Starting a Novice Breeding Stallion

Abstract

The manner in which a stallion is initially introduced to breeding can have long-lasting effects on his breeding behavior, with implications for safety, and breeding efficiency of the horse. So successfully starting a novice stallion in an organized positive manner has become a typically satisfying challenge for our team. This how-to paper details what we at our veterinary school stallion referral clinic believe to be key handling concepts, facilities, equipment, personnel, training schedule and goals for getting novice breeders off to a good start. Also included is the specific breeding shed protocol that is used routinely at our stallion referral clinic for natural service or semen collection, as an example of one method that has worked well with all types of stallions in a teaching environment that involves new student handlers with a variety of levels of skill and experience.