only 1 testicle dropped yet

[Melinda Dean]

Only 1 testicle has dropped, but it is a big one. Chester will be 2yrs. in Sept. and I really want to have him gelded. I think he is not show quality conformation wise, but may make a super recreational driving horse as a gelding. My vet has been to my barn twice this past year, trying to find the second one, but no luck yet.

My question to you experience mini owners, what are the chances he will drop the other one naturally? I keep him at my own little barn, with two older mini geldings. No mares, big or little, for miles. He will not be bred and has decent manners, so it is not a problem to wait a year or two. In fact, I waited until my 30'' mini was 5 before gelding him. I understand from my vet, (who is very knowledgeable about minis) that he may need to go to the Vet College 3 hours away for the surgery, which is expensive.

I would like to start taking him to some open shows this spring, just for the experience. I know there will possibly be mares in season there, and I really do not want to take him still intact.

Have any of your minis had this surgery? Was the recovery time much different from normal castration (barring complications)? Would you recommend doing it while he is just 2, or wait and see for a year or so, then do it as a last option?

Thanks for sharing your experiences and advise. I asked Chester his opinion,... while I was feeling around down there. I could not see his face but I bet his expression was a lot like

!!!!

 

[frostedpineminis]

I bought a 2 year old with only one testicle dropped, waited for another year as I really wanted to use him as a stallion as he was a black velvet son, no such luck so he had to get the cryptorchid surgery, my vet does it though so i didnt have to haul him far. Recovery time was about the same, let him be for a week to 10 days then light work. If you are just going to show him halter he should be good in the 10 days, just be careful of dirt flying up in that area if he is running around and so on. Good luck finding the second testicle, surgery is not cheap.

 

[Leeana]

This is one of my things, perhaps with time the other one may come down. I had a colt who was 3 and did not have any sign of either testicle and knowing the breeding behind the colt and that it seemed to be a genetic flaw, I just could not allow that in my breeding animals.

For the type of ponies I intend to produce, I did not want to sell a good colt that I raised into a stallion and have to tell the person, Oh and by the way...he is a crypt. Just doesn't work that way here.

 

[mydaddysjag]

Im confused, what happened with him then?

 

[Leeana]

Megan ~ He's just at my friends being a pet, I actually was out to see him last night. To me, that is just not acceptable in any way in a breeding animal. I think sometimes people and breeders get to caught up in trying to just produce a show pony, that is pretty and will win in the show ring, that they forget just how to produce GOOD quality ponies too (and colts with 2 dropped berries).

 

[rabbitsfizz]

With one big testicle already there, I have to say you are unlikely to find the other...BUT...once he is sedated your Vet may well find the other one just up in the inguinal canal- it may be well worth having him ultrasounded to see if your Vet can locate the small one as if it is just within reach he can be gelded almost normally.

 

[Minimor]

I had one colt that was a full two years old before his 2nd one dropped. I'd bought him to be a gelding, and he didn't have any down until the spring of his 2 year old year, then one big one dropped down. The other one finally arrived just after his 2nd birthday (early August). While here crypt surgery isn't real expensive ($300) I waited the extra time on him hoping it would drop--and it paid off.

 

[Melinda Dean]

Thanks for the feed back every one.

I will ask vet to do ultra sound when she comes to do regular fall farm call. She has him on schedule to geld that day, if she can locate the 2nd. testicle with him sedated. If not, then I think I will just wait and see what happens.

As far as exposing him to various events, I may just let him tag along with the older geldings as we visit non-horse functions, as long as he is still well mannered.. (We some times go to dog obedience classes.. no mares in season there!).

His personality is very different from my little docile gelding who was not cut until 5. Chester is already testing the head horse a bit. Has tried to test me.. once. I place a high value on good manners. He kicked me away from his feed one night.... We spent several evenings working on "cornering" his back end while I dump his feed, standing there until I say "Good Boy" and clapping for his good behavior.

I have had big stallions before and know to nip what we consider bad manners in the bud. As a colt/ young stallion, defending his food would be a good thing in a herd setting. Not so good in his stall. I also have started grooming him in his stall, fly spraying,walking all around him cleaning the floor, and filling his water bucket. Basically letting him know I am still the "Boss Mare", even in his stall.

He was not imprinted, was a herd baby, scared of people when he came to me. He tries really hard to do any thing I ask of him but his brain is so immature, he can only learn things in very small doses. I hope gelding him, and maturing will relieve some of his uncertainty around humans. He is the sort who stands very still for you, then when you walk away, yawns real big to release his tension. He is doing this less and less, the more we work together.

