# Stallion Prospect?



## KenzieLynn (Aug 1, 2013)

I can't tell if I am being biased because he is my baby.

May 2014 brown/black colt, 14.2 and growing. Adorable personality, he is extremely smart and responsive. He mastered ground driving in under 30 min.

Imgur: The most awesome images on the Internet

Sr Muds Dakota Fly Quarter Horse

:runninghorse2:


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## Elana (Jan 28, 2011)

I see no reason to geld him immediately. 

However, " 'cute personality' and 'smart' and 'mastered long lines in 30 minutes' are not reasons to keep any horse a stallion. 

What are you going to do with him? He has some race breeding but it looks like most of his breeding is reining or barrels? PROVE HIM before you even THINK of letting him cover a mare. Proving him to a high enough level to say, "Yup. Stud material" takes time and MONEY. Lots of money. If you can do all that, then read the rest of this.

His conformation is not perfect. I think his shoulder is a bit steep but his point of shoulder is well placed, thanks to the Thoroughbred ancestors. He is quite straight through the hock. That straightness will limit him, no matter what the discipline is that you pursue in proving his ability. 

His hind pasterns are quite long and sloping and his front feet look like the heels are under run. It may be the farrier but it may also be he has thin walled feet that do not stand up well. If that last bit is the case, that would take him right out of any breeding program. 

His hindquarters look racy. In fact, the hind quarter muscling and "look" remind me quite a lot of Special Effort who is way back in his pedigree. I just wish they were set over a less straight hind leg. 

In some of the photos his head looks a bit coarse and in others it looks OK but in none of the photos does it look "wow." 

While he may have learned to _handle_ long lines in 30 minutes, a true long line horse will take months or years to move in a collected manner and can be highly specialized training. 

I like this horse but *at this stage*, with absolutely nothing proven, I would not say stud him OR geld him.


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## Avna (Jul 11, 2015)

I second everything Elana said. His plain head is not going to sell him to mare owners. And the posty rear really jumped out at me, that's not what you want in a performance horse.


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## DancingArabian (Jul 15, 2011)

I say geld. I think stallions and broodmares should be exceptional.


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

links to images not working for me.


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## SorrelHorse (Apr 9, 2009)

Agree with the first post.

If you are not able to really buckle down, take the years and money to this horse, prove him in a discipline - Geld him.

His only immediate ancestor who is really worth his salts is Mud Slide there, who won a fair bit in the AQHA. 

If I was looking to breed for any prospect (Reined cowhorse, barrels, roping, racing, whathaveyou) I would pass him by with just a single glance at his pedigree. If he hasn't done anything in his life, quite frankly (And this is not to hurt your feelings, it is honesty) he would be a worthless addition to my mares with so many other great studs out there. 

Now that's not to say he's a bad horse, I'm sure he's a good boy and a lovely little guy to work with - But so are millions of others, mares, geldings, and studs. 

Prove him or geld him, in summary.


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## Speed Racer (Oct 21, 2009)

KenzieLynn said:


> I can't tell if I am being biased because he is my baby.


I'd say this is an accurate assessment. 


Nothing about him screams 'stallion quality' to me, and plenty of other youngsters are smart and willing to learn.


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## KigerQueen (Jun 16, 2013)

i think he is a nice looking horse but the back legs would make me geld. as a mare owner i would not breed to a horse with hocks that are straight.


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## KenzieLynn (Aug 1, 2013)

I should have prefaced all of this by saying the IF and ONLY IF he proves himself in performance will he ever cover a mare. I wanted current opinions on conformation, because if I should just geld him now and not waste the extra effort in a stallion, I will.


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## Fahntasia (Dec 19, 2011)

Please do not take this badly but as a mare owner I would pass him over as a stallion prospect. His hind legs are posty, and his head is on the coarse side, I don't like his shoulder at all. He has nothing that tells me I want to mix his genes with my mares. what I look for in a stallion prospect are the following: 
conformation, temperament, what hes done/achieved, Pedigree, what his offspring look like and have achieved. 

If a stallion does not meet all of the above criteria its a definite pass-over.


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## Golden Horse (Feb 20, 2010)

I would geld him, he looks like he will a fantastic gelding, and will have a happy useful life as such, nothing there to scream quality, or wait, for all the reasons addressed above, but for me especially his back legs.


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## Smilie (Oct 4, 2010)

He has neither the conformation nor the breeding, to be kept a stud
There should be proven blood, top and bottom, in the direct dam and sire, or no further back then the second generation, at most
The horse then should prove himself, it whatever discipline he is bred for, before ever considering him to be worthy of passing on his genetics.
Today, with transported semen, anyone with a good mare can have asses to great stallions, standing a great distance from them.
He is a nice horse, but not stallion material
It takes a good stud to make a great gelding!


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## Cherie (Dec 16, 2010)

I would answer your question with a question. Why do you even want or need a stallion? 

If you are looking for a show prospect, then what event or events do you want a horse to excel in. If you are looking for an performance horse, then you need a horse that comes from exceptionally successful horses that have been shown in that event. 

If you want a simple saddle horse or recreational saddle horse, you need to have enough unrelated mares to justify having your own stallion to breed them to. If this is the case, does he have better conformation than all of those mares? Do you have a proven market for the foals produced?

You need a good reason to own this horse as a stallion. He must have outstanding breeding, conformation and ability if you want anyone else to breed to him. It is doubtful that this horse will attract any outside mares that are going to raise a good foal. Otherwise, you just have a horse. Nothing special. Just a horse with testicles. Most stallions would be worth more and would be more marketable as geldings. This is why we geld everything we raise. If anyone wants a stallion prospect out of any mare we have, they need to buy them as babies. Dozens of times we have had people ask us why did we geld some certain horse? It is simple. We sell geldings and can sell every one we raise. It takes a good stallion to make a good gelding.

So, what kind of horses are you raising? What kind of market do you have for selling them? How would this horse fit into that plan?


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