Stallions with one testicle??

[ticofuzzy]

I have a colt from this year who is a legitimate stallion prospect (and this has been confirmed by “powers that be”)

He has developed a large abcess adjacent to (attached to??) one of his testicles and must have surgery tomorrow to open/drain/clean out the abcess. The surgeon needs to remove the testicle on that side as well.

I was leaning toward just completely castrating him tomorrow and pouting for a while but the vet has urged me to leave the other one there and has said that there are plenty of one-testicle stallions out there. He would only stay a stallion for re-sale purposes, not my own purposes.

Does a one-testicle stallion have any value as a stallion before they are mature (and have proven their fertility)??? I don’t know that I want to keep him around as a stallion until he’s mature, just to prove that he will be fertile and I also hate to subject him to castration again down the road because nobody wants to take a chance on him…

[Wayside]

The vet school in Madison had (and I think still has) a stallion with one testicle. Since he injured and lost the other before maturity, the remaining testicle grew larger than normal. As I recall, we could get a normal collection from him, but it took him a little longer to recharge. Getting two collections in one day was out of the question, but I think he could be collected once a day without a problem.

As far as value goes, I have no idea. Not having the facilities for a stallion, nor the financial wherewithal to campaign one, I’ve gelded every colt I’ve ever owned.

[risingstarfarm]

As someone who has purchased/raised several young stallions, I would not consider purchasing a young stallion with only one testicle. If selling him is your objective, I would just castrate him now. Just my $0.02 worth.

[Simkie]

AP Indy only had one testicle. He was a ridgeling, and the undecended testicle was causing him pain, so it was removed. I don’t think you’ll find a stallion bred more than he was–he had nearly 1200 named foals.

IF the horse is nice enough, I’d think that there could still be interest in him.

[EquusMagnificus]

[QUOTE=risingstarfarm;6471663]
As someone who has purchased/raised several young stallions, I would not consider purchasing a young stallion with only one testicle. If selling him is your objective, I would just castrate him now. Just my $0.02 worth.[/QUOTE]

This. Stallion business is though enough…

[FatCatFarm]

My only advice here is if you do just take the one testicle and he remains a stallion do keep with him all of the paperwork documenting that he lost the testicle due to a medical issue or allegations that he is really a cryptorchid may follow him around. As most know, cryptorchid is heritable and it makes gelding the colts very expensive. There was an Arabian breeder with a very nice and active Arabian stallion who was cryptorchid but everyone was told he lost the testicle after a breeding accident, but the trait showed up in sons and grandsons. I was given a grandson of his who was just lovely but suffered from terrible testosterone poisoning. Unfortunately, his music industry owner never bothered to register him so the cost of having him castrated and retrieving/removing the cryptorchid testicle from his abdomen cost more than he was realistically worth and I wound up returning him. Just something to consider.

[Thoroughbred_in_Colo]

As a mare owner, I would not hesitate to breed to a quality stallion who lost a testicle due to injury or illness as long as his fertility has been proven. I would absolutely not breed to a cryptorchid. If you do decide to keep him intact, make sure you keep the documentation on the abcess/surgery/outcome, in case it comes up with a future buyer or mare owner (or judge in a stallion class for that matter).

If I was in the market for a stallion prospect, buying a youngster with one testicle might make me hesitate. Unless you kept him around for a while, until he’s able to breed some mares and prove himself (so a while becomes a few years), you probably wouldn’t be able to sell him for what he would be worth if he had both testicles. That being said, ANY colt is a gamble as a stallion prospect until their fertility is proven. I’ve known a few stallions that had great show careers, looks, brains, etc. that were absolute duds in the breeding shed. Now the’re nice geldings

If he is genuinely nice enough to reproduce, and you would be ok with selling him for less money, then keep him intact. If you plan on keeping him for a while, and don’t want to deal with a colt, geld him.

[Tasker]

I have/had a stallion with 1 testicle and if I knew then what I know now, I would have opted for a gelding, rather than a hemi-castration. FWIW - my stallion (Wally) had an inguinal hernia in the summer heat of July 2005. Went to a well respected vet hospital and was told that his future collections should be 70-80% of what they had been previously. As his average ejaculate was 18-26 billion, with 70% progressively motile, I thought it was a risk worth taking. In reality, his collections were 30% of the original at best, although the motility did not change.

I would geld as it is tough to get enough to freeze more than a dose or 2, or to have enough to split out a collection for more than 1-2 breeding doses from a collection. Wally did return to the GP ring but I made the choice to retire him from competition and stand at stud full time. Economically speaking as a SO - it’s not worth the hassle of managing a show career with a stallion who only has 1 testicle IMO. From a breeding standpoint, it was tough to handle ‘demand’ from multiple mares needing a shipment at the same time unless they were willing to use frozen…which was much more expensive to produce!

That being said, I know of a very successful international GP jumping stallion that had only 1 testicle and stood to a very good book of mares both during his competition years and once he retired. So some people are willing to take the chance.

[Laurierace]

[QUOTE=Simkie;6471674]
AP Indy only had one testicle. He was a ridgeling, and the undecended testicle was causing him pain, so it was removed. I don’t think you’ll find a stallion bred more than he was–he had nearly 1200 named foals.

IF the horse is nice enough, I’d think that there could still be interest in him.[/QUOTE]

I was going to bring this up as well. I had a very well bred colt years ago that only had one descended. I ended up having the retained one removed while leaving the descended one until a later date when he proved he couldn’t outrun me and we lopped the other one off too!

