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Gelding a colt

5K views 22 replies 12 participants last post by  Cowgirl140ty 
#1 ·
Hi all! I thought the thread on weaning was a good one, and I have a similar question. When should I geld my colt?

He was born July 14th. The vet suggested 5-6 months. But here is the problem. 5-6 months will put it into the winter, and we usually have snow and mud. December probably wouldn't be too terribly cold, but I worry about mud getting into is incisions. Should I try to do it earlier, say October or early November? If I wait until after the snow and mud season, it may not dry out good around here until April or May, and by then he will be nearly a yearling. I would rather have it done sooner than that as he is my first foal and I don't want to have to deal with studdy behavior. He's enough of a challenge as it is.

So what do you suggest? For what it's worth, I *think* he has both testicles down now. There is one for sure, and I am fairly sure I can see/feel the other one just slightly higher. If they are down now, will they stay down? Or can they go back up at some point?
 
#13 ·
as I understand it, cold is better for gelding.
This isn't actually always true. When I got my guy gelded it was on the colder side. He ended up clotting to soon and to much so he didn't drain. We had to get the vet out again to open the scrotum up even more and he pulled out two handfulls of clots from inside the scrotum. It wasn't cool.

As to when you should geld them. My vet doesn't like to do it earlier then 2 because they have a greater chance of hurniating when they are younger. Also the best time to do it would be in the spring when it warms up but before the bugs come out.
 
#4 ·
If theoretically they are down now, will they stay down, or could they go back up later? Or is it more like once they are down, they are down?

I have a friend with more colt experience whom I'm sure I can ask to confirm they are both there before I call the vet out. It looks like there are two, but one is higher than the other. I tried feeling to see if I felt two, but it was kind of hard to tell! :oops:

So if they are down, do you think I should call the vet out when it gets cool and the flies go away, say maybe towards the end of October? Does that sound okay? He would be around 3 months old then. It seems like most people wait a bit longer, but I worry it will be a muddy mess if I wait for the middle of winter.
 
#5 ·
Just make sure they are really down. The person that originally gelded Solon thought they were on him and apparently it wasn't. And he was two years old. A few months later, he ended up dropping all the way and I had to take him back to the vet. I still don't understand how it happened. Vet said it could have been that the tools he had weren't big enough for my horse (draft - but at 2 didn't think that would make much of a difference).

So the first time I gelded him it was $120.00, the second it was $1200.00. Everyone blames his high pitch neigh on being gelded twice. :shock:

He was gelded in August and did just fine.
 
#6 ·
Well the colder out that it gets they may move up again. Not to sound all icky-scientific, but sperm cannot survive in really cold temperatures or at body temperature either, which is why the nads hang in warm weather & then suck back up if it gets cold lol
 
#8 ·
It seems like I heard they can pull them back up, which is why I asked. Well, I guess I will just have to keep an eye on them(!) and see what happens. Is there any downside to gelding early? Like I was planning on waiting, but if they are actually there, could he be gelding now? Or is that a bad idea? I don't think I would want to geld him this soon, but I am just exploring my options.

The vet has told me on more than one occasion "he's going to be big" so I think he must be a big, robust colt for his age.
 
#9 ·
Personally, I think the vet started on the one, Solon realized what was going on, sucked up the other and the vet just said he got both. Thing is, he was a draft, the one I barely glanced at (I was so grossed out I though I was going to puke) was pretty darn big.

Even my main vet that did the second gelding was perplexed but he also said they can pull them back up.

If they are there, he can be gelded now. We have had colts at the barn and when they showed, their dangly bits were removed immediately. Worst case scenario is when they only drop one and after a year it's evident the vet is going to have to do the surgery to remove the other.
 
#10 ·
my colt is almost 6 months old and was born on march 9th. and he has YET to drop at all. if you lay him down and lift on of his hind legs you can kind of see and feel one. but thats not technically dropped right? so i am having the same problem on when to geld and i really want to catch it soon so i have no problems since he is pastured with quite a few mares it might make him develope the studdyness early. so either my guy is dropping very late or your zane is dropping early! lol
 
#11 ·
Daughter's two year old colt hasn't dropped completely even now. Vet says he should drop in the next few months. We'll have him gelded during the cold weather - I'm less concerned about mud than I am about flies...
 
#12 ·
I didnt geld my colt till after he was a year old. And he did just fine. And he wasnt even completley dropped. But the way my vet does it... it isnt a big deal as long as she can feel it, she can geld.
 
#15 ·
First of all THANK YOU FOR GELDING HIM! :)

You'll be safe for about 3 years, I mean it's never too late to geld but in my experience they don't start acting REALLY stud-y until they're "stallions" not "colts" ;)

I would just wait until spring unless you have to get it done before winter. If so, I'd wait another month then chop em.

Question though... If the horse is knocked out for the procedure, wouldn't they "relax" and not have them all sucked up? Just curious lol
 
#17 ·
Wow, so much to consider. I hadn't heard about them herniating before. Is that like developing something like a navel hernia, except where the testicles were removed? That wouldn't be good.

I guess my little guy is a bit unusual. He had both of them showing at about a month of age (he's two months now). Even today I went out there and looked and felt, and yup, sure enough, there are two just sitting there looking proud. :lol: It surprised a lady down the road who breeds Paints. She said her colts are around 5 months old and their testicles still haven't shown themselves.

I guess my reason for doing it sooner rather than later is because I don't want him developing aggressive behavior. He is my first foal, and he's full of attitude, and I need all the help I can get, lol! And he will never be a stallion prospect. He is a mixed breed and has a bum leg. But while he was still in the womb I was hoping for a colt, because I really like geldings and I don't like moodiness some mares have. So I always was kind of hoping for a gelding. The decision is just when.

My vet said he likes to do them at 5-6 months, but because he was born mid-July that would put us in the middle of winter. So I guess we'll just have to see how it goes. Feel free to leave more comments and advice!

The consensus seems to be that spring is a pretty good time to do it, when they are getting close to a year old. Will he be studdy or harder to handle if I wait that long? He has a lot of attitude and is quite mouthy. I don't know how much of that is just normal foal stuff, and how much is because he's a stud colt.

Like I said, he's my first and I'm trying to shape him into a good horse, but he doesn't just blindly do as I ask. He likes to question authority! But he's far from wild either. He leads, picks up his feet, likes to be groomed, can be touched all over, tolerates fly spray, moves off of pressure, kind-of ponies okay. I've been working with him almost every day to get him where I want him. So maybe I should give the guy a break and worry about gelding in the spring?

The negative things that he does is rear when being ponied, is mouthy and nippy (everything goes in his mouth!), and sometimes tries to balk or bolt when being led. But I got a dressage whip for the balking, and he never gets away from me when he bolts, so I think that is on the mend. The nipping seems really hard to fix. I can tell by the look on his face he's going to do it, and he just can't seem to help himself, he does it anyway! I'll either bump him in the chin when he nips and/or quickly ask him to back up. He's just as mischievous as can be!
 
#18 ·
It sounds like he needs to learn that you are the boss more. Is he out with a herd or just his mom? I usually put my foals out with a herd around 1mth or so (with the mom). This way the other horses teach him how to respect others and play nice so to speak. The mom will protect him so he doesn't get hurt and the other horses won't go to nuts on him...but they will tell him off when he starts acting up.

I have found that it is much easier to handle them after a couple of weeks in a herd.
 
#23 ·
The breeder of my horses gelded her 20 yr old stallion after being a breeding stud for 16 yrs. And he didnt have any problems.
 
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