watched a gelding today

[easychoice]

One of the oldenburg yearlings was gelded today at the barn. The last time I watched one had to have been 40 years ago. What a difference between the 2 procedures. 40 years ago the horse wasn't knocked out completely and suffered horribly while 5 men held his legs with huge ropes the vet did the procedure. It was quite bloody. Today little Felix was knocked out and the procedure was over and he was standing within 30 minutes. They also removed his wolf teeth at the same time. There was hardly any blood , and 2 hours later he was quietly eating hay in his stall. He was probably quite sore, he appeared to be uncomfortable when he laid down to sleep tonight. So grateful for modern medicine ;D ;D ;D

[fancyhorse]

WOW, they knocked him out???

At the track they don't knock the horse out at all, they just drug them really really heavy and the horse stands during the whole process, infact its done right outside the barn. Not too much blood, no fight, quick and easy, and the horse is fine afterwards!

[easychoice]

Yeah, he was out cold. He flinched when the Vet cut but she said he didn't feel it, just reflexes.

He's been fine all day today - no signs of any problems so far, he went out with the rest of his group as normal.

[Lisann]

When Zeus was gelded (2002), he was sedated enough so he went down. I'm thinking he was not totally out, but I don't recall much blood or anything.

[animaldoc]

It is acceptable to geld horses standing or down, just depends on the veterinarian's preference. I prefer to put them under general anesthesia - it just takes one injection and they are down and up very smoothly, but I know others swear by doing them standing.

[fancyhorse]

I know since being at the track, they prefer them standing for they do sooo many that it is easier to do them at the track instead of taking them into the clinic, also it takes away the risk of them injuring themselves when they coming out of the anesthesia.

[juliab]

I've seen three of my baby boys get brain surgery Two of them (Lee and Beau) were 6 months old and they were sedated, led outside to a nice open grassy area and then given the anesthesia. Lee needed a TON of sedative and then a lot of the second drug to get him to lay down and then he was up again really fast. Beau went out like a light and took much longer to get up again. Both boys had very little bleeding and didn't seem very sore. They got bute for several days and were turned out right away. No swelling. We did Jasper when he was about 16 months old the same way. The procedure went well, but he did bleed a fair bit. I think because he was older. I called the vet and said he was spurting blood and he had me give him some Ace and put him in his stall for a few hours. The bleeding stopped and then he was fine to go out again. No swelling or complications with him either.

[Inga]

Alright, I am a new (to the forum), old person I have not had a horse gelded in years and am just curious. What are peoples thoughts on the right age for gelding. Around here some folks prefer to wait until the horse is at least 4 years old and filled out. Some prefer to do them at 6-10 months old before they get "studish" and say it makes no difference in growth and muscle developement. What are your thoughts?

[CC]

4 yrs. old? No way! I wouldn't have the facilities to keep an intact colt until that age. Mine all go out together in one herd.

I had Dancer gelded at 11 months as he was starting to jump on the small QH mare. Marc, my hano, was done at 22 months. Mainly because his previous owners debated on keeping a stallion and I bought him in the beginning of summer and needed to wait for cooler weather to have it done. He was only turned out with geldings though and never caused any problems.

I think my ideal age would be somewhere around a year.

[Deb]

I had my mare's 1st foal, a colt gelded at 10 months. It didn't affect his growth or muscling up. My Vet also prefers to have them laid out on the ground.

[Big Tee©]

What a difference location makes - here, it is as soon as they are both down, unless the bloodlines are impeccable.

[diane]

Juliab..... brain surgery?? omg