Why geld a racehorse

The wound is left open to drain and the horse is usually back on the track within a day or two. Most horses at the track are gelded standing in their stall under local anesthesia. Away from the racetrack the majority of horses are gelded under general anesthesia. General anesthesia is safer, cleaner particularly if done in a hospital , and offers better exposure of the surgical site.

Post-operative swelling at the surgery site is fairly common, but is generally easy to treat. Thankfully, serious complications such as intestinal herniation or anesthetic death are very rare.

An equine hospital is often advisable for older horses when the spermatic artery may need to be ligated, or tied off. Castrating a ridgeling, a colt whose testicle has not descended into the scrotum, calls for a surgery called a cryptorchidectomy that is always performed under general anesthesia. Antibiotics and other aftercare are extra and vary considerably from case to case. Surgical aftercare is relatively intense at the track because lost training time is so expensive.

If an owner intends to run a horse back within a month of its surgery, the aftercare costs can run nearly as much as the surgery itself. Some horses will be able to race within a few weeks after surgery, but more realistically one should expect to wait about four weeks before racing. The renowned veterinary surgeon Dr. Obviously there are some significant long term financial ramifications to gelding your horse, particularly if you own an exceptionally well-bred colt.

The genetic makeup of how fast a horse is capable of running can not be changed. When gelding improves a horses speed it is just helping it to get to its maximum speed more quickly by improving its focus. A lot of horses do not need to be gelded to reach their full speed potential. If they are trained well and kept in good condition they are capable of reaching their full potential on their own.

Consistency Some horses are easily distracted and this leads to inconsistency in their performance. Gelding them can sometimes help them to not become so distracted so easily and thus more consistent. Again horses in the game are genetically designed to have a maximum consistency level.

Gelding them will not allow them to surpass their maximum capabilities. Should I geld my horse? There are several questions you can ask yourself to help you to decide whether you should geld your horse or not. Here they are. Trainer David Hayes sees the role of castration as twofold: firstly to improve the temperament and attitude of the horse and secondly, to reduce the heaviness and consequent pressure on the forelegs.

Veterinarian, owner and trainer Alan Bell also sees these points as paramount. Gelding certainly can improve their behaviour and attitude. Many a jockey and trainer has believed this to be the reason that their colt has raced awkwardly, especially on the turns, however there is no documented evidence that testicles actually become pinched while the horse is racing.

Tommy Smith also asserts that pinching is a valid reason for castration. Of course, not all bad performances handed in by colts can be blamed on this phenomenon, and it is likely that more than a few have been wrongly gelded for squeezing.

Not that Buster has any qualms about gelding his horses. Another fallacy about geldings brought about by comparison with colts and stallions is that they can be sluggish or lazy. When the activity levels of mares, geldings and stallions are compared however, the truth is not that geldings are underactive, but that stallions are hyperactive — expending extra energy on male bravado and capturing the attention of mares.

He requires less rest and less feed than a stallion and he can become more focused on his work without such heavy hormonal influences. Generally, the racing gelding leads a much more sociable and stress free life than an entire. He can be walked to the track with other geldings and mares without fear of confrontation, can be tethered and yarded within touch of other horses and worked much more closely and indiscriminately with other horses.

From the owners point of view, it is also cheaper to spell a gelding who, unlike colts and stallions, does not need to be accommodated within six foot fences with raceways separating them from their neighbours. Gelding does however, have one major drawback — it is irreversible.

But would he have been so successful as an entire? Or would inattention, aggression, hyperactivity or heavy fronted-ness affect his ability?