Cob Jockey

You know, I actually thought I might sell Disco to Maude a couple of times. As late as a few months ago, even. It was on the table.

And one of the big reasons was that I wasn't sure I could give him as good of a life as he had up there. It was not a guarantee that he would be able to be turned out with Connor again when he got home, and he was really living the good life with Maude, turned out with his pregnant harem. I couldn't - wouldn't and won't - keep him in solitary confinement just for the sake of one or two foals a year.

It was weighing on me more than I thought, because when I turned him out with Connor yesterday for the first time and absolutely nothing happened, I had tears in my eyes.

Disco ran past Connor and started grazing, then they eventually worked their way toward grazing next to each other. It was completely anti-climactic.

Of course, I knew Disco would try something at some point, which was why I first tried them together on a day that I was spending at the barn. An hour or two later, I heard "EeeeeeeeeeEEEEEeeeEEeeeeEeEEE!" and ran out to see Disco trying to mount Connor, and Connor telling him to f*** right off. 

What happened next would, I knew, determine whether or not I could keep them together. Would Disco persist, like he had when he was a yearling? Or would he respect Connor enough to not try that again?

I got my answer almost immediately: Disco slunk off to a corner of the pasture and started grazing facing away from Connor, who stood his ground. All looked well, and they were as quiet as could be the rest of the day, so it wasn't until later when I realized that Connor had, ahem, landed a kick on Disco's (retracted) man parts, and that Disco was taking this lesson (and the associated pain) VERY seriously.

Do I feel bad for him? Absolutely. Am I grateful this happened? You bet. No permanent harm was done, and Disco learned a lesson that he's not going to soon forget.

As always, we are taking stallion life one day at a time.