Can gelding a horse make him grow taller?

[hhpminis]

Someone made this comment in a discussion today and I have never heard it said before. Thought maybe some of you have heard it and know if it is an old wives tale.

They said that gelding a horse too early, before the age of 2, that it could cause the horse to actaully grow taller.

I cant see how anyone could actually have proof of this as you dont know how tall a horse is going to be for sure until it is done growing, gelded or not.

My thinking is that a horse is a genetic height and food, environmental issues, health, etc may slow or speed up the process but in the end they are what they are born to be.

What are your thoughts and knowledge on this.

 

[Minimor]

I've always heard this, that a gelded horse will grow taller than he would have if he had been left a stallion. It seems to be more than an old wives tale, since I've seen it written up in veterinary publications a couple of different times over the years.

I've just never been sure of how they can really say this is the case. Even if you take 6 horses, all full brothers, and geld 3 of them--if those 3 mature taller than the 3 that are left intact, how can anyone say for sure that those 3 wouldn't have matured taller even if they'd been left as stallions?

We've got one 2 1/2 year old gelding here; he was gelded several months before his 2nd birthday, but he hasn't grown even 1/4" since being gelded. So, I'd have to say that gelding him didn't make him grow.

 

[rabbitsfizz]

No it is not an old wives tale. The cessation of the production of testosterone means the growth plates close later. I do believe in order for this to be effective the horse would have to be gelded before it was two years old. In Minis I find it makes only a possible 1/2 "difference- in Big Horses it cam make quite a difference.

It is simple to track- you just track the development of the closure of the growth plates.

 

[angel_cowgirl]

Wow..hmm..never heard of such a thing..

 

[LAD]

No it is not an old wives tale. The cessation of the production of testosterone means the growth plates close later. I do believe in order for this to be effective the horse would have to be gelded before it was two years old.

I agree...The thoughts from most of the QH show people is that gelding QH's as weanlings or barely yearlings will increase their mature height by 1-2 inches. I believe this is true also as the QHs I raise are Skipper W bred and usually not very tall horses, but my "geldings" have always mature 1-2" taller then their full siblings.

 

[Kathy2m]

I've heard it too. When I gelded my QH as a yearling I was concerned that he may not grow to his full height, my vet told me he may get taller than he normally would.

 

[MInx]

So what is the general train of thought? Do most geld at 2? Frankly if I had several horses with no intention of breeding, I'd want them gelded early as possible! Saves a lot of aggrivation dealing with him and the mares.

That said, when we got Shadow his owner said she waited to geld him so he would get his full maturity first..she must be right because he's a nicely built boy and 2,1/2 and we just had him gelded two weeks ago next Thursday.

He measures a hair over 36" now . His dad was 32" and mom 34"so who knows, if gelded early he could even have gone over?

 

[Kendra]

A gelding will grow until he's six, a stallion until he's three. If we have a colt who's close to 34" we'll wait until he's a full three years to geld him.

 

[Ashley]

Well cant say if its true or not. We had 2 horses here were were brothers. One was gelded as a foal, finished out at 35". THe other as a 2 year old finished at 31.5". However between his 2 and 3 year old year she went from 29" to 31.5".

THat said I normally geld as a yearling. If I dont plan to use them for breeding, the sooner the better.

 

[Ashley]

Well cant say if its true or not. We had 2 horses here were were brothers. One was gelded as a foal, finished out at 35". THe other as a 2 year old finished at 31.5". However between his 2 and 3 year old year she went from 29" to 31.5".

THat said I normally geld as a yearling. If I dont plan to use them for breeding, the sooner the better.

 

[Lisa-Ruff N Tuff Minis]

I have asked a few vets about this and they seem to think NO it isnt true but there are some who believe it is

 

[jdomep]

A gelding will grow until he's six, a stallion until he's three.  If we have a colt who's close to 34" we'll wait until he's a full three years to geld him.

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Wow - the things I learn here

 

[Relic]

Actually Kendra if you recall we had a stallion Clunker who went over when he turned 6. We showed him from 3 to 5 at 33.50 and the following spring he hit a notch over 34.25 so we couldn't use him anymore and we tried the very short hoof trim and stretch but he was still over. So now he's a happy pampered rotten unpapered 34.25" driving gelding on weekends for someone else who doesn't care about paperwork.

