5 week old colt foal attacking other, adult horses!

[Calekio]

Few days ago i noticed Twister, my 5 week old miniature colt foal striking out at the fence when ever any of the colts got close.. i thought it odd but will admit i didn't take much notice.

However today everything got a lot worse! I put my 3yr old filly out with the 2 mares and foal, Twister marched up and started striking out her, she gave him a nip and he backed off a little but continued to harass her so i did remove her.

When i later walked my 2yr old colt into the mares and foals field Twister again came marching up, then suddenly ears back and launched on my colt (who is on lead), pounding him with hooves and teeth, i had to drag twister off him but it didn't stop and he tried to chase the other colt out of the field. He then spent the next hour screaming at the top of his lungs and running the fence line.... just like i would expect from a fully mature stallion... but never from a young foal!

We then later took Twister and his mum for a walk.. yet again he was threatening the horses at the fencelines, dispite being called up on it from me. We also had rearing, bucking, biting.. we never had this last time he went on head collar less than a week ago! He is a little shy in the field, which i think might be are only blessing as he hasn't started going for people in his field.. but i also don't wish it to get this far!

I'm am totally shocked.. i've never had a foal act like this.. i did check him and he does have 2 testicles i can feel.. i've read of colt foals who can turn into monsters for no other reason than hormones and the only way of fixing the problem is to geld them quickly.. but Twister, although planned to be gelded if vet deems him mature enough at weaning is only 5 weeks old... surely this is too young to geld.. and could this be out problem that hormones have kicked it..

I'm a loss and really don't know what to do... he was very sweet, lively and cheeky but shy of other horses like any foal would be... not declaring ww3 on them!!

Help! What do i do.. Has anyone ever had a colt act like this before?

 

[Matt73]

Snip Snip

 

[Calekio]

But is he too young at only 5 weeks? Never had them gelded before 6 months before...

 

[chandab]

But is he too young at only 5 weeks? Never had them gelded before 6 months before...

Its my understanding that if they are there they can be removed at any age. So, perhaps if your vet is willing, he needs to lose his sooner rather than later.

 

[chandab]

oops double post

 

[Joanne]

If you have a location where he can get some one on one training that might work.

Our foals are raised together, so we have never had it escalate to this level before.

I think he is WAY TOO YOUNG to be gelded.

 

[Calekio]

He has another foal for company.. as i have 2 mares and foals together...

I was trying to think if there was a reason for him being so much different to the other foals i've had.. there is not stallion in with them this year.. but we've done that before and never gotten this. He is the only boy in the field... (other foal is a filly, and then the 2 mares) but again.. we done this before and never had a problem.. We have yearling colts beside them... this is a normal thing and never posed a problem...

I've had colt foals who had had to be in a field with only there mum and then a young 2yr old filly.. and he was a very boisterous colt but nothing like this.. and this has changed within the last 7 days..

 

[wpsellwood]

I had similar to that. He would chase the other foals. He wasnt so hot when I weaned him . It all went away if you can believe that. Never did anything was fine with others. Showed him as weanling colt and all.

 

[Jill]

I think Mona of this forum may have had a horse gelded around his age or younger.

No, I've never seen a foal act that way, but I have seen that the foals (especially colts) of the "boss mare" can be more obnoxious than other foals. Is his mom the boss mare over the other mare they are in with? I'm thinking he's in need of a reality check letting him know he's really not the most biggest badest colt in the world, but I don't have a clue how you can safely let him get that message (from another horse who won't take his "stuff").

 

[Miniv]

I definitely would have him CUT......It doesn't guarantee a change in behavior, but it certainly can't HURT.

What you are describing is very unusual, however, it can mean an unusually early development of testosterone.

 

[muffntuf]

I am going to throw this out there - is he hungry? I have a foal who is agressive, but he's hungry. He can get down right nasty to anyone and any horse, doesn't matter, takes the lead mare on. I have started feeding him separate now from his mother, which is earlier than normal, but seems to be taking some of the edge off of him.

 

[Minimor]

If you have a vet that will geld a colt at such a young age there is no reason why he cannot be done right away. I know different people who have gelded foals in the 4-6 weeks age range. You do have to have a vet that will do it though--the one vet we use locally will not do them that young, and I doubt if she could be persuaded to go against her 'not until 6 months old' policy. The other vet that we use generally doesn't geld them that young, but he could be talked into doing it if I were to really want one gelded that young. Other vets I've known over the years were perfectly willing to geld even the young foals, and have done so routinely for certain of their clients.

