# Children & Stallions



## amy (Nov 26, 2008)

I found my old horsecamp video last night. As I watched it, I was horrified. It was made back when I was 10 y/o, and the ages for the camp were probably about 5-15 y/o. The video was just a slideshow of pictures from that week. 

I saw pictures of us as little kids in the washrack giving two stallions a bath 0_o
How is that safe??? One was a Fresian Stud and the other was probably QH. I saw pictures of small children leaning almost all the way under the horse to clean legs. I saw kids up by his face, soaping his muzzle.

Am I overreacting to this? Because I'm pretty sure that if I ran a horse camp that my campers would not be NEAR my studs, no matter HOW calm they were.


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## DixiesPaintedNova (Nov 18, 2008)

One of the first horses i ever groomed was an arab stud. His name was Tajh and he was a big sweetie. There are alot of places that trust their studs enough to let children bathe/groom them. I often see children riding studs in the in hand class at shows and playdays.


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## close2prfct (Mar 9, 2009)

If you were around 10 and the video showed all ages of kids around these two stallions I am gonna venture to say they were calm enough to do so. Not all stallions are evil hormone drivin killing machines, yes there are some that are but not all. The best horse we ever owned was a paint stud who had done everything in his life from roping,reining, cutting, sire, show you name it he done it and my kids at the time were 13 & 9 they climbed all over him and rode him everywhere. Now we have Justice who as a 2 yr old is almost as calm even around mares, however given his age I am more cautious with him and the kids.


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## StormyBlues (Dec 31, 2008)

not all studs arn't bad! My mom rode one, and I don't see anything wrong with it if the studs were calm


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## Joshie (Aug 26, 2008)

Sometimes people do stupid things. It's dangerous to be around a stud. Even the calmest stud can forget their training when they see a pretty girl. 

I'd say you should learn from this experience and not repeat this behavior yourself.


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## amy (Nov 26, 2008)

^^ Thank you Joshie.
I totally agree that just because your stud is "calm", you never know when a mare in heat will catch his attention. They're not very predictable.


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## twogeldings (Aug 11, 2008)

Not every stud is a child stomping-woman eating monster! XD

I personally would not allow my little brothers (or, if I had some) children around a stallion no matter how calm. The only horse I let them crawl all over is Sam, and he's older than dirt, and has been strictly tested. 

I have met both the 'cute-but-possibly-dangerous' stud and the 'you'd-think-it's-a-gelding' stud. No mean, or evil tempered ones yet. The cute but dangerous was an overall calm stallion. You could pet him and what-not, but when it came to the ladies his mind went out the window. He wouldn't kill you, but he certainly wasn't trust worthy. 

The you'd-think-he's-a-gelding is actually the sire of my two MFT. He does pay attention to the ladies and LOVES to show off when theirs a trailer in site, but with proper handling he is not at all dangerous. You could roll all over him and he would just sit there. If he had been more trained as a younger horse I have no doubt a child could play with him without risk of serious injury due to stallion aggression.


Some studs know there job. They know when it's time to breed and when it's not. For example, the studs the kids were washing obviously knew their duty and were trained. 

A GOOD stallion is one that can be ridden or led around mares without the risk of an accidental breeding. The number one thing I expect when I meet a stallion is that his mind is not constantly in the breeding shed. I want to see a calm, focused stud whom is safe to handle and to be around. Not one thats near constantly focused on spreading his seed.


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## appylover31803 (Sep 18, 2007)

I agree that there are good studs out there, but to have kids almost underneath the horse to clean its legs is dangerous no matter if its a mare, gelding or stallion.
All it takes is a loud noise or a fly and there'll be a disaster.


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## KatiesMom38 (May 12, 2009)

At the facility my daughter takes lessons at only the gelded males and the mare horses/ponies are ridden. They have 1 stud stallion and he is kept far away in a separate fenced field from the others.


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## Padrona (Apr 13, 2009)

I don't think its 100% safe for any child to be under ANY horse, regardless of gender. Kids can be small enough to completely slip out of vision of the horse and they just forget they are there.

My stallion is wonderful gentlemen - definitely not a fire breathing monster :shock:. I can't imagine him hurting anyone, but horses are horses and anything can happen at any time with an animal that large. Again, regardless of gender or breed or anything else. If its an equus caballus, it has the potential to hurt a human, that's just the way it is. 