 

[Mnmini]

Not a subject that most vets are going to be well versed in, but my research is much like Lisa D's and Rabbit's. The rush of testosterone causes the long bones in the leg to start fusing, so gelding before the onset of puberty will add height. So many min's are, or are nearly complete with their growth by their yearling year, that gelding as 1-2yos, will probably not increase height significantly. Would probably need to geld as babies on their momma's sides, or weanlings to see appreciable differences. Maybe if I EVER get to keep one of my boy babies, I will geld REALLY early so I can finally get one that is over 36!

While I don't notice this as much with the minis per se, big horses of ALL genders CAN continue growing well into their 5th to 6th year. I have had several mares that were 15- to 15.1 as 4yos that went on to 15.3+ by 6yo. Just depends on their genetics..I have a LOT of slow growers, LOL.

 

[Kendra]

Actually Kendra if you recall we had a stallion Clunker who went over when he turned 6. We showed him from 3 to 5 at 33.50 and the following spring he hit a notch over 34.25 so we couldn't use him anymore and we tried the very short hoof trim and stretch but he was still over. So now he's a happy pampered rotten unpapered 34.25" driving gelding on weekends for someone else who doesn't care about paperwork.

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There are exceptions!

We bought a six year old black stud this spring, to use in the hitch. We measured him before we took him home and he was under 34". This fall when we gelded him he was over ... go figure!

 

[Little Wee Horse Farm]

Hmmm....I've always heard the opposite. That gelding early would make the colt stay smaller. When we used to breed Arabs, this was the school of thot. The early gelding process was avoided so the horse would not be too smallish in the end.

But, then my vet (who was a long-time very serious arab breeder who raised/showed Legion of Merit horses) said this was no longer the belief & began gelding his sales horses before they left the farm -- at as young as six months, if they were dropped, of course. He said the belief was then currently that gelding wouldn't affect the horse's growth one way or another -- it's a genetic thing & a horse will grow to it's genetically pre-determined height regardless. And they all mature at different rates, even if they are full-siblings.

I've never heard gelding would make them grow taller.

 

[rabbitsfizz]

I think people are misunderstanding a little here. Gelding causes the cessation of testosterone which is linked to the growth plates. So, a horse that would have stopped growing at, say three years old, will , if it is gelded at before two years old, stop growing a little later than that, and so will grow a little longer. I do not think anything is cast in stone about how much more it will grow or how much longer the growth plates will stay open but, the fact remains, the growth plates on geldings do seem to stay open longer than stallions.

 

[Sun Runner Stables]

I have only seen this in the big horses, and I agree with Rabbit.

I usually wait until just about two before I geld, and have found that bloodlines and types of horses famous for certian heights are often exceeded. For example, I have a Big appy out of foundation bloodlines; Automatically the thought is small and powerful, about 14.3-15.1, well we just sticked him at our show at 16.2! He's a BIG boy, and my vet was astounded at where he ended up, as all his siblings, parents, etc are about in the range previously mentioned.

( I like to wait as long as possible so they keep more 'brain'. I am a huge fan of mares who 'think', and I have found that early gelded horses tend to be very dull, which makes for a poor competition animal IMO. I want a hunter/jumper/dressage horse who sreams " ME ME ME!!" even while standing in a stall.

)

I have not however, ever heard it applied to minis, but the faster growing period they go though would lead me to think that an even earlier gelding would be ness. for the growth plates to stay open. Food for thought, thats for sure.

 

[Magic]

I've read about studies that say the growth plates stay open longer when a horse is gelded too. It would be easy enough to check-- xray some geldings and some stallions of similar bloodlines and ages, and see. I believe it, myself, but I also think that many miniatures finish growing pretty young (mainly by two years old, the ones I have anyway) so if one gelded a horse a one year old, he wouldn't get TOO much bigger than he would if he were a stallion. The only ones I would wait on gelding would be the ones that I thought would be quite close to the 34" mark, and even then, I have one that I knew would be, and I had him gelded as a young two year old. He'd finished growing by then, height-wise anyway.

 

[rabbitsfizz]

In minis I find the rules go out the window, as with this thing about mares governing the size of the foal!! I am an advocate of very early gelding and have never found it make any difference to the horses mental power or his "Pizazz" One of the nicest geldings I have ever bred was gelded at six months, grew to 15.2 hh (By a 15.00hh o/o a 14.2 hh) and had the presence and Pizazz of an entire without the bother.

With Minis i find the height is all over the place any way, so I take each case as an individual one, even ignoring the heights of full siblings.

One little chap I gelded at nine months was 29" at six months and 29 1/2" at four years old!! Another colt I gelded at three was 3/4 brother to the other gelding and was already 331/2 " at three!! The one rule with Minis and height (and sometimes colour) is firmly that there is no rule