Regretting Gelding

[skanzler]

I am in support of gelding...I do selective gelding on our breeding/training farm. If I am going to encorporate a new breeding stallion into the program I make adjustments on the farm. Build a new pen/pasture/stall for the new boy. Knowing that he will be leading a solitary life. Living with his select band of mares in the winter, when all are confirmed in foal and then back to solitary life in the spring. All of my stallions are housed in seperate pens. They have interaction on the fence line. But otherwise live alone.

I have several reasons for gelding.

If you are not going to use him for breeding then at least he can live safely with the other horses. Even young pasture mates grow up and then be incompatable as sr stallions. Look at the horses in the wild. I herd stallion will only tolerate a young colt for so long, then they are run out of the area. Yes they will bond with another colt, but look at the area in which they roam. They have plenty of personal space. We limit that when we move them onto our small acreages. And sooner or later, even in the wild, the young colts grow to adults and abandon and even challenge and fight their former buddy.....

As a stallion gets older his hormones start to increase and therefore his natural instincts kick in and most will react as any stallion will, aggresive behavior towards other horses, sometimes inapporpriate behavior around other farm animals and people. Children included. I have seen the most layed back stallions charge.

Geldings are extremely versatile. As are stallions, but after a certain age they can no longer be handled by youth.

Many stallions that are kept seperated without interaction with other horses pick up all kinds of unhealthy habits, cribbing, wind sucking, pacing, teeth grinding....

I am not telling people that they MUST geld, but why not?????? JMO

 

[mininik]

It is winter and most horses (stallions included) become less active in cold weather, especially as they put on a few pounds to help stay warm. Your horses are also more mature now and as geldings don't have to fuss over the drive to reproduce. Once it warms up to where you can work them safely, do get them out, playing and working more than a few days a week and you'll no doubt see a difference in how they act.

 

[Sterling]

Without knowing your pasture/corral set-up....do you turn them out in different areas different days? Sometimes if they're in the same small enclosure they can tend to get bored. My two boys are geldings. They play together, run together, kick up their heels together. My little sorrell, Manny was a stallion until the age of about 6 yrs. old. He was always a creampuff before he was gelded and maintained that very same personality after he was gelded. Nothing changed with him. My boys are 9 and 10 years old.

 

[CKC]

I was just out looking at Cole(4 years old) and Topper(2 years old)((half brothers both gelded) playing and playing hard. All of my geldings(ranging from 2 years-9 years) have moments of play and moments of real down time. Even my 3 yr. old QH gelding..... he is turned out with our older QH mare. She doesn't play with him. I catch him out there running, jumping, kicking up his heels by himself. It's quite funny. Do I regret gelding him? NEVER..... I don't want to ever handle a 16+ hand stallion. I try to think in big horse terms... would I keep my miniatures a stallion if they were 16 hands. Nope. Just my opinion. Everyone should do as they feel best.

With that said......I have two colts that will be gelded this spring. I actually have been having reservations about one of them, but I won't be breeding and to be honest I want him to be my future driving gelding. This would be a good candidate for Jill's removeable you know whats idea.

He's an incredible little colt and a very rare color, but I have to think about what's best for my family and for him. I want him to be turned out with our small herd and with having an aged mini mare that can't happen if he's a stallion. Not to mention I've had two stallions here over the years.. as nice as they are to look at they were a real challenge. I even had our friends/neighbor call us to tell us that one of them had been trying to climb the fence(3 board with no climb wire) to get to the mare. It's a wonder his thing thing didn't break off in that wire.

Kim

 

[ClickMini]

Roger- the gelding- loves to play rough on his ball

and the ball loves to play rough with him!!

OMG, Kaitlyn, that photo is priceless!!! I laughed out loud when I saw that poor little man on his back with his mouth open saying, "OOOPS!" Gosh you have got one mean ball. OH!

