Gelding or Stallion

I seem to get this question a lot so I'm going to put it on the blog.

My go to answer is always.... YOU have to live with the horse so if you are not enjoying a horse with testicles, then geld. Testicles must be earned.

In Europe the stallions are shown, the mares have babies. Some ride the mares and show them but it's not as common as riding stallions. So having a bunch of stallions in a ring is not uncommon. But in the US the trend is Geld or buy mares.

Stallions are fantastic to ride. You don't have to breed a stallion for them to stay a stallion you can just ride them and enjoy the macho that comes with the extra testosterone. HOWEVER, you should have them properly housed and fenced so that no accidental pregnancies occur. Or accidental visitors that would get the stallion in trouble. At our farm our stallions have an extra rope or halter tied

around the door. Not because the stallion is doing anything wrong, but because people who don't know that horse is a stallion will have one extra step to get in their pen, or ask why that horse has a tie on the gate. Almost all our horses are solid black no white, so who's who to the lay person. Well I took the guessing game for them away. Our stallion pens also have hot wire and they are double fenced from the outside world. Our whole property if fenced, then they are fenced again inside that. It makes sure that our neighbors don't turn their mare loose in heat on the fence line and tease my stallion into getting hurt and tangled in the fence. so 10-20 ft between the careless neighbors and my stallions is one extra step to make sure my boys don't get hurt and we don't have accidental babies.

On the farm the stallions can come within a few ft of the mares as long as they behave. But that is up to you with your horses. Some people give the stallion a companion, mare, gelding, other stallion. That is your choice but please have a plan for the foal if you use a companion mare. I have one stallion that likes living with a mini donkey stud. I have 2 other stallions that live together and have grown up playing and loving on eachother.  But please be responsible, we all know where babies come from at this point, so please don't make one's that will end up at auction, or dog food. Have a purpose if you have a foal.


Other considerations, not many boarding facilities allow stallions and some shows have age restrictions on who can handle stallions. I know in Australia there were even shows that didn't allow stallions and extra rules for stallions if they did. Like green tags on the bridles (made for ugly show photos, but warned the unaware mare owners you were there). Also Stallions had to be double tied, these were outside trailer tied shows so it was not set up for stabling a stallion like some US shows. I know some US shows have trailer tying, some have stalls in barns. Each show is different. One suggestion if you want to alert people to the presence of a stallion in this gelding/mare show world. I have gone out and bought normal saddle tress, or saw horses from the hardware store (home depot or lowes et all) painted them bright colors and wrote stallion across them. When I set them up on either side of the stallion or alley way it makes people look before just walking up on him with their in heat mare, or just flat out not paying attention. It's not that my stallion will do anything wrong, it's that it's rude to tease him if he's standing there getting tacked up or waiting on his class.

Now if you do decide the time has come where you want a gelding instead of a stallion then that is great. Don't feel bad, you are the one that has to live with them. If he's so absolutely genetically important for the breed to survive and excel then it might be an option to sell him or lease him out. Or even collect, freeze and then geld to preserve the genetics. BUT most of the time they are amazing to you, and your special friend. you can still preserve his DNA, but not every stallion needs offspring. There are plenty of horses in the slaughter sales that you don't need to be adding more. If you have a purpose and destination for the offspring great, but if that stallion is a terror to be around.... will the offspring also be the same way... so is it worth it.

Timing for gelding. There are vets that geld when the foal is born. I personally don't recommend doing it that early since there is so much growth associated with reproduction hormones.  But if you can see both then they can be removed. I also don't like to put foals through such trauma, they already have such a hard time in the first 6 months of life. I would wait till after 6 months of age at min. because horses have immunity from their dam's colostrum, that has to last them till they are about 6 mo and can start forming their own immune system. If they use up that immunity fighting castration, then you'll likely have to do a plasma transfusion to get them through till they are 6 mo. Also I like my colts to have tetanus and some vaccinations before they go under the knife. 6 mo is usually when vaccinations are affective, and depending on the label on the vaccination might be the soonest the vaccine can be given.

You can wait till they are 2 or 3 to see what kind of man they turn into. I have stallions that don't even know they are studs, so they don't bother me to stay studs even if not breeding. I also have some that turn into studs on steroids and need their egos checked all the time. I don't mind it, but I know it would be a lot more than some could handle. If they get violent or untrustworthy, game over, jewels are gone.

Stallions that get into their teens and are not gelded will have more chrest development and larger testicles. They can be gelded, but it's at a risk of the chrest falling. But if a stallion comes to me that is not breeding quality, is not quiet to be around and is not safe then there is no reason to cry over a crest, bye by jewels.

Stallions that are in their 20's, now that is a riskier surgery because of their age, it can be done, but if they are safe and can be stabled properly and they don't have anything wrong with their testicles I would just leave them. But even a 20 yo jerk can have his jewels removed.

So long story short. What are you willing to live with, put up with, how do you want your time spent with your horse. Make sure your decision is for your sanity. You can always collect and freeze if DNA preservation is necessary (some don't freeze or don't have conceptions with frozen so have that tested prior to removal, but most have some ability to make a foal if needed). And if you choose to keep your stallion make sure that you only breed with a purpose and plan for that foal.

