the girls. They are also a bit more agressive - but a good stallion is no more difficult to deal with than a good gelding. The only reason my boy is gelded is because I have to keep him at a boarding stable and am not willing to pay extra money because people are afraid of the word stallion.


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## trailhorserider (Oct 13, 2009)

You know, my guy has a very thick neck for a young gelding too. I had a trainer out to help me with groundwork and they were surprised he was gelded already because of how muscular he was, particularly his neck. Very interesting! I have no doubt he is 100% a gelding, but getting him gelded didn't change his behavior at all. 

But in some ways that makes me feel a bit better because I am always banging my head against the wall with him. Maybe it isn't just me after all.


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## trainerunlimited (Jan 26, 2012)

One of the ladies I used to trail ride and drill team with had a colt who was a monster as a foal, she got him at three months and he would charge, kick, paw, bite, etc at horses and people alike. She gelded him at 5 months and he is now a sweetheart towards people, but will talk to and drop around any horses he is used to and will thump his belly a few times before putting his equipment away. He is such a weirdo, lol.

I've had a couple colts I bought as unhandled horses and kept from the time they were weanlings to over two years old, they never acted studdy with bad behavior and never looked at a mare, other than my first colt trying to nurse off one for a couple days when I brought him home off his mama, unsuccessfully, poor thing almost got his brains kicked out for trying! 

Ladybug, is your colt already exhibiting symptoms of being a problem child? 

I've also seen a lot of very young foals jump up on their dams, it may look like they were trying to mount, but my filly did it all the time in play.


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## SunnyDraco (Dec 8, 2011)

Boys naturally are more mouthy, nippy, and tend to be rougher in play. Not all, we had one colt growing we raised that was a bit of an odd ball... from the time he was born, past being gelded to even this day he has never changed. The worse thing he ever did was chew off a mare's tail right after being weaned (but he had a fellow partner in crime). No misbehaving, talking to girls, pretending to be a stallion, or other bad behaviors while his tail-munching-partner-in-crime was the complete opposite. Both were gelded at 6 months old (half brothers born one week apart), and one thought he was always hot stuff. From stallion talking, leg strikes, intense interest in mares in heat and aggression to other horses. Fortunately, he had manners to people, but a whole different attitude to other horses (even to his own pasture mates he was unpredictable). 

Each colt is born with their own unique personality, correcting poor manners and reinforcing positive behavior while they are young is the best way to deal with colts in the long run, IMO.


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## MangoRoX87 (Oct 19, 2009)

My colt was gelded around 14 months....
All of his brothers were done later and filled in nicely. Dusty however is still small...will that fill in in time?
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## trainerunlimited (Jan 26, 2012)

SunnyDraco said:


> Boys naturally are more mouthy, nippy, and tend to be rougher in play. Not all, we had one colt growing we raised that was a bit of an odd ball... from the time he was born, past being gelded to even this day he has never changed. The worse thing he ever did was chew off a mare's tail right after being weaned (but he had a fellow partner in crime). No misbehaving, talking to girls, pretending to be a stallion, or other bad behaviors while his tail-munching-partner-in-crime was the complete opposite. Both were gelded at 6 months old (half brothers born one week apart), and one thought he was always hot stuff. From stallion talking, leg strikes, intense interest in mares in heat and aggression to other horses. Fortunately, he had manners to people, but a whole different attitude to other horses (even to his own pasture mates he was unpredictable).
> 
> Each colt is born with their own unique personality, correcting poor manners and reinforcing positive behavior while they are young is the best way to deal with colts in the long run, IMO.


 
One of your mares or an older gelding didn't kick his butt and put some manners in him?


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## SunnyDraco (Dec 8, 2011)

trainerunlimited said:


> One of your mares or an older gelding didn't kick his butt and put some manners in him?


He was the herd boss' son, got away with a lot because he targeted his underlings. He was eventually second in command after my sister took his mom to college with her (just under his half sister that is three years older than him) and he ruled with an iron fist. 

