Feeling guilty...

BeanyG

BeanyG

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Hi a bit pointless but have just had my boy gelded today and now just got back and feeling so guilty.
Thing is I know it's best for him in the long term but he is 3 now and just so good, nothing coltish at all, only yesterday I took he out for an in hand hack and he behaved brilliantly with excellent manners.
But I know it is defiantly for the best.
Also when can he be safely turned out with a mare? As I forgot to ask the vet but will ring them tomorrow
N&F
 
Oh he'll be fine, sounds like he won't even realise he's missing anything lol
I think you will get very varied answers about when he can go out with mares.

Personally I'd wait longer than the time period required to prevent pregnancy.
His hormones will still be running in his blood so you don't want him developing a habit of mounting, and he may even though gelded if allowed in with mares too quickly.

Just something to consider.
 
My mare broke the fence and got in with my newly gelded colt in the spring, and has not shown a season all summer, so we are having her scanned! She got in with him just under 3 weeks after he was cut (and he definately covered her, the naughty pair, she had muddy scuffs all over her shoulders, bite marks up her withers with a chunk of mane missing, her back legs were a sticky mess, his dripping errrm "man piece" kept being popped out on point, etc etc. He'd obviously humped her, probably more than once, my poor sweet innocent girl! Lol). The vet had originally told us 4 weeks, and thought at 3 weeks it was very unlikely that he would still be fertile enough to impregnate her.
So I carried on as usual and recently realised she has not shown a season all summer. Hmmm. Cue some frantic research, which tells me the boys can be fertile for up to 8 weeks after gelding! (Obviously, the 8 weeks would apply to an established stallion, not a 2 year old like mine, though). So I am taking the mare in question to the vets next week, and having her scanned, just to be sure.
So I would leave it around 8 weeks before you put the boy in with a mare, just in case, to avoid any 'accidents'!
 
You definitely did the right thing :)

There have been documented cases of 'geldings' successfully covering and settling mares at up to 5 weeks after castration so 6 weeks is a sensible timeframe :)

ETA Laura C I would love to see the research suggesting fertility after 8 weeks, I certainly have not seen it.
 
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Thank for the replies, have just scared my self reading story's on the net of colts covering up to 6 months afterwards and as I've got a new mare coming back end of january and definately dont want any accident.
Just got back from him and he's really depressed I feel so bad
N&F
 
They often look a bit down after the anaesthetic but next day its the normal wheres my breakfast, perhaps just a bit odd in their walk behind at first :)
 
Rhino, my frantic reading into fertility post-castration was from various online sources, so obviously credibility of source is questionable (!), and most of this was more anecdotal than proven research. But an equine vet, a family friend, has suggested that theoretically ("theoretically"!) an established stallion that has been gelded can still be fertile enough up to 8 weeks after the op to settle a mare. Its very very unlikely, but I've been told, possible. I wasn't saying it was a hard and fast rule, just what I have been told by a reliable source.
 
Thank guys
It's my OH thats making me feel worse, he recons that frankie will know that OH is a real man and he's now not
When I asked him how frankie know OH is a real man he says he watched him have a pee!
N&F
 
1 thing you can do, if he is feeling down & maybe a little sore, is to turn him out with a polite older gelding.

We did this a few times with colts that had been gelded late tho sometimes they went out with the main man as he was fine to have geldings & colts out with him over the worst of winter, till spring came in.
I never put late gelded lads out with a mare during their 1st spring after gelding if they had been done after the end of the show season (so October onwards)

I'd not put him out with a mare till yours returns, but I dont see any prob 'if' both are well behaved in putting them in adjacent paddocks for her 1st fortnight back or so.

Hope it works out :)
 
oh well he will be feeling sore at 3 yrs old. i would wait 8 to 10 weeks before he is allowed near mares to let the hormones settle. hopefully your vet has left you with plenty of bute for the next 7 days. gentle walking/ambling around in small paddock will help. really you need to speak to the vet that wielded the knife he really is the best to advise you on your colt/now geldings welfare.
 
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