 

[gambler]

I have 2 minis that I got when they were born. They are brothers two weeks apart in age (seperate dams) and have been together since birth of course and absolutely love each other. Well I was constantly told to geld them so they wouldn't get mean, and you couldn't have two stallions together, and they would have a much better life, blah, blah, blah, and since they were my first minis I was afraid not to, so I did.

They use to run and play hard all day long and would groom each other for the longest time. Now they barely run around the pasture once a day and are regular barn bums.

Since I've been reading about Sixstardanes' Sabre I have regretted gelding mine. I think since they had been together since birth and there are no mares around and I was never going to breed anyway that they would have been fine together.

Sabre seems like such a tame and wonderful litte thing, not to mention how beautiful he is, I just wish I had left mine stallions. Of all the beautiful horses on this forum, if I could chose one, it would be Sabre. I am totally in love with that horse .. lol.

I know I will never tell anyone else to geld .. only to NOT breed

Would someone please tell me what is meant by a stallion having a much better life as a gelding?

.

IMHO there are far too many stallions of every breed and size out there. The humane thing to do is geld all but the top 2% of horses. They are also a liability should someone get hurt.

 

[Erica]

Erica I also just saw your beautiful pics of your amazing geldings. The caliber of horse that both you and Jill have shown in this thread and others is astonishingly good and a testament to the quality of show geldings these days. Which I am all for! I come from a big horse background, and stallions are few and far between. But a good gelding is priceless! That gorgeous horse on the cover of the Journal this month is also a gelding. I think your horses are probably stalled overnight and let out and then you see the play/release of energy. I rarely see (not never, but rarely) this level of play and jump on a horse that is out on a large field 24 x 7 x 365. (are you gelding my little favorite, TKO????)

Amy,

Nope little TKO is keeping his jewels and I will be showing him as a yearling under colt, he is growing up so nice, a mixture between his sire and dam, but he has a half brother whom I'm going to show as a gelding.

 

[bevann]

I think 1 of the best reasons for gelding is for the welfare of the horse.If you ever have to place them in a new home(life sometimes brings us unexpected things) you have a much better chance of placing a gelding than a stallion(no matter how docile).I have never regretted gelding any of my boys and like Jill wish those parts were removable to use as needed.Older horse just do not play as much as younger ones in most cases.When I am finished with my stallions for breeding they are gelded sometimes as late as 14 or 15.No problems and they get to hang out with the gang.

 

[tagalong]

If you have a stallion who just paces all day long, and is kicks or bites at humans all the time, and you aren't breeding, OK, then geld, but many times(not all) when a stallion acts like that it is because they had poor or careless handling as a youngster.

Hmmmm. I am glad you added "not all".... as maybe it is because that is just the way they are wired - and were never mishandled in any way. Imagine that!! The one here who does the frantic pacing and fretting was a pussycat as a junior stallion. He had no "spark"... no "fire". He did well in the show ring - but lacked the Look At Me "electricity" that would have helped him do better. He was more laid back than many of the geldings in the same show string...

And then he bred his first mare... and somewhere deep inside a little switch went off...

He does not kick or bite at humans - he knows that is wrong - but other horses?? Even some mares - they are all on his HATE list. He has been turned out with his favourite mares - and even turned on one of them one afternoon... I simply cannot trust him around other horses.

They use to run and play hard all day long and would groom each other for the longest time. Now they barely run around the pasture once a day and are regular barn bums.

Sometimes it is age, boredom or individual preferences - and not hormones - that settles horses down. Assuming that if they were both stallions they would still be compatible is a bit of a leap... as others have noted - horses are individuals. One of them may have suddenly taken exception to having another stallion around - you never know. Even without any mares in the mix.

Joey & Peanut grew up here together - they arrived as youngsters, shared pens, trailers, stalls.... were the best of buddies. Peanut was gelded and the buddies continued to be BFF. Until one trailer ride to a show when Joey suddenly looked over at Peanut and went... OMG!!! Ever since then - they have had to be seperated. And many years later - sometimes the mere sight of Peanut will enrage Joey... although he is friendly with his gelded son Spike. It is definitely individual preferences coming into play...

