Stallion Housing Affects Welfare

Allen says. Hunter is one in a million. I can throw kids on him. If we have people that have never ridden before and they want to sit on a horse they sit on him. I think a disposition like that is really important.
Heidi Eijgel agrees. She owns Windy Coulee Canadian Horses a Canadian horse breeding farm near Pincher Creek Alberta where she stands her stallion Windy Coulee Dawn Zefyr.
Zefyr was my main riding horse for two years Eijgel says. We did working equitation and went all over the place. He liked seeing all the other horses and he was so wellbehaved. Everyone commented on that and thats just because hes trained properly.
It breaks my heart to see how other stallions are kept where they dont have a job other than just breeding she continues. They dont have freedom or room to run and they dont have socialization. My whole philosophy is to raise horses in as natural a setting and way as possible without unnecessary risks and enjoy them through the whole process. And also train them and produce a horse that somebody is going to want to buy and enjoy
She didnt plan to have a stallion. However having purchased a mare that had a colt with important heritage lines Zefyr Eijgel decided to keep the youngster as a stud.
According to her philosophy he needed to run and have a pasture and companions and a normal horse life. Plus I needed to have access to him and he had to be trained.
So I built a four acre pasture with a wind fence automatic waterer and no fenceline in common with the other horses having heard about all sorts of wrecks that people have had with stallions trying to mount horses over fences or gates Eijgel says. She also built Zefyr a stall and run where he can socialize with the other horses over a wooden fence. Hes always had other horses to socialize with. When he was two he lived with three pregnant mares.
But having both mares and stallions living on the same property can prove challenging and its something Allen is trying to avoid.
I have no mares on my property explains Allen. The only time there are mares on the property is if we have a clinic or if Ive got some coming in for breeding. I used to keep them right below Hunters paddock so he could