what should i do if a stallion attacks?

Question

My Lipizzaner Stallion has now attacked 3 of his handlers, he presents as quiet before the attacks and shows no respect to humans at all. should he be destroyed. These are not bite incidents but he actually uses killing moves to place the handler in his stable by biting and lifting them off the floor

Answer 1

Stallions require special handling. Inexperienced people should not have them, period. Gelding him is not going to fix his behavioral problems. You need to get a trainer that is experienced with stallions, tell him what you expect the horses behavior to be like. I own and operate an American Quarter Horse ranch and maintain two stallions. I have never had one behave that way. Both know their boundaries and no aggressive behavior is tolerated from them. They are handled daily and have been every day of their lives.
Do not put this horse down, he is not responsible for his lack of training. Get him trained and be honest with the trainer.

Answer 2

You need to asset some dominance with him- you have allowed him to be in control for way too long. If he has been doing this for years- you may be too late to change it. Please try an actual handler/trainer that can work with him every day to try to get him to be more submissve (and more handable). Do not let anyone near him that is afraid of him- he will attack them even sooner.

Please do not put him down because of human error in training. It sounds like your handlers are afraid of him or he was never taught how to act with humans. Find a professional trainer that knows what they are doing (ask at tack stores, online, etc). Stallions are no meaner than any other horse when trained correctly.
If you are not going to go to a trainer, you need to be very agressive- next time he attacks- you attack back. Always carry a whip with you. If he attempts to bite- give him a kick or a whack. He probably will retaliate the first couple times, but don't give up- give 2 back (no more) for every one that he gives you. Once he quits- stop and go along with your business like nothing ever happened. If you prove your dominance (and if he is intelligent, every one of his handlers might have to do so), he will be less aggressive.
Basically- look at how herd members treat each other. The dominant horse would always retaliate and expect the subordinant to listen. If the sub. does not, the dominant will get after him.

If you have any more questions feel free to ask. I hate seeing a horse put down because of how people trained him (same with dogs or any other animal)

Answer 3

Lipizzaner horses are not only a strong and big breed, they are also very intelligent.

Did you ever try to find out what brought about the behavior? Was whipping part of its training?

As you mentioned, it was only the handlers that were affected.

Horses (humans too!) can be taught without the use of the whip.

Answer 4

You should definatley geld him. Horses should not be left stallions with this temperment. If you are stuck with keeping him a full stallion, then put him in a pasture with cranky pregnant mare(s) and let him get the snot kicked out of him. (Make sure they are roughfly his size. Within 3 inches of his height) Works wonders on these tempermented stallions. If none of the above work, euthinize, no matter how pretty he is, he's not worth someone getting killed.

Answer 5

Did you know he did this when you bought him? or is this recent behaviour. If he belonged to someone else before you, then I would start digging into his past to see how he was trained and treated. I would also discuss this with the vet. It may be he needs to be gelded, but it may be something more sinister and the only way would be to have him put down. Its really sad when something like this happens, I hope you find the reason and the answer. Good Luck.

Answer 6

Okay you dont have to "destroy" him. You do have some options. 1.Geld him. Maybe the problem is that he is a stallion and you should try gelding him.
2. Try things like horsemanship like Pat Parelli or Clinton Anderson. Show him whos boss.

Hope this helps!

Answer 7

Oh my. He definetly needs to be gelded. Don't risk your life for a horse and it's breeding potential (aka $). It's not worth your worrying about him attacking you. He may however, still have issues once he is gelded (he NEEDS to be!) and then if they are not as bad consider professional training or you may, sad horror of horrors, have to put him down. Also, try Parelli methods once he is gelded ( http://www.parelli.com ) These are amazing and may help to change him.

Answer 8

Is it necessary to keep him as a stallion? Do you want to breed from him? Occasionally stallions can be very rough, and see any other male as a threat, including humans! They need very firm handling to avoid them getting out of control. You will need to learn alot about him, and the times he is likely to attack you and learn how to approach him without fear. It may be worth having him gelded, and this will calm him down a bit.

Get advice from vets, riding stables and stud farms to learn how to deal with this behaviour.

Answer 9

Get him gelded, it will calm him down and you shouldn't breed from a horse who can turn nasty he could pass the behaviour on to his offspring. It's not his fault he is the way he is, remove the hormones and he should calm down :) Don't put him down it is a waste of a perfectly good horse

Answer 10

get him GELDED if he is that aggressive before he ends up hurting or killing someone... in a few months he shouldnt ack like that... but if he is as much problem as u say then it might be best to put him down if he is that dangerous