Stallion Behavior?

I came across your site and appreciated your responses to several people. I was searching for some assistance with a four year old stallion. I am not sure how much of this is just the nature of a stallion, or how to discipline him within this particular situation.

This colt is well mannered, he will push your space all the time, but has not been allowed to bite, kick etc. He was shown as a three year old and ended up with two all around awards at the end of the season. We currently are trying to get his ROM in reining. We have made it to two AQHA shows, in which he placed 2nd in JR Horse reining and 3rd in Jr. Horse reining. His behavior when being ridden and shown is excellent. He has never gotten out of line.

As a three year old we kept him over night at several barns.  Our problem this year, is stalling. He has developed a habit of leaning his butt into the wall, squealling and kicking. We really do not know what to do to remedy this. I assume it is out of frustration. He also strikes at the door, fence when I bring another horse through.  This is a new thing this year. We covered four mares with him as a three year old, and 9 mares this spring. I am sure his libido is playing into a lot of this. He was kept with other horses until he was two, has been in a large paddock with a shelter amongst other horses in view. He has chosen two horses he hates here on the place, a gelding, and a buckskin mare. I keep them in a different pasture out of sight because he would run at his shed and run his teeth on it if I brought them through the alley way by him. He has not shown any aggression towards these same horses, when riding together or hauling together, just naughty when he is in his domain (pen.) Is this an irritation I just put up with, or do you have any suggestions on improvement? Any advice would be appreciated.

Hello,

Sounds like he may not be getting enough exercise or activity other than his showing and breeding. His hormones are really active and he needs a lot of movement. At his age, he could use some miles on him and a good, regular job (along with his breeding and show schedule). If he is aggressively bred and shown occasionally as his only activities, his behavior will worsen. Much of what you describe is fairly normal stallion behavior when the horse is bred regularly. The stallions I have worked with that 'trail' cattle, go on trails a lot, run barrels, rope or have some other regular job, seem to be more balanced in their behavior. Horses that are only shown and bred seem to exhibit more neurotic habits. What 'other' kinds of jobs can he do for you? Consider getting him something more to do that varies his routine and has a lot of action. Congratulations on his winning record. Sounds like he must be really a fine animal.

Good Luck and please keep me posted.

Sincerely, Franklin