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RE: [RC] Prineville, Injured riders and horses - Magers, Cassandra

I had a horse that was crypt orchid.  As a 2 year old he was very sweet
and responsive so I briefly considered not gelding him.  My vet told me
the testical in the abdomen would not produce viable semen, but the
increased heat of the body would cause him to produce excessive amounts
of testosterone.  Eventually he would become a stallion from hell.  I
spent the extra money it cost to have him gelded and 12 years later I
have a wonderful gelding who will do about anything I ask of him.

-----Original Message-----
From: ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Laney Humphrey
Sent: Tuesday, May 17, 2005 10:41 PM
Cc: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx; cowlitztractor@xxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [RC] Prineville, Injured riders and horses

Maybe a vet or breeder can comment on the health, not racing,
consequences of cryptorchidism (retained testicle).  I'd imagine there
would be problems as the horse gets older.
       I rode for years with a friend on his stallion.  Eventually the
horse was gelded.  After a year of being a real wimp as he discovered
the world without his testosterone shield, he became a really nice
riding animal with much better recoveries.  And much happier too!
Laney

heidi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
whether or not your horse was the offending animal in this melee, I 
don't follow the logic that being intact helps him stay in better 
shape and race better.


I have to second Chris's observation.  Although it is true that I've 
had some stallions that would "self-condition" to some degree, the 
testosterone is a definite DIS-advantage to endurance performance.  
There have been a few stallions that have "raced" well--but I would 
bet breakfast that every one of them would have "raced" better as a
gelding.
This isn't like the track, where they can just bust out the gate and 
run their brains out for a few minutes on a testosterone high.  They 
may get "race brain" early in a ride, but when you get to doing any 
distance, they get to be real pansies.  And if you hurt their
feelings, they're done.

The people who have successfully campaigned stallions are very special

people who know how to deal with their rather fragile psyches.  They 
know how to contain their egos in the beginning without bruising their

feelings, and how to sweet-talk them through the "third-quarter
doldrums."
 I've seen a lot more stallions soured on the sport than successful, 
over the years.

Heidi



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Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.
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Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp

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