Horses, Hormones and Headaches.

Horses… Oh yes, I do love them, but sometimes they make you want to bang your head against a wall. I am currently incredibly grumpy and sleep deprived… why? 

In a word, Horses. 

More specifically, my darling section D. 

That’s right, Stella. Combined with the beauty in the opposite paddock that just so happens to still have his manhood. 

Its times like this week when I wish Rags was gelded. 

Don’t get me wrong he is stunning, throws some utterly beautiful foals and has one of the best temperaments I have ever seen. Still, when he is a bad mood he is quite simply a nightmare. Not so much his behaviour… but the noise.

To cut a long story short he recently had a lady friend out with him.  Being the first mare of the year he was a little excitable and after a week or so he was messing about a little too much, bullying her more than we like to see.  So as we knew he had already covered her, we took her away from him. Queue the tantrum. 

Ever since we took her out he has done nothing bar scream for her. He is not at all amused that we have taken her away. Now his paddock is directly behind the static caravan that I live in. You try sleeping when periodically through the night, as and when he remembers that his lady isn’t with him, he gallops the length of his large paddock, thundering hoofbeats and a stallion shouting as he flies past your bedroom to the end of his paddock is a little disconcerting.  He is behind a properly built tall fence but knowing the sheer power of him I’m still waiting to hear those hooves land at the other side of the gate.

Where does Stella come into this you might ask. 

Well to put it simply my mare is a serious flirt.

 Rags often chats to the girls on the other side of the track, and trots up and down a little, showing off as young men like to do.

 I mean with all those muscles and his general good looks, who wouldn’t. 

Stella is besotted.

 She calls him when he goes out of sight and shows herself to him, standing as if waiting to be covered…. Nightmare. 

She has had two foals in the past before I had her but I never imagined she would be such a tease to the stallion!! She might well have a foal in a couple of years’ time, and probably with Rags. However, it’s not comforting to know they are so close and she’s coming into season just due to watching him strut his stuff. 

Thimble couldn’t care less about the stallion and vice versa, he only ever makes a fuss about her when I take her in but that is just his general procedure when anything moves on the farm.

I cant move my girls as we have a lack of paddocks that are safe for them to be in due to them both being very ‘good doers’. My remedy, fence them in the far end of their paddock to put as much space between their loved up selves as possible. 

Honestly they are totally besotted with each other. 

I'm really hoping that Rags will get another mare come to visit him soon, at least that way he will be preoccupied.

Stella will stop being the mariest mare going. 

Ohh and I might get some sleep.

Needless to say whilst I am in Scotland the electric fence will need to be on full power (Battery s charging as we speak.) I will make sure that the electric in the stallion field is also upto scratch.  My mum is more than capable of looking after them but why make it hard work. When I get back I will be seeing if I can split some other paddocks up a bit, then I can at least turn them out a little further away from his nibs. 

Any bright ideas on how to calm a stallion down around mares, he’s always been around them but never had to cope with them constantly so close. Any ideas until I can move them away are gratefully received!!