Re: gelding colts

[CMKSAGEHIL@aol.com]

Sandy, I much prefer to geld them at a young age.  They never get studdy that
way, and since so many people are into "big" horses, they also will, on an
average, grow one or two inches taller if gelded young.  I have gelded them as
young as three days.  Most are born with their testicles down, so are easy to
do early on.  Some go back up and do not come down again until their yearling
spring; others stay down the whole time.  My clients who raise AQHA and APHA
halter futurity colts have me geld at 2 or 3 months, while the babies are
still on the mares, and it is very untraumatic.  At the very latest, I do them
the spring of their yearling year.  The younger they are, the less traumatic
it is to them and the less bad habits they develop from hormones.

Heidi Smith, DVM--Sagehill Arabians (Oregon)