So, what about stallions? If we are working with a horse’s instincts andplaying the dominance games that horses play with each other, how do you go aboutsuccessfully handling a stallion?

For all horses, the instinct to survive is strong. They will do what ever it takes to staysafe and protect themselves. Sometimes we humans forget that the horse is a wild animal atheart, one who values safety above all things and who will protect themselves at all costs.This instinct is one that often gets horses into trouble in the human environment, and onethat leaves us shaking our heads in disbelief at the things we see horses do to themselves... all in order to survive. As predators who are seldom threatened with loss of life andliberty, it does not make sense to us to risk injury or disability or even death, in orderto escape and be free. We are very fortunate on the whole to walk this world with such aneasy arrogance that it is our world.

Yet, to the horse, it is precisely this instinct, this willingness and desperation to stayfree, that has kept them alive on this planet for so long. Does your horse kick, buck, bite?He may not generally. However, do you think he would be prepared to if he felt the need? Youbet he would.

By now we understand that we are learning the language of the horse - through ground skillsand games - in order to communicate with our horses and to become good leaders for them.‘Dominance’ is not the ideal terminology to use to describe our goal in achieving Alphastatus, because humans - being so literal - take this that we have to dominate the horse,rather than to simply be more dominant than the horse. A totally different mind set. This isthe language of the horse and the one who speaks it the most fluently and convincingly andis prepared to back it up, becomes the Alpha. This is serious business for the horse as itis his livelihood at stake.

Any horse, if he feels his life and freedom are threatened will back up his intention withwhatever measure he deems necessary. In the extreme, they will fight to the death. In theinstance of a herd of horses, this is often the case with stallions, in determining who willbe the lead stallion. In the herd dynamic, there is the group of mares and foals. Then thereis the bachelor group, who are constantly testing each other to see who will be next incharge. Then, there is the one and only stallion. He is natural, adrenalin fuelled,testosterone on legs, whose only jobs are to procreate and protect the herd. He will do thiswith every ounce of strength, agility, flight and fight in his core, until one day a youngcolt who is bigger, faster and stronger will challenge and defeat him.

A horse’s gestation period is eleven months and a mare will rarely have morethan one foal at a time. In order for the herd to survive, the stallion will keep the maresimpregnated as much as possible. If he encounters a mare in season, it is his job to fulfilhis duty! Look out anyone who stands in his way.

Stallions take their responsibilities very seriously. They will not just hand over the roleof Alpha horse to anyone. It is their job to look for holes and weakness in theirchallengers and their reflexes are as fast as a snake. Often when they play the dominancegames, they play them for keeps and they know the games better than anyone. Some horseowners will say that their stallion is quiet and wouldn’t put a foot wrong. If you have sucha stallion, good for you. Just remember, the situation may not have come up yet where hefelt the need to defend or protect himself; that doesn’t mean that it won’t.

For these reasons we recommend that if you are contemplating having a stallion, you get yoursavvy levels up quickly to at least Level 3. You do not want to be learning new horsemanshipskills while playing with the master! That would be like learning to swim in a sharkinfested pool! Make sure you have a stallion for the right reasons. There are already a lotof very good horses out there to choose from without adding more. It might pay to rememberthat already there are more than 60,000 horses per year destroyed in Australia.

If you already have a stallion and you want to learn more, there are a couple of optionsopen to you. Either follow the QS coaching programme and get your horsemanship skills upquickly; come along and audit at some clinics to get your knowledge; or even better, borrowor bring another horse to a camp or clinic to learn with; or bring him along to have lessonswith a qualified handler on a private basis. Only our instructors who have certification inDifficult Horses are approved to help you with your stallion. We do not have stallions atclinics for safety reasons. Yours might very well be a quiet stallion, however the savvything to do is to set yourself up for success.

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