# How Long Does It Take For A Gelded Stallion to Act Like a Gelding?



## Dresden

They shouldn't be able to breed any more. Our vet told us to wait 60 days before turning the horse we had gelded out(he was 8 when he got gelded, not sure if that applies to younger horses too). In my understanding it can take longer than that for the testosterone levels to drop but it depends on the horse. We turned him out with mares after 60 days and he didn't act studdy at all...but he didn't act too studdy to begin with. Hopefully someone with more experience will chime in as that's the only experience I have and it isn't too helpful.
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## Dreamcatcher Arabians

60 days is pretty much what I've been told by the vet, regardless of age. After a few days there are no more 'swimmers' but the testosterone level is still there and they can still be a pain around the mares. Depending on age too, they may or may not continue to be the 'herd sire' even as a gelding. I've had 2 that I gelded after 5 yrs old and they remained in charge of the herd and stayed in their dominant positions but just didn't have any interest in breeding.


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## equiniphile

Six months is average, I've heard. My aunt and uncle just gelded their 12-yr old, and he's still to be pastured separately for 6 months.


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## Rowdy Girl

I've pretty much gelded my colt's as late yearling's...but the one that I was going to keep a stud was gelded at 3, I just didn't want to pass along some traits he was showing... anyway, as soon as he was healed up, he was put out with the herd and even tho he tried to mount the mare's...believe you me, mare's will put a gelding or stud in place in no time... thankfully I have patience mare's and no harm, but stiff warning were given. It take's 30 day's for the "good" seman to die.


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## Faceman

The 60 day rule of thumb is based uon the half-life of testosterone and the time it takes for it to fall to an insignificant level, and is generally reliable to gauge when behavior directly induced by testosterone stops. However some geldings never lose some of their stallion behaviors, although they usually don't try to breed (although some do). Much depends upon the age they are gelded, and what their environment was - in other words have they been in a herd situation, have they bred mares, etc...


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## usandpets

Since the colts are young, they won't take long to lose any stud traits. If the horse is older and has bred before, it may take longer, a lot longer for some.

When we got our first horse, he was still a stud at 3 y.o. and probably bred at some point. He's 8 now and still shows some stud traits once in a while. He may not try to breed but he does do everything else.
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## heartprints62

My mother-in-law's colt was gelded at a 2 year old and he's 7 now and just this summer started mounting and breeding her mares! He has NO testicles but after a 5 year break, he's decided he still likes the ladies I guess! Initially, we were told by the vet to wait 30 days before letting them pasture together again.


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## MHFoundation Quarters

Faceman said:


> The 60 day rule of thumb is based upon the half-life of testosterone and the time it takes for it to fall to an insignificant level, and is generally reliable to gauge when behavior directly induced by testosterone stops. However some geldings never lose some of their stallion behaviors, although they usually don't try to breed (although some do). Much depends upon the age they are gelded, and what their environment was - in other words have they been in a herd situation, have they bred mares, etc...


This. There are so many variables that come into play. We've always done ours as yearlings in the early spring before flies are a concern. 

The only one that was done later is Woodstock who was recently cut at 5. He did still think he was big man for a bit but after a week with my boss mare who is sterile and wouldn't take his grief he has changed his tune significantly. Though with a less dominant band of mares I'm certain he would try to be top dog. His previous environmental factors were less than ideal though - first 3 years of his life were spent in a stall with no interaction with other horses or people, he hadn't seen grass even. When I first got him he was a rank *insert choice language here* We worked through all of that only to deal with an injury that held back training so he got the snip.


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## Ali M

They just turned 2, and have been together their whole life. They have lived with other stud colts for a while and lived with some mares (when they weren't cycling) so idk how much they know about proper herd behavior. Neither one has ever been allowed to breed. They were actually gelded mid-April and were last tried with the mares at the very end of June (which ended up in one of them getting kicked pretty darn bad when a mare came into heat so we had to take them out again). We're weaning our two babies on Tuesday and need a pen to keep them separate so I'd really like to use the pen these two are in since it's far away from the mare pen. Maybe it's time to try and see if they'll stop acting like studs again if the average is 60 days


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## MyLittlePonies

I would wait at least 3-4 months at least and keep an eye on their behaviors before even thinking about changing there pasture buddies. A few years ago we had a stallion gelded and we had to wait for about two months, but was settled by the end of the month. He was a good boy, but wasn't stallion quality, due to some traites being shown after he covered his first mare. I'd say keep them away at least 4 months actually. Ask a vet. All horses are different.


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## Dreamcatcher Arabians

You may just need to let them 'take their lumps' from the mares. If they've never really lived in the herd they've got lots to learn and the mares will be happy to teach them. Rarely will anyone get seriously hurt, that usually falls into the category of "too stupid to live" if they make a mare that mad. They may get scuffs, lumps and bumps from their schooling though.


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## WildAcreFarms

My big red boy was just gelded right before I got him (unknown to me) and he is VERY Studdish.* he has been gelded about a year and he TOTALLY Runs all the mares here.* He does not mount them and shows no interest in breeding but he did BITE another gelding i was riding with. It happened so fast i couldn't believe it, we were walking along on the trail and Norman just reached over and BIT the other poor horse on his neck. just like saying "Hey I'm the top man in charge around here Just so you know". He is 7 years old now and was breeding whomever he wanted (I think) at the place where he was. They were raising TBs and i think he was going where he wanted, eating what he wanted and breeding who he wanted before they cut him. He is a BIG horese and can be pushy if you let him.


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## NdAppy

Some lose the studdy tendencies right away, some take awhile and some never do. It varies from horse to horse.


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## dee

We had two studs gelded in March and one in June (the June one was a surprise - he was supposed to have already been gelded!) One of the studs gelded in March was my filly's baby daddy, and had been used to cover several mares (shudder). He was extremely gelding agressive - unless there was a fence between them. 

In August, we sent all of our horses but the baby daddy and the one that became a gelding in June over to a neighbor's to help graze down his pasture (and lower our hay bill). We decided to try turning the two into the same pen to see what would happen with no mares around. Talk about anti-climactic - nothing happened. They studiously ignored each other. We did set out two well separated piles of hay, but eventually we noticed they were eating together.

I guess our gelding agressive guy kind of got over himself. Kind of, anyway. He can still get pretty rough with the rest of our little herd now that they are all back home.


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