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To Geld or not to geld....

5K views 24 replies 11 participants last post by  Dark Horse 
#1 ·
:wink:Ok, I know there will be much debate over this or at least a lot of different answers but I am curious so I am going to ask.
I have owned QHs for almost all my life...and as far as this questions goes towards that breed of horse.....I know the answer...but I "ended up with" a TWH colt when my "brother in law" baught a mare and she was prego....:shock:. Long story short out poped a palamino colt whom I just adore and couldnt part with....So he turned 2yrs old this April and I DO NOT WANT HIM TO BE A NARROW SKINNY WALKING HORSE! His mother was a rather big thick grl and his dad wasnt a shrimp.....he is growing nicely but I have seen MANY scrawny gaited horses and it prolly has a lot to do with genetics...but I have thus far kept him intact so he would "bulk" up like my QHs...however I now feel since his 2nd BDAY that these gaited horses may be oppisite....:wink: Maybe he stays pumped up which keeps him lean rather than bulking him up?? IDK just thought mayb some exsperianced GAITED folks may give some insight. He is by no means skinny....but he doesnt get FAT either...so anyways lets have it!
THANKS
 
#5 ·
I agree! I think it has more to do with genetics. Some gaited horses just seem to have that lanky conformation. I have a 1/2 Fox Trotter, 1/2 QH colt and everytime my vet sees him he says "that's going to be a big horse" and I gelded my colt at 5 months. I have read they will get taller if gelded younger. Not the same as being bulky, but an extra inch never hurt no one. :lol:

At age two, if you are planning on gelding, you might as well get it done.

I am surprised he is not acting studdy already as have a neighbor with a colt born a month later than mine and she didn't geld him until he was 8 or 9 months and he was already acting studdy and showing interest in his mother. :shock: So I'm glad I got my guy done before he started showing interest.

On the plus side, he may still tank-out if it is in his genetics even several years from now. The same neighbor had a Fox Trotter that was so narrow (dare I say ugly) when I first saw him and he was aged 4. Several years later and he is much wider in the chest and quite the handsome dude! So it took him a while to broaden out.

So I don't know if your horse will tank-out or not, but it is likely genetics more than hormones. Even tanky gaited horses don't seem to have the butt of a Quarter Horse though. My Fox Trotter mare is very broad in the chest and "okay" in the hind quarters, but she will never be a QH muscle-wise. I think it has to do with form following function because most gaited horses are built quite different, especially in the hind quarters, than stock horses are.
 
#3 ·
My vote is geld, especially if you don't plan on using him a breeding stock.

There are feeds you can give to him that may beef him up a bit too.
 
#4 ·
I'm not a gaited expert...truely I've only ridden one gaited horse in my life, but I have actually found that gelding a horse early can help them 'beef up.' They grow to be stockier, stronger, and generally better tempered. Their hormones level out better, and they tend to be lovely, well mannered animals with the right training.
 
#6 ·
PS. If his parents are well built, especially his mom, then it is likely he will be built similar. I have been told that the mare in particular contributes more to the foal than the stallion does.

My colt is nearly the spitting image of his mother. His head, his back, everything. And my friend's colt is the spitting image of HIS mother. Both mares are built very different and the colts look like clones if their mothers, not their father (they share the same father).
 
#7 ·
Thanks! All is appreciated. He is not studish...He is rotten! I have ridden him for a few hours with some gelding and is was a "**** talker" but never aggressive or got out of control. HE has a good mind on him.
If he gets to where his mother was when she left here I will be pleased. She was a nice size girl.
I know he wont tank out like my QHs but I would just DIE if he stayed narrow....(Thats him at 1yr in my photo)
I think when it cools off here I think I will take his "CRAZY" I just wondered what my "gaited folks" thought.
Thanks Again
 
#8 ·
Personally, I would geld him and stop riding him until he is older.
 
#9 ·
Don't worry I was looking at my little HaflingerxGypsy cross filly that came to me underweight thinking that hopefully I got to her in time to where she's still going to bulk up. Her full brother is so narrow. Her sire was a tank and I'm assuming since her dame was a Haflinger that she was as well. It's my hopes that she chunks up so that I can eventually ride her. Hopefully she makes it to the 14 hand mark. Only 3 inches to go!
 
#14 ·
Believe it or not, living things grow bigger when altered. Which is why we castrate beef animals, chickens (capons) etc. Testosterone impedes growth. I think the only thing that grows larger on a stallion is the throat latch and crest of the neck, which isn't really diserable.
 
