To Geld or Not to Geld

[DBNKCritterCranny]

I have asked this before, but need some more advise. I have heard some horror stories on gelding a older mini/horse. I have a mini stallion who is 11 years old. He is a beautiful Tri-Color pinto and he is Heterozygous. He has been pacing tons this spring and has been looking very thin. If I geld him would he stop the pacing or not ? Plus I have heard of stories that when they are gelded older sometimes their hole they make is bigger and their guts can fall out. I hate to sound stupid, but I dont want to geld him if he is going to die from it. He is not a mean stallion, very easy to handle, but I dont use him for breeding right now. I have a mini mare I am buying and she is coming to me already bred for a next year baby, so he could not breed her till next spring. My stallion is also 38" tall, registered Pinto and thru the Blue Eyed Horse Association. The mare I am getting is only 32" tall. She is registered AMHA and Pinto. What would you all do, Geld him or leave him be ?

Thanks for all the help on this. As you can tell I am scared of doing this to him. I have had mini's gelded before, but they were only like 2 years old at the most.

 

[Sue_C.]

I would geld him, and use him as a driving horse, and companion for your mare and foal.

What are YOUR plans though? Do you plan on developing a small band of minis with breeding in mind? IMHO, he is too tall to be breeding small mares. What is his background...that will tell you what he would be likely to throw in relation to size. Perhaps you want to breed for good-sized driving horses? If so, I would buy a nice "B" sized mare for him, and sell the 32" mare.

I just realized you didn't say he was registered AMHA or AMHR...if he is not, then I would DEFINATELY geld him...

 

[targetsmom]

ANY surgery, including gelding, entails some risk. But if he were mine, I would definitely geld him. Then you shouldn't have to worry about him breeding your much smaller mare, and could turn them out together after he heals (and the hormones die down!) and before she foals. He would likely be much happier with that arrangement.

 

[rabbitsfizz]

Eleven isn't old.

If he were twenty I might advise asking the Vet, but at eleven I would say go for it!!

 

[RhineStone]

Geld.

Way too many stallions in the world, especially the mini world, like it's some girl's fascination to own a stallion.

If mini stallions were harder to handle, there would be a whole lot less of them, but lots of mini owners think they have to have their own herd stallion. We got mixed up in that thought, too. Finally gelded the stallion a couple of years ago (he was over 11), and he is happy that he gets to be with everybody else now, and we are happy that we don't have to deal with stallion behavior. (Not all cut studs will lose their studdiness...)

The quality of minis is not going to get any better with everybody and their brother breeding whatever they have on the place, regardless of color. I know, harsh to hear.

 

[kareng]

I gelded my 15 year old stallion in January and he is doing very well. I am about to do the same to my younger stallion who is pacing the fence and very hard to keep weight on. I'm not breeding anymore and the stallion market is pretty much flooded. I would geld an older stallion in a heart beat. He is so happy out in the field with his girls and quite a few of his babies. I want them to enjoy being a horse - socially especially.

kareng

 

[Reble]

11 is not old, but if you are worried try Purina Plus it has B12 that settles stallions down.. and also helps appetite.

It settled our stallion especially showing...Hope this helps..

We had a yearling gelded last week and he is running around, and doing great...

http://www.agribrands.ca/Screens/horseplus.aspx

 

[circlec]

My vote is to geld him too.

 

[minifreishorsefarm]

My thing is when people say there should be less breeders with their own stallions. Who is to choose who is good enough to be the breeders? What makes one person/farm/stallion better than someone else? Who's opinion should matter in this? Not everyone shows their minis so they arent gonna breed for show horses. But does that make their horses poor quality? For showing, yeah maybe. But for pleasure driving on your own property? Or fun local shows? Probably just fine for that.

Just dont know who is the experts on who should and shouldnt breed. JMO.

Marsha

 

[Miniv]

Eleven years is NOT too old. We had the very first fellow we bought to use as a stallion gelded at age 12 and he did wonderfully. He was SO much happier because we put him in so many different groups and situations that he couldn't be in as a stallion.

As for your worries about "their guts can fall out", that is an extremely rare occurrence and what risk there is probably is for a gelding procedure on a cryptoid.

 

[Crabtree Farm]

I gelded two breeding stallions last year and they both came through fine. Now I have two stags, of which one constantly bred my mares after coming home from Congress last year and started his breeding cycle again last week. No change in personality, but that is ok. I still can not let them get near each other. I did give each of them a mare for company, but each wanted both for themselves.

 

[ruffian]

My thing is when people say there should be less breeders with their own stallions. Who is to choose who is good enough to be the breeders? What makes one person/farm/stallion better than someone else? Who's opinion should matter in this? Not everyone shows their minis so they arent gonna breed for show horses. But does that make their horses poor quality? For showing, yeah maybe. But for pleasure driving on your own property? Or fun local shows? Probably just fine for that.

Just dont know who is the experts on who should and shouldnt breed. JMO.

Marsha

Marsha, You are absolutely right. The owner of the animal is the one that needs to make the decision on breeding or gelding. However, there are many experts and experienced people on this forum, and when their opinion is asked, are willing to use their expertise to help others out. Nobody is telling this person that they HAVE to geld. Just stating their knowledge based opinions.

