My horse was gelded last year and acts a little studdy around a mare in season is there anything I can do?

Studdy behavior in a recently gelded horse is common, well understood, and in most cases resolves on its own with time — so the first thing to know is that what you are dealing with is normal and not a sign that something went wrong with the procedure or that you have a permanent management problem on your hands. When a horse is gelded, the testicles are removed and testosterone production drops significantly, but it does not drop to zero overnight. Residual testosterone stored in the body's fat and tissues continues to influence behavior for months after the surgery, and horses gelded later in life can take considerably longer to mentally and behaviorally shed their stallion identity than horses gelded young. A horse gelded at three or four years old may show studdy tendencies for twelve to eighteen months post-surgery before his behavior fully settles. The first thing worth confirming with your veterinarian is that the gelding was complete — meaning both testicles were fully descended and successfully removed. A cryptorchid, commonly called a ridgling, is a horse with one or both testicles retained in the abdominal cavity. A retained testicle continues producing testosterone at levels that maintain essentially full stallion behavior indefinitely. If your horse was gelded without prior confirmation that both testicles were fully descended, or if his studdy behavior seems unusually intense or is not diminishing at all with time, ask your veterinarian to run a hormone panel. Assuming the gelding is complete and the behavior is simply residual hormonal influence fading over time, minimize exposure to mares in active estrus during this period. A horse that is constantly stimulated by cycling mares nearby has more reason to maintain that mental state than one managed in a more neutral environment while the hormones continue to clear. Training and clear behavioral expectations matter more than anything else. When the horse shows studdy behavior — squealing, striking, fixating on a mare — redirect him immediately and firmly to a task. You are not punishing the hormonal response, which he cannot control, but you are making clear that the behavioral expression of it is not acceptable. For the overwhelming majority of horses gelded in their first few years of life, this is a waiting game more than a training crisis. Keep his work consistent, his environment sensible, and his manners correct, and within another six to twelve months the behavior will almost certainly have faded completely.