Foal issues from hernia to cryptorchid

[KWPN1992]

I just bought my dream horse, a 2 year old dutch colt, brought him home and got his vet records put into my name and boy of boy what a liar the breeder was. It made me sick to my stomach to realize what this colt has gone through and they sold without disclosure. One of the top breeders in the US for warmbloods actually! It is my fault I didn’t think they would be dishonest so I didn’t request records from major hospitals simply not knowing he would have records from…but a honest breeder would tell the buyer what he went through I would think.

Anyways, going back to the horse, I am not worried with his past that I have gotten myself into something that is going to be difficult when I break him to ride.
As a foal he had a hernia with an infected umbilical vein up to the liver, he had surgery and recovered quickly with antibiotics. He was given plasma because he did not get colostrum, and to top it off he was windswept, contracted front tendons and contracted hind tendons. They bandaged his legs, he had glue on shoes. He was sent home and apparently he recovered because he looks straight now. He lived with another colt for the next two years running free on pasture and playing stallion. He was taken back to the major hospital twice during his two year pasture turnout to check his hernia and the hospital gave him the good to go. Having a horse that has gone through all this, should the hernia and abnormalities of his legs effect him as a dressage prospect? His hernia scars are rough feeling and I worry if I will even be able to ride him?

Problem number two…he has one nut and is considered abnormal…possibly a cryptorchid. So back to the hospital again to rip him open once more. However, last night, three days after he has been home there was a small second testicle, then five minutes later is was gone! Has anyone experienced this? His one normal testicle is quite large, can two testicles fit in one pouch?

[Scribbler]

Can you return him to the breeder?

[KWPN1992]

I doubt it, and at this point I have paid for board for a year for him to live at their farm. He is mine and wont go back.

[Scribbler]

@KWPN1992

I doubt it, and at this point I have paid for board for a year for him to live at their farm. He is mine and wont go back.

So you didn’t go see him as a foal?

When did you buy him? Was it as a yearling after all the foal surgery was over? Did you have a vet check? Did you see him in person? Did you see scars?

[Highflyer1]

If the hernia is healed completely and his legs are correct neither should be a problem. None of that (when properly corrected) is anything I would worry about in a horse I planned to geld and ride. The plasma is no big deal when dealt with properly which it sounds like it was.

Did you not vet him? The missing testicle should have been mentioned then. It’s likely that if the “missing testicle” you thought you saw was much smaller it was just tissue and not a testicle. While cryptorchid surgey is more invasive and expensive than a normal gelding, it generally isn’t a huge deal either-- just a month of stall rest that will happen long before he even starts work.

[FromTheGalaxy]

I’m not the most experienced breeder, but most of what you’re describing are things that are fairly common, and like @Highflyer1 said, should not cause any issues going forward if properly corrected at the time. I likely would not have mentioned any of these things to a buyer of a 2 year old if they occurred and were corrected while the foal was very young. Many foals are born with minor limb deviations that if addressed early, can be corrected and cause no further issues. Same with an umbilical hernia.

Honestly the only thing that should have been mentioned was the possibly “missing” testical that was not found at the time of gelding. I would maybe see if you can get further info on this from either the breeder or the vet that did the gelding.

[KWPN1992]

I did not vet him, she knew it was missing but didn’t disclose that. Like I said before, I take the blame…but still frustrating that she did not just tell me he only had one testicle when she clearly knew. Does tissue from the second testicle mean that the testicle is likely not way up in the inaugural canal?

[Highflyer1]

Not necessarily unfortunately, I’ve seen it with horses that were fully gelded. If she knew that he was a cryptorchid and didn’t disclose it, that may be something that is legally actionable, but you should probably talk to a lawyer licensed in your state that specializes in equine law.

[KWPN1992]

Well I don’t really care about doing the lawyer thing, my life is complicated enough right now. I just want to know if anyone else has had experience with seeing tissue that looks like a second testicle and then it magically disappears. I should note, the horse is not yet gelded, he is in tact still.