[DownYonder]

A few well-known stallions with one testicle:

Don Schufro
Diamond Hit
Rohdiamant

All the above lost a testicle due to inguinal hernia (or “testicular fracture”, as they call it in Germany). IIRC, Rubinstein I also had one removed for the same reason, then colicked and foundered immediately after the surgery (which is what killed him).

However - those stallions were already licensed and fully approved at the time of their surgeries. I am not sure if the European registries will even consider licensing a stallion with only one testicle. In fact, I believe I remember a case a few years ago where a highly regarded Hanoverian colt was rejected at his licensing in Germany because he had “small testicles”.

So based on the above, I would think it would probably be in your best interests to go ahead and geld the colt and be done with it.

[Majestic_Gaits]

Check with the registry that you would be looking to get him approved in the future. For the KWPN, they will NOT take a stallion with one testicle. I had a stallion I bought in the KWPN stallion auction in Holland and he was all approved to go to the 70 day testing. The night before the testing, he herniated a testicle and he was no longer eligible to go to the testing. Had he done it afterwards, it would not be a problem. I argued it, but with no luck. Good luck!

Kathy

[HyperionStudLLC]

Windsor Show Stables stallion VEGAS (Voltaire x Joost x Abgar) has one testicle. His semen counts are good & fertility it good. He, of course, has a superb sport career to back himself up with yet as a breeding stallion… No Problems!

Cheers

[rodawn]

I would not geld him.

If he grows up to have poor progressive motility or poor volumes, then he would need to be gelded. Anyone who is buying a stallion will be (should be) checking and testing his ejaculate BEFORE purchase anyway.

Having one testicle should not necessarily preclude him from producing lovely offspring, especially if he grows up to be the exceptional horse the registry inspectors suspect he will be.

Is there any way possible the vet surgeon can save the other testicle? Why not try to go into surgery with the mindset of trying to save the testicle and only taking it if it becomes obvious the abscess has moved into the testicle? I would firmly request the vet surgeon only take the testicle as a last resort.

[ticofuzzy]

Thanks for all the good advice! I’m definitely leaning strongly toward gelding him and being done with it (and keeping him for myself).

This has been a perplexing issue as all signs up until today (temps, bloodwork, ultrasound) pointed to a large hematoma (most likely from trauma to the testicle). The swelling has continued to get bigger and the vet decided to take a sample to send off for analysis and much to our surprise it is filled with pus!! He is very concerned that the infection could travel up into the abdomen and wants to remove as much as he can on that side (which includes the testicle) to reduce the chances of the infection lingering. He will save the testicle if at all possible, but I feel the colt’s health is the priority.

I will check with my registry on their policy about stallions with one testicle and see what they say. I am SO bummed about this as he is the “whole package”!! Of course this can’t happen to the colts that I can’t wait to chop the nuts off of!!

[bluemoonfarms]

[QUOTE=DownYonder;6471874]
…

However - those stallions were already licensed and fully approved at the time of their surgeries. I am not sure if the European registries will even consider licensing a stallion with only one testicle. In fact, I believe I remember a case a few years ago where a highly regarded Hanoverian colt was rejected at his licensing in Germany because he had “small testicles”.

So based on the above, I would think it would probably be in your best interests to go ahead and geld the colt and be done with it.[/QUOTE]

I was at that HAN licensing and the colt was exceptional. I have no idea why they let him go that far in the licensing procedures only to have him not licensed at the last step for having small testicles? The owners of that colt had to have spent a lot of money to get him to the licensing.

I don’t think that a colt with one testicle could be licensed. You might want to contact whatever registry you plan on having him licensed in and see what their policy is. I would geld him.

[Lynnwood]

I know several stallions that have gotten along just fine as breeding animals with one testicle. All were lost due to injury not being born a ridgeling.

One ended up herniating the remaining testicle and was gelded but they were able to collect and freeze quite a bit in the interim/

I’m pretty sure Judgement ISF has only one. He seems to be getting mares in foal just fine and has not hindered peoples interest in him.

Just my HO its seems foolish for registries to not licenses colts for only having one testicle. I would 100% expect that the reason for only having one would be traumatic or medical not born a ridgeling etc.

[rodawn]

Okay, well, if he has to lose a testicle, then you should probably geld him.

The Hanoverian Verband regulations state:

Veterinary Examination for hereditary deseases:

no defects of genitalia (e.g. cryptochidism, small or unilateral testes)
no abnormalities of teeth
no heaves, cribbing, moon blindness, roaring, glanders, mental disorder
no operations or treatments to correct any defects or deficiencies

I presume then that American Hanoverian would follow similar rules since they seem to closely mirror the Han V, but you would need to check. 

For GOV, I can’t find the specific veterinary requirments, but I suspect they are there because GOV is very strict on which stallions they approve.

The KWPN-NA has specific semen test requirements that must be met:
Aangewezen (G) - These are Foalbook, Register A or Erkend Studbook [B]registered stallions that have been successfully been presented for Approval at a KWPN-NA keuring and that have passed the radiograph, endoscopy and semen requirements. [/B]Aangewezen stallions have not yet passed a KWPN performance test (either a 21-Day or a 5-Day test).

Approved (A) - KWPN or Erkend Studbook registered stallions that have successfully been presented for Approval, have passed the [B]KWPN veterinary requirements[/B] and performance test requirements. Approved stallions have been accepted into the Studbook.

The RPSI Requires a pre-inspection veterinary examination that includes inspection of the stallion’s genitalia.

I couldn't get the AHHA rule book to open up for me. 

I found the rules for Westfalen Verband but they opened up in German and my German reading is spotty, so someone else would have to comment here.

That’s just a quick overview of a few registries.