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Discussion on Castration affecting bone growth
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Member:
Christos
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Posted on Tuesday, Oct 26, 2004 - 3:29 am:
Dear DrO,
A vet told me the other day that castrating a horse early, in it's first winter for instance, will delay ossification of the growth plates, resulting in a taller horse.
He also told me that colts who're gelded early grow to be awkward horses, without being able to define the awkwardness.
Any comments?
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Member:
Suzym
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Posted on Tuesday, Oct 26, 2004 - 12:56 pm:
Hmmm... I've heard the part about horses castrated early getting taller. Never heard that second part though.
How early does he define "early"?
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Member:
Christos
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Posted on Tuesday, Oct 26, 2004 - 2:50 pm:
Hi, Suzanne,
We were talking about castrating my favourite colt who is 6 mo. He didn't really explain what's too early.
He may simply not like the idea of castration in general ( all male horses around here are entire ) or he may be hesitant with performing the operation, as he may not have done it again.
It's a funny place here 
Christos
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Member:
Apcohrs
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Posted on Tuesday, Oct 26, 2004 - 2:51 pm:
Balderdash. Old wives tale.
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Member:
Goolsby
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Posted on Tuesday, Oct 26, 2004 - 3:30 pm:
im interested to hear more comments on this. I have never heard either of these "tales". It has been the concensus of individuals I have heard from that they could tell no difference in a mature gelding castrated at less than a year and one castrated at over 2 years. What would the correlation be between lack of male hormone and increased height and/or awkwardness? If this were true would'nt female horses be taller and awkward? I have also heard that geldings castrated later that have developed "secondary characteristics" mussel and size tend to lose that after testorstrone production decreases. It has been my observation that older castrated horses do not look like stallions, but mares. Any comments on that?
Colleen
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Member:
Suzeb
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Posted on Tuesday, Oct 26, 2004 - 4:16 pm:
hmmm...A friend once told me that my gelding was probably gelded later in life because of his large jowls or cheekbones. He can be a good herd boss and I have always seen him behave like a gentleman in that respect. He is a 15.3 hands quarterhorse. If this were the truth and I don't know his early history, I would venture to say that perhaps hormones may play a role in bone development/growth.
Interesting discussion Christos and you may be on to something.
Susan B.
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Member:
Warwick
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Posted on Tuesday, Oct 26, 2004 - 5:17 pm:
Would be interesting to hear if there are any studies that have been done on this.
I have heard several vets say that newly castrated colts will go through a growth spurt shortly after castration - and did experience this with one of my colts. But he was castrated at 10 months which I don't consider all that early. I've done colts earlier than him and not seen any growth spurt. Whether they ultimately develop into taller horses than they would have if left entire is something I can't comment on.
The awkward part, however, sounds totally bogus.
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Tuesday, Oct 26, 2004 - 6:31 pm:
Hello All,
Though not studied in the horse in particular that I am aware of, testosterone is known to promote maturation (closure) of the growth plates in many species. So for a long time I thought early castration resulted in taller horses. However different research projects have suggested stallions may be shorter, the same, or taller than if they were gelded. What early castration does to the eventual height of the horse appears to still be a debatable subject but it is clear the effect is small.
I have no reason to believe early castration results in clumsiness.
DrO
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Member:
Imogen
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Posted on Wednesday, Oct 27, 2004 - 2:18 am:
It's definitely an issue where there are different national "received opinions". Our vet here in Ireland often has trainee vets from other European countries working for him for a year or so.
From these vets I have learned that in the Benelux countries (Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg) and Germany there is a general view that castration is better carried out around 18 months because it produces better developed horses.
In the UK and Ireland it's usually 6 to 12 months. I personally wonder if this is to do with the continental preference for warmblood-style horses which tend to have heavier necks therefore a gelding castrated later will tend to fit the perceived "correct conformation" better.
But there is also a general UK/Irish paranoia about the danger and unpredictability of dealing with entire horses which does not exist on the Continent where it is normal to compete entire horses. This latter trend is coming into Ireland - if you watch the young horse/pony classes at the big showjumping shows you now see loads of Connemara pony stallions, for example, many of whom definitely don't have the jumping performance to merit leaving them entire... in my humble opinion, of course.
All the best
Imogen
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Member:
Christos
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Posted on Wednesday, Oct 27, 2004 - 8:58 am:
Thank you, DrO and all.
I did not know this is a debatable subject, I actually felt kind of silly posting the question in the first place.
Christos
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Member:
Suzym
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Posted on Wednesday, Oct 27, 2004 - 12:39 pm:
Oh, there's quite a bit of controversy about early vs late castration here in the States too.
Personally, I don't think it makes a whole lot of difference. My first Morgan, DJ, was castrated as a yearling. His body type was much closer to the perceived "stud type" than my current Morgan, Indy - and he was almost four when he was cut.
Go figure. 
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Member:
Goolsby
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Posted on Wednesday, Oct 27, 2004 - 12:56 pm:
One observation I have made among people I know personally and through online groups is that the female owners tend to castrate as soon as possible and the male owners put it off as long as possible and then ususlly because the horse is causing problems. Ive seen one guy almost cry when he had to have his gelded.
Colleen
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