Posted 2005-03-30 1:35 PM (#23189) Subject: tips for after gelding care
Veteran
Posts: 230 Location: Louisiana
A few months back we talked about the best age to geld a colt. We have finally decided to do the deed this Friday. Bo is just shy of one year old. I would love to hear any advice on dos and don'ts and what to expect after his surgery. When will he be back to normal?......I guess that is ridiculous. The poor guy is never going to be back to normal but when can I expect for him to get back to his regular routine of tearing around the pasture "attacking" our stallion. I think that we are doing this just in time as far as the weather is concerned.
Posted 2005-03-30 1:40 PM (#23191 - in reply to #23189) Subject: RE: tips for after gelding care
Expert
Posts: 2828 Location: Southern New Mexico
My colt is going in next week. My vet said not to ship him or work him much for about 2 weeks depending on how fast he heals. Just to keep an eye on him to watch for infection and he will let me know when he is back to normal. When he starts acting like an idiot playing with the others I'll know it's time to work. If he's smart, he'll "fake it" for awhile. Get more time off.
Posted 2005-03-30 2:12 PM (#23196 - in reply to #23191) Subject: RE: tips for after gelding care
Originally written by Terri on 2005-03-30 1:40 PM
My colt is going in next week. My vet said not to ship him or work him much for about 2 weeks depending on how fast he heals. Just to keep an eye on him to watch for infection and he will let me know when he is back to normal. When he starts acting like an idiot playing with the others I'll know it's time to work. If he's smart, he'll "fake it" for awhile. Get more time off.
I remember a time when the vet's told us, that in order to keep the swelling down, you were supposed to work them????????
Posted 2005-03-30 2:20 PM (#23197 - in reply to #23196) Subject: RE: tips for after gelding care
Expert
Posts: 1391 Location: North of Detroit, MI
hum ... I think it's walking around kind of "work" - not tearing around and rearing and jumping as that would reopen anything that was healing.
Hand walking (since the horse is too young for under saddle work) would ensure good circulation - something that is recommended for people and horses. : )
Posted 2005-03-30 4:20 PM (#23205 - in reply to #23189) Subject: RE: tips for after gelding care
Expert
Posts: 1989 Location: South Central OK
I have never seen, but heard (about things at the vet's office water cooler) about people working their just gelded horses and something about their guts falling out the hole? Sounded like Twilight Zone to me. Do exactly what the vet says! I don't know if this happened due to some other problem the horse might have had but it's sure scary!
Posted 2005-03-30 5:20 PM (#23211 - in reply to #23192) Subject: RE: tips for after gelding care
Expert
Posts: 2828 Location: Southern New Mexico
My colt, well he's 3 so tecinally..... he's not really a colt anymore. I haven't had him very long, and his gelding is going to be a bit involved. He's a rig. So they have to go in after one. That is why he has to have the 2 week "bed" rest. If it was a reg gelding it wouldn't take so long to recover. The last one we had done I think took 4 days until he was galloping around the pasture with the others.
Posted 2005-03-30 6:42 PM (#23218 - in reply to #23189) Subject: RE: tips for after gelding care
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 565 Location: Michigan
Each horse is an individual and each one will pose their own problems or not with a surgical procedure. Gelding a horse usually goes without a hitch, but there is always that one that will just bleed and bleed or be sore for days.
Best advice? Listen to your veterinarian's post op care.
Posted 2005-03-31 2:47 AM (#23233 - in reply to #23189) Subject: RE: tips for after gelding care
Location: Del Mar, CA
Ask the vet, but I believe the exercise has to do with drainage, keeping the entry wound open and draining, as well as to keep swelling down and circulation going to the area, preventing stiffening up of the general region.
A friend recently gelded a 4 yr stallion and was told to trot him 15-20 min several times a day. I'd never really thought about it, but the vet said gelding a mature horse is a much more serious surgery than the nip-and-tuck of a 6 - 9 mth old since it's not just the obvious that is bigger but the blood vessels, ligaments and all. poor guy.
Posted 2005-03-31 1:20 PM (#23247 - in reply to #23189) Subject: RE: tips for after gelding care
Regular
Posts: 67 Location: Iowa
I gelded mine when he was 4. I bought him on Sat. and gelded on Monday. Of course follow your vet's guidlines. I was told to ride him 5 miles everyday. I told the vet that he had only been ridden twice since he was trained at 2. I was going to send him for a fresher course in the spring. The vet told me he would be so sore and thinking about other things that he would be fine. And he was. I didn't ride quite 5 miles, but it was good long rides. This was in the fall (Nov. ) so there weren't many flies around. The vet came to the farm to do it. I was surprised there wasn't any sutures (sp?). When I went to ride in the evening (after work), he would be quite swelled and nasty looking. By the end of the ride he looked good in that region. The exercise helped the whole healing process.
