Passage Magazine October 2014 | Page 7

1) Congress_inglese_2) Congress_inglese 26/01/11 09.13 Pagina 33 Familiarize the stallion with the breeding shed environment Before introducing the stallion to the tease mare first bring him into the breeding shed and allow him to familiarize himself with the shed and become comfortable with the surroundings. Allow him to sniff the tease rail and the ground, walk him around the shed a few times. Allow him to approach the phantom and smell it. Then remind him of the ground work you have done and make sure he still responds to your commands in this environment. should avoid having spectators present. You should limit distractions for the stallion so they can focus on the task at hand. For young stallions many times the owner or trainer has been the one to handle the colt most of his life and likely has reprimanded him for “stallionlike” behavior in inappropriate situations. It is a bad idea to have the trainer or owner present in the breeding shed during this training period as the stallion’s are often distracted by the owner’s presence and fearful of reprimand for the kind of behavior you are trying to encourage. Once the stallion has obtained an erection and sustains it then the washing process can begin. Introduce the tease mare. Once the stallion is comfortable in the shed and relaxed you can introduce the tease mare in a safe way. We will first just open the door and have the mare handler expose the mare’s head in the shed so the stallion sees her. By doing this gradually you can gauge how the stallion is going to react. Some pay little attention while others immediately start to exhibit aggressive stallion behavior and may quickly drop out and get an erection. If he obtains an erection quickly you can remove the mare and try to wash the stallion’s penis. If he is less interested and confused then bring the mare into the shed, again pay attention to how he reacts and try to anticipate his sudden movements. At this point place the mare in a position where the stallion can tease her at close contact. We prefer a tease rail that is padded to protect the stallion’s legs should he strike or suddenly attempt to mount over the rail. Bring the stallion first to the mare’s head, then allow him to move down the neck to the shoulder and then the flank. This is how they will approach a mare instinctively in a natural free mating situation. Be careful about letting the stallion tease a mare in a stock directly from behind as they are more likely to try and mount the mare in the stock which is very dangerous. Young stallions may require a fair amount of teasing to obtain an erection and they should be encouraged to do so. It is important particularly for young stallions that there are few distractions in the breeding shed. People should speak as little as possible and when they do it should be softly and you Washing the stallion’s penis Most young stallions will be uncomfortable with someone trying to wash them for the first time. Hopefully, they have had th