#15 ·
It's all in their genetics. My dad has had a few TW that people thought were QH they were so beefy but as a breed they are on the thinner side. Also as someone else mentioned, they tend to develop later. My big boy was over 6 before he reached his full size and weight. Up until that point I was shoving groceries down his throat non stop and he didn't gain an ounce!
 
#16 ·
In many Iberian breeds (particularly in Latin countries) it's not the custom to geld a stallion unless there is a serious conformational or tempermental flaw.

Stallions are for riding; mares are for breeding.

In the U.S. we tend to follow the British/Northern European practice of gelding all but the best stallions (those which will be used for breeding).

Gelding does NOT remove "male" tendencies (aggression, mare herding, mounting, etc.). These "stallion" behaviors are instinctive. You can prove this by watching suckling colts play and comparing their play to suckling fillies. Gelding removes the fuel that "amps up" these behaviors.

Gelding will usually result in some physical differences at maturity. These changes generally do not negatively impact the utility of the horse.

G.
 
#20 ·
It's also about the mental part of riding, they simply, as a general rule, are not ready. While it's true that performance horses are backed as long 2 year olds, it just isn't a smart practice.
 
#21 · (Edited by Moderator)
Well ok guys....and just so we are clear I do not ride this thing too much...he is handled daily and we do other things together but I havent full on started riding him because I feel he is still a little small for a lot of "me riding"....he is tacked and untacked frequently because he is so rotten he sucks at it...he'd rather go bareback.....I also think that as far as riding when they are 2yrs old...a lot of it has to do with the particular horses growth at that age. I have seen some HUGE 2yr olds....and some small ones. So Little Man is not what I would call a "ridden" horse yet...but I have been ontop of him with and with out saddle. Practice makes perfect, and there's nothing nicer than a horse that will stand COMPLETELY still to be mounted, so we practice that(mostly form a mounting block so that I am not pulling on his withers to much! My horses welfare is ALWAYS put first. I plan on having my horses as life time partners so they are treated and thought of first around here.
I have had many people tell me that TWH mature later and at a slower pace...6-7 was the average "bulked" up age I got from people.
I think I am leaning toward going on and gelding him when it cools off. Then just waiting for some age :D....if he does as well as I think he will he will be well worth the wait!
THANKS
 
#24 ·
Dr. Deb Bennett has determined by necropsy and by examination of skeletons that ALL light horses mature at roughly the same rate and all reach full maturity at about 6 years (plus or minus a few months).

Some breeds (like the QH) have been selected to appear mature at a much younger age. But outward appearance and internal structure, in the QH, have been allowed to "diverge." That leads to the illusion of maturity vice its reality.

Working two year olds on the ground is a Very Good Thing. Putting them under saddle much under the age of three is a BIG "roll of the dice." Hard work before the age of six is a bigger roll of the dice.

G.
 
#22 ·
I edited out the bold print - shouting does not change the facts regardless of how loud you say it.
 
#25 ·
I'm glad to hear that you're going to continue with his ground work until he's a year or so older. You can put that saddle on all you want, pony him with it, get him used to it and just prepare him mentally and physically for riding.

A lot of 2yr olds get ridden, though I believe it's pushing one's luck. I've always heard, too, that tw's tend to mature a little later in life than other breeds though I can't give you text to back it up.

I also believe that your horse will bulk up. I've had a 5yr old tw gelding and he was still growing, filling out and young upstairs. I totally agree with getting rid of the "other" brain before he knows it's there, LOL. IMHO, there's no reason to have a stallion unless you plan on breeding. If you want this horse for a great all around trail horse, everyone, including him, will be much happier once he's gelded.

You'd mentioned him being a bit full of himself, I think, just imagine him at 1200#...ut uh.

A good friend of mine has a 1/2 qh 1/2 morgan gelding. He's about 2 1/2yrs old now. She's just starting on a 20min. or so ride. Because she'd spent so much time with him on the ground, getting the saddle on him, the bit in his mouth, etc were nothing to even fuss over. Before the saddle went on he bathed, tied, hauled, had his feet handled, been ponied on the trails, walked all over the neighborhood and exposed to more things than a lot of 5yr old horses. So, there's lots of things for you to do, if you haven't done them already. Look to the dam and sire..they'll tell you what kind of build he has..also, so won't his complete bloodline, so check into his reg. papers.
 
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