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horse old age
Does it make a difference how old a horse is to geld him?
I recently aquired a 7 yr old miniature horse stallion, with an attitude to match any big horse…lol I am wondering, at this age, will it make much of a difference to his attitude to geld him – settle the rearing up, aggressive to the other geldings, bossy, can be pushy with people… He is a real sweetheart otherwise, and I’m wondering it is more a learned behaviour or something that could be helped by gelding?
It does not matter what age you geld him. You can geld a horse at any age. The longer you wait until he’s gelding, the longer it will take for all his “boy” behaviours to leave the building. Seven really isn’t that old. I used to own a race horse that was gelding at 7. He was 11 when I bought him and acted fine.
Much of his personality issues might leave within 6 months after all the testosterone has had a chance to get out of his system. But, you may still find that some of his mannerisms have less to do with the fact that he’s a stallion, and more to do with the fact that he’s a mini. People let minis walk all over them because they are cute & tiny. I’ve met some really really really spoiled minis — heck, I bought one. She had major personlity issues like you are describing.
I suggest you geld him, and then start behavioural training on him to put him in line. By the time your training is done, and his testerone is gone, he’ll be a nice gelding.
End the Pain – Stop Horse Slaughter