Well, I'll go tell him to relax this morning, Momma Is not going to cut any thing off today!!!Bet he'll give me a big yawn.

 

[rimmerpaints]

My APHA stallion didnt drop his 2nd till he was 3 and half yrs old. He isnt a mini so it might be different. If your worried call you vet and ask them. I do that all the time! I think they laugh at me when i call sometimes

 

[Melinda Dean]

Thanks for the suggestions.

My vets and I have already talked about it several times. They come to my place often, and it has been kind of the standing joke here. One even called at Christmas and sang "Deck the Halls with Chester's ba....s" when I had called and left her a message that I had felt the second, tiny one. Unfortunately, she changed it to "All we want for Christmas is his two big ba...s" when it was gone again. (If it had really been there to start with).

I was just curious what other mini owners had done in this situation. The vets are great, but I knew you folks would give me better insight through your experiences. Think I will ask for ultrasound in the fall, then just play the waiting game as long as he continues to be well mannered. I have had several colts over the years that were gelded on my farm, but all had dropped both pretty young. This guy may surprise me any day. I have never had a mare, or the anticipation of a foal being born here... But each time I check Chester, I am hoping something has popped out of his body!

 

[Kelsey - Vandy's Farm]

You might try hormone (HcG) injections to bring the other one down.

 

[Nathan Luszcz]

The ingunal canal is LONG closed, so it shouldn't come down unless its truely "just hiding".

 

[Melinda Dean]

By "hiding", do you mean just barely inside the canal, or that it is so small, I am just not feeling it. When he was very young, I could swear I felt two tiny ones. Some time later when I felt there again, after setting things up with the vet, I could not feel them. Boy was my face red when she arrived to do all my fall vet work, and together we could not find it. Now the one he has is huge, and I can not see how anything but a much smaller one could be "hiding". Guess the ultrasound will tell me. Thanks for answering my questions.

 

[Nathan Luszcz]

It is possible that the testicle is up either IN the canal, or just outside it (externally). If that's the case, its not TOO hard to fix. If it is truely internal, its not going to come out on its own, it'll need help. The ring (think sphincter) will have closed around the spermatic cord and will not allow a fully developed testicle to slip through without surgical help. Sometimes vets will try a hCG challange to get them to drop it through, but I've never seen it work, especially on a mature horse.

 

[Melinda Dean]

Thanks for the explanation. But what age is considered mature? I would hate to let a window of opportunity pass by. He is going to be 2 yrs. beginning of Sept. I think my vets will probably suggest this if they feel it will help.

 

[Kelsey - Vandy's Farm]

Thanks for the explanation. But what age is considered mature? I would hate to let a window of opportunity pass by. He is going to be 2 yrs. beginning of Sept. I think my vets will probably suggest this if they feel it will help.

There have been several minis under my vets care that have had the HcG shots work. One of mine included. He was a yearling though.

 

[Zipper]

I had this happen to me.

3 of mine only had 1 last year and they were 2years old. They werent a problem even when I took them out to

club shows.

This year I said they were being gelded no matter what. 2 of them had dropped both the 3rd one had one huge testicle

and not the other. The vet said the other one was likely there just little so she sedated him and sure enough the little one was

there and he was gelded and never had one bit of trouble.

I just went with what my vet was comfortable doing.

 

[Nathan Luszcz]

When are they sexually mature and when the ring closes and is mature are different

I'm sorry for being confusing... they are sexually mature around age 5, and the ring closes around 12 mo? (If I remember correctly?) hCG (little h because its the species it came from, human) only works when the ring is still open; once its closed, no amount of pushing or pulling will get it through. I don't remember how hCG helps.... The colt we used it on was already older so the chances of it working were slim. Its like Santa Clause trying to fit through a mobile home window.

 

[rabbitsfizz]

There is a lot of difference between a colt with one normal testicle dropped and one retained just in the abdomen beyond reach, in which case a bit more time may bring it down, and one LARGE descended testicle and one non apparent one. The largeness of the descended testicle is what send out warning signals to me, although, as I said earlier, the other one may be the size of a pea, and lurking just out of (external) reach. I had a friend with a colt, just like that. With an awful lot of pushing and shoving and a colt with the temperament of a saint, I did manage to externally locate the other one and, on the basis of this, she put him forward for gelding. When the Vet went in to geld him he managed to find the other on- tiny, tiny little thing- he thought it had been "strangled" (I know there is a correct term but for the life of me I cannot remember it!) and had thus not developed.

The operation was a little more complicated but far less so than a true cryptorchid operation.

Good Luck with him, whatever happens.