This message is from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (BRIAN C JACOBSEN) DeAnna,
Mary Thurman's suggestion to you was very insightful, and I bet she's right on track. You probably know that unless a stallion has been raised with a gelding, or at some point has gotten used to being with one, he most likely will not tolerate one. The interesting thing is, that with some geldings the reverse is also true, and the gelding will not tolerate the stallion. Tuopen probably is being protective of the mare, but it may not be just the mare. He may think he's protecting all of them. It may well be that if you have the colt gelded now it will end the problem. As far as waiting until the end of fly season, I hope I'm not contradicting something your veterinarian has told you, but we (myself as a veterinarian, and the clinic I work at) do not worry very much about that. Horses are good at keeping flies away from wounds, especially an area like we are talking about that is in reach of their tail. And you can help with fly spray near the area. When someone says they're worried about keeping the flies away from a wound, it's so the flies won't lay eggs there and you end up with a maggot infestation (anyone eating lunch? : ) ) But flies prefer to lay their eggs in rotting material, and unless something goes wrong with the castration, there won't be any rotting material there. So our experience has shown there just is not much to worry about with fly problems after castrations in horses. Even after you have the colt gelded, the best place to put them together would be, as Mary said, away from the other horses, and, just as importantly, in a totally new pen that Tuopen hasn't been in and doesn't think he "owns". You said you have limited pastures, so I don't know if this possible for you, but it really does make a difference in a horse's thinking. Keep in mind that if the colt is threatened again, he may try to go through/over the fence instead of getting trompled again, so a fence that is the least likely to hurt him would be nice. Hope this helps. Brian Jacobsen, DVM Norwegian Fjordhest Ranch Salisbury, North Carolina ___________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]
