>>> I've had a colt gelded as young as one month -- a mule produced by the same mare that produced one of my cryptorchids. (In fact, it is common for mules to be gelded very young: you don't need the natural strength of a mule jet fueled by testosterone!.) Seemed like it was an easier surgery and the little guy had less bleeding than colts gelded older.
Ha! Our Buck is a mini-mule that we got from the rescue agency. He's 11H. He was gelded about a week before we got him, at about age three. He's still a stud at heart - he loves the ladies. I think it would have been better had he been gelded much younger. It's generally accepted that the younger the colt is, the less likely the surgery will present complications, as Lynn said. I've read where some vets even recommend that it be done at a few weeks of age, but it seems to be most common that it be done between the ages of 4-12 months. Most vets seem to recommend it be done before the age of 12 months, if possible, if there's no reason to consider the colt as a stallion prospect. A mature breeding stallion can be gelded - I own several geldings who weren't gelded until they were 5 or 6. (Of course, Loftur has a castration scar too that has caused him much pain, but he was gelded in the field by non-veterinarians, before he left Iceland...that's another story altogether, an example of what not to do...) My vet recently gelded a 14-year-old RMH horse who had stood at stud for many years, and the surgery went well. His owners are retiring and want to trail ride, and don't want to be excluded from the "no-stallions-allowed" trail ride events. Karen Thomas, NC No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.463 / Virus Database: 269.6.1/777 - Release Date: 4/26/2007 3:23 PM "The greatest enemy of the truth very often is not the lie- deliberate, contrived and dishonest -- but the myth -- persistent, persuasive and unrealistic." "All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident." ~ Arthur Schopenhauer [] The video every Icelandic Horse owner should have: http://IceHorses.net/video.html [] Lee Ziegler http://leeziegler.com [] Liz Graves http://lizgraves.com [] Lee's Book Easy Gaited Horses http://tinyurl.com/7vyjo [] IceHorses Map http://www.frappr.com/IceHorses [] IceHorses ToolBar http://iceryder.ourtoolbar.com/ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IceHorses/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IceHorses/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
