Stallion Boot Camp

Life without Roscoe is just plain weird. I keep expecting him to come around the corner and take his spot at the gate looking down the barn aisle. Lisa has been great about giving me progress reports. I feel like the parent of a naughty child misbehaving at school though.

But Mom...

Roscoe does not believe he has to listen to Lisa. He gives her a hard time just walking to the turn out. So Lisa has started round pen work with him to establish her authority. Luckily that is something he knows and can serve as a bridge between them. Stallion boot camp has started. She has to be able to control him if any more breeding will take place. And yes that means he has covered one mare so far. Once Roscoe knows the routine and that Lisa is the boss, hopefully the hormonal idiot will be more controllable and make the process easier.

Roscoe vs Lisa 2012

On the positive side, she says he is fit and smart. I hope both will help him get through this learning curve. Lisa and Roscoe have sort of been through a power struggle before, a couple years ago getting ready for a show. She had to move him around then too. Roscoe is not an easy horse, never has been. It is a darn good thing we had no experience with foals before he was born, because then we would have known how tough he was from the very beginning. We just thought he was being an independent boy. He has kept us on our toes for nearly four years and now Lisa knows why.

Two strong personalities

 

The tough part for Roscoe is that when he was trained for the phantom, there was separation of activities. They had a breeding shed that he went to by leaving the barn from the right side. Turn out was done by leaving the barn from the left side. He learned how to act when he was in the different areas. At Lisa's the breeding happens right by his stall. And since she is a one person operation, the mare is tied up right by the stall which raises the drama for handling him in the stall. They are working through the bumps and figuring each other out. As tough as it is to experience this from a distance, I think it is better for all of us that we are not close enough to drop in. This way Lisa is the only authority figure he has to deal with. No blurred lines.
So here's hoping the progress reports keep improving and breeding can happen once the mares come into season.

Working things out