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  Discussion on Possible retained testicle?
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New Member:
shawnt

Posted on Tuesday, Mar 23, 2010 - 6:00 pm:

Ok--I bought my now 11 yo QH/TB gelding one year ago. He was in the middle of the pecking order and turned out with geldings. WEll, when we got to the place to board him, within a week, he had attached himself to a little mare, and had some crazy behavior where he couldn't even think straight and I got a mental/physical workout just bringing him in from the pasture. He even jumped a gate to get to her.

He has exhibited the same behaviors, although not so extreme, but he is constantly calling to the mares (we are at my trainer's now) even though he has 3 other geldings, nice hay...I can keep him busy doing ground work, riding, but he is definitely not quite the laid back gelding I bought.

The previous owner actually owned him, he was a product of a mare and stud she owned. She swears she saw both testicles come out when he was gelded. He was gelded early (not sure how early), but it was reported to AQHA by the end of his 6th month. I am going to have bloodwork done to check his testosterone levels. If it comes back high for the hormone, can an ultrasound tell where the offending tissue(be it testicle or other) that is producing the testosterone, be found? And, if so, can the procedure be done out in the field, what would recovery time be for an older gelding?

This behavior is really frustrating as he just cannot find peace around mares and the world is filled with 'em
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, Mar 23, 2010 - 8:10 pm:

Hello ShawnT,
Testosterone levels are not diagnostic for retained testicles. For the way to diagnose the condition see, Horse Care » Routine Horse Care » Castration in Horses. If there is testicular tissue often palpation or ultrasound can locate the tissue if not an exploratory surgery will be needed to go looking. This would probably best be done in a surgical facility as the abdomen may need to entered.
DrO
Member:
ekaufman

Posted on Wednesday, Mar 24, 2010 - 12:41 pm:

Hi Shawn,

I agree that this kind of behavior is very frustrating to manage, but it isn't all that unusual in mature geldings. I have known several confirmed geldings over the years that displayed stallion-like behaviors on turnout with mares, and required quite a bit of consistent training to work reliably around them. The article on this site discussed some research in this area, as I recall, and time of castration didn't seem to effect the development of studdy behaviors.

It would strike me as somewhat unusual to have a horse left partially castrated (i.e., for the vet to fail to locate a testicle) and have that horse later sold as a gelding.

Sounds like he may be one of those higher-maintenance guys to me. Good luck with him!

- elk
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