Mini Stallion

[countrylovin]

We are considering the purchase of a mini horse (stallion) who is not quite two years old. He has not been gelded yet, as he "has not dropped". Should I be concerned that there is a health problem?

 

[mully]

This is not uncommon for a young stallion not to drop at the year mark. If you are not going to bread him I do not see a problem. It would be wise to have a vet check him before purchase.

 

[patandchickens]

In my experience it is not at all normal for a stallion to be undescended at almost-2 years old... if they haven't dropped by now they are probably not GOING to (edited to clarify: it is possible but quite unlikely), and retained testicles ARE a medical problem.

If the testicles stay up there, he will not be fertile but will continue to exhibit stallion-type behavior, and it is not uncommon for cancer to develop in the retained testicles.

If you want him as a stallion, I would say run (don't walk) the other way. If you want him to be gelded, you should talk with your vet about the feasibility of it -- it will be major abdominal vet-hospital type surgery -- as I really don't know what the 'state of the art' is for this sort of thing these days.

Best of luck,

Pat

 

[michickenwrangler]

IF you decide to get him and keep him a stallion, DO NOT BREED HIM, it is a genetic trait.

As Pat said, gelding a cryptorchid stallion is much more invasive, expensive and difficult than one whose testicles have descended.

 

[texasshell]

I would agree with the last two post. There are so many on the market these days you will surely find another one without the medical problems this poor guy has. Good Luck in your search.

 

[Bunnylady]

Undescended testicles are disgustingly common in minis. Often only one is absent, and the high cost of having a Vet go after it means that the owner does nothing about either one. The one descended testicle is fertile, of course, so the stallion can still pass on this trait to his offspring. Seems to me this boy is a headache waiting to happen.

 

[michickenwrangler]

Undescended testicles are disgustingly common in minis. Often only one is absent, and the high cost of having a Vet go after it means that the owner does nothing about either one. The one descended testicle is fertile, of course, so the stallion can still pass on this trait to his offspring. Seems to me this boy is a headache waiting to happen.

Aren't they common in Chihuahuas and other tiny dogs? Must be something about breeding down ...

 

[2littlepygmys]

I just wanted to add my two cents. You said he hadn't been gelded "yet" since he hadn't dropped...which makes me think you want to geld him eventually.

My two cents is this: I worked for a large animal practice for many years, and if you wanted to geld him and he never drops, the surgery costs are astronomical, since they have to do a sterile surgery and go into the abdomen as opposed to the normal farm castration that is not sterile. I tell ya, if I would have been on the bad end of those vet bills, I would have just died on the spot!

 

[Bunnylady]

Undescended testicles are disgustingly common in minis. Often only one is absent, and the high cost of having a Vet go after it means that the owner does nothing about either one. The one descended testicle is fertile, of course, so the stallion can still pass on this trait to his offspring. Seems to me this boy is a headache waiting to happen.

Aren't they common in Chihuahuas and other tiny dogs? Must be something about breeding down ...

I don't know about small dogs, but I believe the reason they are so common in minis is because of an awful lot of indiscriminate breeding. People that wouldn't dream of keeping a stallion of any large breed get a few "pretty" minis, put them in a pasture together, and voila! They are realizing the dream of breeding horses. Geldings are almost the exception rather than the rule in minis, because of an "if you can't breed it, what good is it?" mindset. Seriously, can you think of any other breed where gelding an animal decreases the price? Or where the price of even a routine gelding procedure may exceed the value of the animal? I have even heard one person say of a monorchid (that's an animal with only one testicle retained) "he's may only have one good one, but you can still breed him, no problem."

 

[dianneS]

I just wanted to add my two cents. You said he hadn't been gelded "yet" since he hadn't dropped...which makes me think you want to geld him eventually.

My two cents is this: I worked for a large animal practice for many years, and if you wanted to geld him and he never drops, the surgery costs are astronomical, since they have to do a sterile surgery and go into the abdomen as opposed to the normal farm castration that is not sterile. I tell ya, if I would have been on the bad end of those vet bills, I would have just died on the spot!

This is true, gelding a horse with undescended testicles is very, very expensive. I was so relieved when my mini finally dropped at around 1 year old. Mini's can take up to two years to drop. My mini was being obnoxious and trying to mount my mare when she would lie down, even before he dropped.

Are you absolutely sure that he hasn't dropped yet? It was tough to tell with my mini, I kept checking and didn't feel anything, then one day I felt one, and it was tiny! Like the size of an almond. I waited until a warm day to check for the second one and it was there too! I was so relieved, I called the vet immediately. I have to wonder if the colder weather had them hiding for a while? Shrinkage you know.