'Bloodless' castration? ('The 'Banding' method?)

Hello, my name is Victoria, but you can call me Vicky.

I have recently aquired the stud yard which my late husband owned and operated, and though I have experience with both handling and riding, the 'technical' side of the business is not something that I am all too familiar with, and so I'd like your advice and opinions on this one particular subject which makes me cinge just a little.

Castration.

Although I realise that it is a nessacary practice to both allow the horse a better quality of life, as well as to calm their temperaments, to stop unwanted breeding etc, etc, I am uncertain about methods.

My late husband used 'banding', ie, using a pair of Callicrate Banders to cut off the circulation and tubes until the testicle became necrotic and dropped off due to lack of blood flow (i think! I'm not exactly sure about the specifics), and although this had been a 40+ year practice, in discussion there are some people who tell me this could be dangerous to the animal! John always gave tetanus shots, etc to prevent infection and disease, but I would really like to know the 'modern' opinion on such things, what could be wrong with it, etc.

Thanks in advance;

Vicky Smith.
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Banding is not the recommended way to castrate horses. Small livestock (goats and sheep for example) and cattle are fine to "band" but I really wouldn't suggest it for horses. Their testicles do not hang the same way that the goats and sheep and cattle do and they can get very infected. It can result in blood and fluid pooling above the banding site and it's actually more painful and stressful on the horse because it takes longer to actually work (20-30 days. )