Posted 2005-03-31 2:20 PM (#23249 - in reply to #23189) Subject: RE: tips for after gelding care
Veteran
Posts: 230 Location: Louisiana
I have read to coat the back leg area with vaseline to prevent the drainage (blood,pus, tissue) from burning the hair off. Does anyone feel that this is really necessary? Did anyone ever notice any hair loss from the drainage? I can't believe that there aren't any stitches?
Posted 2005-03-31 3:02 PM (#23253 - in reply to #23189) Subject: RE: tips for after gelding care
Expert
Posts: 1989 Location: South Central OK
If the vet says to do it then do it...ask your vet about the petroleum jelly. I'd think the vet would prefer cold water rinses daily as opposed to jelly that will trap dirt and infection.
Posted 2005-03-31 4:56 PM (#23263 - in reply to #23249) Subject: RE: tips for after gelding care
Expert
Posts: 1719 Location: PA
Like Huntseat said, ask your vet but I would think that the vaseline would keep all types of bacteria too close to the incision. If you cold hose, you don't get any hair burn because it washes off the legs.
Posted 2005-03-31 5:31 PM (#23268 - in reply to #23189) Subject: RE: tips for after gelding care
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 326 Location: Palmdale, CA
Like everyone has said, follow your vet's advice. The only thing you can really control is the time of year. We did ours when it was still cool and before the flies got crazy. Do it soon, your ideal window of opportunity is closing as the weather gets warmer.
Posted 2005-03-31 9:15 PM (#23278 - in reply to #23189) Subject: RE: tips for after gelding care
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 378 Location: Nebraska
Huntseat you are right about guts falling out of the hole. Mostly it happens in cattle when they are pulled out instead of cut. The inguinal ring muscle is cut from the pulling action and it snaps like a rubber band, when that occures the intestines can fall out the hole.
Posted 2005-04-05 11:35 AM (#23455 - in reply to #23189) Subject: RE: tips for after gelding care
Veteran
Posts: 230 Location: Louisiana
Ok it was too wet outside on Friday so Bo was just gelded today. Alot of blood at first and then he quickly clotted up. The vet says to keep him confined in his stall for 5 days with 15 minutes of handwalking twice each day. Hose down the area before putting him back up. Then after 5 days he can be turned back out in the pasture. While he was sedated the vet went ahead and pulled his wolf teeth. So for 4 horses - castration on one and the rest teeth and vaccinations came to $800. He sedated all of the horses to do their teeth and the sedation alone cost $27 per horse. This is a very expensive hobby.
Posted 2005-04-05 2:21 PM (#23465 - in reply to #23189) Subject: RE: tips for after gelding care
Expert
Posts: 1723 Location: michigan
800 bucks? yikes.
When my then almost 2 yr old was gelded, I simply allowed him to walk around the paddock at will. No hosing the area. He was fine, no hair burning. of course there is a chance of complications but me thinks they are rare.
Posted 2005-04-05 3:26 PM (#23471 - in reply to #23189) Subject: RE: tips for after gelding care
Veteran
Posts: 230 Location: Louisiana
He seems to be doing good. Very frisky and wants to get out. I hope that we don't have to see the vet again until next year. We can't afford it. I usually do the shots myself but the castration and floating are definitely outside of my comfort zone. It was funny because the vet was working on the colt and our other stallion was tied closeby. We weren't paying attention and he untied himself and left. I am sure he took one look at what was going on and said, "Oh uh-uh. You aren't doing that to me!!"
Posted 2005-04-11 10:05 AM (#23666 - in reply to #23189) Subject: RE: tips for after gelding care
Veteran
Posts: 230 Location: Louisiana
Our new gelding is doing great. We turned him back out with our stallion and he trotted around for a bit and then settled right down. It has been 7 days. The vet said not to hose him off at all. He did not want the area wet. So other than a little dried blood there has been no drainage and very little swelling. He is already easier to handle. We brought him up and did a refresher course on the clippers. No problem.
tips for after gelding care
.jpg)
We gelded on Monday and rode him again on Wed or Thurs. 2 yrs old.