But you should have seen him react when he made an error in judgement. I had just put my mare back in the pasture after our routine workout and she was at the very bottom of the pecking order. The gelding waited until I had left the pasture, swung his hind at my mare, she spins herself out of the way, he kicks out and nails his feet into the boss' chest. He looks back, sees that he kicked his big sister and runs away as fast as he can. The boss didn't even react to his stupidity, but he wasn't going to stick around and find out! :lol:


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## trainerunlimited (Jan 26, 2012)

SunnyDraco said:


> He was the herd boss' son, got away with a lot because he targeted his underlings. He was eventually second in command after my sister took his mom to college with her (just under his half sister that is three years older than him) and he ruled with an iron fist.
> 
> But you should have seen him react when he made an error in judgement. I had just put my mare back in the pasture after our routine workout and she was at the very bottom of the pecking order. The gelding waited until I had left the pasture, swung his hind at my mare, she spins herself out of the way, he kicks out and nails his feet into the boss' chest. He looks back, sees that he kicked his big sister and runs away as fast as he can. The boss didn't even react to his stupidity, but he wasn't going to stick around and find out! :lol:


 
Haha, he sounds like a smart boy! I'd sure run if I accidently kicked the boss!


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## MyLittlePonies (Mar 15, 2011)

SunnyDraco said:


> He was the herd boss' son, got away with a lot because he targeted his underlings. He was eventually second in command after my sister took his mom to college with her (just under his half sister that is three years older than him) and he ruled with an iron fist.
> 
> But you should have seen him react when he made an error in judgement. I had just put my mare back in the pasture after our routine workout and she was at the very bottom of the pecking order. The gelding waited until I had left the pasture, swung his hind at my mare, she spins herself out of the way, he kicks out and nails his feet into the boss' chest. He looks back, sees that he kicked his big sister and runs away as fast as he can. The boss didn't even react to his stupidity, but he wasn't going to stick around and find out! :lol:


Oh, boy!! I sure wouldn't just stand there waiting to find out!!! I'd be gone just as fast as I kicked the boss!! :shock: :hide:

*they seriously need a thing for retreat!!! lol*


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## drafts4ever (Sep 1, 2009)

My boy is getting the stallion prance coming in but he has great manners! his neck is coming in and he's slowly filling out in all the right places. Just today he decided to grunt and groan when I was groping him and giving him a sheath scratch. He didn't do that last week but now maybe he's starting to feel good. I'm just doing it so he gets used to being handled. 
He was getting a little mouthy so we fixed that with a finger in the nose and that stopped that. he's getting curious about the human males so I'm trying to get as many of my guy friends to come out and play games with him. 
One of my close friends has been training colts for 30 years and she's working three days a week with him on manners and over all everything. So far so good. Once in a while he tries his stud prance, arches his neck and calls but as soon as another horse of any gender answers or shows interest nose nose with him he's all baby, nuzzling and chewing his tongue. He's 10 months old. He's presented himself, flopped it against his belly and jumped about 3 feet up and over and then spun in a circle with his head to his flank trying to catch a glimpse of whatever attacked him.


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## Alfie92 (Nov 8, 2011)

I have a 9 Month old. He has not been gelded yet, his back end is filling out nicely but him shoulders and his neck is still verrry weedy. Hes my first foal so just woundering how long it would take for his neck and shoulders to start filling out. If they will lol ??


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## drafts4ever (Sep 1, 2009)

Could be quite a while depending on how he grows. My drum mare Is 5 and she fills out and then grows and get narrow again. Now she's filling out again so she's beefed up in the front but I can tell she's getting a bit butt high so she shouldn't be narrowing in the front soon. My colt is very baby narrow still but his body and butt are filling out. It all depends on how their bodies grow individually.


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## Alfie92 (Nov 8, 2011)

Hope he does fill out lol. Hes pretty but high at the moment. Trying to leave him as long as i can before i get him gelded. Maybe he will fill out a bit better the longer i leave him .


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## NdAppy (Apr 8, 2009)

We didn't let Pistol get the chance to even think about acting "studdy." His fuzzy plums (well grapes for a pony :lol: ) and he was already trying to mount his dam (more like play not actual trying to breed, no penetration or attempt at it. With his dam and two other mares in there I wasn't taking any chances. Pistol was gelded at 3.5 months old. Young enough his dam would keep him moving during the day and both of his testicles were there, so why wait? If there are no plans on akeeping a horse a stud, I don't see any reason that they should keep their testicles any longer than absolutely necessary.


