What Is a Gelding?

A gelding is a castrated male horse, donkey, or mule. Unless a horse is to be used for breeding purposes, it should be castrated. Gelding can make horses more even-tempered and easier to handle. A stallion who is gelded later in life may retain more aggressive stallion-like behavior.

Optimal Age for Gelding a Horse

A colt may be gelded before it is one year old -- as soon as the testicles descend into the scrotum. Many owners feel that the earlier, the better so that the colt does not develop any stallion-like behaviors. The testicles produce testosterone, and it’s this hormone that governs stallion-like physical characteristics such as a crested neck and the sometimes aggressive and dominant behavior that could be a danger to other stallions or geldings, and to anyone handling the horse. Geldings also usually have little interest in mares.

Others like to leave gelding until later, believing that the future gelding will have a more flashy physical presence.

Geldings vs. Stallions

Geldings may grow slightly taller than they would if they were left stallions. Geldings are preferred by some riders who dislike that mares can be moody during their heat cycle. If a beginner has to choose between a stallion and a gelding, the gelding is by far the safer and wiser choice. Besides making a safer, quieter and more well-behaved riding horse, gelding serves as an effective way to avoid unwanted offspring and ensure that only the best horses are kept for breeding purposes.

In some cultures, all males were left un-gelded, but the circumstances that they lived under was much different than that of our modern riding horses. Now, it’s possible but rare to find groups of stallions kept