RaceCafe..#1...Tipsters Thread.... Share Your Fancies For Fun...Lets See Who The Best Tipsters Here Are.
grossly misinformed

Dude!, wheres my arm??

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Have heard some pretty gruesome tales of savage stallions doing some pretty nasty things to themselves and their handlers, I have heard about 10 different renditions of the "Dick Bothwell incident" many years ago and wondered if anyone has any stories of their own, or knows of stallions in times past who had a reputation as savages in some way, shape or form.

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In a racing annual that the stallion Little Brown Jug came second in quite a big race I think because he was too busy trying to bite his opponent on the neck!! :rolleyes:

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In a racing annual that the stallion Little Brown Jug came second in quite a big race I think because he was too busy trying to bite his opponent on the neck!! :rolleyes:

Yes - I'm pretty sure he tried to savage Manikato in a big race in Oz and cost himself victory. I remember the incident quite well - there was only a head or so in it at the finish.

Sovereign Edition was notorious for savaging his handlers - I remember taking a mare to be served by him at Ra Ora and he had a handler on both sides of him to keep him under control. Tommy Spriggins could tell you some stories about him....

Habitation was also a nasty piece of work at times - until he savaged the stud owner one day!!!!

Oh and you could ask Denny Baker about a trotting stallion named Country Road next time you meet him...... :eek:

I'm sure there are many others!!!

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Yeah I heard Ra Ora had more than 1 savage over the years, apparently Sackford was a real dangerous horse who had a dislike for stallion handlers

Yip ya right there, i know two people who were savaged on the arm by Sackford..Tony Mudgway & Karl Outen..and aparently a guy in Australia.

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Sunline - Claire Bird - broken nose.

Empire Rose - tried to savage Na Botto in the Melbourne Cup less than 200m out.

What's the point of this thread?

I owned a mare that when she was fit and on fire she would have killed you if you weren't awake - front foot kicker like Sunline.

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didnt he savage 2 people in south africa? or is that just hear say?

I heard he had a rep as a mean horse, don't know if it was hearsay but if one or two of the stories I heard were true he did some damage.

I think we need to understand why some stallions have a rep, is it the horse or just the people handling them, I know of some horses who had a really bad reputation but after getting to work with them found they were quite OK. Sometimes I think that some people try to dominate and intimidate them(usually the bigger guys) and eventually the horse has enough and snaps.

Some, though are just out and out rogues. Heard Herbager, Graustark and Ribot were all rogues, see them a lot in pedigrees too.

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I heard he had a rep as a mean horse, don't know if it was hearsay but if one or two of the stories I heard were true he did some damage.

I think we need to understand why some stallions have a rep, is it the horse or just the people handling them, I know of some horses who had a really bad reputation but after getting to work with them found they were quite OK. Sometimes I think that some people try to dominate and intimidate them(usually the bigger guys) and eventually the horse has enough and snaps.

Some, though are just out and out rogues. Heard Herbager, Graustark and Ribot were all rogues, see them a lot in pedigrees too.

For anyone who has a t/bred with Herbager in the pedigree. I was lucky enough to work with him and handle him at Claiborne. He was a super quality European t/bred with a great temperament. No bad stories from the guys I worked with him about temperament.

Ribot, another story.

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didnt he savage 2 people in south africa? or is that just hear say?

I saw BM in NZ brought out to serve a mare and there were two handlers on each side of him leading him in and another with a big plastic stick..... no second guests why the stick was there for. He looked like he meant bussiness and you woundnt turn your back on him.

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I tend to think that Stallions have every right to be agressive. They have to be in order to get as many mares as possible. If people want to try and get in their way, then that's their own problem - and serve them right. On the other hand, I knew a stallion handler some years back, that was not a nice person and had a massive ego problem. The stallion he was looking after at the time was a very gentle old sort and this guy bullied and beat him around the head all the time and the horse did not deserve such treatment (horse ended up with serious neck injury which nearly finished him - thankfully extremely good vets saved the animal). Said Stallion Handler was "offered" a position in USA and took it. Some time later we hear that this guy has been rough handling the stallions over there (bad move, they are worth megabucks) and has been "attacked" in the neather regions!! Needless to say the outcome was that the Handler was "Gelded" not the Horse!! Couldn't have been a better final result :) Oh, and he'll never work in the USA again ...

