Hello Stacy, Just wondering if you ever plan on letting Jac breed mares? My guess is you want Roxy’s legacy to carry on. Thank you, Mallory B. From Wisconsin, but originally from Ohio 😉
Jac’s older brother, one of Roxy’s foals. His name is Gwhiz I’m Smart…and he is still a stallion.
Jac and I talk about this frequently. I keep telling him he needs to earn the right to breed mares. He thinks he should just be able to breed now.
Hopefully we can come to an agreement where Jac gets really famous and then can happily breed mares.
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What qualifications do you think a stallion should have in order to stay a stallion and be allowed to breed mares?
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A stud should have all of this, but another question to ask, is what does the mare need to have?
The mare is at least as important, some would argue MORE important because the foal learns her habits.
Definetly. And you certaintly want to have a good reason to breed as well. Not just, I don’t want to sell my horse, or, I need a taller horse. Those reasons are easily fixed, not necessarily by breeding.
What age would you recommend gelding? I have a yearling dun colt and I don’t want him getting to his little QH filly friend. They have been together since they were 5 months old. But I can see his playful side getting on the more studly side.
health, conformation and above all temperament and personality …..bloodlines and breeding don’t make a good stallion or mare for that matter .. a good horse is a good horse no matter his breeding
I had the choice to keep my QH yearling a colt when I bought him but due to my lack of knowledge about handling colts/stallions and the fact that I wasn’t set up to ‘contain’ a stallion I decided to geld. A few people have been disappointed as they would have loved to have a foal by him in the future but it’s a huge responsibility and not something I was prepared to do. Although he wasn’t really behaving ‘colty’ when I got him, he was starting to nip and since gelding has not nipped once. He’s a real sweet horse and I have no doubt he would have made a lovely stallion but it wasn’t what I bought him for.
My Mare Ruby has a month old colt and am so glad to read this. I felt instinctually that Emeryl will determine weather he will be gelded or stay a stud. This is my first time having a colt so he and I will be learning together. My mare has an excellent personality and is well trained, an loving ;o). She seems to be helping me in this process. I have been following Jac,I think he is going to be a stud. He is a beautiful animal as is his brother. As far as breeding, I also feel there are so many horses that have no one taken great care of them or are miss treated that we (Non-breeders/unregistered) should not breed horses! I live in Florida. Thank you Stacy for this Blog, I hope one day to meet you ;o)
This discussion leads me to another question I’ve been curious about.. why do so many QH trace back to the same few sires? You will frequenlty see the same Sire’s name popping up on both Sire and Dam side. Was the breeding so selective back in the day, that no outcrosses were tried? Chris Cox said, “if they’re good they’re line bred, if they’re no good they’re inbred”. I think I’ld be a little leery of linebred/ inbred breeding. I’m from Standardbred world. Stbs in past were sturdier built, most raced until mandatory retirement age of 14. Used to race 2 – 3 heats in a day. Nowadays with selective breeding through the past 30 yrs they are faster, but much more fragile.
I think he should be able to breed. 🙂 Maybe just one so the bloodlines of Roxy can carry on. I think it’d be cool. 🙂
I think that horses who are bred should themselves have the confirmation that leads to long-term soundness and also the intelligence to do many types of ‘jobs’ well.
To me, this is a core dilemma in the horse world. How to get the gorgeous confirmation that many registered (purebred) horses have, which is critical to long-term soundness without losing the basic, well-grounded intelligence that many horses who aren’t pure-bred have.
We have older mostly-retired horses in our pasture. They’ve already had productive lives with someone else either as show horses or hard-working ranch horses. Some are registered and some aren’t. Consistently, the registered ones have strong confirmation and are sound. Consistently, the unregistered ones just think on a whole different level, but don’t have gaits that are as nice and have some soundness issues due to confirmation faults.
I should add that I live in South Dakota, where working horses need to be thinking horses for their rider’s survival, typically in a ranching environment. Many times a persons ‘best’ horse that they wouldn’t trade for anything or someone would happily pay a large some for is unregistered.
In Sweden the stallions have to be approved to breed mares, at least the swedish warmbloods, and there is a very long and pretty tough process for a stallion to be “approved”, do you have something like that for your stallions? That is actually good, because you know the stallions is okay, and doesn’t inherit any diseases or “defects”. On the other hand, the long, tough and expensive process makes many people think it isn’t worth it, or that they can’t afford it so I think there is many nice horses who could have been a nice stallion to use for breeding, but never gets the chance… 🙂
Olivia-There is not an approval system on quarter horses, paints, etc over here.
He should be a fut/mat winner, xrayed clear, sire and dam that also are xrayed clear. And, registered and examined by the governing body if your breed has one. He should be trained and campaigned.
I think conformation/size/and a great heart and calmness – I have seen several of just those stallions and I loved and love them both.
Wow Gwhiz is stunning.