I owned a stallion when I was in 6th grade - he and I grew up together and I had ZERO troubles. There are great stallions out there, and quite frankly, that's the ones who should be reproducing, not the crazy wacked out lunatics that are a danger to themselves and everyone else.


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## ponygalmaddy (May 19, 2009)

im sorry i have to disagree, i have handled stallions since i was 9. i ride and look after them on a day to day basis in spain, and in englands the stallion at the yard has better manners than any of the geldings!!! just because they are stallions in no means makes them dangerous!!


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## ponygalmaddy (May 19, 2009)

amy said:


> ^^ Thank you Joshie.
> I totally agree that just because your stud is "calm", you never know when a mare in heat will catch his attention. They're not very predictable.


 it is the same with geldings, they may not be interested in it burt will go and haVve a sniff! and in any case you shouldnt be dangling mares around in front of stallions anyways!


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## ilovemyPhillip (Apr 4, 2009)

i have to agree with the last three posts. And i have known some geldings to be dangerous when around mares, so you know i dont see a problem. I DO see something wrong with children UNDER a horse, but not JUST because its a stallie.


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## kellyp (Jan 4, 2009)

when it comes to studs-- no matter what there should be supervision around (i know you said nothing about yourself being unsupervised, but i just had to say it )

but i can remember being when i first started riding and my instructor let me & my cousin ride her foundation AQHA stud after she was done at a clinic

he was an exceptional horse-- even around mares, which was the only reason why we were allowed to even go near him

but now being older i realize the dangers that can happen-- even at the local rinky dink horse shows they have around here, no one under 18 is allowed to handle one, let alone ride


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## Cougar (Jun 11, 2009)

Yes, you never know what a stud is going to do when a mare comes along in heat. But mares are also intact. What happens if little Sarah is riding Bonnie in a local show and Mr. Fancypants is being groomed close to the areana? Bonnie, a usually calm submissive mare could loose her hat.

You can be as careful as you like but things do happen. I don't condem or condone children around studs.


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## mom2pride (May 5, 2009)

The sire of one of the horses I had was so calm that his owner could handle him with a twine around his neck...even with an in heat mare in front of him, he wouldn't move an inch unless he was 'invited' to do so; the baby I bought out of him though, as a 2 year old...OMG, turned into a 'beast'...I couldn't wait to geld him! Lol!


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## MacabreMikolaj (May 9, 2009)

I think it's really a mixed bag of opinions. Our Arab stud was so gentle and well behaved, my grandpa would put me in his box stall when I was knee high to a grasshopper. Most people would gasp at this, but that stud was a better babysitter then a nurse mare, I swear. He'd keep his muzzle rested lightly on my head at all times, so if I moved he knew where. I was only tall enough to reach his belly and legs, and he just doted on me. You could ride him through a pasture of mares and he wouldn't even blink. He also passed this amazing temperment on to every single foal he sired. A lot of people got to having a much different attitude about Arabs after working with a few of his offspring, they were so laidback, gentle and honest.

Do I agree with what my grandpa did? I don't really know. I think studs have a bad rap, and I also think stallions CAN be trustworthy. I think it's good to always remember it's a stud, because they can have their moments, but if you raise a stud from birth and they've proven themselves as trustworthy and docile as your mares/geldings in the 10-20 years you've owned them, I think it can be silly to still treat them like glass (hence the case of our stud).

So I don't know if I rightly have an opinion on whether it's right or wrong. I mean, if you have two studs standing at a washrack at a summer camp, with what I would assume are obviously quite a few mares milling around, I don't know if a stud can prove himself much more then that. Some just honestly learn the difference between work and play and don't test the boundaries, same as many circumstances for mares/geldings, I think.


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## sandsarita (Jan 20, 2008)

Kids shouldn't be under horses, but I'm not going to say that kids should be around studs because they are studs. There are mares, geldings, spayed mares, and studs all alike that kids shouldn't have anything to do with. My parents operated a breeding farm for years, and the studs were supossed to be as well behaved as the mares and geldings, and if a breeding prospect didn't calm down and work like a "non-stud" they were cut. 