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## Alfie92 (Nov 8, 2011)

A lot of people say if you leave them the horse will mature better as he will have the testosterone in his body. I dont know if this is true or not....
Im defo going to have him gelded i have no intentions on keeping him as a stud


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## MHFoundation Quarters (Feb 23, 2011)

Having been around & handled hundreds of youngsters, I think it depends on the colt. We've had some very studdish weanlings and then had others who never acted like a stud up to a mature age even left intact. I do agree that colts tend to be more prehensile and mischievous in general than fillies. 

My 9 month old colt (will be cut in a few months) hasn't shown any stud like behavior yet. Woodstock was cut as a 4 yo after injury, was an aggressive rank mess when I bought him, but even with being cut late he is a perfect gentleman now. Though I attribute that more to very consistent training & being put in his place by my bossy mares than the actual loss of parts lol!


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## danastark (Jul 17, 2008)

I don't think gelding has anything to do with actual height. I bought a curly gelding and the owner said he was gelded at 5 weeks? He was a non-curly curly so to be registered, he had to be gelded. He has grown to be about 15.3-16.0 hands and a big, stout guy.


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## CLaPorte432 (Jan 3, 2012)

My Curly/Spanish Mustang was gelded at 3 months. And he is 15.1. His dam was only 13.2 and his sire was only 14.1. The vet was coming out to do 3 other geldings so since his stuff was there, he got cut too. LoL. Talk about being at the wrong place at the wrong time. ;-) He has great manners but he's part mustang so he's got a mischievous naughty "I'm gonna test you" streak in him too.

My Curly was gelded at a year and a half. He was my first horse, we purchased him while still intact and never had any issues with him. He was just as calm back then as he is now. Never showed any signs of acting studdish.

We purchased a paint at 2 years old that was just gelded the week before. He was still healing when we brought him home. He was also the calmest guy ever. As a 3 and 4 year old, we had 5-6 year olds riding him without any issues. He was absolutely wonderful.


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## WSArabians (Apr 14, 2008)

Studdy to me is talking, dropping, mounting. If being pushy or rude is studdy I've had some mares with complex issues. 

The earliest I've seen is a yearling, but I have a coming two year old right now noone would even guess is a colt still. All.depends on their personailities.


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## natisha (Jan 11, 2011)

danastark said:


> I don't think gelding has anything to do with actual height. I bought a curly gelding and the owner said he was gelded at 5 weeks? He was a non-curly curly so to be registered, he had to be gelded. He has grown to be about 15.3-16.0 hands and a big, stout guy.


Some say that gelding early will produce a taller horse as the growing will be up instead of for growing stallion things. No real way to know for sure as you can't compare the same horse but I'm often surprised at how short some stallions are.


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## MN Tigerstripes (Feb 20, 2009)

Testosterone causes the growth plates to close sooner, so in theory the same horse will be taller if gelded early due to the decreased testosterone allowing the plates to remain open longer.


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## CLaPorte432 (Jan 3, 2012)

Is this why a lot of smaller stallions tend to be able to produce a taller foal? (when at full height) Because their "genetics" indicated that they may be 15.3 instead of their actual height of 14.3 so they pass on the 15.3? 

(That's completely hypothetical example)


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## MN Tigerstripes (Feb 20, 2009)

Probably, I honestly don't know all of the specifics, we discussed it in several of my classes though and I found it really interesting.


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## xxdanioo (Jan 17, 2012)

I got my guy in October, as a yearling and I he hasn't acted studdy. He was gelded on the 3rd, and he acts the same. He's a big teddy bear. He'll be two the end of April. 

He's tries to test me sometimes- but that's part of being a baby and growing up. Everytime I remind him who's boss. Just last night he thought he would be a jerk about having his hind feet cleaned- there were people and horses around so he thought he'd try haha.


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## Super Nova (Apr 27, 2010)

In my opinion if you have a studdy/rude colt and then geld and still have rude behavior I think this is more of a handling/training issue.

I have 4 mares and 2 geldings one of which I had gelded ....the other came gelded.......the mares are all business while the "boys" tend to play, nip, rear and chase each other.

