Gelding an aged stallion

[justagirl]

I have an aged stallion I am considering gelding , since I have no mares anymore and I don't ever intend on breeding him ..... he is 8 next year.

I'm wondering if it is going to change his attitude much, if at all . He's not agressive to anything or anyone other than 1 particular gelding I have who is scared to death of him . He stays in the pasture with 3 geldings and he doesn't bother 2 of them at all ... the 1 gelding though , is a different story .

I'm not sure gelding him is the answer , because the behavior is already established . I can separate the boys , but I hate to because 99% of the time they are very happy together.

So , have you gelded an aged stallion ? Did it change his attitude much ?

Thanks in advance .

 

[Riverdance]

I had a 13 year old, almost 14 year old stallion gelded last year. He was very agressive to other horses, stallions, geldings, even mares. (he was a slam bam thank you mame kind of boy)

First, because of the other gelding thread, older stallions bleed more, so the procedure is a little more involved. My vet had me leave him overnight to keep the clamps on to help keep the bleeding down. It took longer to stop bleeding when I took him home and longer to heal. But it was well worth the gelding procedure. After a few months, I was able to put him out with other geldings and even in with mares.

He still had a more stallion behavior towards other stallions, especially fence fighting, but when put in with other stallions, got along with them just fine for the first time.

He is now sold and on a farm with another gelding and a 2 year old stallion and they all get along.

 

[shalamara minis]

We gelded one at the age of 19, just mellowed him out a little. But there were no problems. We gelded him as all of our horses are A's and he is a B.

 

[Songcatcher]

I had a stallion gelded at 17 or 18 (I have forgotten the exact age). He had been used for breeding over several years and had many foals. However, when I got him, he tested infertile. He had all the hormones, but no live sperm. I left him at the vet's in the evening. He was gelded the next morning, and I picked him up that evening. He began to calm down almost immediately and had no complications what so ever. Healed quickly. That said, not all horses will react the same. There is always the possibility of danger, whether you geld him or if you leave him entire.

 

[MBennettp]

I have 2 that I have gelded that were over the age of 8. One of them was already sweet and no trouble therefore there was no personality change. The other was he** to handle, very aggressive toward both people and horses. Within 2 weeks of being gelded, he begun to settle down and is now safe around children as well as other horses.

Both healed quickly and are now happy geldings that are allowed to run with the mares.

Mary

 

[Ferin]

Hey Trish,

Twister was gelded as an 8 year old after being used as a herd stallion all his life. A couple months after being gelded he was put in with our herd of mares and geldings. From that first day of being with the herd he has done wonderful with them. He doesn't show any stallion behavior with mares, geldings, or people. He actually acts like more of a gelding then Spirit did and Spirit was gelded as a foal. The only time I've seen Twister act a little moody with another horse is when Buddy, our stallion, got here. They were at the fenceline challenging eachother. Now that they are used to eachother we can have them pretty close on leads without much of a problem. However, I don't know how they would do in a field together.

 

[MinisOutWest]

two years ago, I went thru the entire barn with the vet and gelded all 8 of them, 5 yrs to 13 yrs old. there was no special thing that needed to be done, they geld them like any other gelding. it is good that when put under they stay down for a while and dont do the flipping, kicking thing when getting up, thats bad for any gelding. so just a tad bit too much is ok, than not enough, but just try to guess the weights correctly, makes it easier for the vet, I know first hand from my last gelding incident, never do that again. But he will be much happier being a gelding, ask any vet, they will say the same. But one thing, if you decide to show him or sell him to a youth kid, let them know how old he was when gelded, cause my little boy- 8 yrs old, 27 inches tall, was perfect for the little youth girls, they practiced like crazy and went to the show, everything was cool, until the color class and there was a stallion in the class, he didnt do anything to hurt the girls, but he let that stallion know, he still had it in him, as soon as they separated the 2, then he was fine again, but he had been gelded for 3 yrs and he still had a little spirit in him, the mares in heat at the show didnt faze him, but that stallion opened his eyes. ha ha

 

[justagirl]

two years ago, I went thru the entire barn with the vet and gelded all 8 of them, 5 yrs to 13 yrs old.

LOL, and my hubby thinks I'm bad about castrating the boys ..... I'll have to show him this .

Thanks for the input .... I had pretty much decided I was going to geld him but didn't have much hope of it improving his attitude towards Styker , but maybe there is hope afterall .

 

[_minihorses4ever_]

Adonis was gelded at 11 I believe, and he still acts very studish. He will fence fight with my gelding, talks to the mares, etc. I didn't know him before he was gelded, but he definetly doesn't have your typical gelding attitude. And, that could just be him though, because he is a very proud horse in general.

 

[Annabellarose]

I gelded my Paint Horse at 6. I used him for breeding. The procedure went smoothly, he healed well and quickly, nothing out of the ordinary at all. My vet told me he had the biggest testicles he had ever seen on a horse in his life! I gelded him because I stopped breeding and I wanted to keep him and I really wanted to be able to turn him out with his mother. He is 11 and looks like a bred mare (fat), loves his mommy, and whinnies like a girl!