A friend still tells the story of coming to our house to look at one of our studs to breed a mare to (he didn't know us yet), and for some reason my brother (< 10 - he's now about 30) was home by himself. He proceeded to show the stud to the potential breeder by climbing up on the side of the stall wall holding the halter out to the stud. The stud came up and put his head in the halter (my brother was too small to halter him from the ground), my brother jumped down and took him out in the barn aisle and set him up like a halter stallion and showed him off. We ended up getting the breeding (and multiple more from this guy) based off the the studs personality and ability. He was also the one that the beginner riders rode, because he was the most trustworthy one we had. He taught my generation in my family to ride, and taught our kids how to ride until he had to be put down after having a stroke.

Our other studs were all nice, but not quite as nice as this one. But hey, they all have different personalities. I know quite a few people that show the horse all year long (including having them in the breeding barn and taking them to a show the next day). But they have it where a certain person hanldes the horse only when it's breeding, and somebody else handles it only when it's being shown, and never do the two cross.

You have to use each horse, no matter the gender, on an individual basis. But any horse can act up, it's just a risk you take (you just try to minimize them)


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## ILoveGeorgieMyPony (Apr 19, 2009)

You have to remember not all stallions are completely phsycho, they are like any other horse. EVERY horse is unpredictible, so does that make them not safe?? It really judt depends on the horse.


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## shizukanori (Aug 17, 2008)

Um to be under a horse- no way. But I had a horse when he was a gelding but saw his stallion vid. He was an all-rounder and was a stud till he was around 20. He wouldn't even so much as twitch around mares, even if they were in heat. Plus he was very calm and nice- well not to a cow who got away from him lol


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## kitten_Val (Apr 25, 2007)

Frankly, I wouldn't let kids even to crawl under or next to back feet of my young mares much less the stud (even the calmest one ever). You just never know what can happen - any horse can spook at something unexpected and hit the kid, stud can notice his girlfriend is taken and decide it's time to call it back. It's just a Murphy Law - bad things sometime wait to happen...


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## TroubledTB (Jun 26, 2009)

In the US there are serious liability risks to having a stud and children are legally not allowed to ride them, I don't know if that includes handling but you are 100% liable if something happens, so for that reason I would be catious about letting anyone handle a stud. For me, I have mixed feelings. I had one stallion I groomed occasionally for six months without knowing it was a stallion, never bothered to check, thought the owner would tell me, oh by the way he's a stallion, I was surprised to realize one day he had balls. I couldn't believe it, but I still call him the best stud I ever handled. But IMO stallions should only be stallions if they are exceptional in every way including temperment, otherwise, why breed something less than superior? Your only promoting bad genetics and stud fee's aren't that much for a really nice stallion (unless it's the racing industry, then it's not usually a kid friendly place in the first place, so I don't care, and in the off chance you geld Mine That Bird, it kinda sucks). So stallions are a mixed bag, but I wouldn't recommend letting a kid around one, but maybe I'm just cautious.


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## NordicJuniper (Jun 9, 2009)

I think that any horse can be dangerous. Studs aren't the only ones. If I saw children climbing under a mare I would get mad and tell them to knock it off, I would do the same with a gelding.

Personally, I can crawl under my gelding, slid off his butt, anything and everything. He is 20 and most people would say oh well he is a gelding and older, it is ok for kids to do that since he is trained. Well guess what, when he is around a mare [they don't even have to be in heat] he will nicker and then strike out with his hoof. He will stop if I scold him before the act fully happens. But one day in the field I was paying attention and him and our mare were touching noses and he did the stomp/strike thing and caught my calf, left a huge rug burn and bruise.

I think that no matter what gener the horse is you can't classify it. My gelding acts like a stud at times, a mare at times and a perfectly trained gelding at times. It just depends. Caution should be used around all horses no matter how calm they are portrayed to be.


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## LoveTheSaddlebreds (Jul 9, 2009)

As long as a horse is trained well, he should be fine around children. Any horse can be dangerous if not trained properly.


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## RubaiyateBandit (Jan 25, 2009)

I had a stud pony when I was a kid that was always a perfect gentlemen; even if a few mares were hanging around, the most he'd do is get to bellering at them, and sometimes he'd pick up his feet and puff his chest. My gelding, on the other hand, just *has* to go over and have a look at every unfamiliar mare that comes along, and if he's riding with a mare in heat, he can be a pain to keep under control; definitely not a horse I'd hand to a kid.


