Does my gelding have a testicle?!

[LouiseG]

I bought a 3yo Connemara gelding from Ireland who arrived last week from a dealer I trust (still say that with caution!)... he is the loveliest, sweetest boy. However he appears to have a testicle! Dealer adamant he didn’t have it when he left. I had him vetted in March and no reporting a of said “lump”.

Vet coming to examine him on Tuesday. All things have gone through my mind including tissue herniation (he cantered into a fence on the first day), thought maybe fluid build up...

Yesterday I went up and lump was nowhere to be seen, it was freezing and windy as hell. So if it wasn’t a testicle would a normal lump retract in the same manner?!! The vet who vetted him would not have been looking for a testicle and given that it was March at the time...

help! Any ideas what is going on?! I don’t suppose my insurance will cover this either!

 

[ycbm]

Try not to panic. I knew a gelding once who looked just like a stallion, but it was just a bag of fluid. It never bothered him, just the people who thought he should be wearing a stallion disc!

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[Boots*McGruber]

Mine has a similar anatomy and I had the vet look at it when we first got him about 2 years ago. They said it isn't a testicle & he had blood tests to confirm testosterone levels. They weren't sure exactly what it is but most of the time the area doesn't look swollen. It is only occasionally like that and tends to be in summer. I clean his willy more regularly now as he gets very greasy legs and haven't noticed it for a while.

 

[cobgoblin]

What does it feel like? I would have thought you would be able to feel if there's a testicle in there.

I don't know if horses' skin is too thick for this as it works on humans.. But you can tell if it's fluid by holding a small bright torch against the skin on one side. If the light shines through, then it's fluid.

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[LouiseG]

What does it feel like? I would have thought you would be able to feel if there's a testicle in there.

I don't know if horses' skin is too thick for this as it works on humans.. But you can tell if it's fluid by holding a small bright torch against the skin on on side. If the light shines through, then it's fluid.

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It looks deceptively small and round in that photo but when you feel it, it’s a completely handful and reaches all the way up. It’s spongey but solid, he doesn’t mind me touching him at all. I’ve no idea what a horse’s testicle should feel like haha. The retraction in the cold weather has really got me thinking it’s a testicle now. Unless the muscles relax more in warmer weather to let everything hang out... I’m totally stumped!

 

[LouiseG]

Mine has a similar anatomy and I had the vet look at it when we first got him about 2 years ago. They said it isn't a testicle & he had blood tests to confirm testosterone levels. They weren't sure exactly what it is but most of the time the area doesn't look swollen. It is only occasionally like that and tends to be in summer. I clean his willy more regularly now as he gets very greasy legs and haven't noticed it for a while.

Thank you! that’s made me feel a bit more reassured, though the retracting in the cold weather has really thrown me... did the same happen with your horse? I’m so scared he’s a cryptorchid or something and the other one is hiding up near a kidney and it will cost a fortune to fix him

 

[HappyHollyDays]

I had my colt gelded at 9 months old, was there when it was done and saw 2 testicles removed. Once started under saddle he produced a lump just the same so I called the vet out who had a good root around and diagnosed it as nothing more than a hernia. I never had the hernia repaired and some days it was there and some days it wasn’t and he never displayed any stallion tendencies.

 

[Errin Paddywack]

Two I have bred and had castrated both developed soft lumps which to the untrained eye looked like testicles. In one case the owner insisted on an op to check it out and it was fat/fluid. That one I had done at 6 months as he was showing signs of being extremely colty and difficult to handle. I held the testicles while the vet clamped them so I knew they were definitely gone. The other was done as a yearling and sold at three. A vet checked him and was satisfied it was not a testicle as I knew it wasn't.

 

[Boots*McGruber]

Thank you! that’s made me feel a bit more reassured, though the retracting in the cold weather has really thrown me... did the same happen with your horse? I’m so scared he’s a cryptorchid or something and the other one is hiding up near a kidney and it will cost a fortune to fix him

I was worried that he was cryptorchid too, especially as he was also a bit coltish in his behaviour. After examination and blood tests the vet didn’t think he was. I can’t honestly say I noticed it retracting in the cold weather just that it appeared in warm weather that first summer that we had him.
The vet did say it may be a hernia but that the treatment for that (surgery) wasn’t often a great success so we decided just to keep an eye on it rather than pursuing any further diagnostics. So far it seems to be ok and I don’t often notice swelling.

 

[LouiseG]

Two I have bred and had castrated both developed soft lumps which to the untrained eye looked like testicles. In one case the owner insisted on an op to check it out and it was fat/fluid. That one I had done at 6 months as he was showing signs of being extremely colty and difficult to handle. I held the testicles while the vet clamped them so I knew they were definitely gone. The other was done as a yearling and sold at three. A vet checked him and was satisfied it was not a testicle as I knew it wasn't.

Thanks for your reply! I am definitely not an expert in horse testicles!! I am concerned that it is disappearing in the cold?! Would that not be like a testicle? Would a fatty lump in that area do that?