To be sure the new foal has the best chance for a prosperous life, I think a stallion should only be breed if there is a demand for the life that will be produced. The stallion needs to be mentally and physically sound, to give the goal the best chance of a quality life.
I’m sure there is a hot demand for Jac’s foals.
I believe that only TOP stallions should carry on their lineage. I’m not sure about determining the process of what classifies stallions as TOP lineage, but I believe there must be a line drawn…for the simple fact of the thousands of horses that perish every year in slaughter houses. It might be interesting to know how many of your stallions lineage end up in these dire circumstances. A chip inserted on every new baby should be required. Once the animal arrives at the slaughterhouse, they should have to notify breeders of the animals. Wouldnt that be interesting? If I ever decide to start a colt, it will be a rescue…I will never, ever breed my animals. There’s just too many horrific photos and websites out there where babies and mature horses are living in the worst conditions imaginable….I never want to be responsible for that, ever…I just know too many farms that breed horses for the profit. I understand, money is the root of all evil…I’m not sure how to explain this properly, but breeding for a customer, who actually is looking for your lineage, makes more sense than breeding for a ton of babies for a possible customer…I was under the impression that government was looking at IDing all horses in the world, no matter what your station, if you have an animal, it must have an ID number…anyone know what’s going on with this? Read it in one of my magazines…
since you are asking this question………
does this mean you have a mare in mind for when/if the time is right???
lol…. I would love to be a fly on the wall listening to the “talk” ya’ll are having about this breeding!!
I have no plans on Jac meeting up with any mares anytime soon!
ohhhh ok…..thanx!
In my opinion a stallion should have the entire package which includes breeding, temperament, talent, looks (not just being attractive but conformation that leads to soundness) and the elusive ability to pass these qualities to offspring. The last quality is often described as being a producing sire and can only be determined after breeding a test set of mares.
I have been contemplating this very thing about my own yearling colt. At this point I don’t have any specific plans to breed him, but in the same thought I feel like I don’t want to take away that potential if he does turn out to be something great. I am going to let him make the decision. As Stacy says in her very first Jac video, the horse will determine his training level, I will let my boy determine whether or not he stays a stallion or gets gelded. So long as he is healthy, I will wait until he is at least a two year old to make any decision. I want to get some of the physical traits that come with maturity (mostly some size to his head, he is a yearling now and just fitting good into a weanling halter….) At that point, I will start letting his behavior guide my decision. If he can contain his hormones, continue to be respectful towards me and his pasture mates, and move forward with his training nicely, I will keep him intact. But if at any point he cannot control his urges, tries to be outwardly dominant with me, or starts causing problems with the rest of the herd, I will go ahead and geld him.
In using this guide to make a decision I am also working to help guide him into being able to stay a stallion. I have been doing groundwork with him from the time he was born. He is pastured with a dominant gelding who helps to keep him in check (like Stacy does by turning Jac out with Popcorn). And I will continue to hold him to high expectations with his behavior and attitude. So far it has been a mostly positive experience raising a stud colt. (the first few months were difficult until he realized he had to play by the rules….) And I hope that his future will be just as positive and rewarding.
I love it! He has to deserve the right to breed! Glad you understand each other!
I’ve rescued many horses from serious situations and I am totally against random breeding of any horses. I have some very well bred mares that I’d love to breed, but dont plan to, due to the above reason and what could happen to them, should I not be able to care for them. That being said, for a stallion to breed, I believe that the most basic qualification would be demand for the foal(s), as well as breeding, temperament, and of course qualifications. Just because they can, doesnt mean they should. In this discipline, I’d think that the ability to perform, be athletic and agile would be highest on the list of requirement, next to bloodlines and the demand.
Stacy, Gwhiz is absolutely stunning….what a beauty….
Definitely prove themselves sane and sound. A good conformation, and athletic ability. Trainability, and personality is very important. A horse could have a half bad conformation and be a champ, but without the right mind, is useless.
I’m not an expert…but do think they need to have good conformation and also have good personality traits to pass on to foals. Not a fan of people breeding studs just to see what they will produce if they aren’t registered, don’t have good conformation, and have horrible personalities…
A stallion should have good breeding, excellent conformation, and above all a wonderful temperament. He should contribute positively to the gene pool, his foals should improve the breed.
I think one of the most important qualifications for a stallion to be allowed to stay a stallion is his personality. If he is respectful and knows that when he is at work and when he is not, then he should be allowed to stay at stud. My mare’s father is extremely calm and laid back, the owners can teach lessons off of him, yes he is a bit hard to handle in the spring but he is not out of control. He has passed on his athleticism, his agility, his cow sense, and his personality. I love that my mare inherited his calm and laid back personality and all of the other qualities that make him great!
Confotmation, pedigree, performance and disposition
I think Jac must demonstrate perfect manners and subordinate to his manager at all times to earn the right to breed. Stallions that are not managed responsibly can be very dangerous and unpredictable. I agree with you Stacy! Thanks for being so generous with your knowledge.