Yard owner keeping colt on yard

[OhMrDarcy]

Just wondered what the view is on this please. We've a mare on a mixed livery/ riding school at the moment. Turnout is in small paddocks, most horses are out alone or in small groups.

The yard owner had a pair of colts (2-3 years old) on the yard during early lockdown who sent my mare insane. We couldn't ride or even turn out or bring in safely. Colts then left but one is back now to cover another mare. Same problems again with our mare- difficult to catch & getting aggressive.

I'm so cross but don't know if I'm overreacting. Surely it can't be normal to keep a colt on a livery yard?

It must be tough for you to have your mare so unsettled. Unfortunately though, if it's the yard owners colt, their yard their rules.

Could you look for a different yard? Some don't allow colts or stallions, so maybe look at them?

No idea why that posted three times!

It really depends on the yard. People with colts have to keep them somewhere. How approachable is your YO? Can you explain the situation and see what can be done to manage it? Is there a way to limit contact, especially smells. If not, would your mare respond to one of the hormonal supplements that are around? Even my old gelding has brought mares into season, so it's not always something that happens with entires.

Failing that, I would look to move to somewhere with a no entires policy.

Thanks everyone - I've calmed down a bit now and will have a think. YO not very approachable about things like this as they take it personally.

I cannot go back to how things were three months ago with the mare
being dangerous in turnout (colt goes in the handy paddocks next to the stables so the liveries all have to walk past it) where she was rearing and spinning. Or refusing to be caught at all. She was fine within a week of the colts leaving, and her behaviour has deteriorated since one returned. So unprofessional of the YO.

It sounds like the problem is more with how your mare is responding to the colt, rather than the colt doing anything wrong as such. What do the other owners on the yard think?

OP we had colts at my last yard and tbh we all just got on with it. In fact I didn't mention it in my first reply because I'd kind of forgotten. As Alexander says, it's your mare responding to the colt, it doesn't seem to be the colt's behaviour that is a problem. I had a mare on loan there at the time and she is very flirty. She'd say hello to the boys and I let her but I didn't make a big deal of it. By that time I'd done a lot of groundwork with her and we had a very good relationship.

I think you either need to move to a mares and geldings yard only, or perhaps see if you can work on your mare's behaviour, maybe with a trainer. She might be particularly hormonal but whilst I've known mares come into season more often when stallions are around, I've not know them become dangerous to handle. Tricky, yes, but not dangerous.

Why is the owner not having it gelded? It is unlikely to be the next Valero, and there are far too many indifferent horses being bred.

With the current on coming recession there are going to be even more unwanted horses being rescued

Valero obviously