I've only ever known one foal that behaved this way at such a young age. A good friend of mine had an outside mare in for breeding, and that mare had a young colt at side. Colt was an absolute horror to have around--the mares were all being pasture bred so this mare & foal were out with the herd. I'm not sure how much the colt would bother the other foals, but he liked to focus on the stallion. He'd go & try to beat the stallion up, and that particular stallion is such a gentle soul with the babies that he didn't know what to do to protect himself--getting tough with a baby just wasn't his style! As I recall mom & baby ended up being removed from the herd & were kept alone until the mare was checked back & sent home--I don't know what the colt turned out like, if he was gelded or if he changed his ways as he got a bit older because I didn't know the owner & never heard any more about him after he left my friend's place.

 

[Mona]

No, 5 weeks is definately not too early to geld. If the testicles can be palpated, they can be removed. Jill is correct, I did have a colt gelded between his 5th and 6th week of age, and the same day, had another colt just 2 weeks older than him done as well. Both came through with flying colors! I think they actually do so much better when they are still on their dams. The colts I had done however, were not done because of problems, they were done because I knew I would be having them gelded at some point, and since the vet was coming here, I thought I would have 3 done on the same visit. (2 very young colts and a mature stallion)

 

[christina_ski]

Reguardless if both testicals are down or not. Have your vet make sure his inguial rings are closed. This is what happened to my 6 month old, he had both down but one of his rings was not closed and his intestines fell out of the hole when he struggled to get up. I talked to a vet down at Legacy Equine Center in Tulsa, OK and they said most miniature need to be gelded after their actual first birthday. They have heard alot of stories of them being gelded too soon and the same thing happening as with what happened to my colt, only they were not as lucky as he was to live.

With that attitude, yes cut him soon! But take precautions. Earliest we have had one done was acting alot like yours, he was 2 months old. Rings were closed and he had no problems at all.

Christina

 

[Calekio]

The vet i use is very good with gelding minis, our surgury has 7 vets on staff, and i don't care how long i have to wait to book any gelding in with either her.. or the head vet who gelded Splash (as he only have one down.. second was half retained in the abdomen and so he had to have stitches inside and out!!)

Last year i had several gelded, an older mature stallion, a yearling and 2 colt foals were booked in, i had her geld them all but she also used the opportunity to teach another of the vets about gelding these little ones. She also won't do them standing and they knocked out and put flat. The 2 colts were looked at very carefully, after having been told by one vet both colts were down and capable of being gelded. The bigger colt was developed enough and rings closed to be cut, no problems, but Magic she could only just feel them, we got as far having him knocked on the floor and then she said the rings were closed and the risk was too high, he'll be gelded this winter hopefully now. So i'd trust her judgement if she said Twister could be gelded, that it could be done safely.

Oddly enough Twister's mum is not the dominant mare... like you'd expect really.. but Twister is out with a filly foal.. who if you take her out of the field you'd think i just took his mother away! And will scream, fence walk and even tried to climb out until she comes back! He has even tried it on with her mum who has given him a very sharp telling off.. but it doesn't seem to help much as hasn't really changed his behavior..

At the moment no children are allowed in my foals field unless i'm right beside them.. as i think he could easily try it on with one of them and i don't want anyone getting hurt.. or him learning that!

Food wise they have plenty of grass and the foals already have there own buckets.. he's not much interested in the food, more playing with the bucket.

If i could put him out with another horse who would give him a what for i would... but then they have ww3 with his mum and the other mare... and i think he'd easily learn the wring thing! I had him in hand and he attacked my ex stallion who was only gelded last year... normally any other horse he'd of swiftly turned on and brought back down to earth... but is very patient with foals so he just ran away, with Twister trying to follow him! We took him for a walk down the track where we have big horses beside us.. now normally we keep them mares and foals the other side of the track and they do get upset by the interest the big horses show (the filly was hiding behind mum when we took her out, which is normal) he was pulling, rearing, and screaming towards them!! With them his mum kicking up because he'd creating!

 

[rabbitsfizz]

No problem gelding a colt this age....if the testicles were not down you would have a problem...

.....the only way a colts intestines can be involved is if you have a hernia, and I mean internally, and that could, in theory happen at any age and to any horse.

I have had quite a few foals gelded now, I usually wait until the youngest is eight weeks old, but I see no reason why a five week old cannot be down.