When do I start to worry that he's a cryptorchid?

[FindersKeepers]

I have a best guess 1 year old pony rescue that I picked up last summer. He was found last July wandering in a local community and spent 30 days in animal control’s hands, then I brought him home. His 3rd incisors started to come in around mid November, so we put him best guess around a year now. He is tiny, no more than 7 hands tall, and certainly stunted a bit as he was orphaned at 3-4 months.

Anyway, he is behaving like a studdy little brat, but he has not dropped, nor is there any sign of any growth on palpation. I know that these smaller breeds can take longer to drop, but my question is at what point do we say they aren’t coming and time to come up with plan B?

[Sportpony]

I’ve had colts drop as late as 2 1/2 years, rarely … but I’ve had two.

[littleum]

If he’s that tiny (as in 28"), you’re very likely dealing with a Miniature. And they have their own rules.

It’s not uncommon for them to NOT be descended as yearlings. The testicles will often be present, just requires skilled and aggressive palp to find the beans. If you’re used to palping for regular horse beans, you may well have missed this guy’s. It’s kind of a fine art with them. As long as you can feel the beans- even if they’re REALLY up there- you should be able to do a normal castration.

There are reports of Miniatures dropping as late as 3, but most experienced breeders I know believe if they’re not down by spring at the 2 year old year they’re not coming down.

[Daventry]

[QUOTE=Sportpony;7505172]
I’ve had colts drop as late as 2 1/2 years, rarely … but I’ve had two.[/QUOTE]

Same. Some breeds, including a few pony breeds, are notorious for dropping late. If it really becomes a problem, often if you drop the colt down and have the vet palpate and/or ultrasound the area, the boys can be found…and often coaxed to finally make an appearance.

[SportArab]

I had a colt who was a major ugly duckling. He got a chance to grow into a swan because he had one of his tucked up so far my vet thought he was cryptorchid.

He dropped when he was a little over 2 years old and by that time he’d grown into himself.

[FindersKeepers]

Thanks for the replies. He is tiny, but has already grown a substantial amount since I brought him home and started feeding him to grow appropriately. He does not look like a mini, he’s much more fine boned and given his rate of growth, will well surpass the height requirements. Wouldn’t be surprised if he’s a mini cross though. My vet has palped him as well and can’t find anything, but we’ll just keep checking. She recommended I not panic until he turns 3 and they are still missing, but I may start setting aside funds just in case…

[Laurierace]

I personally wouldn’t keep a horse that is acting studdy intact in the hopes that he will drop someday. Lots of that behavior is testosterone aided but becomes a learned behavior that may or may not go away after gelding. Once they know they have nuts, the nuts have to go.

[FindersKeepers]

Well I’d love to have them go now, but the vet can’t do it in the field if we can’t palp them, and the clinics won’t go searching intra-abdominally at his age, especially given his tiny stature.

He’s not behaving terribly, just behaving with more attitude than a weanling. He’s a perfect gentleman in hand, but needs a little reminder of whose in charge occasionally. He’s simply testing boundaries.

[Emilia]

We own a fine boned mini, three year old. We got him for free as a two year old, because he was a bilateral cryptorchid at that point.

We waited into his third year as recommended for minis.

He dropped one last month.

I am done waiting though, because he acts more and more study towards horses, pissing them off.

As a matter of fact, I am calling in tomorrow and see, if we can get him in for a spring break.

Now, I knew for sure, he was intact. If you are not sure, I would recommend asking vet to run the test on him.