This message is from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (BRIAN C JACOBSEN) Mary O'Fjord wrote:
Also, does anyone have any helpful information on when to geld colts? Right now he is 3 1/2 months old. What do most of you do or recommend. This is our first colt and he should probably be gelded, although I'd like a couple of opinions on this too. I'd hate to give him the knife, only to find out later that he could have been a nice stallion. One of the vets that we know of says "I don't know of any stallion that wouldn't make a better gelding". Help and ideas would be appreciated. I'd like to give some professional advice and personal opinion to answer this question. Technically a colt can be gelded anytime from the moment of birth on, assuming both testicles have descended from the abdomen. You probably have never heard of a colt being gelded at just a few days old, though, and there are some good reasons. Foals are fairly fragile creatures, and we want to make sure they get a good start before we do something like that to them. Also, not a lot is known about exactly how hard the anesthetics we use to knock them out are on a foal. Finally, and some of you will laugh, it's hard to hold onto those slippery little suckers when they're only the size of an almond! There is a reason that gelding colts very young would be advantageous; It barely slows them down at all at that age. Piglets are often done at a few hours or a few days old, and calves are often done at a few days to a few months old. At that age there is very little swelling and very little bleeding. Similar to circumcision in humans, this is not about whether you believe in it or not, but there is no question that it is easier on a baby than it is on a teenager or adult - the babies heal faster and have less complications. What is this thing about the testicles descending from the abdomen? During the foal's development inside the mare, the testicles are developing right next to the kidneys. Late in gestation, changes start to occur that usually result in the testicles exiting from the abdomen and entering the scrotum at two weeks prior to birth. Occasionally, one or both testicles will not have made it out, and this is called Cryptorchidism (Krip-tork-id-ism). Sometimes it will even take up to two years for that testicle (or both) to pop out, but usually if they haven't by the age of two, they aren't going to. Once they are out (in the scrotum) they stay out. The colt may WANT to pull them up into the abdomen when you touch them with cold fingers, or when I've cut one off in a castration and he's desperately trying to save the other one, but once they're out, they're out. More about Cryptorchids later. The traditional age to geld a colt is somewhere around a year old. The reasons here are that you have had time to decide whether you want to keep him a stallion, but he's not quite old enough to have gotten in trouble with a mare. I'm sure he's tried to get in trouble, but he's not quite old enough to fertilize a mare yet. The youngest that a colt ever fertilized a mare (that I know of) was at 14 months old, and the majority are not even able to for some months after that. So really the procedure could be done at any time from 3-4 months old up to around 14 months old if you don't want to worry about accidents with mom or other mares. If you can keep him separate from the mares or you have no mares around, you have some other things to think about. If you want your horse to end up as tall as possible, there is some thought that he will get slightly taller if he's gelded young (less than two years old). If you would rather have him solid and blocky more like a stallion, you will really have to wait until he's around four years to get this effect. Time of year to do it really doesn't seem to matter. You'll hear some people say do it in cooler weather when flies aren't as bad, and that's fine, but we do it at all times of the year and don't seem to have any trouble. Horses are able to keep the flies off pretty well down there. Some people swear you need to do it by the signs. The reasoning here is the following: The signs are determined by the phases of the moon, and if the moon is strong enough to control the tides, then it's strong enough to have some effect on the amount of bleeding and swelling after a castration. The signs are recorded in the Farmer's Almanac and the time to geld is when they are in the feet. I have to say that we have gelded horses with the signs and against the signs, and have not noticed any significant difference in the amount of bleeding or swelling. The best answer is probably this: If you or your veterinarian feels strongly about going with the signs, then do it, or else if something goes wrong you will be forever kicking yourself or you will never hear the end of it from your veterinarian : ). Be prepared to do some work after the castration is completed. Depending on your veterinarian, you might be instructed to walk your horse once to twice daily for 30 minutes for up to two weeks, and do some cold water hosing. Some veterinarians say just turn them out and let them move on their own. Go with whatever your veterinarian thinks he/she has the best results with, but find out ahead of time so you plan the procedure for when you'll have time to do the aftercare that's recommended. The reason for the walking is that it reduces the amount of swelling that results from the castration. The incisions are left open (not sutured) to drain because we have found that if the incisions are closed, the horses swell terribly and infection often results. There is some blood and serum that needs to drain, and the walking helps keep things opened up and draining. Back to Cryptorchidism. This is undesirable because SOMETIMES these horses are more mean and nasty than any stallion ever thought about being! And the condition is heritable, meaning that if the Cryptorchid stallion is bred, his offspring will be more likely to be Cryptorchid than another "normal" stallion's offspring. If one testicle is descended and the other is retained, this stallion can fertilize mares just as well as a normal stallion. If both testicles are retained he will be sterile. He will still mount and breed mares, but as the temperature in the abdomen is too high for proper sperm development, he will be unable to fertilize them. Gelding a Cryptorchid is more complicated than a routine castration; It will cost more and will probably be done at a veterinary hospital rather than out in the field. So there you have some basic facts. Here's the opinion part. Criteria For Determining Whether Or Not To Geld A Colt. 1. Can you adequately keep, train, and handle a stallion? Or do you have help/trainers that can? To me, this is the first and most important consideration. Even if his breeding, conformation, movements, etc are great, but you do not know how to train/discipline him and he becomes a real headache to handle, then he and everyone around him are probably better off if he's a gelding. Don't worry about a loss to the breed, the breed will go on just fine. 2. Is he as good as, or better than, his parents? This is in terms of conformation, athletic ability, and attitude. If he doesn't help the breed take a step forward, then he's either keeping the breed where it's at or causing a step backward, and he probably shouldn't be bred. If you do not have the experience to tell, get opinions from people who do, AND THEN take him to an Evaluation. 3. Does he represent a new or different bloodline, or will he carry on a good line that is disappearing? If he already has two or three good brothers out there who are producing good offspring (very important - a stallion can be good but not throw good) than he probably isn't needed as as stallion. An exception may be if they are on the west coast but he is on the east coast, for example. Or, if a colt was imported in utero and his sire is a stallion largely unrelated to anything in this country, then he may make an important contribution in this country. Regarding carrying on a good line that is disappearing - except for the untimely death of a stallion, there is usually a good reason if a line is disappearing; Think hard before keeping this one a stallion. 4. Will there be a demand for him for breeding? Your colt may be outstanding, and you may be able to answer yes to the first three criteria above, but if he's not one of the popular Fjord color varieties, he may not get used. Or if he stands 13.1 hands and most people are wanting taller, you may not get any calls. These criteria have grown out of many years of breeding Fjords and a lesser number of years of being a veterinarian and working with and observing many stallions and offspring of different breeds. These have not always been the criteria of the Norwegian Fjordhest Ranch, but they have been for the last six years in which, we have left only one colt a stallion. This does not mean we have not had good colts in that six years, it means we have had one great one. Respectfully submitted, 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]
