On the Gelding Subject...

[Kaitlyn]

As some of you know by now, I'm on here to mostly lurk and just gain knowledge in general, for any future miniatures I may have, so this is, as always, a hypothetical question for now.

In any case, I fully plan on having my first miniature be a colt/gelding. In the event that I do get one young enough to still be a colt, I was wondering what you personally consider to be the best time to geld? I know the subject is up for much debate in the dog world, is it the same here? I know that in dogs, some feel it is best to neuter early to completely prevent any male behaviors from arising, and some feel it is best to let the animal mature before castrating it. What is the consensus for minis?

 

[valshingle]

My only hard and fast rule is to geld when there are no flies out and the weather isn't stressful. If you don't want him to develop any studly behavior then you need to geld before he hits puberty.

 

[BM Miniatures]

We originally wanted to geld at about 6months after they are weaned and settled but we have had a few that there was nothing to geld!

We now geld while they are on there moms(around 2 months). They are gelded, wake up, have a drink from mom and off they go back to playing again. Very little stress and we have managed to grab the little suckers before they can disapear.

I had one vet telling me that it's not possible for them to suck them back up once they are down, but both colts that we wanted to geld had both testies down while they were on there moms, after we weaned them, GONE.

 

[White Socks Miniature]

I geld around of year of age, it depends on temperment and if the testes are present! If you geld early you have to be very careful and have a competent vet as the inguinal ring can still be quite large and therefore have a greater chance of getting inguinal hernias post gelding. That being said you can get a yearling, or older horse for that matter, with a large inguinal opening, its just a risk to be aware of.

 

[Calekio]

My vet has gelded one who was a well developped 6 month old foal. My vet won't even entertain the idea of gelding if the inguinal ring aren't closed enough.... the horror stories she told me made me go with her! I fully trust my vet so if she said its fine to geld.. we do.. if she not happy i'll wait!

Normally we say about 18 months old they get gelded.. towards the winter when the flies aren't around much any more and the mud hasn't started yet! lol

 

[Reble]

As long as they are down and not fly season.