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EDITOR ’ S NOTE — The following article originally appeared a few years ago in an all-breed horse publication . It was written by an experienced horseman with extensive experience in the area of Western stock . In this article he relates some information that appears to be contrary to common practices in our Walking Horse business , and we felt that it would be of interest to everyone . We feel that some of the practices and cautions that he points out just might be contributing to the low percentage of conception that we generally accept in the Walking Horse business . We are not asking you to agree or disagree , but rather to accept the possibility that some of the theories in this article Just might be worth trying .
Stallion Care
First , let ’ s start out with the care and handling of the stallion . Keep your horse in good shape with lots of controlled exercise . Do not let him exercise by running the corral fence as a nervous horse does . Riding and driving the stallion will up his fertility while the same amount of nervous exercise - running the fence , etc . - will lower his fertility . During the breeding season , feed him a reasonably high protein diet . In the off season , lower the protein way down as high protein seems to make a stallion excessively nervous when he is not servicing many mares . Be very regular in the handling and feeding of the horse . Many things are related to this . For example , don ’ t feed him just before you start teasing mares as he will probably not eat well . Try to feed the stallion one meal as soon after serving the mares as possible .
Another thing that some importance along this line is to be sure that your horse doesn ’ t get a full feed of hay just before he has to serve his mares . This will distend his stomach and make the breeding operation a little more difficult .
Handling the Horse
Be sure the stallion is well halter broke and will stand tied anywhere for any length of time . This is important for two reasons . If you get in some difficulty during the service and also if your horse runs a fence before and after service , tie him up . Any time a stallion paces the fence , tie him up , especially do not let him run the fence after serving a mare . One way I break a horse of running the fence is when I catch him in the act of running the fence I holler at him and immediately go and put the halter on him and tie him up . If you do this a few times , pretty soon all you will have to do is holler at him because he knows if he doesn ’ t stop walking the fence or running the fence he will be tied up . In a very short time he will stop running the fence altogether . While I am thinking along these lines , I have found some value in putting old rubber tires along the fence at intervals of about ten feet apart . A horse that has a tendency to walk the fence soon gets tired of walking in and out of the tires and decides to give it up as a bad job .
Little Things
Several things are important during the mating procedure . Stallions should be very much under control during this operation . A stallion that is too rank and unmanageable will sometimes ruin a filly for quite a while by practically scaring her to
38 Voice of the Tennessee Walking Horse