A foal/colt is ready to be castrated when he is capable of pregnating a mare.
If he is allowed to become a stallion he will become more of a handful as he grows older. You really need to be experienced in handling stallions and have somewhere to keep them apart from mares. Stallions tend to be left on their own in field or locked in stables. They cannot be left with geldings or other stallions as this would increase the risk of injuries and some fight to the death. If left with mares, they will put the mare in foal. Make sure your colt is up to date with his vaccinations and his worming treatment before his operation. Get your colt used to being handled prior to the castration! This will make it so much easier and far less stressful for the horse and the vet! Once you have gelded your colt he will become more calm and easier to handle. He will be able to be left with mares with no problems. Castration needs to be carried out by a qualified vet using anaesthetic. This is painless to the colt. The operation involves the removal of the testicles, which will prevent your colt from developing further stallion like characteristics and will calm down. There are two ways to perform the castration. Standing castration, the first method; This one is carried out while the colt is standing. This technique is when the colt is sedated and not putting him out completely. Anaesthetic is injected into the colt. An incision is made through the scrotum and the testicles are removed. Today they leave the scrotum open as this is better for the colt in recovery. This is called an "Open" castration. This is not has expensive then the laying down castration. This method is usually better for the colt. You can have the standing castration done in the field if the conditions are right. The second method; is where the colt is put under by using a general anaesthetic. The colt will be lying down. Some vets like to use this because it comes with less risk of being kicked by the colt. There is always a risk to the colt when using a general anaesthetic. Speak to your vet about all the risk that are involved and have your mind put at rest. Aftercare With both methods of castration, the wound should always be clean and allowed to drain freely. Your vet will inject a pain killer, antibiotics and tetanus injection. Exercise is important to the colt for a few days after. It is best to take him for a walk to keep him exercising. This helps reduce the swelling. There will be swelling to his sheath for a little while after. This should go down within a few days. |
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Ollie, was castrated in November 2011. The vet gave him a sedative injection and then an injection of anaesthetic, Ketamine and it didn't take to long to work on, Ollie.
We moved, Ollie, to a dip in the field for him to lay down. The vet manage to get him to lay down nice and slow and onto his left hand side.
The vet wanted to do the operation with, Ollie, lying down and not standing.
She then felt for the testicles and said they were very small, especially one of them! She covered his eyes with a towel and put cotton wool into his ears. This is to keep it quiet and dark, otherwise the noise and daylight would stimulate him. When he was sleeping, the vet sterilised the scrotum thoroughly and then made the incision.There was only one incision made and both testicles were pulled through the same cut.
The first testicle was easy for the vet but when it came to the second testicle, it took the vet a while to get it down through the cut.
When the vet took the testicle out she clamped the spermatic cord with the emasculators for one minute. This helps prevents bleeding.
The incision was a very small cut and left open to allow blood and fluid to drain.
Once the second testicle was removed and the operation finished, the vet gave, Ollie, an injection of antibiotics, tetanus injection and a pain killer injection. The tetanus injection is because he is in the field and lying down on soil.
The vet left me 4 sachets of Bute. One sachet a day starting Sunday in a small feed.
I was told to soak a flannel in cold water to bath his testicles. This would cool down the wound.
Ollie, is fourteen months old which made it so much easier for the vet and also for, Ollie. With the size of his testicles, it would of been impossible to of preformed the castration sooner. The second testicle was very small indeed as you will see on the video!
Some colts are able to be castrated at six months old. It really all depends on the testicles dropping and can take up to nearly two years of age before they drop in some cases!
If your horse is not used to being touched around the legs, then the week before the op would be a good idea to get him used to being touched. This will make it far less stressful for the horse and all involved.
If the foal/colt is still with the mother, then bring the mother with him, otherwise the mother and colt will get very stressed out and will cause problems.
After the castration is over and the colt is lying down, do not forget to take the lead rope off the head collar. If left on he will do himself damage when getting back onto his feet. You do need to stand away from him when he is coming around as he cannot control where he stumbles to and could easily fall onto you and cause you some damage. The vet said to let him sleep for as long as possible and to keep it very quiet. This way he will recover faster.
When the vet left us, it was another fifteen minutes before he woke up and lifted his head to have a look around. Then he tried to get up but kept falling back down. He did manage to get to his feet and gave a little cry out. He did stumble quite a lot but didn't fall down.
It looked more distressing then it actually was.
I stayed with him all afternoon and kept checking the bleeding and it really slowed down. He started eating grass and walking normal again within no time at all.
I called the vet and told her how he was and she said it was fine to leave him.
If for any reason you're worried about your horse after the vet has left, do not hesitate to call and tell them your worries. That is so important.
After all, you have just paid out a lot of cash and your horses well being is the utmost important. I called to tell my vet what, Ollie, was doing and did she think it was OK for me to leave him now!
