Stallion Colt

Question
I have 3 horses - 2 mares (age 2 and 25) and one colt (1) we plan on breeding
our young mare and colt later under the watchful eye of their original
breeders as they have impeccable blood lines.

The mares have a tendancy (obviously) to excite my colt so we want to put them
in 2 separate fields but have been offered a 9 year old Gelding whom we
thought would be an ideal companion for my colt especially while he is still
young for companionship and to keep him calmer as my colt is an arab and the gelding
Is a thoroughbred. Do you think this is a wise choice

We are taking the time to ensure my young filly and colt are trained carefully
With the help of a horse psych to ensure they have good ground manners before we even consider breeding them.

I'm listening to the advice of my breeder & horse psych - but just like to research fully before doing dammage rather than good.

Any comments advice would be appreciated!

Thanks Lynsey


Answer
I have often seen geldings make wonderful companions, and I have seen others that do not. It really depends on the individual horses. Additionally, many stallions are trained to breed from an early age and never have a companion. You are doing great be asking these questions to make sure the colt is safe and not damaged. I would love to hear about the bloodlines. I am a Naborr and Bask lineage breeder myself from the old Polish lines. You kinda have to experiment with the horses to see if they will be good together. Many times you will not see interactions becasue they are together a lot more often than you are with them, so be very careful when placing them alone together. Another thing used commonly here in my area for companions are miniature donkeys. They are very mild mannered and work great. We primarily use them with mares when weaning the foals. Best of luck and let me know what you decide and how it works. Brian McElroy http://www.evergreenacresarabians.webs.com