Castration
November 20, 2009
Why gelding your stallion is an important part of responsible horse ownership.
The old adage is true - a good stallion makes an even better gelding.
By Dr. Thomas Lenz in The American Quarter Horse Racing Journal
Because a stallion has the potential to sire hundreds of foals, the decision to geld a colt is especially important.
My father was in the commercial cattle business, and he always said, “It takes a good bull calf to make a good steer.” We always picked out the best bull calf to castrate and show in our 4-H steer classes. I have the same opinion on horses: Generally less than 1 percent of each year’s colt crop is good enough to become breeding stallions.
The second reason to castrate is that stallions are testosterone-driven and can be aggressive and potentially dangerous to other horses and people.
Gelding your colt is one way to make him more marketable. Another way you can do that is to enroll him in the AQHA Incentive Fund. Find out how showing your horse can lead to a big payoff!
Undesirable traits include parrot mouth, cryptorchidism, homozygous HYPP and excessive white with underlying pink skin. We should geld colts that possess any of these undesirable traits. Of course, that decision is only made more difficult if the colt is an extremely good athlete or possesses perfect conformation.
If a colt has a marginal pedigree, possesses undesirable traits or does not possess exceptional breeding potential, he should be gelded early in life, just prior to or after weaning. Some of the advantages of early castration are that the colt never develops stallion-like behavior or secondary sex characteristics such as a cresty neck.
In addition, colts castrated at 4-6 months of age generally experience few post-castration complications such as swelling or infection. I like to castrate colts two or three weeks prior to weaning and then turn them back with their dams where they can get plenty of exercise and a little TLC. I’ve gelded colts as young as 30-45 days of age, and they do fine.
Colts gelded prior to puberty often grow taller than if they were left intact until after puberty. The testosterone surge at puberty (18-24 months) triggers closure of the growth (epiphyseal) plates in the long bones of the legs, and the horse stops growing taller. The theory is that colts gelded at less than 1 year of age do not experience the pubertal testosterone surge and that allows more long bone growth and extra height.
Stay tuned for the conclusion to this article where Dr. Lenz takes you through the castration process and the post-surgical care of your gelding.
Whether you decide to geld your colt or not, make sure to enroll him in the AQHA Incentive Fund. It’s one way showing can lead to a big payoff!
Comments
5 Comments on “Castration”
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November 30th, 2009 at 12:53 am
I do believe most colts do need to be geld were I disgree with you is I dont think it should be the best colt out of the bunch to be geld. As a breeder we should geld at 30 to 45 days of age and dont allow the descion to be made by the future owner (and if they want a stallion they can buy one that meets the breed and health standards). But whats going on now is breeders are selling colts/phillies to the consumer and allowing the consumer to make the desicion not knowing breed and health standards and thinking if its a stallion there going to make a lot of money breeding horses. When you could by-pass all of that and educate the consumer and improving the breed and health standards. But only the horse association can change that.
December 2nd, 2009 at 3:39 pm
I question gelding a colt as young as this article suggests. It seems to me that in doing so you have a very good possibilty of an adult gelding with a juvenile urinary tract.I geld my colts as yearlings and in some cases as two year olds. My colts are not stalled but run in pastures with older horses … This seems to eliminate behavior problems.
December 2nd, 2009 at 4:56 pm
I have gelded colts of various ages (3 months to 2 years) and I prefer gelding at 3 to 4 months. Gelding at 3 to 4 months is much less stress on the animal, and they heal so much quicker versus when gelded older. Too many breeders have the “business agenda” that if they keep them a stud they will be easier to sell, they don’t want the expense of gelding, or they want to “wait and see if they are stud quality or not”. As an amateur who shows and trail rides I have no desire to own a stallion. I also know of too many people who own stallions (and breed) for romantic reasons that should be geldings. I think breeders should geld BEFORE selling their livestock. Rene has a very good point in her comment. With so many unwanted or cheap horses for sale the problem is too many horses and not enough owners who want to pay to keep them. Educate the breeder who breeds with no thought for the best interest of the horse, but only thinks they will make money or want to “experience a foal”. “A good stud makes an great gelding”. And most everyone agrees — lots of people want great geldings. I know I do.
December 2nd, 2009 at 11:30 pm
My experience has been that studs/stallions are often management problems and tend to try to tear out of their area to get to mares and/or fight with other horses. Plus they can hurt you. I prefer to not have them and use frozen semen from top stallions available. That way, I can cherry pick who I want to breed to and determine the best stallion for my mares. An old cowboy once told me, “I wouldn’t have a stud horse or a billy goat on my place”. Unless you have first class secure facilities and plenty of good help, i can’t help but agree.
August 23rd, 2010 at 4:02 am
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