Watching the Olympics, I have never seen so many stallions competing and am wondering if the future of the sport will reserve the process of castration for mainly amateurs? I am wondering if the trainers are realizing that the testosterone is needed now to help meet the challenges of the more difficult, complicated show jumping course designs? However, it seems that there are many more stallions in the dressage as well.
A horse competing at that level, or who is bred to compete at that level, is likely to be much more valuable for breeding purposes than a horse bred to do the 3â hunters. There is limited purpose to keeping the latter intact. There is potential significant value, in terms of quality of future horses and in terms of money, to keeping the former intact.
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I would guess the more stallions here is not that stallions are needed to meet the needs of the sport but because these are pro level riders riding big time horses with a very large price tag so leaving them stallions allows for breeding income once they have proven their wonderfulness.
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True, makes sense. But I donât ever remember this many stallions in the past.
I havenât checked this yearâs statistics, but there are usually VERY FEW STALLIONS competing in the upper levels of Eventing.
Iâm going to go out on a limb and say that testosterone has about nothing to do with their ability to navigate todayâs more technical courses. There are many top mares and top geldings in the sports.
Of the Olympic horses in Equestrian events, I counted roughly 25% mares, 58% geldings, and 17% stallions. Sounds pretty typical for historical Olympics and upper level competitions, from what I can recall.
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showing stallions became a thing in the late 80s and early 90s when laws were changed to make it easier for private entities to keep them. The large stud farms didnât show their stallions, they just went to performance tests.
Now of course it is an economic issue. Not so much that you get a stallion to show, but that you show the stallion to the public.
Much has changed there as well since the inception of AI. Before that, you used the stallion down the road and hoped something that complimented your mare was available (or you shipped the mare out, often in foal or a young foal by her side)
I suppose it is also a testament to the animal that he can withstand the rigors of show life without losing his mind.
I think it might. Or the sex hormones in general might help in stimulating the production of red blood cells and muscle, which would help in competition. Isnât that why some trainers have been involved in âdopingâ their horses with testosterone?
That makes sense.
A lot of good mares out there competing; too!! Think there was commentary about that this morning.
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Yes, I should have posted the effect of sex hormones on their performance in the title. Just wondering if there might be a trend in reducing castrations over time as the course designs become more challenging and technical.
Doubt it. Testosterone isnât a panacea for ability. But certainly having testicles can add to a horseâs revenue stream via stud fees. Plenty of talented geldings and mares performing.
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@capalypinto sex hormones have nothing to do with blood cell production. Testosterone and anabolic steroidsâ do influence muscle development
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Is testosterone needed to help meet the challenges of more difficult show jumping course designs? Does leaving a colt ungelded result in a horse that is better suited for high level competition?
I donât think you can say that. The effects of testosterone/being a stallion may not all be positive with respect to performance and I suspect itâs a very individual thing.
Stallions tend to develop thicker necks and a heavier, more muscular build. Maybe thatâs an advantage, maybe itâs not. Geldings tend to be taller than stallions of the same bloodlines. Is that a performance advantage? Testosterone may have positive effects on mental state (increased pain tolerance, reduced anxiety, sharper reflexes and responses) but it may also have negative effects (distractibility, aggression, intractability).
I donât think people are purposefully selecting stallions more today than in the past, theyâre just doing what theyâve always done: looking for the most consistently best performing individuals regardless of sex. Now, I will say that perhaps, due to modern selective focused breeding programs for performance horses, itâs easier to find a stallion that falls into the category of âmost consistently best performing individualsâ than it once was, and if thatâs true, them maybe we will see more stallions in upper level competition just because more stallions that are suitable for that use are on the market.
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Testosterone does increase erythropoiesis.
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Agreed.
Last Olympics, in Rio 2016, show jumping individual was won by a Big Star, who happens to be a stallion.
There have always been stallions, mares and geldings at the top of sport. If anything; geldings might have a physical edge since their reduced hormones promotes more size/growth. Testosterone and estrogen supposedly decrease growth.
Cheers!
Interesting to note that all 3 medalists today were geldings. The jumpoff participants were 5 geldings and 1 mare.
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This is something that Iâm very interested to see some studies done on horses. As much time as we spend analyzing conformation in horses, it does surprise me that this isnât commonly talked about (or maybe it is, just not in my circles).
We know that spaying/neutering dogs causes growth plates to close later than they normally would (i.e. they grow bigger). Because the growth plates donât all close at the same time, they usually also have different proportions than their intact counterparts, depending on when the dog was neutered/spayed, with earlier desexing resulting in more severe angles and unstable proportions. Nearly any reputable dog breeder can tell you if a dog is spayed/neutered, and roughly how early with just a passing glance. Thereâs also some decent evidence to show that dogs are less likely to suffer ACL injuries and other orthopedic issues if they arenât desexed until theyâre at least 1 year of age. For reference, growth plates of medium sized, intact dogs purportedly close at 14mo, possibly later for larger breeds, and as late as 24mo for early spay/neuter. This is an intact great dane vs one neutered before he was finished growing. The difference is quite striking.
All that to say, it does leave me curious about whether the same happens in horses. Does waiting to geld horses improve their long term soundness and reduce the risk of tendon/ligament injury OR does the ability to more easily condition horses (as opposed to dogs, which most owners donât do in nearly the same structured way as we do with horses) allow us to strengthen them in such a way that it doesnât make much difference? Additionally, do the different proportions give any sort of physical advantage or disadvantage for any type of equine competition? Should riders wait longer to introduce geldings to hard work because their growth plates close later?
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