I am picking up a smutty buckskin 3/4 arab colt, who will be 2 in April. The current owner (not breeder) says he has one descended. So I am wondering when the other will come down... My client has a yearling draft cross, who may not have dropped yet, and the new colt will likely come with a 7 month old colt. Reading online it says as late as 2 yrs.. if after that.. a horse is likely cryptorchid... your thoughts??advice? Thanks Carol
Well....my years of experience in the horse AND large animal veterinary field say probably never. Give him until the warmth of spring, sometimes they'll come down then. Otherwise, it's likely cryptorchid surgery for this colty.
If you don't see it by spring the vet is going spelunking. if left the colt will have studish behavior and a high risk of testicular cancer.
If it was mine I'd probably have it out now. They can come down late but til then affect the horse's behavior in usually not the best ways, and in ways the animal doesn't usually forget even after those things are gone.
Castrate him....any male horses in my barn that is going to become studs better have theirs down no more than a year old. If not, geldingdom. I've took vet classes and it was a general rule of thumb. Besides it is inherited so no go for breeding stock.
You can *try* waiting til Spring, but chances are if it ain't down already, you will be paying for (as muddyhorse says) a spelunking expedition then. It is not *impossible* for it to descend in the next six months but I would not hold my breath. If you do wait til spring, don't wait til actual *Springtime*, do it as soon as the mud has kinda dried up but BEFORE the flies start. The first horse that I substantially trained myself (not mine, owned by the barn wehre I rode) had been acquired as a cheap cryptorchid, by the elderly Irish horse-trader father of the barn owner. For years, whenever I showed that horse, I'd be standing around waiting to go into the ring and Pops would wander over and launch into a VERY LOUD story for all to hear, about how he got that horse for a song because he had only <voice rises even louder> ONE BALL, but that's okay because they can jump just as well with only ONE BALL, and then eventually the OTHER BALL came down and they cut THAT BALL OFF TOO, and now he has NO BALLS. Everybody except me used to think the performance was hysterically funny. All I cared about was that I was a teenager and everyone was staring in my direction Good luck, have fun, Pat
Keep in mind that "spelunking" is going to be substantially more expensive and with a longer recovery time than a normal gelding operation.
Yeah.. I am a bit worried about that.. I CANNOT afford a horse that may not drop the other testes.... I will seriously talk to the seller, and try to get more information and see if I can get the breeder's name and info.. and ask when she/he sold the colt. AND if she saw anything hanging at or near birth.. to weaning.