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## elrohwen (Jan 19, 2009)

When I was 14 I rode for a few lessons at a dressage facility in Portugal with all Lusitano studs. They were certainly safe around someone my age (someone who knew how to handle horses safely; I certainly wasn't crawling through his legs), though I think a 5 year old would've been pushing it (but I don't consider 5 year olds safe around most horses without supervision). There was probably less risk without mares around on a regular basis, but it is possible to have very sane studs (who can even work in and around other studs with no aggression issues).


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## trvlingheart (Aug 4, 2009)

You know I think this might also be a case of the time too.... 

When I was a kid I volunteered at the stables I took lessons at, this stables was huge! There were 25+ barn owned horses (they were a trail riding facility/rental horse facility, they gave lessons, pony rides,trail rides, held rodeos, and had two additional barns for borders) it was a military run stables on Camp Lejune in NC (today the stables is still there but there are no more rental horses it is all privately owned borders, what I'm about to talk about is the middle picture on the last row of pictures on the link above. It definantly looks different than it did when I hung out there, now half the poles are gone and it no longer has a dirt floor.). I was one of many 'barn rats' that spent all of my free time at the stables. They had most of their horses hooked to a line during busy parts of the day, quick release clasps, short leads on a row under a perminant canopy/open barn (for a lack of better words). The lines were hooked to parallel poles driven into the ground. Anyways I, along with many other kids ranging in ages, were aloud to be all around these horses, under them, on top of them, behind them, between the bars what not. We were sort of supervised by employees, when ever they walked by while doing their various jobs. NOW this would never ever happen in todays stable, because of the liability issues and the lack of trust, that children know what to do if a horse has a problem. 

SO I'm thinking that while you look at these pictures you have to remember (unless you are alot younger than me, and I'm really not that old at all) that it was a different time. I'd take it with a grain of salt and just be smart about what you (general you) decide to let kids do around the horses you own, whether its a stud, gelding, or mare. Every horse is different and lets just hope that you know your horse and you know who (and their ability)you choose to be around it. That's my two cents regarding the OP.


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## Thelma (Jun 22, 2009)

not all stallys are bad it are riding horses too


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## back in the crosby again (Feb 4, 2009)

I agree there are nice studs out there and if you have one and you want to have your kids or relatives mess with them that is fine. If you are running a business and there are kids around I think you should separate the studs from the children. It is just not worth the liability, because if anything did happen, if it was the studs fault or not you would most likely be found liable because it is a stud. 

When I was a kid the place I rode had 3 very aggressive studs. I was cleaning their stalls with a lunge whip when I was 10. Also, she had us bring a stud out of a field with just a halter made from a lead rope. This was totally unsafe and I know that now. Looking back it is amazing that I did not get hurt. 

Now that I am planning my own small boarding facility. I am going to have a rule, no studs. I am not interested in breeding and I don't want to take on the extra liability.


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## Domino13011 (Aug 10, 2009)

I agree. Some stallions arent bad


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## dressagebelle (May 13, 2009)

Personally I have met stallions that are crazy, and stallions that are good. Two good ones stick out in my mind. One is a Thoroughbred stallion named River, who is boarded at a barn I used to ride at. He's kept in a normal stall with another stall right next to it, stalls on the incline above him, and down below him, he gets taken out and ridden bareback all over the ranch, and has never had any problems. He gets a little hyper, but he's a tb that was a high end jumper, so its to be expected. Everytime I went by his stall, I'd stop to say hello. My baby could walk right up to him, and they'd sniff noses, and be all happy to see each other. The other was a Dutch Warmblood called Inferno that I was looking at to breed my mare to. Big 17+ hand stallion, and the only one of the 6 they had there that I looked at that day that they took out without a chain. He walked and trotted like a perfect gentleman, let me look at his legs, his confo ect., and never had an issue. He did shows, and was always the perfect gentleman around the mares. At the barn they had a system learned from day one. When going to a show, or to be ridden, a leather halter was used, and they left the stall and turned in one direction. When it was breeding time, a nylon halter with a bell on it was used, and they turned in the other direction when leaving the stall. I think that just like a mare or gelding, any horse has the potential to be dangerous, but it all comes down to training, and natural temperment. The stallions I've met that are mean are handled roughly because the owners thought that that was the only way to handle a stallion, so consequently, just like a mare or a gelding handled roughly, after a few years, he started getting aggressive back because he was tired of getting whipped ect. I have a healthy respect for all horses, but I have no problems handling a stallion just like I would any other horse. I expect them to behave well, and I correct them just like I would a mare or gelding when they do something wrong.


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