How young can you geld a foal

[weerunner]

I've just sold my 3 month old colt Hat Trick. He will stay here with me until I get him gelded and weaned. So my question is how young can he be gelded. Both testicles are down and are easily felt by me. I've asked my vet but he has not got back to me yet. Thought someone here would know the answer.

 

[Jean_B]

I try to geld the colts when they are around 10 weeks old. They are still on their momma - so when they wake up they go and nurse and it's like (almost) nothing happened. I keep them in a stall for at 24 hours on CLEAN straw or soft hay (I clean my stalls FREQUENTLY - just ask those who have stalled next to me at shows). I'll take them out with momma for a walk after about 12 hours. After a day I turn them out but watch them carefully for any signs of infection....never had one get infected but you can't be too careful. Some vets will refuse to do them that young but that's just plain goofy if they know what they are doing.

 

[Nathan Luszcz]

I prefer to do it before weaning, so around 3mo if possible. That way the stress is lower. As long as you can palpate both testicles, they can be taken out.

 

[JMS Miniatures]

I gelded one as young as 2 months old with no problems and one that was 5 months old and almost lost him because he had an inguinal hernia, vet told us that the ring wasn't fully closed. It sounds like yours would probably be ok but personally after experiencing that I won't do any younger than a yearling. I know what happened with my guy is uncommon but don't want to witness that ever again, and if the 2 guys didn't stick around to watch the minis and they wouldn't have been there to help the vet said he wouldn't have made it. He's 4 years old now pictured on the left and has no complications from it but he is lucky to be here.

 

[disneyhorse]

I gelded a two month old and a two year old on the same day. The two month old recovered much, much quicker and I'd never hesitate to geld that early again.

And I do feel that the "gelding early makes them grow taller" is a myth. I had two full brothers... The one gelded at two years old matured at 36" tall, the one gelded at six months old matured at 34" tall. (sire was 34", dam was 38") So there are no guarantees!

 

[jandjmc]

I purchased a 6 week old foal from a friend whose husband is a vet. I knew I wanted him gelded and my friend recommended that her husband geld him at 3 months, before he was weaned at 6 months. The foal was descended, so I agreed. As others on this thread have said, it was very easy on the foal. He woke up to nurse with his Momma. No complications at all. He also is very easy-going as a 4 year old and refined due to not having any "male"characteristics. Does great in a herd. I'd geld that young again in a heartbeat.

 

[Mona]

I liked to geld before they were weaned, and I even had 2 done VERY young, at just 5 1/2 and 7 1/2 weeks of age. It seems to me, the younger they are, the easier it seems to be on them for recovering.

 

[Mima Acres]

And I do feel that the "gelding early makes them grow taller" is a myth. I had two full brothers... The one gelded at two years old matured at 36" tall, the one gelded at six months old matured at 34" tall. (sire was 34", dam was 38") So there are no guarantees!

I'm glad you menioned that. I was curious about this. I was going to geld our colt as soon as possible and then read the article about horses gelded young being taller and was second guessing that decision. I'm still not sure what to do but I'll probably have him gelded sooner than later.

 

[drmatthewtaylor]

Theoretically you could geld a new born, but that seems pretty harsh.

The youngest I ever gelded was 2 weeks, but there some extenuating circumstances.

As a practical matter, a few weeks old would work well. But, many Vets prefer to feel testicles prior to surgery. Consult with your Vet.

Dr Taylor

Dr

 

[Nathan Luszcz]

Testosterone does promote heavier growth, wider face, testicular development.... without that testosterone, the energy that was being spent on those things can be spent on others things, mostly height. Is that a huge difference? Depends on the horse, but it is possible you'll get an "extra" inch or two by gelding early. Now, is that early as in 2mo vs 2yr? Or 2mo vs 4mo? If you geld before 6mo anyways, I doubt you'll see a difference between birth and 6mo. The bigger difference is gelding as an adult (3-5yo) compared to as a prepubescent (before 11mo).