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Hi
We have recently aquired a spanish pure breed, age 7 colt, gelded.
Was hoping another expierenced horse owner might know.
How long till the effects of gelding works please? He is as scatty and neervous and nothings changed 6 months later.
Appreciate any feedback
Many thanks
Kevo…
Gelding will only stop the testosterone fuelled antics, not exact a personality change. If he’s nervous, that’s his character, and you’ll need to work on establishing his confidence.
Probably a lot more complicated than that tho’……….does he have any minor scarring on his face where a low noseband would have been?The hormones should have worked their way out of his system after 6 weeks, so sounds as though you need to look elsewhere.
As he is older, was he put right out to castrate? If so, could ahve pulled his back about (especially the poll).actually yes! he has scar around the face and also a big scar on side of his belly.
He was mistreated in the past and we actually got him for free, as no one wanted to take him on due to his temperement, despite his good breeding… We were hoping gelding might tame him a little!
Suprisingly he is very good at jumping, and we are considering if we can calm him down more, trying to train him or getting a proffesional trainer in if its not to expensive!
Thanks for your advise above,
Regards
Kevo…
I’m puzzled by your question as to how soon will the effect of gelding be noticeable? Was the original intention to help him overcome his scattiness and nervousness, or for a more practical reason? If the former, just seems a bit harsh to me. I’m glad I’m not a horse because I just don’t think I’d have the balls for it. If I was gelded, I think I’d be even more scatty and nervous wondering what else was round the corner.
He had to be gelded at some stage because Stallions are mad in my opinion!
Unless considering breeding, but we certainly are not vet bills are expensive for 1 let alone 2!
He was gelded in the hope it would calm him down a bit yes, i will be honest with you,
I thought that was common practise amongst race horses, ie to help horses calm and be more consisitent?
Thrills and Spills: Take no notice of my post. I was only teasing. I’m sure you have the very best intent for your horse. In fact every horsey person I’ve ever met thinks more of their horse’s well-being than anything else and usually make great sacrifices in terms of time, emotion and money for the sake of their equine friends. Good luck. Has your friend palled up with any other horses where it’s stabled or does it tend to be a loner?
Thats cool, he is in a field with 2 other horses but stands alone.
He is not really a very social horse to say the least!
Your question about trainers, Thrills and Spills. From memory, they don’t come cheap. I suppose you must have some long-term ambition for your horse (name? please). Is he a kicker and/or easily spooked?
Gelding of older horses doesn’t always have the same calming effect as the gelding of a youngster – they get kind of set in their ways and continue to act coltish for longer.
Having said that, it does sound as if your fellow’s problems are more than hormonal – TLC, patience and gentle retraining will be needed. You’ve made the right decision to geld in any case – a nervous, scatty gelding will always be much safer than a nervous, scatty stallion.
Sal knows what he/she is talking about, I would say. Isn’t there a trainer Jinny a member of this forum?
He is not a kicker and doesnt seem to spook very much.
heres the main 5 problems right now.
Problem 1 Cant catch him.
Problem 2 Nervous of people
Problem 3 Terrifed when attemtping to get on him
Problem 4 When you ride him he justs wants to run and wont walk?
Problem 5 When you try to get him to trot he canters off and we cant stop him.
Actually cut my hand on a leading rope yestarday i after i typed this intial post, dragged me along, clinging to rope.
Have to lean him to a wall or fence to ry stop him.
Even on a lunge rope, he wont slow down but is happy to speed up?
His names Bounty
Thanks again
Kevo
Sounds an exciting prospect to me, though I think I’d be wearing every protective padding possible. I’m sure in a couple of years he’ll begin to mellow and be more inclined to a gentle hack. Then again, perhaps…..
We bought an appaloosa gelding who has been castrated as a younger horse.
However when we got him home we found that he still had coltish tendancies. He liked to herd our mare about (one mare and three geldings in paddock) and was quite controlling in the field.
As our young daughter kept pointing out "Ba-Ba’s got his bits out again!" in both the field and stable area.
Perhaps he’d not been cut well or perhaps done too late – anyway we soon sent him on to a dealer who found him an excellent eventing home where he is doing well. Just couldn’t take any risks when our daughter could have been in his field to catch her pony.
I expect he’s been used for bullfighting, or at least done some of the training, that would explain the body scar. The bridles the Spanish use have serrated nosebands, and scar the horses noses.
If they are useless for the job, these horses get sold for meat money through various sales in Spain and France, and there are UK dealers who import these horses from the French fattening farms, and sell on to unfortunate less experienced people for less than the normal asking price. A Spanish well bred and trained horse (upwards of £14.000 for a decent one) is a fast buck turnaround for a dealer at three grand, and a ‘bargain’ for the unwitting.
Poor bloody horse, you’ll probably need some help with him. Don’t go down the Parelli or Monty Roberts muppet route tho’, find a conventinal trainer who does rehab work, or one who breaks youngsters. Any of the racehorse retraining centres should be able point you in the right direction.
Rehabbing older damaged hoses can be tricky, so go slowly and carefully.
Good luck.
Sounds like your main problem is that the horse is nervous as hell, T&S – all the problems you describe can be put down to nervous and/or wound up horses.
Although gelding is always the recommended option for an older horse that is never going to go to stud, it’s not going to cure the type of problems you describe.
You say the horse has been badly treated in the past – that tallies exactly with the problems you say you are having with him. Spend a lot of time with him, get to know him and most importantly get him to trust you. Once he settles in and realises you aren’t going to hurt you he should calm down a bit and become less nervous although it may take a while.
Do you keep him in a stable at night or is he out all the time? I only ask since stabling him, if you are able to do it, should help you more than him being out. You can get into a routine then of caring for him and as you are handling him more and doing more for him he should quickly get used to you. I’ve got one of mine at a farm near me at the moment and am doing him myself – he knows I’m coming down in the morning to feed him and turn him out, he knows I come down at lunchtime to feed him, he knows I’ll be there in the evening to bring him in and without fail, every time I drive into the yard he is by the gate/door of his stable, neighing to me. They quickly get into a routine and quickly learn to depend on you and that you are going to give them food, water, hay and so on.
Have a look at what you are feeding him also – make sure you are feeding him non-heating food since if you feed him heating food you will only exacerbate the problem.
When you’re riding him, you’re just going to have to be patient, I’m afraid. If he goes to canter off, just sit quietly, talk to him and give him a pat! Talking to nervous horses can help a lot, speak soothingly when he’s trying to go faster than you want him. Obviously try not to let him go the pace he wants to but try not to fight him whilst you’re doing it or he will try to get away from you.
If he’s proving to be difficult to ride – you say he doesn’t walk and only wants to canter off, for example – have you thought about getting a decent riding instructor in to help you out? They can stand on the ground, watch what you are doing and help you to calm him down and work through it. Maybe try lunging him or putting him on a horsewalker (if you have one) for a while before you ride him, might settle him down a bit.
Not being able to catch them is a nightmare – I had a mare once who was the worst horse I’ve ever come across to catch, I wanted to murder her often! The easiest and best way to catch a dodgy one is to try and corral them, but out of their field – can you open the gate to his field and have a safe run up into a yard, or a barn, for example? If so, you can open his gate and get him up into a yard/barn, shut the door and he can’t get away. Once they realise they’re cornered, they very swiftly back down.
Good luck!
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