Super Nova


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## Ladybug2001 (Mar 15, 2011)

trainerunlimited said:


> One of the ladies I used to trail ride and drill team with had a colt who was a monster as a foal, she got him at three months and he would charge, kick, paw, bite, etc at horses and people alike. She gelded him at 5 months and he is now a sweetheart towards people, but will talk to and drop around any horses he is used to and will thump his belly a few times before putting his equipment away. He is such a weirdo, lol.
> 
> I've had a couple colts I bought as unhandled horses and kept from the time they were weanlings to over two years old, they never acted studdy with bad behavior and never looked at a mare, other than my first colt trying to nurse off one for a couple days when I brought him home off his mama, unsuccessfully, poor thing almost got his brains kicked out for trying!
> 
> ...


I'm not so sure it is being "study". The few times he can actually get near me without Lena interferring he rubs his head all over me. Also kind of aggressive in a way he likes to paw at me, almost climbing up into my lap. ****. I just think he needs a lesson.



Alfie92 said:


> A lot of people say if you leave them the horse will mature better as he will have the testosterone in his body. I dont know if this is true or not....
> Im defo going to have him gelded i have no intentions on keeping him as a stud


I've had a gentleman tell me to keep from gelding as much as you can as it helps with muscle development. Kind of like when you spay or neuter a dog it gets lazy afterward? ****.



I mostly started this thread because of curiousity. One colt I had a few years back didn't start acting studish until about 6 months of age. At first he was just being playful with the geldings, but then he actually started rearing up on me and others, also trying to mount the mares. (Never succeeded as they didn't much appreciate that.)


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## Joie (Dec 30, 2011)

Ladybug2001 said:


> I'm not so sure it is being "study". The few times he can actually get near me without Lena interferring he rubs his head all over me. Also kind of aggressive in a way he likes to paw at me, almost climbing up into my lap. ****. I just think he needs a lesson.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Actually, quite the contrary. If you want to INCREASE height, you geld before the horse reaches sexual maturity, since testosterone levels are one of the factors that promote growth plate closure. So, basically, if you geld before "puberty" the growth plates will take longer to close, thus a colt left entire can end up a couple of inches shorter than one not (all factors considered equal). 

Now, who's to say that there aren't other factors....environment, etc. Even full siblings who are treated exactly the same can end up disproving the theory, but there is some evidence to back it. 

Personally, I geld all non-stallion prospect colts early, while they are still on the dam, if possible.


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## MacabreMikolaj (May 9, 2009)

The best way to think about it is the longer you leave the testosterone, the "bigger" the horse gets because he alternates between growing UP and growing OUT. When you geld, you don't get as much "out" and in turn that contributes more to "up". It's actually a problem with larger breed dogs and why they advise waiting until at least a year to have them cut. They can suffer serious joint problems from shooting up too fast.

I think sometimes it can be difficult to determine what is actually studdy behavior and what is just mischievous colt behavior. I worked for a carnival and she bred her ponies and those colts were SO bratty. Constantly nipping and rearing, always mounting the mares at a couple months old. I made sure they kept their manners around humans, and they certainly calmed down as they got gelded, but as young colts, every last one of them was just a terror to those poor broodmares! I attributed at least half of it to being Shetland/Welsh ponies. :lol:


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## trailhorserider (Oct 13, 2009)

Super Nova said:


> In my opinion if you have a studdy/rude colt and then geld and still have rude behavior I think this is more of a handling/training issue.


I'm sure you're right. My baby is a brat.



Ladybug2001 said:


> I've had a gentleman tell me to keep from gelding as much as you can as it helps with muscle development. Kind of like when you spay or neuter a dog it gets lazy afterward? ****.


I'm not sure if I believe that. At least not with my gelding. He was gelded at 5 months. He is 19 months now. He is 15 hands, over 1000 lbs and looks like he is going to be a tank. He is already more muscular looking than his momma (she's a Fox Trotter but his sire is a QH). 

My theory is nutrition has a lot to do with growth. 

I have a friend with a Paint colt who is several months older than my gelding. Hers is still intact. He is very non-muscular and narrow compared to my gelding who is younger and only 1/2 stock horse. But I think I am feeding pretty close to optimal nutritionally. Maybe that's where all the attitude comes from as well. :???:


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