This picture - just made my day.... Bwahahahaha!!

 

[Basketmiss]

My mini Giddy was a stallion when I bought him and the seller said he is so nice I wouldnt geld him..

I wasnt going to breed so why leave him a stallion. He was a sweet boy but after I gelded even sweeter

He is great around ANYONE and if I had a left him a stallion as he got older he would have shown stallion actions and not been so nice. Plus our neighbors have horses and when he was still intact he would flip around the girls!! That is too much stress for me, everytime there is a female around your boys starts acting like a goofball... they can smell it on the wind!!

I also have a biggee gelding- he is sweet as the day is long!!

I love geldings... I would love to get another to be with my Giddy, maybe someday..

Plus you dont want them to get cancer in the testicles... I love that I dont have to worry about that with my 2 horses or my dog...

Your boys just might be having a lazy winter and when warm weather comes they will get oats back!! Just love them as I know you do and be glad you have less worries with 2 sweet geldings...

 

[ClickMini]

Nope little TKO is keeping his jewels and I will be showing him as a yearling under colt, he is growing up so nice, a mixture between his sire and dam, but he has a half brother whom I'm going to show as a gelding.

Phew! Alrighty then. That is one that I would keep a stallion.

 

[Sixstardanes]

Aww its sweet to hear that Saber has an admirer.

I whole heartedly agree with the 'all horses are individuals'.

We show and breed Great Danes.

In dogs frequently same sex intact canine don't co-habitate well.

*We do encourage alterating pets**

Currently we have 3 intact males that do get along with each other

and 2 intact ******* that do not.

However in the past we have had intact ******* that were buddies.

While Saber is our first mini he isn't our first horse.

I've owned 2 geldings (a QH/TB X & an Appie), a mare (Arab; Polish/Crabbet)

and co-owned a (Buckskin QH) stallion.

I've also trained & gentled a couple mustangs for friends.

The stallion I co-owned (who is now in his 20s and owned by my ex)

was a very sweet, gentlemanly horse.

You could pony (lead) a mare while riding him.

He was really something.

We bred him when he was around 10 and his disposition never changed.

During a flood in the area (this was in the Imperial Beach area in real southern California)

he was housed in a old dairy lot with my gelding & 5 other geldings from our ranch.

There was never a problem with him.

But this said - that was him.

Sort of an exception to the rule.

I've been around several other stallions that were very much the total oppposite.

They were heck on hooves and very dangerous.

Keeping a stallion I feel you need to really have set ground rules

and you need to be the lead horse.. the head honcho.

We got Saber from a family who's 10yr old daughter handled him.

He was very responsive to her which was nice but I'll admit when we 1st got Saber

he tested the waters with us by rearing up.

Look I'm bad - I'm sooo bad!

Well he didn't like that we just laughed at first them when he tried it again was told to quit it.

It deflalated his ego a bit.

I do think tho in a not so firm enviroment/handling that if someone "softer" had him he could be a pain in the tuckus.

That's one of my pet peeves - that people with small pets (be them ponies or dogs) that they let get away being uppity. Can't stand it. I don't care your size - ya gotta have manners.

Sorry if this post rambled and didn't make much sense.

 

[nightflight]

Testosterone shortens the life span.

I geld and have gelded lots of the boy-ohz and think your guys sound bored. Are they getting everything they need? Even though it is winter you should see good weight, glossy coats, stong hooves and bright eyes.

If you are good there, it sounds to be like they need a job. As a person, spend enough time sitting on the sofa watching TV and you don't have the energy you need to run around like a speed demon. Get up in the morning, jog, build a little muscle mass and endurance and you don't want to sit still.

My Mr. Stallion Nightflight has the winter off, and even though he gets daily turnout is less energetic then the gelded boyz that have winter jobs right now. The working (gelded) cart ponies have so much energy when they are turned out that they are horrible horrible little hairballs.

Testosterone does not a happy horse make. Split up your barn bums during lesson time and see what you can teach each other. You can come up with better games then just watching them run around playing with balls...

