We are a small breeding facility located on the
eastern side of the state of Vermont about twenty miles from the Vermont New
Hampshire border. We consider ourselves to be a little different than other
farms who collect stallions because we allow the owner or handler to handle
their own stallion and become involved if they wish.
We have found that stallions collect better
when the person they know, respect and love handles them. Stallions do have
feelings and when you bring a stallion to a strange farm, handled by someone
who he does not know, you may get a poor performance from him. It also allows
us to be able to watch the stallion and evaluate his performance better because
we can concentrate more on getting a good collection from him rather than on handling him.
Last summer we had a person contact us who had
a stallion that was brought to another farm to be trained to the phantom and
after several attempts at collecting him, could only get pre ejaculates. It was
assumed that the stallion was not collectable. We agreed that we would try to
collect him and the following weekend the owner and stallion came to our farm.
The stallion was turned out in the paddock and we spent time with the owner on
how to tease the stallion and approach the phantom so that the stallion would
mount correctly. After several failed attempts of getting a good collection we
noticed that the stallion was a little shy and that he was unusually large at
the head and long in the shaft. We loosened the last buckle on the jacket of
the AV which allowed the stallion to flare comfortably at the head and penetrate
deeper. BINGO! We not only got a good collection but he also had many swimmers.
We continued to collect this stallion and have shipped him all over the Country
and to Canada with wonderful success. This year we started collecting him with
no jump mare at all. We tease him in the barn, walk him out to the phantom and
collect him. By the time the owner walks him around a little and loads him on
the trailer, we have semen extended and off the owner goes to ship the
container. It takes us as little as thirty minutes to collect this stallion now
and as soon as he gets off the trailer he knows what is job is and he tends to
business.
So you might be saying to yourself, what’s the
point? The point is that animals are not just a possession or object. Some
people think that animals have no feelings but that way of thinking is old and
antiquated. Stallions are treated like they are crazy and out of their minds
when around a mare and in some cases a stallion may be just that, “crazy” but
those stallion should not be left a stallion. For the most part stallions lead
a life of seclusion not able to be turned out with the rest of the horses but
they are loving, sensitive creatures who will give you signs or signals of
their needs through body language.
Yes, we are a little different in how we
collect stallions. It takes a little more time and commitment from the
owner/handler but we have found that it makes for a nicer collection experience
for the stallion and saves the owner money by not having to board the stallion
at my farm while being trained or collected.