I was satisfied he was OK but doubled checked with the vet and if I thought he needed help in any way, I would of told the vet to come straight back out!
Ollie, allowed me the first day to put a cold flannel on his sore and he didn't move. It must of gave him some comfort. The next day however he kicked out at me. This didn't surprise me at all.
I still had to keep an eye on him and make sure he was healing properly and not getting infected. He wouldn't allow me to touch his back end at all without kicking out.
The only way I could keep an eye on the wound was by feeding him his pain killer, Bute, in a bucket feed and just keep rubbing his back and when I got to his rear end, I would take put my camera phone underneath him and take lots of photos of the wound.
This didn't seem to bother him at all and he stood well for me while I took the photos.
I could see the cut and if it was clean and healing. I was so happy that all was well and Ollie, had no problems at all!
I will work on him once he has healed and no longer sore. I need to be able to touch his rear end and legs again without fear of being kicked!
How to lift a tail safely and getting your horse used to his legs and rear being touched here
Nothing is more important then the well being of my horses!
We moved, Ollie, to a dip in the field for him to lay down. The vet manage to get him to lay down nice and slow and onto his left hand side.
The vet wanted to do the operation with, Ollie, lying down and not standing.
She then felt for the testicles and said they were very small, especially one of them! She covered his eyes with a towel and put cotton wool into his ears. This is to keep it quiet and dark, otherwise the noise and daylight would stimulate him. When he was sleeping, the vet sterilised the scrotum thoroughly and then made the incision.There was only one incision made and both testicles were pulled through the same cut.
The first testicle was easy for the vet but when it came to the second testicle, it took the vet a while to get it down through the cut.
When the vet took the testicle out she clamped the spermatic cord with the emasculators for one minute. This helps prevents bleeding.
The incision was a very small cut and left open to allow blood and fluid to drain.
Once the second testicle was removed and the operation finished, the vet gave, Ollie, an injection of antibiotics, tetanus injection and a pain killer injection. The tetanus injection is because he is in the field and lying down on soil.
The vet left me 4 sachets of Bute. One sachet a day starting Sunday in a small feed.
I was told to soak a flannel in cold water to bath his testicles. This would cool down the wound.
Ollie, is fourteen months old which made it so much easier for the vet and also for, Ollie. With the size of his testicles, it would of been impossible to of preformed the castration sooner. The second testicle was very small indeed as you will see on the video!
Some colts are able to be castrated at six months old. It really all depends on the testicles dropping and can take up to nearly two years of age before they drop in some cases!
If your horse is not used to being touched around the legs, then the week before the op would be a good idea to get him used to being touched. This will make it far less stressful for the horse and all involved.
If the foal/colt is still with the mother, then bring the mother with him, otherwise the mother and colt will get very stressed out and will cause problems.
After the castration is over and the colt is lying down, do not forget to take the lead rope off the head collar. If left on he will do himself damage when getting back onto his feet. You do need to stand away from him when he is coming around as he cannot control where he stumbles to and could easily fall onto you and cause you some damage. The vet said to let him sleep for as long as possible and to keep it very quiet. This way he will recover faster.
When the vet left us, it was another fifteen minutes before he woke up and lifted his head to have a look around. Then he tried to get up but kept falling back down. He did manage to get to his feet and gave a little cry out. He did stumble quite a lot but didn't fall down.
It looked more distressing then it actually was.
I stayed with him all afternoon and kept checking the bleeding and it really slowed down. He started eating grass and walking normal again within no time at all.
I called the vet and told her how he was and she said it was fine to leave him.
If for any reason you're worried about your horse after the vet has left, do not hesitate to call and tell them your worries. That is so important.
After all, you have just paid out a lot of cash and your horses well being is the utmost important. I called to tell my vet what, Ollie, was doing and did she think it was OK for me to leave him now!
I was satisfied he was OK but doubled checked with the vet and if I thought he needed help in any way, I would of told the vet to come straight back out!
Ollie, allowed me the first day to put a cold flannel on his sore and he didn't move. It must of gave him some comfort. The next day however he kicked out at me. This didn't surprise me at all.
I still had to keep an eye on him and make sure he was healing properly and not getting infected. He wouldn't allow me to touch his back end at all without kicking out.
The only way I could keep an eye on the wound was by feeding him his pain killer, Bute, in a bucket feed and just keep rubbing his back and when I got to his rear end, I would take put my camera phone underneath him and take lots of photos of the wound.
This didn't seem to bother him at all and he stood well for me while I took the photos.
I could see the cut and if it was clean and healing. I was so happy that all was well and Ollie, had no problems at all!
I will work on him once he has healed and no longer sore. I need to be able to touch his rear end and legs again without fear of being kicked!
How to lift a tail safely and getting your horse used to his legs and rear being touched here
Nothing is more important then the well being of my horses!