Gelding a 4 year old!

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Welly

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Hi, can anyone tell me how long you should wait after a 4 year old has been gelded to start working him, how long before his hormones stop working.
 
Hiya
I've just had my 4 year old mini shetland gelded at the beginning of March. He was in his stable for the first day obviously but after that I did a lot of in hand work walking to help keep swelling down (was lucky with him he healed up really well with minimal swelling) - built this up over 2 weeks, which gave me a great opportunity to do some decent ground work with him as he was a little B***** before! After about 2 weeks we were back in pretty much normal work (lunging, long reining and driving). Within a week his stallion behaviours had started calming down - nipping, barging etc - and he is now (less than 2 months) already really sweet!
Best thing i ever did with him! :-)
 
It depends how well he recovers from the surgery. If possible, he should be out 24/7 from immediately after the surgery, or for as long as possible per day. My miniature shetland gelding was gelded at 3 and a half. He came home the afternoon of the surgery and went straight out in the field overnight with his 2 girlfriends. He was a tiny, tiny rescue and in very poor condition from chronic malnourishment and he took longer to heal than I expected. After the 1st day he was too sore to lie down which broke my heart as he was so desperate to do so. It was 10 days before he was able to lie down again and that was the turning point for him. During those first 10 days the surgery site became swollen and hard and he was on bute for 5 days, Noradine for 10. It aids the healing process to keep the horse or pony moving during this healing time, which is why turnout is best providing no flies. But I wouldn't advocate hard work in that time as poor lad will be sore and unhappy. Walking in hand is good though. Ask your partner or b/f if he feels he'd liked to go into practice for a marathon the day after having his testicles removed and you'll probably get an idea of the length of time off work your horse will need!
 
I had a 15.2hh 4 year old gelded and was told at least 4 weeks before he is infertile. I kept him moving with turnout in a barn, and rode once he did not seem to be walking as if he was sore.
 
The racing colts gelded are usualy allowed a month off work. It can take up to 6 months for 'stallion/colt' behaviour to completely diminish.

Around four weeks to be totally infertile
 
I really wish people would check their facts before replying to threads....It actually takes 6 months for them to be completely infertile and it would be sensible to therefore keep him separate to mares until this time. It really depends on the horse as to when you will see an improvement in behaviour, some take a few weeks, some a few months...
He needs to be out and moving about like the others said and he may be ridden/ worked lightly after a week...
Hope this helps!
 
livinghorse said:
I really wish people would check their facts before replying to threads....It actually takes 6 months for them to be completely infertile and it would be sensible to therefore keep him separate to mares until this time.
Click to expand...

Yes....don't you just love those that don't have the 1st clue........:rolleyes:
Sperm has a "shelf life" and its certainly NOT six months! You are only waiting for the sperm left in the cord/tubes to die.....that takes a few weeks TOPS....not months.
Six weeks is a sensible amount of time to wait before turning out with mares.
Providing there are no complications surrounding the gelding, 4 weeks is the earliest I would want to start working again.
 
Argh! So so sorry, meaning to write 6 weeks, not 6 months.....Apologies.....

We lunge ours twice daily after they have been castrated and have never had an issue. They of course are not jumped or worked properly until a month later.
 
This is really interesting for me I am looking to get mine gelded as a soon as I can (weather permitting etc) so am interested in what can be done.

I know it varies on each horse but how long before they stop calling out to mares etc and will be able to ride past a field of mares etc?

He is 4 years old, he has covered at least once to my knowledge (he was allowed to run out with a mare last weekend before he arrived) he is stabled in a mixed yard with other stallions, geldings and mares & is quite settled so I am hoping it will not take long, I know I have to wait to turn out but thinking about riding out etc we are lucky in our hacking but we do have to pass other farms with horses on every ride and want to be able to hack him out, he is great in traffic & on the roads just wary of hacking near others, whilst he's still an entire ☺
 
Sorry to throw a spanner in the works. I have had one that had been used as stallion before I bought him and was gelded at about 3 1/2,he never stopped trying to cover mares if turned out with them, and kept a temperament that he had when a stallion - he was gelded for being very sharp to handle and bucked like a rodeo bull. I had no problem with this and he was one of the best horses I have ever had, just be aware that if he is being gelded because of temperament this may not change. he was tested and was definitely a gelding but we had to treat him like a stallion. I could turn him out with geldings but occasionally he would take an intense dislike to one and attack it, he chased and attached like a stallion too. His plus side was he was like a guard dog and nobody could get into the field when he was there. He was a sweetie for me and my partner though and I could trust him with my life when out and about, shooting parties, teams of Harley Davidsons and ambulances with sirens on didn't even produce a sideways glance.
 
I had my Arab gelded at 4 he was quite excited around other horses and would rear everyday when led out of the stable when he was entire although he never covered anything, once he was cut he never reared again but he can be field aggressive and he acts like a stallion in a large herd and I just have to be careful with him around any strange horses, he loves my other gelding but he is the boss and always has been whatever his been turned out with, and his very much the type of horse that can take an instant dislike to another horse and show it, although he is the most sweetest horse with people almost quite soppy.
 
We have currently 3 geldings (gelded at 4) who all have had foals, and they're all just 'geldings'. We've probably had about 7 that were cut at 4, and one that was cut aged 11. All have calmed down and are fine to turn out in herds, good to handle, never rear or mount etc. We don't have mares on the yard though, but we don't have issues at shows or riding out.
 
As with anything its depends on the animal. I have gelding that will call at mares and would like to think its stallion, but he was gelded at two and has never covered anything, and a gelding that was gelded at four, probably used as a teaser but shows no interest in mares. I also have a colt that is three is right wimp and is being bullied by a gelding.
 
It depends on the horse entirely. My gelding was gelding at 1 or 2 but still makes the moves and mounts and covers if he can and i have seen spunk from his penis. He is not a rig at all. My other gelding is totally a dead gelding, but will still sniff and i have seen him mount with no penis extension at all (then he gets down and looks confused)

Its a boy thing. Its in their DNA. Taking their balls off doesn't always change their life.
 
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