Megaesophagus

Megaesophagus in Friesians is on the talk boards a lot lately.  It's common in dogs and has been seen in other breeds. But with the Friesians there are unique traits associated with the disorder.

Symptoms include chronic choke and swelling/deformation of the area where the esophagus is on the neck. Loss of weight (because of the swallowing complications) Some horses have nasal discharge from the backup of feed. (See photo).

This is a lot more than just a choking disorder, it's actually on the cellular level of the esophageal structure. The malformation results in impaired function of the esophagus which then results in choke and debris collecting in the esophagus. Some horses have mild cases and can be managed with moist food, frequent small mash meals, elevated eating and lifestyle adjustments. Decreased exercise can also help. This disorder is degenerative and develops as the horse ages so there is not cure, just treatment. Some have sever enough deterioration that they have to be put to sleep so evaluation of your horses situation and quality of life is very important.

The best tool for diagnosis is to have contrast radiographs or endoscope. When scoped there is a clear difference in a unaffected horse vs a horse with megaesophagus. On Autopsy Friesians with Megaesophagus usually have thickened esophageal walls and not much sign of food pockets or tissue degeneration from obstructions fermenting. Further examination of the tissue also shows decreased elastin, and disorganized collagen. Where other breeds tended to have a fold or pocket that deteriorated or other degradation to the tissue.

There is some belief that because in Friesians the megaesophagus is related to abnormal collagen that it could be hereditary, there are no genetic tests in place to prove or disprove this but it's something that should be addressed. So if you have a horse with Megaesophagus and want to share their pedigree that would be appreciated. The more information we have the better chance we have at helping our horses. Fenway Foundation is trying to research  Megaesophagus and it's link to the collagen disorder, they even believe it can be linked with CPL and Aortic Rupture. They are not disclosing blood lines, but if you would like to share that information either privately with me or publicly on the blog I'm happy to share whatever information I can.

Here is a postmortem of a torn esophagus.

This is a video of Freerk, a Friesian with Megaesophagus. The information in the video was provided by the owner, Thank you. It is to help other owners with similar situations, however your veterinarian needs to be consulted for your specific case. If you have any information to share about your success or struggles please share that with us so that we can help more people through this situation
VIDEO - Freerk


Research Gate A
Slide show with some information, independent source
Article C
Fenway Info

Gay recently had a 16yo gelding diagnosed with ME- here is a helpful status update from her Facebook post
Status update- 11mo since diagnosis. What has worked/made him feel the best - short/medium grass in the field. He ❤️It and seems very happy/normal with a field of grass to eat. Long not mowed grass, eating dry hay (too much too quick) or (too much too quick) soaked(watery soup) triple crown senior all have the same affect- he will stand, not want to move, waits until it passes, if it doesn’t pass in under 5 min he will also put his nose to the ground and back up, flemen intermittently . He does not like you touching the underside of his neck nor making him move during this -hoofs are glued to ground. He lost some weight but look in good flesh still. Now that we are going into winter, he is eating more hay from his 1” hay nets/bags inside/outside I am starting to see the signs above again ☹️ . It is amazing how much hay this horse can empty from 1” hole hay net 😏. Last week for the first time I saw him slam his hay net in anger after it looked like he ate too much and he was standing there waiting for it to pass, feel better. I wish there was grass for him to eat year round. He is boarded so no option for wet hay. IMO wet hay would be hard to get out of a 1” hay net and I am sure he would eat too much too soon if free choice . I give him 90% standlee Timothy, some soft alfalfa mixed in, recently adding small amount of triple crown alfalfa-lox. In his triple crown soup he gets 3/4 cup senior and 3/4 cup complete soaked plus (all powder) supplements, cosequin, slippery elm, Smartpak digest ultra , u guard 7. No dry pellets or dry treats, no apples, no carrots etc- cannot beat these even if chopped up

CPL - Chronic Progressive Lymphedema

It's very common for people on the chat groups to post about scratches, greasy heel, dermatitis on the fetlocks and pasterns. Most of the time it can be treated with the appropriate antidote. Scrapings can help you determine if it's being caused by mites, fungus, bacteria. You can also evaluate your horses immune system to see if they are not defending themselves. This will not be a post on the million ways to treat scratches/greasy heel because if the test shows X then you treat with Y... so talk with your vet.....

But what about the times when NOTHING works. you treat all the fungus, bacteria and have your diet in check, feathers cleaned and dried, footing/bedding dry, moved locations, but the horse is still chronic. They even seem a little swollen in the lower legs. ......

