adult male horse kept for breeding
stud
entire, stallion - uncastrated adult male horseThe male parent of a horse, a stallion, is commonly known as the sire and the
female parent, the
mare, is called the dam. Both are genetically important, as each parent provides half of the genetic makeup of the ensuing offspring, called a foal. (Contrary to popular misuse, the word "colt" refers to a young male horse only; "filly" is a young
female.) Though many horse owners may simply breed a family mare to a local stallion in order to produce a companion animal, most professional breeders use selective breeding to produce individuals of a given phenotype, or breed. Alternatively, a
breeder could, using individuals of differing phenotypes, create a new breed with specific characteristics