Is now a bad time to Geld a colt?

ItHurtsWhenIP

Hi folks,

I have a colt that is 2 yrs 7 mths old now, who is out of a batty and we don't know what the sire was, but he is growing up to be a fine horse. His buddy is a 5 year old gelded cob who is bombproof (but not fully backed yet).

The 2 boys belong to myself and my ex. I have been rearing him and she will end up backing him and then he will become her main horse.

Now I'm no expert on horses, but know enough to feed and care for them. I've raised this young man to be pretty chilled out and he is still a very relaxed and not-at-all spooky. He and the cob play happily enough, but nothing aggressive.

My ex is the knowledgeable one (has had horses most of her life). Last December when the cob was getting his annual vaccinations, the vet was saying we should be gelding the colt ASAP before he starts getting "bitey". He was suggesting we do it when they get out onto the land, so he can move around once he's been snipped. The ex had agreed with all of this.

Circumstances (lack of growth) meant that the boys didn't get out onto the land until 3 weeks ago and other circumstances meant I didn't get to raise the matter with the ex until this week.

She is now saying that because of the flies, we can't geld the colt and we'll have to wait until September/October.

While there are bastar ... sorry ... midges around now, I haven't come across a lot of flies.

When I've googled this, most of the suggestions is to do it before the colt is 2. If we wait until October, my guy will the 3. I know you can geld at any age, but if we want to keep a quiet, well behaved horse long term, shouldn't we be doing this now?

I've spent a lot of time on this young boy and I want to make sure he becomes a great horse. Any advice greatly appreciated.

Ave Sodalis

Personally, I'd leave it now until around September. Maybe it's different where you currently are but on calm days here, there's swarms of those midges. Clegs and weevils are also starting to come out and I don't think your colt will be healed enough before he gets pestered with them.

In saying that, maybe you don't have that many. I think your best bet would be ringing your local vet and asking their advice as they know what it's like around there. However, I wouldn't if it was left up to me.

Esroh

I would say you could still get away with it. If you are happy that you can look after him.
Have a chat with your Vet. Size of the Testes will effect the size of the cut.And therefore how long the recovery will be.