Gelding: Why and When? A Veterinarian Explains

As Funny Cide pursued the Triple Crown, it brought to the fore the question of why some horses are gelded and others are not. Dr. Larry Bramlage, on-call veterinarian for the American Association of Equine Practitioners, shed light on the subject.
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Editor’s Note from The Blood-Horse: As Funny Cide pursued the Triple Crown, it brought to the fore the question of why some horses are gelded and others are not. Dr. Larry Bramlage, on-call veterinarian for the American Association of Equine Practitioners, shed light on the subject.

Castration: Creation of a Gelding from a Colt or Stallion

Castration is normally performed on colts to make them more tractable and easier to handle. When the horse has minimal breeding value, the procedure normally takes place once the horse is skeletally mature.

In horses with potential breeding value, the decision to castrate is delayed to determine if the horse has enough athletic ability to make it attractive as a future sire. If the horse is not a potential sire, castration increases the longevity of its race career by making the horse easier to train. The mature, intact male horse becomes progressively more difficult to train and more aggressive as it gets older.

In some horses, the timing of the castration procedure is accelerated because they will have one testicle or sometimes both testicles partially undescended, which leaves the testicle in the flank of the horse between the leg and the abdomen. Sometimes this causes discomfort during training. If the horse has one testicle normally descended and one retained or undescended, the proper medical term is “cryptorchid” or the horseman’s term is “ridgling

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Written by:

Larry Bramlage, DVM, MS, Dipl. ACVS, practices at the Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, Ky.

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