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Castration of Horses and Ponies.
Castration is also known as having a stallion “cut” or “gelded” and is probably the most common surgical procedure performed in the horse or Pony.
Reasons for castration:
Stallions are more difficult to handle and use as leisure horses. They are stronger, more aggressive, quicker to strike and rear up, more inclined to bite and fight with both handlers and other horses.
Prevention of fertility is another reason to castrate; puberty occurs at 10 to 12 months of age, so yearlings can and do get mares pregnant.
Another reason for castration is to reduce the secondary masculine conformational features.
A final reason for castration is to remove a diseased testicle. Trauma from a kick, twisting of a testicle, inguinal hernia, and testicular cancer are examples of diseased testicles that need to be removed.
Pre-operative considerations:
The stallion must be in good health at the time of castration, without signs of fever, infection, parasitism, or other signs of disease. Ideally vaccinations should be administered prior to the surgery date; especially Tetanus vaccination. We administer tetanus antitoxin but this only provides immediate post operative cover.
Prior to arranging surgery it is important to determine if both testicles are descended fully into the scrotum. If one or both testicles fail to descend fully into the scrotum, the stallion is termed a cryptorchid or ‘rig’. Cryptorchid castration is considerably more involved than routine field castrations, requiring a hospital surgical setting with more equipment and personnel. Some stallions are very tolerant of scrotal examinations, but others require sedation and physical restraint. While checking for crytorchidism, the veterinarian will also check for an inguinal hernia is obvious.
Time of the year is another consideration; routine castration is best performed between the months of November to March, this ensures that there are no blowflies to lay eggs in the wound.
Surgery:
Our clinic prefers to do castrations standing although in small ponies and under certain conditions we may do them under general anesthesia. The wound is left open to drain and this also produces less post operative swelling.
Post operative care:
During the first 24 hours after the surgery the biggest concern is bleeding. Large vessels have been cut during the castration, an occasional or slow drip immediately after the surgery is expected. It is best for the horse to remain fairly quiet and confined afterwards, avoiding stressing the tissues. This allows blood clots to develop and solidify, minimizing the hemorrhage.
After the first 24 hours and for the next 2 to 3 weeks, the main concern is swelling. All horses and ponies will get varying amounts of swelling in the sheath area, which normally reaches a peak by the third or fourth day. In some it may get as large as a small melon.
The wound is supposed to stay open and drain and healing occurs from the inside first, this usually takes a couple of weeks. For this reason we don’t want swelling in the scrotal area because it will stop the drainage, you need to check this by looking up into the scrotal area, but take care and don’t touch the area as it may be sore!
The prevention of swelling in the scrotal area requires exercise, which should be started 24 hours after surgery. Begin with at least 15 minutes of exercise twice a day. For the first two days or so just give mild exercise, after the third day, increase the exercise gradually. After three weeks healing should be complete. In most cases the horse or pony will be unbroken and the exercise will need to be done in-hand, you cannot rely on the animal getting enough exercise on its own in a field.
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