Friend has one that thinks already, at 3 months, that he is bud-stud. Thinking of gelding him at 6 months. Anyone do this? Is this safe for him in the long run? Let me know.
Well my current PSG mount (14 years old) was gelded at 3 months of age; so, I believe it can be done without mame, torture or long-term issues <wink> I have done (though admittedly years ago) several at 6 months of age because those into certain breeds prefer it. Now that said, I usually geld my own around the age of 2.
We have a colt who will be gelded this fall (approx 6 mo of age). Good time to do it you have behavioral issues or you just don’t want to wait. Our rule of thumb, the younger they are, the easier they cope with it.
Cheers
Dr RM Miller’s answer to the “When to geld?” question is always “yesterday”
It can be done at any age. Six months is great, but any time is fine. You could geld him now. Usually breeders wait until the weather turns so that flies, etc won’t be an issue with the wound.
We gelded one at 5 WEEKS of age. His testicles had descended and his preferred mode of locomotion was on his hind legs. It was an easy decision 
He’s a lovely 7 year old gelding today 
I have only had one colt and he was gelded at 6 months and then weaned a few weeks later. My farrier was about ready to quit because this colt was so bad. His behavior improved dramatically after gelding. I will geld before weaning if I have another colt. Works out well - mama keeps them moving around and is there for moral support.
I did my colt last year at 3 months since he totally thought he was “the man” and not in just a playful mounting way. He was seriously trying to do the real deal! Was super easy and will be doing my other colt this fall as well as it just seemed so much easier on them when they are smaller.
Once they drop, it’s time to chop.
If you can find them, it’s time
It should be just fine. Both of my vets feel that if the testicles have dropped, a colt can be gelded. One vet has (fairly) routinely gelded at 3-4 mos.
once they drop. Personally I do it around 6 months. An over riding thing here is usually early spring or late fall because of the flies/do it in cooler weather so they can be outside to walk around a lot and not be tortured by the flies.
We do it as soon as the weather cools off in October - no matter how old the little beastie is at that time.
You definitely don’t want to when the bugs are still bad.
Do it once they’ve dropped and before you wean.
Use the same signs as I’ve posted in the “Weaning By The Signs” thread above ^^^
I geld Nov-Dec when the bugs are gone but not miserably cold. None of mine make it to the new year in tact
As others have noted - if the testicles are down you can castrate them. We do it before weaning.
One of my old Vets (who recently passed at 100 years of age) told me it was “Brain Surgery”…changes their mind from a** to grass!! I now refer to it as Brain surgery and sometimes get shocked looks from people.
Another vote for castrating pre-weaning! It has always worked well for me and is the plan for this year, as well.
We prefer before weaning. It’s amazing how much easier it is on them at this age and like the idea that they are still getting antibodies from their dam.
I’m in the wait til the weather cools and bugs aren’t as bad group. My vet prefers this too. I do them in Nov-Jan depending on the particular colt and whatever other stuff is going on here. That makes them in the 5 to 8 month range.
This is interesting, I think most people around here do it after weaning, but after reading this I think I will do this year’s colt before he is weaned.
You hear a lot of people saying that they wait to geld because they want their horse to have ‘more substance’ or to get bigger. It seems like an old wives tale to me.
Gelding will actually = a TALLER horse, because testosterone plays a roll in closing the growth plates. But we’re talking about gelding prior to two or three or after two or three for that to play a roll, not gelding prior to a year.
The easiest weaning I ever saw was when a 6 ish month old colt was brought in, dropped, gelded and his dam got on a trailer and left while he was still out. The colt was turned back out with the herd he lived in and it took perhaps an hour before he even called for her. I was really impressed just how low stress the whole thing was for him.
Gelding standing or down?
I’m interested to know, breeding more fillies than colts I don’t have much / any experience of this, I have heard cautions about knocking them down to geld. Most people here geld them standing. Is the latter much safer? Is it that the problem with gelding a youngster standing that there is the chance he will retract one or both testicles and will make it a very difficult operation instead of a simple one whereas if he’s down he will be totally relaxed…?
