Is this normal behaviour for a gelding?

[Circe]

Hi,
This will probably sound like a very silly question, but here goes. ( might be long, sorry )
My tb is 8yrs old. I don't know much about his history, but I have papers saying he was sold as a 2year old colt, and then later papers saying he was imported as a gelding.
I got him when he was nearly 4 from a riding school where he was kept in a mixed herd.
Since I have owned him he has always been in individual paddocks, with geldings next to him.
He is a real gentleman and has extremely good ground manners, he can have a tantrum when ridden, but nothing nasty.
Well, the last couple of days there have been 3 brood mares put in the paddock next to him, and he has completely changed. He has spent the last 2 days running up and down the fence line, squeeling. Hes in a lather of sweat. He hasn't finished his meals ( which is very unlike him ),
Yesterday it took 2 hours for him to settle when I was riding, he kept fly bucking and threatening to rear, on the ground he tried to kick me, then he pulled me so hard on the way back to his paddock that even with thick gloves on he has hurt my hands.
Today he was hard to catch, ( still sweaty, running around calling ), tried to bite me and has called constantly when taken out of his paddock.
So, really, this seems excessive for a gelding... Do people think its because he was gelded a little later? will he settle down do you think? Could he be a rig, and would this have showed before now? This is going to sound really silly, but could I tell from looking at "him" if he was a rig?
I'm finding him hard to deal with at the moment tbh.
Kx

 

[Wagtail]

I have known several geldings that are not rigs behave this way. However, in view of his extreme behaviour, if he were mine, I would have him blood tested.

 

[JanetGeorge]

Was one of the mares in season? A lot of geldings will respond to an in-season mare without being rigs - or gelded late. Probably rather more don't.

You can't tell is a gelding is a rig just by looking. If he has a retained testicle you can sometimes feel it under the skin - but if it was retained right up in the abdominal cavity then you won't feel it (and be aware that if he IS a rig he might kick your head in if you try and feel it!!

Obviously the easiest way to deal with it is to change paddocks and get him away from the mares. But you could also speak to your vet about a hormone assay to get an answer.

 

[Circe]

Thank you for your replies,
One of the mares is in foal, and was doing a lot of squeeling and striking out at him in return, but only for the first few minutes hes turned out, the other 2 didn't really show him any attention, or show signs of being in season. Hes making all this fuss and really just being ignored by them.
JanetGeorge, thanks for your warning, I think I'll leave feeling around for something, especially in light of him loosing his manners.
I'm not able to see him tomorrow, but I think I'll give my vet a ring on friday if he is still not settled and if the YO can't let us have a different paddock.
Kx