Stallion behaviour

Question
I have an 11 year old stallion who has sired more than 30 foals. He is very fertile and comes out all guns blazing. Recently he has been covering a mare both in hand and at pasture. This mare has had a problem getting in foal. He has readily covered her, but recently when she was in season and displaying to him, he refused to cover her in hand although he had covered her that morning, he showed no interest after the initial smelling etc. She was displying being in full season and being ready to be cover by him. Has anyone any ideas why he refused?

Answer
Hi Kathy,

There honestly is no reason to be covering this mare more than one time a day, considering your stallion has proven to be fertile.  To do so may end up resulting in her developing an infection.  This is especially true if both the stallion and mare are not being thoroughly cleansed prior to breeding.

This could be one of the reasons your stud is not showing interest in covering her.  She may be developing an infection and her smell may have changed.

Another reason for not showing interest in mounting is the possibility that your stud may have injured himself during pasture breeding or even in hand.  He could have pulled a muscle or something to that effect and he is just too sore to mount.

Stallions can also sometimes lose interest in a particular mare if he is constantly breeding her and they sometimes just need to be separated for a period of time, allowing him to think that she is something "new" again the next time he sees her.

The best suggestion I can give, is to separate the mare and stallion for a day or two and see what happens.  If he is hurting, this could also give him time to start feeling better.

Best of luck,
Sandy