Riggy gelding

ktj1891

ktj1891

Well-Known Member
Joined
15 March 2010
Messages
1,584
Visit site
Can anyone recommend any supplements that they have tried and has worked for them? I have a riggy gelding that seems to be getting a touch more riggy than he's been before. I can turn him out with mares fine he just has episodes where he gets all squealy and stallion like and in a minute it's all over and he goes back to being the most chilled out horse you have ever met.
He just seems to be getting worse over the past week I have seen him paw and smell his poo whilst making those stallion noises and then poo over it and squeal at gelding in neighbouring paddock. Yesterday he was getting all riggy over my friends mare who is in the middle of my track lifted his leg and pulled all fencing down! Again he's not dangerous at all with it but he just seems to be getting more hormonal so wanted to see if I can give him anything to stop these episodes from getting any worse!
 
Firstly you need to get him tested to see if he is a 'true rig' or a 'false rig'.
A true rig retains some testicular tissue so when he was gelded for whatever reason, not all the tissue was removed. THis means that the horse retains a large constant source of testosterone - the male hormone.

In a false rig the horse retains no testicular tissue but will still act like a stallion although hormones are not an issue. This is thought to be a behavioural issue, to do with social interaction of horses.

There is a drug which can be given and which my horse was given for a false rig. But this was in 1997 and I had to sign a disclaimer from the vets as it was unlicensed for use in horses at the time. The drug was Depo Provera.

You really need to establish why the horse is like this firstly and go from there.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Had similar problem with my boy and agnus castus really helped. I bought on its own but you can get supplements such as Rigcalm but works out more expensive.
 
I don't suppose your gelding has cushings and is on prascend? Having similar problems with my 25 year old at times. It's so out of character but I'm sure it's related to the cushings.
 
To test whether a mature horse is an actual rig (i.e. a cryptorchid) you do a blood test for oestrone sulphate - not testosterone. Anyway, in about 25% of geldings (regardless of the age when they are gelded), the actual removal of the testes does not alter their behaviour - they stay stallion-like. This is what's been traditionally called "riggy" but it's actually normal. Castration removes the strong motivation to mate etc but doesn't necessarily tone down all the other things that go with being a stallion. In most cases, because horses are gelded young, they never learn very obvious stallion behaviours even if they belong to that 25% (whereas with an older horse, they need to be retrained). But a small number slip through because of their experiences/socialisation. So what you have is a normal gelding with poor social skills. You can get a vet to double-check he's not a rig but after that your best bet is to treat him as a normal gelding with a behavioural issue and focus on socialising him and identifying if something in his environment changed to trigger the attitude. It may do him good to go in with larger, well-behaved geldings instead of mares for a time, to teach him to be a more submissive member of the pecking order. There are hormonal/other treatments you can try but I'm not aware of any that are tested and shown to be consistently effective.
 
He has always been like it and he goes out with mares better than geldings, he gets bullied and beat up. He never does anything by it he gets all excited for about 30 seconds and then back to chilled, dopey gelding. There also isn't a pattern to it, he doesn't do it constantly. I guess he just does it when the mood takes him.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top