Instructions
Handle your colt regularly. You can not handle a young horse too much and it is especially important to make sure your colt is being handled several times daily to reinforce proper behavior starting at an early age. Leading, grooming and even working your colt in the round pen will all help reinforce good behaviors and habits for your colt. You can not turn a young horse loose in a pasture to run wild and expect it to behave appropriately as an adult.
Be consistent with discipline. Young horses learn through repetition and consistency; make sure you are very consistent in how your treat your colt. Give the colt a clear conception of what behaviors are acceptable and quickly eliminate any behaviors that you would not consider appropriate or safe for a 1,000 lb. adult stallion to perform. This especially includes nipping, pushing you with its head or body, running away, kicking out, rearing and crowding your personal space.
Socialize your colt. While it is impractical to allow your colt to be around mares while loose, you will want to acclimate the colt to the presence of other horses, including mares. If you ever want to go on a trail ride, group ride or participate in a horse show with your stallion, it will have to know how to behave around other horses. A poorly mannered stallion that can not be controlled by its rider or owner while in the presence of geldings or mares presents a serious safety hazard for everyone involved.
Get quality training. Stallions are not good candidates for amateur horse trainers who are still in the experimental or beginning stages of their own training careers. If you do not have experience working with young horses and stallions, enlist the services of a professional trainer to assist you and work with both you and your horse to ensure you develop a safe and mutually beneficial relationship with your stallion right from the start.
Take proper safety precautions. All young horses will misbehave and young stallions have more hormones and behavioral issues than the majority of mares or geldings the same age. Make sure your fences are good quality, the latches on your barn doors should be secure and your facility should be designed to keep your stallion and other horses safe even in the event of an accidental escape. Use caution when handling your stallion, or any other horse, and be aware of potential hazards.
How to Raise a Colt Into a Stallion
A colt is the official term used for a young male horse. If you do not have your colt gelded, it will grow up to become a stallion as long as you feed and care for it properly. Stallions are generally more difficult to handle and care for than mares or geldings and colts do require special handling and training to ensure they can be handled safely as adults.