Stallion Group-Keeping in Theory and Practice
Version: 2009.06.10
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Part I: Theory and Requirements [3]
Conclusions for a truly Species-Appropriate Keeping of Male Horses
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Truly appropriate to the species keeping means in accordance with nature, a keeping of the majority of all male horses in a pure stallion-only group, separated of any and all mares. Only for a minority of exceptionally assertive stallions does appropriate to the species keeping mean a year-round keeping, for part of their life, with an average of 3-7 adult mares, as a breeding stallion and sire.
That's why under the term "appropriate to the species keeping", with male horses, one must speak of stallion-group keeping without mares, not of castration and gelding-keeping, not even in group- or movement-stables together with mares.
That stallion-group keeping without mares in fact could not only work in theory, but actually does, now should, after the mentioned scientific realizations, be clear to everyone.
Who decides on keeping only stallions at his farm not only earns the satisfaction of leaving his horses their physical integrity and natural motivation for movement, of really keeping them appropriate to the species, but does not need any movement-stables either, in which horses are animated with an ingenious course and an implanted computer chip to move at least minimally every day for their food. So stallion group-keeping can also save money, at least the money for castration and the money for a movement-stable with computer-assisted feeding for the forced movement of castratos. Stallions, contrary to geldings, move sufficiently, even without artificial animation-aids such as movement stables and implanted computer chips, simply because their testicles, the natural and given by nature movement and activity motivators were not removed.
All the same it must be said that even with stallion group-keeping, even if it is the most natural way of keeping horses, some requirements must be met, especially on the side of the human being. Furthermore there are some helping conditions which, due to existing exceptions one cannot make a rule, but which among other things can have such a strong influence that they can make a stallion group-keeping possible or also entirely impossible.
Just as with any keeping of horses, with stallion group-keeping also the horse, meaning the individual stallion should be at the center of attention. Keep in mind, in wildlife stallions can choose up to a certain degree with which other stallions they want to form a group - or at least with which ones not. One should leave stallions this freedom of choice whenever possible.
If you have a stallion which behaves absolutely antisocial towards other stallions and wants nothing else than to create as much distance as possible between himself and the other stallions, do not force him and the other stallions together. Respect the obvious wishes!
A stallion who constantly herds away all others and terrorizes them does not want, as laymen in the area of stallions falsely again and again project onto such animals, to be in a group with them, whereby just "his hormones are in the way", but he simply does not want to form a group together with them!
Handling stallions appropriate to the species has a lot to do with respect. Respect the animals the way they are and respect the obvious. But never become rigid and stuck in your decisions, but always leave your stallions the free as possible choice. Leave it to your stallions at any time if they want to be in the group with other stallions or not and remain flexible. Always leave a door open and change your keeping according to the current needs of the animals instead of altering their bodies according to your needs as human or those which you project onto the animals.
Simply the putting up or connecting of a few electrical fence wires can change any stallion group-keeping into a stallion single-keeping in a few minutes. If you can see no other way out, fall back on this measure, not to violence in the form of amputation. Who knows, perhaps thins will change some day and is it so bad to keep a stallion alone if that is his obviously expressed wish? May stallions then not evade other stallions or chase them away and live separated of them, just as they do sometimes in wildlife also? Do stallions in human keeping have to find good what we give them?
Don't listen to animal welfare organizations or third parties if they pretend to know better what your horse wants and needs, listen to your horse yourself and get yourself the required theoretical and factual knowledge from books (see literary references). But most of all, keep your stallion a life long in such a way that he himself can decide any time if he wants to be with a stallion group or rather just by himself. Respect and consider your stallion in his wishes and fulfill him as many wishes as you can, but without taking them away from him or destroying them.
For impatient readers a word of warning shall be added here: Please read and consider the following basic requirements and helping conditions before you take action. The total ignorance of all requirements and preconditions for the keeping of male horses in a group by laymen supposedly has lead to more than one kicked out tooth, eye and even to death in unsupervised keepings of Przewalski-stallions in groups by different German zoos. It would be sad if that would repeat itself just because people are too lazy to read a text completely.
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