Pride was entire till he was 9, he was at stud until then and never had any problems with him!
He is probably the least stallionally than all the gelding at the yard, although he does have quite an impressive rear and strike out when he is playing
qr.
A neighbour has a pony that was used as a stud for several years, then gelded. He's a sweet-tempered little chap, not stallion-y at all.
There was an article in Native Pony a while back about a lady who had to geld her 14-yr-old Dales stallion after an accident. They had no end of problems just knocking out the pony! Ended up the pony had to go to hospital and have the op and it cost quite a lot of money I think.
Depends on the horse and why they are being gelded. I rode a stallion that was gelded when he was about 9, he was gelded beacause he just was not interested in mares or covering and this meant he could happily go to any home as a very nice riding horse once gelded.
Hmm well m black one wasnt gelded until he was 5, he has a bigger neck and is chunky etc, partly because of him being gelded late I think, and yes he could mount mares in the field, more habit I think, but at 18 he cant really be bothered now.
He has a wonderful nature though and although he has and always will be field boss, he is not 'stallionish'
There are greater risks of complications such as herniation of the intestines etc when older horses are castrated and they should not be done standing due to this.
A lot of stalliony behaviour is learnt, so gelding a horse may not make that much difference to its behaviour and it may continue to show interest in mares.
We had a beautiful palomino quarter horse who was gelded at the age of 14 after falling into an unfortunate home. He had frequently worked as a stallion, but after the death of his owner was sold to an inexperienced home. We bought him shortly after he was gelded- didn't fix what ever problems they were having- and for the next fifteen years he lived in a mixed herd, he was the most beautifuly mannered and gentle horse one could hope for. I knew him before he was gelded and his behaviour never varied, I think it was down to a great nature and good handling.