You mentioned "pleasure driving". In My Opinion, I would much prefer to have geldings around if I just want to have fun and drive around the place. Before I gelded my driving stallion, we always had to wait away from the others so he didn't act stupid, even though he was extremely well trained. I know another person who was waiting for a driving class with their very well trained stallion when he decided to take off, taking the header holding him behind the knees with the cart shaft. No reason, just being a stud.

Geldings are Also for when visitors show up and want to pet the horses or go for a ride. My stallion - I have one now, gelded 5 colts this spring, is always in his pasture with his mares, and I don't bring him out for pets and hugs and photos. Stallions can be very unpredictable (yes as can mares), but it's more predictable for stallions to be unpredictable LOL!!

IMO - I would geld this horse, based on the information given and my 20+ years of experience with miniature horses. She wants to just enjoy him around her property, he is - in her opinion - too big to use on her mare, and she isn't going to show. It doesn't say if the horse is registered AMHR, but if not, the offspring cannot be registered and will limit the market for the foal(s). If this was a quarter horse this discussion probably wouldn't even be happening. I think this person is extremely wise in considering gelding. Many many people believe that since miniature stallions are in general very easy to handle, that everybody can have their own breeding herd. I've had more people contact me and say that they have just purchased (for such a good deal!), or been given, a stud or a colt, and can't wait to breed him, so are looking for GOOD - CHEAP - COLORFUL mares. Again, this probably wouldn't be the case in Big Horse world. First thing done would be gelding.

I commend this person on making a considered decision!

 

[RhineStone]

My thing is when people say there should be less breeders with their own stallions. Who is to choose who is good enough to be the breeders? What makes one person/farm/stallion better than someone else? Who's opinion should matter in this? Not everyone shows their minis so they arent gonna breed for show horses. But does that make their horses poor quality? For showing, yeah maybe. But for pleasure driving on your own property? Or fun local shows? Probably just fine for that.

Just dont know who is the experts on who should and shouldnt breed. JMO.

Marsha

If this was a quarter horse this discussion probably wouldn't even be happening. Many many people believe that since miniature stallions are in general very easy to handle, that everybody can have their own breeding herd. I've had more people contact me and say that they have just purchased (for such a good deal!), or been given, a stud or a colt, and can't wait to breed him, so are looking for GOOD - CHEAP - COLORFUL mares. Again, this probably wouldn't be the case in Big Horse world. First thing done would be gelding.

I commend this person on making a considered decision!

Amen!!!

 

[wildoak]

I just gelded an 11 yr old stallion a few months ago - he is doing fine, absolutely no complications. His attitude towards mares changed almost immediately, the only time he reacts is if he happens to be right by a mare in season and then he is easily corrected. He is still fairly aggressive towards other males, gelded or not, and may always be - just his personality, but he listens much better now when you call him on it. He does still walk the fence some when he's turned out, but nothing like he did. He holds his weight well now and doesn't RUN the fenceline. Would I do it over again? Absolutely! He's much easier to deal with and is learning to drive. This boy had been breeding mares and not getting much discipline where he was for the last few years, so that factors in to his behavior as well. FYI, I had him gelded with the Farmers Almanac recommendations - I think it makes a difference.

Jan

 

[DBNKCritterCranny]

I thank everyone for the replies ! I am going to geld " Romeo ". I believe it will be for his own good in the future if, heaven forbid, I ever have to sell him. I dont want him mistreated or hurt or used just for a teaser as he was used for when I bought him. He is so sweet and silly. Also he is not registered AMHR, just Pinto and Blue Eyed Horse Association. I dont know nothing about his background or where he originally came from. Anyways, Romeo will be gelded soon. I will let you all know how it went after the big event !

Again, many thanks !

 

[Minimor]

Romeo should be just fine with his gelding procedure.

To set your mind at rest, they don't actually make a bigger hole when they geld older stallions. The incision into the scrotum may be a little longer, but long or short makes little difference to the intestines coming out--once the incision is made, if there is going to be a problem (and the likelihood is very slight in Miniatures) the intestines would come out even a short incision.

The biggest risk to older stallions (and by older I mean anything over the age of 2, actually) is the possibility of more bleeding. A stallion over the age of 1 or 2 is likely to bleed more because he is more developed and will have more blood flow to the testicles. Most vets that I know use ligatures on the more mature stallions--meaning they put a stitch or two into the cord above the testicle before they crimp it off with the emasculator. That stitch helps to seal off the veins so that there isn't any excess bleeding. Stitching up the cord will also seal it off so that the intestines won't come out. I didn't know until just the other day when my vet described it to me that if a horse does have his intestines come out during or just after gelding, they come out through that cord.

Most times even an older stallion will settle down & lose interest in mares, but the older ones often take a bit longer than the younger ones. A few do retain their interest to some extent, but I've also known some that were gelded young and still showed an interest in mounting mares & going through the motions of breeding--even though they never actually got to breed any mares prior to gelding. There's a very good chance that you boy will quit pacing the fence very soon after he's gelded.

I have a friend that has an older stallion that was gelded late last summer. He's now been turned out on pasture with other horses. Yesterday there was a pony mare in heat tagging along after him, trying to get him to notice her, but he wasn't one bit interested in her, all he cared about was the new grass he could pick!