They might have CPL. Many draft and feathered breeds suffer from CPL. Fenway Foundation and a few other research parties are trying to figure out why it happens a lot in Friesians LINK. There is no solid research results to support the claims that it's genetic or that it's environmental or that it's a collagen disorder. But  there are some blood lines that are believed to be more susceptible to chronic dermatitis on the lower legs. They have not actually compared affected horses in a lineage and documented the environment that the horses are in to determine if it's environmental. They are working on documenting affected bloodlines. UC Davis has some information online about it LINK

There is also no easy way to document the severity or to know if it's truly CPL or just scratches. For example we had a mare that we bought that was very scaled in her feathers, had giant lumps that were hard on her fetlocks. She came from a humid climate and was moved to a dry climate. We shaved the feathers, treated with bleach for 1 week and let the hair grow back. She never had scales again even when we moved to the beach in Australia. The lumps took a very very long time to go down and never went away completely. But exercise seemed to soften them and reduce them. So was that scratches or had she stayed in her original environment would she have been classified as having CPL. The lumps that would normally be classified as CPL, were they from chronic scratches in the form of scar tissue, or was it truly CPL that sent her in that direction in the first place. There is no real way to analyze this situation with so many horses in so many different locations.

With the very narrow breeding pool for the Friesians, it could also be a type of allergy that has not been figured out yet. Many inbreeding programs (human or animal) result in decreased immunity and an increase in allergies and insect hypersensitivity.

It's likely that a horse that has CPL tendencies will develop varying levels of CPL. Can be from periodic scratches (1) to inflamed legs that need pressure wraps with chronic dermatitis (10). Environment could take a horse that is a 2 and make it a 7, or vise versa. Or it could be that they are destined to be a certain severity. It's also likely that as the horse gets older they will be more affected. The lymph system is not as strong as they age. Their environment will continue to enable their secondary infections. Scar tissue will form and not heal.

There have been correlations with feathering density and tendency towards CPL, you also may notice that the KFPS stallion selection program is getting less and less feathering....

I would love to say that there is a cure or an answer but as of yet there is not. All you can do is treat the secondary infections and symptoms and hope that you can keep the horse comfortable. Some people have moved their horses to drier environments and some have had to stay on top of treatments regularly.

Hydrocephalus

Hydrocephalus means water on the brain. I'm not going to get into the medical reasons why it happens in fetal development because it's passed on genetically and can be avoided completely.

This genetic disorder is something to take very seriously because A. there is a test for it     B. it's lethal to the foal and C. birthing a Hydrocephalus affected baby can be traumatic or terminal for your mare.

Cure: Test your mare before breeding and If you have a carrier mare avoid breeding with a carrier stallion. Problem is solved.

As you probably guessed from above Hydrocephalus is a genetically transferred disorder. It's recessive so the only way to get an affected foal is to breed 2 carriers together. You'll have a 25% chance of an affected/dead foal and 50% chance of a carrier foal. It's not worth the risk that you'll get the 25% chance of a non affected non carrier foal. It's irresponsible to take that risk.

The reason the birthing is so traumatic to the mare, possibly causing dystocia, c section or death to the dam, is because the cranium of a hydrocephalus foal can be enlarged significantly

 

 

 

As you can see in the next photo the brain cavity was opened up to show it's not formed completely and the fluid in that cavity was drained.

 

 

The KFPS/FHANA has started testing the all approved stallions and posting the results. I have compiled the published and known carriers on the stallion pages. If you have a positive mare and have picked a stallion that you want to breed to that is missing information please contact the KFPS directly to see if your positive mare is a risky match with the desired stallion. I believe they will not give out any stallion information if your mare is not tested, so please get your mare tested.

 

Here is the form for the FHANA horses to be tested FORM (email me if the link doesn't work or fhana@fhana.com)

to contact the KFPS directly for all other books (bb1,2, C and D books) please go to www.kfps.nl and contact them directly

 

IF you do not want to go through the KFPS or you do not have a pure Friesian this is a company that will test for Hydrocephalus cariers regardless of breed.

Animal Genetics 

 

 

Scientific article that you can look at for more detailed information.

LINK

EVA

Equine Viral Arteritis

There are a few Friesian stallions that are currently positive for EVA. They can be positive in blood, and/or Semen. It's important to know about because one of the side affects it that it can cause abortions in mares or death in young foals. That is the part I'm going to focus on. Symptoms of an infected horse are in this article HERE

The virus is carried by the stallion, usually for life once they have it. It lives in Frozen, chilled and fresh semen. Mares that are inseminated with the affected stallion  (or horses exposed to the + semen) will shed the virus for about 21 days after contact with the affected semen. They will spread it through respiratory secretions to any horse within range.

Unvaccinated mares in early term are likely to abort the foal. A late term pregnant mare may abort or may give birth to an infected foal that shows symptoms of pneumonia.

There is a vaccination for mares. They should be tested for their existing resistance (serology), then vaccinated appropriately. After being vaccinated they should be isolated for the 21 days/3 weeks that they are shedding the virus. The vaccine is not for pregnant mares, it's for pre insemination.

Colts can be vaccinated after 6mo of age, but this may affect their ability to get into other countries. I know Australia will not allow vaccinated stallions into the country or positive stallions in (as was in 2011, may change in the future)

For Embryo transfer it's recommended that the recipient also be tested and vaccinated if the stallion is EVA +.