Uh...only on this list would an e-mail have such a subject line! :) Isak has been fully equipped since he was just a few days old - I think about two weeks. Landi is still...a little deficient. I just scheduled gelding appointments for them for next month. If Isak settles in with the geldings, I MIGHT let him stay intact for a few months, on a day-by-day basis. The vet will sedate Landi and see what, if anything, drops from heaven. If nothing drops, we'll have to take him in to the clinic for surgery later.
BTW, I didn't feel anything on Landi, but my vet could feel one on examination a couple of weeks ago. I wish all Icelandic owners, stallion owners particularly, would realize that it's a real pain - AND a significant expense - to have cryptorchid colts. Other breeds simply don't tolerate cryptorchids, and will geld them immediately, taking them out of the breeding pool. A normal gelding procedure costs about $200 or so, I'm sure with some regional variation. Cryptorchid surgery can easily be $1000, maybe even closer to $2000 depending on the likely complications and how much "searching" the vet has to do. But, of course, the irony to my thinking is that the expensive surgeries are the ones that really SHOULD be done. I don't want to have to isolate a crypt from the mares until he's two or older, hoping the "Easter bunny" will bring him a couple of late Easter eggs, but still afraid to 100% trust that he's sterile. I suspect that Landi's "deficit" came from Sina's side, but I admit that I don't know that. I don't plan to breed Sina again regardless, since she's my personal riding horse. There is a young Icelandic stallion in my area that I KNOW was fully dropped by the time he was 2-6 weeks - I can't remember exactly what age. Isak's testicles were also dropped at a normal age, I think by two weeks, maybe earlier. I wish people would quit accepting that it's "normal" for Icelandic colts to drop late. It's expensive, and requires extra management to work around. I think it's "normal" only because it's been tolerated, where it's not tolerated with other breeds. Sorry, it's my soapbox of the day... Karen Thomas [EMAIL PROTECTED]