Edit Add:

I do understand regretting gelding. I lost what I considered to be my best mare last spring. She had produced National Champions - but more, I loved her dearly. I gelded her first son when when her second was born, because the second was a more correct animal with a more popular pedigree. I ended up gelding the second when his sire produced a very non breeding quality animal. I lost the 2006 foal due to a dystocia, and when she passed she took her 2007 unborn foal with her.

I've tried to find similar mare without much luck, and the son that I showed last year was Grand Champion Single & Roadster horse at the Central Championship and also a 2007 World Champion - with an ammy owner-trainer-driver. I can't make another like him.

I hope you can see the humor I tried to put into my post to you. As your horses adjust I'll bet they will get the old spark back. I've had trainers who watch me work with my geldings who suggest that I geld them - to make them more easy to work with. Yeah. Been there, done that years ago. Gelding helps them be able to focus on you vs. that mare/other horse/sunny spot/ etc. but they have the personality that they were born with and that you train into them be that naughty, mellow, or just fun.

 

[Mini Mouse]

Thank you all so very much for responding to my post. You all have some beautiful geldings and all your reasons and info on it makes me feel a lot better. I guess I was just having one of those days of wondering "what if". I remember now that they did play so hard that I was constantly afraid the smallest one was going to get hurt. And I knew I had to keep them together from lack of space.

They are sweet sweet boys and I love them very much and in order to keep them together gelding was the best thing.

I enjoyed seeing all your pictures and I'm going to try to spend more time out with them and buy them some new toys.

And ClickMini, I will definitely buy them a ball. I loved that pictures of your horse getting beat up by the ball.

I absolutely didn't mean for this post to stop ANYONE from gelding. I am truly against breeding and breeding everything in sight and had NO intentions of ever breeding mine. I was just having a "what if" moment because my horses love each other so much and wondered if they still would have if I hadn't gelded. But I understand now how fast that can change and thanks everyone for reminding me.

You're a great bunch of horsey people and I'm lucky I found this forum.

 

[Mini Mouse]

I just got back from the barn and my little barn bums were all over me wanting lovin'. Now I feel like a Bad Mom. I wouldn't trade them for anything in the world (even Saber)

but I would still like to add him to my big herd of 2. Although, I'm sure I would have to geld him too cause I'm such a push over.

I'm now going shopping for some new toys for my babies.

 

[Getitia]

We geld many of our colts each year and have yet to experience a loss in their animation and energy levels. I've yet to regret gelding any of them. We believe in geldings and enjoy promoting them.

Here are a few of the boys that we have personally gelded :

In fact, we are getting ready to geld several colts in a few weeks and here is one of the boys we are planning on gelding

Give me a great gelding anyday

 

[Jill]

Give me a great gelding anyday

And let me say, give me one of those (yours!) any day!!! They are awesome

 

[Crabby-Chicken]

Yes,,, you have to do what is right for you. It may be that they are bored, or maybe a little bit of oats will perk them up,,, or red cell. But I do think during the winter months they calm down, as they do when they mature. Our horses are stalled during the night and morning and when I let them out when I get home from work,,,, THEN they play and buck and charge around. As for your guys I don't think gelding will do anything but make their lives more even in their actions. Not boring.

I have that colt I bought, ( the one you and I had talked about coming from the Topsider line) and my older stallion. ONE at least will get the snipping. There are wayyyy too many stallions out there to pick from. And my nightmare would be to have them get together and fight when the colt gets older.

 

[Warpony]

My colt settled down a lot and stopped playing quite so hard after he was gelded as well, but I do not regret it for a moment. And if I am honest with myself, he was hitting a stage where he was mellowing out some anyway, so I don't think it was entirely the gelding that made him so mellow.

BUT I do have to say now that he is getting worked on a regular basis and is getting more fit he is back to playing a lot more. Keeping his weight to a good level so he isn't too fat and keeping him nice and fit gives him all kinds of energy to run and play.