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I tend to think that Stallions have every right to be agressive. They have to be in order to get as many mares as possible. If people want to try and get in their way, then that's their own problem - and serve them right. On the other hand, I knew a stallion handler some years back, that was not a nice person and had a massive ego problem. The stallion he was looking after at the time was a very gentle old sort and this guy bullied and beat him around the head all the time and the horse did not deserve such treatment (horse ended up with serious neck injury which nearly finished him - thankfully extremely good vets saved the animal). Said Stallion Handler was "offered" a position in USA and took it. Some time later we hear that this guy has been rough handling the stallions over there (bad move, they are worth megabucks) and has been "attacked" in the neather regions!! Needless to say the outcome was that the Handler was "Gelded" not the Horse!! Couldn't have been a better final result :) Oh, and he'll never work in the USA again ...

Black Minnaloushe wasn't it?

I heard of another "macho" stallion handler who a few years ago got put into a trough by a stallion and if it hadn't been for a bystanders intervention would have been mauled, he had been beating the stallion and after him the stallion would attack every large set person who approached him, he tore another handlers stomach open and apparently tried to drag a client over the fence into his paddock and tore his shirt off. Funny though according to the big macho guys he was a savage but talking to the smaller, less intimidating handlers he wasn't too bad.

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I went to the Coolmore stallion parade a few years back and Spinning World was led out with a big leather muzzle on and the handler carrying a baton. Apparently he had a pretty tough (I won't say mean) streak but there is no sign he has passed it on to his progeny.

I tend to agree that a lot of it is the way these horses are handled. A lot of the handlers have egos bigger than the horses and think they have to bully the horses. This does not just apply to stallion handlers but people in the industry generally. We had an owner who "caught" his weanlings by grabbing them by the ear. Then he wondered why they never allowed themselves to be handled around the head!!!

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Stallions run in a herd & the mares have an alpha male protecting them from breeding with inferior males. He guards them jealously in whichever way he can, protecting his mares from all commers. When mares in season are nearby he can't be blamed for thinking that whoever is near (human or otherwise) is going to rob him of his prize. Just guess that some are more laid back than others about protecting their position when they have one thing on their mind. It would be well for all to be wary at all times - just common sense which most stud masters would practice regardless of how nice natured their stallions are most of the time. Sometimes a stallion is part of a larger operation where they stand several - it must be disconcerting for them.

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I went to the Coolmore stallion parade a few years back and Spinning World was led out with a big leather muzzle on and the handler carrying a baton. Apparently he had a pretty tough (I won't say mean) streak but there is no sign he has passed it on to his progeny.

I tend to agree that a lot of it is the way these horses are handled. A lot of the handlers have egos bigger than the horses and think they have to bully the horses. This does not just apply to stallion handlers but people in the industry generally. We had an owner who "caught" his weanlings by grabbing them by the ear. Then he wondered why they never allowed themselves to be handled around the head!!!

I never heard of anyone getting attacked by Spinning World but apparently at Windsor he was known to be a sado mossochist, biting his own shoulders, hence the muzzle I suppose.

From some of the stories I've read from America Halo was a real nasty piece of work and the Halo line horses seem to inherit a bit of that, Sunday Silences, Southern Halos etc

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Have heard some pretty gruesome tales of savage stallions doing some pretty nasty things to themselves and their handlers, I have heard about 10 different renditions of the "Dick Bothwell incident" many years ago and wondered if anyone has any stories of their own, or knows of stallions in times past who had a reputation as savages in some way, shape or form.

Mughtanim - just ask Robbie Lithgow!

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