Caslick op....is it only done for breeding purposes?

B

Bounty

Well-Known Member
Joined
24 February 2006
Messages
4,231
Location
Gloucestershire
www.freewebs.com
Would there be any reason for performing a Caslick operation on a mare that wasn't being used for breeding?

Just wondering.... Tills has previously been Caslicked but shows not other signs of having bred before (boobs not even hinting at being saggy!) and from what we know of her history there's not been any time for her to have had a little one...or was there?!
confused.gif
 
I suppose she could have been getting uterine infections, so had a caslick to help with that.

Or possibly, like Amy just never had a successful pregnancy?
 
I've never heard of it being done other than for breeding, though like AmyMay says she may have been bred from. Have you tried doing some research online as to whether she could have had a foal?
 
My vet muttered something about it being common practice on polo yards, but have never met a polo mare that has had it done as routine? Polo ponies are my 'thing' so I thought I'd have picked up on that.
 
Some mares pool urine inside them if they have poor vulval conformation, so if she had very bad conformation and was getting infections then yes it is something that may be done on some mares. Not usual though I don't think.
 
No hope whatsoever of finding anything out about her
frown.gif
. She was bred to play polo, and was at Cowdray between 3 and 10, and then bought out of polo by a wealthy guy who took a shine to her and did some western classes with her, got bored and sold her on to a lady who wanted a 'horsey' because she used to ride when she was little, and thought having a horse would complete her lifestyle (big house, stables, lots of cars...) She got bored of her after a little while too, and by the time I bought her she'd not been ridden for months, and hadn't been out of her stable for weeks. Poor girl.
She came with all her polo gear still, but no passport and no breeding as such, just that she's 3/4 TB 1/4 QH.
Have tried in vain to get any history on her before, but the people at Cowdray take the stance 'we have hundreds of ponies in and out every year, don't expect us to remember'
frown.gif
.
I imagine she'd be fairly memorable too... she has scars from some horrific injuries
crazy.gif
 
Believe it is also done for racing mares with....errr... bits of a certain shape. Can prevent ... how can I put it politely.... vaginal farting when running at speed.
blush.gif


Ducks back under parapet.
 
Caslick would just stop the urine pooling in there, wouldn't "change" her conformation but would stop it pooling (that's why they do it for breeding mares as they need to be kept clean). TBH sounds like the others have a more likely answer though!
 
Odd, as vet says she has perfect confo. So if a casslick doesn't 'change' her confo then why would she need one in the first place? My understanding is that urine only pools if the confo is bad?
confused.gif


ETS:
shocked.gif
Came across as a bit confrontational, it's not!!
grin.gif
 
Didn't take it that way don't worry!
smile.gif

As I said the others probably have the more likely answer, especially if yours is a polo pony and working at speed. Don't take me as an expert though, I only know this as I revised it for uni exams only yesterday!
smile.gif
 
You do see an odd mare occasionally that looks to have perfect conformation and will still suck in air .
We have seen a couple ,vets have said they are fine and you have just had a sneaky feeling that they suck in air.
Non caslicked they get infections ,caslicked they dont and in foal.
 
PF was caslicked after foaling as she started to make 'slurpy' noises (not quite farting!) and vet thought the sucking in of air could possibly cause her discomfort and make her grumpy. I intend to breed from her again in future, so I didn't want the chance of any infection getting in there and spoiling things. Vets have to open caslicked mares up so that they won't tear dramatically when foaling and yes, then they have to stitch em up again. Ouch.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top