[Scribbler]

Also you need to wait until the testicles descehs to know he’s cryptorchid

[NancyM]

The missing testicle may be not that far away, and may be removable without much of a problem. If you are seeing something come and go,it may be there and he may be able to be gelded, as one may be just tiny. If it’s not easily visible early in life, about all anyone can do at that point is wait and see if it shows up later. If it’s not there after the ring is closed, then he is a criptorchid or ridgeling, and a vet is gonna have to go looking for it. It may be stuck to his spine, OR it may not be that far away, and able to be removed without too much trouble or expense. You find that out when you get a vet involved. Yes, if it is small, it can appear and disappear, no problem.
I had one colt who looked and acted like a gelding. He was NOT a gelding, as I had foaled him out and owned him, and had not had him gelded. I was sure that both were inside his body cavity, and it was gonna be expensive. I had felt around up there, and found nothing. When I got my vet involved, she found them both, tiny ones, and able to be removed no problem. So don’t dispair too much yet about this. If the second one is inside his body cavity, it’s more expensive, and more involved surgery, but usually goes smoothly.
Good luck. Welcome to the world of baby horses, and all the things that can go wrong with them!

[SimonSays]

I have an 8 year old gelding that came to us as a yearling for ground manners etc. I ended up buying him at 18 months old. He only had one testicle down and one never came out. My vet was able to geld him standing up and fish the small undescended testicle out to remove it. He was good to go within a week or so. Otherwise he would have had to go for surgery- and that recovery is a bit longer like a month and obviously a hospital stay/visit would have been significantly more expensive. But I had done my research and had my vet take a look to get his opinion before I purchased him so that I had a plan for $400 vs $2000 depending on how things went. For me I knew I wanted him as a gelding, so it certainly didn’t stop me from pursuing purchasing him. If I was buying him as a potential breeding stallion that would have been a different story.

I don’t think that’s super uncommon. And as a buyer its your responsibility to ask questions or do a PPE if those kind of things matter to you.

I also think everyone has a different personal scale for what is acceptable and what bothers them or what really isn’t a concern. Large breeding programs deal with all sorts of issues- hernias, contracted tendons, needing to give colostrum etc. Now that you do have the information it certainly sounds like they had him seen and rechecked appropriately by a vet who gave them the good to go.

I wish you luck with your fella! And hopefully in a couple years these things will be a forgotten memory in the past as your dancing down the dressage arena!

[Texarkana]

It would have been nice and professional to disclose your colt’s history, but these are all non-issues for a performance career when addressed early on.

It was probably quite a shock to you that nothing was mentioned. But it’s entirely possible the breeder honestly didn’t think to mention these things because they were all blips in the past that were properly addressed.

As you know, a horse’s testicles rise and drop. If you saw his second testicle, he’s not a cryp. That teste may be small/underdeveloped. It may be partially retained right around the ring- those often drop on their own with age or are pretty easy to access by a vet when gelding without any additional need to “rip him open.”

[JB]

As mentioned ,the hernia and leg issues are a non-issue going forward, given that you say he’s sound, has nice straight legs, and is otherwise healthy.

It’s ok to wait until he’s 3 before deciding he really needs surgery to remove all testical tissue. At that point, any hope of it/them descending is basically none. If your vet hasn’t done a thorough palpation, I’d do that sooner rather than later. You want to know sooner if that testicle is there but not descended, or if it really can’t be palpated. It IS possible he has one under-developed testicle. That’s more likely than having 2 testes in one scrotum pouch

You WILL need to have it all removed thoughm even if he’s a true cryptorchid, as retained testicles are a high risk of cancer and other issues.

At that point, the “gelding scar” is your biggest concern, but that applies to every gelding, not just this situation. And while that may be more common than previously thought, it doesn’t seem truly common.