Horse Problem - Stallions- Should I buy/own a stallion?

Thanks so much for your help! Also, are there any medical dangers of getting a horse gelded so late in life?

I agree with him there, based on all my years of experience. If you've never handled or trained a stallion before, you should probably opt to own a mare or gelding instead to keep you safest in your horse endeavors. I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with stallions, there isn't! They just take far more expert handling skills usually, and I find that's often a steeper (and potentially more dangerous) learning curve for so many people. But natural horsemanship methods work quite well on them. John Lyons' famous horse Zip was a stallion to the end! But John is an expert trainer! And that's my point. If you don't know what energetic problem traits come with owning a stallion, and aren't experienced at handling that, you'd probably be better off owning a mare or a gelding.

Now... a horse who has been a stud for 18 years -- and I don't care what the owner says (so many sellers lie, I'm sad to say) -- this is a potentially dangerous proposition for you to enter into if you don't have experience in this category. And no, he would not lose his stallion-like traits if gelded even now. The stallion behavior is too long ingrained (learned) by then. There are no serious medical issues that I know of for gelding late though the recovery can be a bit longer in the older horses. It just doesn't stop the stallion behavior usually because what's learned stays learned there. He will still try to mount mares in season, many even completing the mating act, but will just be "shooting blanks." And he might be hard to handle for you if he's in the presence of a "flirting mare." And if you're not proficient in how to handle a stallion when on mating mode (the strongest drive in horses), you're best probably not to go there and instead, settle on getting a mare or gelding. So...

There are so many wonderful geldings out there to choose from (and mares!). I would advise walking away and looking for one of these wonderful geldings or mares instead that are all around. To help in your search, visit this page on my website with lots of helpful links: http://www.naturalhorsetraining.com/HorseSaleSites.html

Some sites listed there you can plug your zip code into their search engine, establish a mileage search parameter and pick specific horse traits/ages/parameters & click search, and horses who fit the bill who are close to you geographically are pulled up automatically for you.

Horse rescues also sometimes get fine horses in, some just neglected. So that's an option sometimes to find a good horse. Here are lists of horse rescues : http://www.naturalhorsetraining.com/HorseRescues.html

Hope this helps and good luck to you there!

 

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