[Friesiangirl]

My horse was gelded about a year ago, He's about 7. So, yes, he was gelded late, he talks to mares and i give him a good tug on the lead rope and he stops LOL. It's funny, beacause theres nothing down there, i checked... he doesn't act agressive at all he just talks and drops LOL. I try to keep him away from to many mares lol. I have NO CLUE how to handle a late gelded horse. So help me. PWEASE????

[cassidy]

he will probably always be riggy

you just have to teach him perfect ground manners an tell him that you are boss

many stallions cope in competition when surrounded by mares so your horse should be no different - its all a case of showing him whos boss

[SalemsMom]

It has nothing to do of how late,he was gelded, I have gelded a stud at 15, and he was a perfect gentlemen, never even noticed mares, on the other hand, we bought a gelding that was four, he acted like a stud. It has to do a lot by whether they were proud cut, or not! When I geld a colt, or older horse, I tell the vet, I don't want him to come up off the ground, proud cut.

[Friesiangirl]

Whats the difference between proud and regular?

[loosie]

Gelding a horse at any age after they've begun 'adolescence' - often well before they reach physical maturity will usually mean they have some 'stallion' feelings/ideas, more or less.

However, what these thoughts and the repercussions of these might be are generally to do with nurture, not nature - that is, their environment, relationship with other horses and animals - humans included - is what really governs how they behave, be it whole or gelded at whatever age.

For eg. a stallion grown up in a stable family/herd environment will generally make a well mannered, well behaved individual when trained(assuming good handling, of course). A gelding or mare that is grown up in solitary confinement, or in an insecure setting, even if given lots of intermittent interaction with people & other horses will usually be lacking in manners & other social graces, with humans and other horses and be more difficult to train.

It was often thought in the past that if a gelding behaved "like a stallion" that he must be a 'rig' or 'proud cut' that is, either a testicle remained inside him & was unable to be removed, or that the vet just did a bad job and left a bit of testicle behind. It is now pretty well realised that these instances are highly unlikely and that it is almost always environment and experiences that cause geldings to behave 'riggy'. That is, it is learned behaviour.

With any horse, but especially with stallions(or geldings who think they are), leadership is important. It is very important to understand the difference between leadership and dominance though. Dominant horses are bossy to other horses and often pick fights to try to 'up their rank'. They use their 'brawn' and are usually not well respected leaders of other horses. Lead horses, on the other hand, use their brain and usually avoid conflict and show their leadership in other ways that inspires the herd to respect and follow them.

[Idrivetrotter]

True, it is very difficult to "proud cut" a horse so when people tell me that I just laugh. It is a learned behavior. My colts are around mares and compete with mares and they know to keep their minds on work not play. I have a stallion that was bred and he knows he better be a good boy at work time. Age doesn't always influence their behavior, its their social skills. Plus a lot of horses get vocal around other horses, they are herd animals and they like knowing where everyone is

[Blistering Winds]

Now a days, you will be hard pressed to find a TRUE proud cut gelding.

It is a learned behavior. THere is no separate hard drive that you remove to be sure the "behavior" quits. You just remove the desire and hormones that affect that desire.

But unless you do brain surgery, they will still remember the smells, how they are to react to those smells, and what to do with those mares.

[Commanderkins]

Be careful, with this horse as you are a young rider just learning. Has he been bred before? Not all males act like stallions, even though they have been gelded late. some are absolute dolls, but if your man is still being quite vocal and displaying himself, he doesn't exactly know what has happened to him. The instinct of the horse is to breed and and not be prey. Even if a horse has been gelded they still retain these ingrained traits. ie: My thirty year old pony who has been gelded since 1 year, will still try to mount a mare that is in heat. Even though he has never bred a mare.

[Blistering Winds]

Commanderkins is right.

Just because they are gelded, doesn't mean they are "SAFE". Too many people do that and assume that their horse is now "SAFE".

because people trust their horses WAY too much. And just because the stallion had his cajones taken off, they assume they will automatically be nice and cuddly like their other gelding.

I'm like...Ummm...NO, that is TRAINING. My stallion acted like a gelding WITH his cajones. Now that he doesn't have his cajones, I still treat him the same way.....and I don't have those issues. BEcause he was never allowed to "act" like a stallion when he was a stallion, he still assumes those rules are the same now that he went to sleep, and woke up with his sheath hurting.



They don't understand that they don't WORK anymore.

[ejforrest]

Gelding late can keep the horse acting like a stud. I have a gelding that was gelded at 5 and acted like a stud up until 5 years ago. He is now 23 and still dominate with the other geldings. I had mares up until a year ago and he mounted the one up until he was 15 years old. Nothing ever happend and he wasnt proud cut.
"When castration is performed at a late age and /or after the horse has been used to breed mares, is not always successful in abolishing learned stallion like behavior. Even though the horse will not be able to reproduce, the behavior of mounting mares in the pasture in an atempt to breed and aggressive behavior with other horses might not cease".
By Christine Schweizer, DVM, Dipl. ACT, from Cornell University.