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gelding scheduled - what was your experience?

2K views 12 replies 8 participants last post by  mls 
#1 ·
ok so first i got my vet to agree to $200 ea plus farm call ($75) for gelding my two colts! suuuuper cheap awesome im thrilled. they get done on thurs the 17th. we're going to check for wolf teeth as well then.

anyway so what to expect? i understand they need to stay in a stall for a few days to a week. what do you guys think about that - did you do the same? how did your horses take it (mine both live outside but will hang out in stalls if they need to). just wondering what else to expect and how long they will be sore and what not. im SO thrilled my vet gave me such a good price! :)

yay for geldings haha!
 
#2 ·
i understand they need to stay in a stall for a few days to a week. what do you guys think about that - did you do the same? how did your horses take it (mine both live outside but will hang out in stalls if they need to).
If the procedure is a standing castration - there should be no need for stall rest. In fact immobiliziation will cause more harm than good.

We have always had forced exercise for at least 10 minutes 2x a day to combat swelling.
 
#3 ·
Mine had to stay in a stall for 24 hours on straw bedding. Then, I had to take him out daily for light exercise for 15-30 minutes progressively. Ater a week he was to be worked daily out turned out. They need to be turned out or worked to prevent swelling, but also to facilitate draining. They can get nasty infections if the wounds don't drain.
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#7 ·
sounds so simple! i wish we weren't having massing flooding here :( the A7P by my dads is literally underwater and the highway has been closed since Mon with 2-4" more rain expected thurs - fri and evacuations expected to start thur midday if the storm goes as predicted as the rivers are already several feet above flood level into moderate flodding. this will put things into severe widespread flooding. sucks. even where i am 30 miles north at a slightly higher elevation is having flooding which is just insane.

course i still need to get the geldings done, so worst case scenario i can do some limited turnout in my indoor arena where it's dry, pretty dust-free (we water it almost daily in the inclement weather and have awesome soft footing so there's almost no dust provided it's properly watered), and then they can move w/o dirt or as much of a risk of infection. blech this weather is a mess.

glad your gelding went well! :)
 
#5 ·
i should add that we have a LOT of mud and manure right now in the fields thanks to snow melt, ice underneath, and the backhoe not currently running for us to clean out the fields like we usually do (yet). i think that's more of the importance of inside at the moment. i'll make sure they get exercise daily then for sure! thanks!

both also LOVE to lie in the muddiest dirtiest wettest spot possible so i'd think that would increase infection risk, right? again hence the inside for at least the first few days due to the mud/flooding here?
 
#6 ·
oh great topic! castrations here typically are done standing and then the horse is encouraged to move as much as possible after to drain the incision points (preferably no rolling right away, etc). it is, however, the high desert and we don't have as much mud and things as you do out east so that's an interesting point. i would think keeping them inside/supervised in the first few days would make sense to keep the wounds from getting infected. otherwise movement, in my experience, is best for the draining/healing process.

i hope all goes well!
 
#8 ·
With Pistol I had him gelded at 4.5 months (yes you read that right). He was knocked mostly out, laid out and gelded. He was turned back out with his dam and the rest of the horses and brought in twice daily for the first week to cold hose if needed and to check the incision and then daily until he healed. We did exercising him to make sure he kept moving and the swelling down.

Granted I am in North Dakota, the bugs were gone, and it was early fall so was nice and cool.
 
#9 · (Edited)
Every horse Ive ever had thats we have gelded incuding older stallions were turned out immediatly and used forced excercise as needed to keep it open healing from the inside out and swelling away. We cold hosed also as needed to keep it open and draining.

Infection from dirt and so forth isnt ususally the problem, its swelling (horse cant pee if hes too swollen) and the incision closing too soon that causes alot of problems if not kept in check. Ive never heard to stall a horse after a geld.

I just had one done who is coming 3 and he was castrated on his back. The vet gave him a shot of antibiotics and a tetnus booster and put silver spray on the insicions. I turned him out as soon as the sedation wore off with his buddies who make him run and play on a hillside and I didnt even have to hose this time. Hes almost healed now and had very minimal swelling.
 
#10 ·
yeah unfortunately with flooding and mud immediate turnout isn't an option and my vet recommended several days to a week in a stall. im going to go with just a few nites bc that makes more sense to me but will if necessary turn them out in the ring (either indoor or outdoor) so that they are not in wet gross mud (depending on flooding grrr!)
 
#11 ·
what age did you castrate yours? mine is 10 months old, and one of his has not dropped. someone said that it can take up to two years to drop. we have a vet appt next friday to have him gelded, but i'm wondering if we should wait until it drops.... what do you think?
 
#13 ·
If he has a retained testicle, it is now abdominal surgery. The price will reflect accordingly. ($$) MOST doctors will not cut on something like that out in the field.

A vet will be able to tell you if it's just beneath the surface. If that is the case, it may drop.
 
#12 ·
my boy didn't drop his second testicle until he was a little over 2. Then his second ring didn't close up enough for him to be gelded in the field until he was 2.5. You can always take them in early and have them put under and operated on a table at the vet's office. I had that option, but it was double the cost because off the anesthesia.
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