Bad stallions ...

[TrueColours]

Help me out here! I remember hearing stories of Ribot, and it had something to do with him throwing a hissy fit and climbing a tree in his paddock and they had to remove the tree or move him to a treeless paddock as they were afraid he would fall out and hurt himself

Does anyone have a clue what I am talking about and know the whole story???

Also - what stallions are known to consistently throw bad temperments in their offspring? I know that the Halo line can be difficult to deal with at times - which others are there out there that make you perhaps think twice before you buy an offspring from that stallion?

Thanks everyone!

[Sam]

Help me out here! I remember hearing stories of Ribot, and it had something to do with him throwing a hissy fit and climbing a tree in his paddock and they had to remove the tree or move him to a treeless paddock as they were afraid he would fall out and hurt himself

Does anyone have a clue what I am talking about and know the whole story???

Also - what stallions are known to consistently throw bad temperments in their offspring? I know that the Halo line can be difficult to deal with at times - which others are there out there that make you perhaps think twice before you buy an offspring from that stallion?

Storm Cats tend to be psycho. Can't help you with the Ribot story, but I do seem to remember a story about St. Simon killing a goat/pony or something like that. Picked it up by the throat and threw it into a wall.

[Jolene]

PM on its way

[austique]

Dynaformer is said to get nasty offspring and Caro was said to pass on a nasty temperment. I can say my In Excess (IRE) mare is a total loon (but we love her ...sometimes )

[jagger]

Dynaformer's stall is befitting Hannibal Lecter. He is NOT ridden daily as are all the other stallions in the barn. His look is scary. There were no peppermints for him.

[TrueColours]

Here's a little snippet I found on St Simon:

St. Simon's overly excitable nature proved challenging. There were the horror stories, about St. Simon attacking grooms and killing well-intended barn cats, but this could be attributed to his edgy nature. St. Simon needed to be handled with care and patience, and above all, quiet skill. Trainer Dawson described him as having a certain "electricity" common to the Galopins, but heightened in his finest son, and this electricity was been passed down through his descendants, a highly strung, nervous, willful, but brilliant group.

Poor kitties ...

[Nijinsky]

HASTINGS....MAN O WAR.
NORTHERN DANCER....NIJINSKY....SADLER'S WELLS.
NEARCO....NASRULLAH.
HALO....DEVIL'S BAG.
RIBOT
ROBERTO
KINGMAMBO
RAISE A NATIVE
FOOLISH PLEASURE
ALLEGED
SEABISCUIT



Just to name a few

[Derring]

Dynaformer is said to get nasty offspring and Caro was said to pass on a nasty temperment. I can say my In Excess (IRE) mare is a total loon (but we love her ...sometimes )

I knew a Dynaformer colt that had a perfect temperment.,,,,and his mother was a toot! I guess two negatives made a positive.

Sadly, he had a bad reaction to antibiotics and didn't make it. He ran two races and came in 2nd both times.

[Dalene Knight]

HMMMM... bad dispositions??? Here at Painted Desert Farm we stand several Thoroughbred stallions and live cover approximately 130 mares per year. The stallions are heavy in the excellent bloodlines of Northern Dancer, Halo - Devils Bag, Roberto and Raise A Native.
I personally wash every stallion in his stall and take him to his mares where they are quiet and gentle breeders. The foals are gently held in a box stall in front of their moms (all babies walk by their moms in the halter and are handled daily since birth). Problem mares are lightly sedated before being bred. Our stallions, broodmares and maiden mares share a large indoor arena with stalls in rows, some with turnouts. Stallions live across from one another and are well aware of the activities not far away.
I have started a fair number of young stallions taking them to their first mares and have had only one that did not respond in a favorable fashion. He was not a Thoroughbred.
Over the years I have purchased stallions that came with "bad reputations", both earned and imagined from the bloodlines mentioned in this topic. These stallions soon became reasonable to handle and were at home in their stalls.
Could it be that daily exercise and reasonable feed programs combined with consistent and fair handleing are what determines a stallions reactions to those who encounter him rather than his genetic makeup on the paternal side?

[sunday_silence]

Dynaformer is said to get nasty offspring and Caro was said to pass on a nasty temperment.

Cozzene didn't seem to get this nasty Caro temperament. Then, I saw Caro once and he behaved himself. Winning Colors, on the other hand, is a very unpleasant character. They blame it on her having been spoiled and acquiesced to at the track, but perhaps that is just her personality.

Dynaformer just spooks me. I'm glad I don't have to handle him. But, I did notice that he seems to act much better when he's the center of attention.

[Nijinsky]

Dalene Knight....I would have loved to see you handle WALTER WILLY along with his sire SADLER'S WELLS. Walter Willy was known as a man killer....maybe just be the reason he was put down. Sadler's Wells I heard wasn't much better.

AL MAMOON'S foals are known to be very hard to handle and are not well like among trainers along with CANDI'S GOLDS and some SMOKESTERS and FLYING CONTINENTALS. Those are just a few California sires I know of who's foals have a bad rap with trainers

Not saying all foals out of these lines (mentioned in above post) are bad just that these sires were known for "THEIR" own bad dispostion....along with a few of their offsprings. Same can be said for conformation faults. Some sires have them and they pass the same faults onto SOME but not ALL their foals.

[erins isle]

Some 12 years ago I visited Coolmore Stud and they showed us the stallions. A member of the staff told us that they couln't go into the paddock of Law Society without a "weapon", sorry don't know the right word in English, something long like a stick to prevent attacking them.
Since he is in Germany nowadays I saw a very nice video, showing him in a meadow wealking round very normal with a lady.
When I ever have the opportunity to pay him a visit I will ask about his behaviour now.
Also I saw offspring of Niniski, some behaving badly specially the boys.
A friend of mine had a very good tempered mare by Niniski, so you see.
I agree with Dalene, treatment and the right food do a lot of good.

[halo]

Ribot was known to have a difficult temperment. He was only leased over here as apparently the Italian government wouldnt allow his sale. After the 5 year lease was up he was deemed too dangerous to ship back. I don't know if he was then sold, or if the lease was just extended. Apparently he did try to climb a tree in his paddock, it was removed. His paddock also had solid 6 foot high walls so that he couldnt see other horses on the farm. He was only turned out for an hour or so every day, and when he was all horses within ear or eye range were brought in. His groom sat with him outside at all times. I saw him several times and never saw any evidence of his temperment, but it was also at the time when he was managed for his temperment.

[Flight]

IMO "Bad Stallions" do not exist.

The breed has had around 300 years or so to get "domesticated" so you would think that the natural instincts of a horse may have been somewhat diluted over the years. Not so. Otherwise they wouldn't want to run so fast.

Bad management of horses brings out their natural instincts.

I'm hardly surprised that many stallions don't really like their life in a stable with a small yard to prance around when they are allowed out durng the day.

[sunday_silence]

What is behind Coolmore's stallion management ideas? I'm only speaking of Ashford, as I've never visited Ireland, etc. Their paddocks are the smallest I've seen for stallions. They turn them out far less than most farms. And, the stallions don't grow winter coats because they blanket them. Plus, the huge books of mares they get. None of this would seem to add up to contentment. On the whole, they seem to have more stallions with "issues."