1967-Voice Of The Tennessee Walking Horse 1967 June Voice RS | Page 22

CARE AND MANAGEMENT OF THE STALLION
This breeding season, based on U. S. averages over
many years, only half (50%) of the mares bred in the
U. S. will conceive. Breeders of cattle, sheep and swine
would go broke on this basis. Why, then, does this de­
plorable situation exist in horses? In any one mating,
perhaps half the fault can be attributed to the stallion—
the rest is due to the mare. But since a stallion is respon­
sible for breeding several mares in a given season, it is
most important that stud deficiencies, whatever they are,
be rectified. To this end, it is recommended that the care
and management of the stallion be in keeping with the
practices that follow. Additionally, each stallion should
be studied as an individual, and his care, feeding, exer­
cise, and handling should be varied accordingly.
FEEDING THE STALLION
“Reduce the ration and increase the exercise when
the stallion is not a sure breeder” has been the advice
given to many worried stallion owners. In all too many
instances, little thought is given to the feeding and care
of the stallion, other than during the breeding season. The
program throughout the entire year should be such as
to keep the stallion in a vigorous, thrifty condition at all
times. Immediately before the breeding season, the feed
might very well be increased in quantity so that the stal­
lion will gain in weight. The quantity of grain fed will vary
with the individual temperament and feeding ability of
the stallion, the work and exercise provided, services
allowed, available, pastures, and quality and roughage.
Usually this will be between 34 an^ 1% pounds daily of
the grain mixture per 100 pounds weight, together with
a quantity of hay within the same range.
During the breeding season, the stallion’s rations should
contain more proteins and additional minerals and vita­
mins than are given in rations fed work horses or stallions
not in service. In addition to the grain and roughage,
there should be free access to a mineral supplement and
salt.
EXERCISE FOR THE STALLION
Regular exercise daily for the stallion is important. It
is one of the best means of keeping the horse in a thrifty
natural condition and virile.
Stallions of the light-horse breeds are most generally
exercised under the saddle or hitched to a cart. Thus.
Standardbred stallions are usually jogged three to five
miles daily while drawing a cart. Thoroughbred stallions
and saddle stock stallions of all other breeds are best
exercised under the saddle for from thirty minutes to one
hour daily, especially during the breeding season.
Exercise should not be hurried or hard; the walk and
the trot are the best gaits to use for this purpose. After
the stallion is exercised, he should be rubbed down and
cooled off before he is put up, especially if he is hot.
Better yet, the ride should be so regulated at the end
that the horse will be brought in cool, in which case he
can be brushed off and turned into his corral.
Frequently, in light horses, bad feet exclude exercise
on roads, and faulty tendons exclude exercise under the
saddle. Under such conditions, one may have to depend
upon: (1) exercise taken voluntarily by the stallion in a
large paddock, (2) longeing or exercising on a thirty- to
forty-foot rope, or (3) leading.
Longeing should be limited to a walk and a trot; and,
if possible, "the stallion should be worked on both hands;
that is, made to circle both to the right and to the left.
It is also best that this type of exercise be administred
within an enclosure. Two precautions in longeing are: (1)
do not longe a horse when the footing is slippery, and (2)
do not pull the animal in such a manner as to make him
pivot too sharply with the hazard of breaking a leg.
Leading is a satisfactory form of exercise for some
stallions if it is not practical to ride them. In leading, a
bridle should always be used—never a halter—and one
should keep away from other horses and be careful that
the horse being led is not a kicker.
The objection to relying upon paddock exercises alone
is that the e