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[RC] Questiions about Gelding a Colt - Beth Bennett

Hi all,

My very first foal (colt) is 5 months old now and I am starting to think about thinking about gelding or not gelding. My husband (who has NEVER neutered anything he owns) thinks that I need to wait a few years to geld him. I have heard from several people that I should get it done between 6 months and a year, which seems logical to me if we're going to do it, especially since we don't really have the facility to house a stallion and I have no intention of getting rid of my mare (his mother).

I need some good concrete reasons to use to support my argument that if we're going to geld we should do it early. If my thinking is skewed I welcome all opinions, especially from any vets.

The big question is . . . do we really want to geld at all? He is a very VERY nice little colt out of a very high quality mare and LS Zane Grey. He is the only non-gelded son of Zane's on the ground right now according to Kathy Thompson, as they gelded Bobby. I do see some benefits to keeping him intact -- that is IF he keeps what appears to be an increadible mind about him AND we campaign him correctly.

I am personally more interested in just enjoying my next endurance horse than in breeding him. I have also heard that once they become sexually mature that their bodies work extra hard on building the reproductive structures than they do on other important things such as bone density, etc. Is this true?? I am a heavyweight rider and want all of that I can get.

Again, I am totally inexperienced here and would REALLY appreciate some words of wisdom either way about this issue. Thanks in advance.

Beth Bennett
Chickamauga, GA

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