# Gelding an older stallion?



## stevenson (Sep 12, 2011)

if he is in good health I dont see why you could not geld him. Have you discussed this with your Vet ? The one big concern is how long he will be down, their body weight is so massive that it is very hard on them if they are down to long.


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## JCnGrace (Apr 28, 2013)

My stallion was 12 when he was gelded. It was harder on him than it is a 6 month old colt but that was in the soreness/swelling dept. he had no serious complications. It took a while for him to realize he was no longer a stallion but in the end he was much happier for it because now he gets to live in a herd.

Since you get limited on the places you can take him then I would not hesitate to geld him. I'd do it very soon before the flies get bad or wait until fall.


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## loosie (Jun 19, 2008)

Yeah, there are some serious health risks to gelding older boys, but talk to your vet about it, or perhaps a good vet hospital, if not sure about your vet's knowledge. I imagine behaviour/emotions at his age are well & truly habitual, so I wouldn't expect much if any different behaviour after.


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## squirrelfood (Mar 29, 2014)

Just make sure you have a vet who understands the differences (and there are some) between gelding youngsters and older horses. The older ones have a much stronger blood flow to the area for one thing, and can bleed out quickly if not done carefully. That said, I have had even over 20 boys gelded successfully.


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## walkinthewalk (Jul 23, 2008)

Back in the early 80's I bought a 17 year old Arab/Morgan stallion. The Sellers had raised him from birth so there was no question about his age.

I carried him to the vet clinic, in case the gelding event started to go south. He came thru fine and came back home that same day.

As others have said, he was slower to heal -- taking about 1-1/2 weeks to bounce back to his normal self. The only negative I noticed was he was prone to get the sniffles easily and was horribly allergic to ragweed but that could have been the case before he was gelded. I only had him a month before he was gelded.

He had always been a perfect gentleman to begin with and was even better after being gelded. I rode him on organized rides alongside mares and he never once acted study. 

He was just a real sweetie face that I had to sadly PTS when he was 27 due t low ringbone from the previous owner's sons racing him against cars on the macadam roads in their little farm town:-(

If you decide to geld him, I agree with taking him to an equine facility if your regular vet is not set up to safely and *sanitarily *keep him over night, should that become necessary.


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## QtrBel (May 31, 2012)

Talk to your vet. The option of having it done standing may work best. My vet refused to do my stallion ( a draft) because of his size and age. He had already had him down for one surgery and has said never again. The tech that is usually open and talkative won't talk about that surgery. There is a vet about 2 hours away that does older or larger breed horses standing and has not had any problem. He won't let them go home that day however. He does the surgery first thing in the am so if a problem develops he is there and keeps them overnight.


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## Cherie (Dec 16, 2010)

We gelded a 20 year old stallion with absolutely no problems. We have gelded several over 10 years old. As long as the Vet has a very good set of emasculators and leaves them on a little longer, you should not have a bleeding problem. Some Vets will tie off the main artery with an absorbable suture while the emasculators are in place.

There will be a lot more skin in his scrotum, so we have always cut most of it off rather than just making one incision over each testicle when we cut older stallions. This helps keep it from growing shut so it can heal from the inside out. It also does not leave huge flaps of skin when they are healed.

Three or four days after castrating when they are pretty sore, we usually turn them out with other geldings. They will be at the bottom of the pecking order, so their testosterone levels drop very quickly and they stop acting like a stud immediately. When you leave them by themselves for a long time, they are often much more studdy and dominant for a lot longer time. We just make sure there are no mares right across any fence and the geldings we turn them in with teach them 'herd manners' right off the bat.

I also will tell you another effect of gelding an older stud if he has a great big crest on the top of his neck. A could of the ones we have done had huge crests including the 20 year old. The lost their 'starch' when they lost their testosterone. The old guy had the biggest crest and it fell over to one side and kind of bounced when he trotted. The ones that did not have a big crest just got a softer, less firm neck.


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## loosie (Jun 19, 2008)

^Hmm, very interesting about the 'starch' Cherie! I suspect the one at least that fell over & bounced was more of an obesity crest than just healthy stallion variety, but I've always wondered about that... Be interesting to look into it further...


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## Cherie (Dec 16, 2010)

He was not obese. He just had a huge hard crest that you could not fit in your open hand. It was probably 3 inches wide at the base of his mane. Another had a fairly large crest and also not obese. His was not as big and heavy and only got less firm -- not floppy.

The old guy was a double registered Palomino Saddlebred that had not been gaited out but was used in 'Parade Horse' classes carrying the old style silver mounted saddle. He was owned by a wealthy old man (Mr. Olinger of the Olinger Mortuaries in Denver). Mr. Olinger was in the Denver Mounted Shrine Patrol. The old horse had been to the Rose Parade several times and had been to Madison Square Gardens in NYC. He had been all over America as part of the Shrine group. He was VERY well trained. [Drove me nuts that every time you stopped him, he stretched out.] I ended up with him after Mr. Olinger died. Mr. Olinger willed him to the stable boy that always took care of him. Two years later, the stable boy got in trouble with the law. His mother was going to put the old horse down because she did not want to pay for feeding him while her son was in Reform School. I found out about it and went and got him. He was a wonderful old horse -- with a floppy crest.

He was a really neat old horse that I used for lessons for 10 years -- absolutely trained to death. 

As a side note -- He died when he was 33. I had given him to one of my students after her young horse died. His back was still straight at 33. This was after 15 years of carrying a 200#+ man with over 200# of silver saddle and trappings and he was trained at the age of 2. [So much for all of the theories about riding them young.]


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## Sharpie (May 24, 2009)

While gelding mature stallions is a bit rougher on them than youngsters, so long as the veterinarian is experienced and comfortable with it, the chances of having any significant problems are still very low and the benefits are about the same. If you don't want to use him for breeding, I would strongly recommend gelding him. As they say, a good stallion makes a great gelding.


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