Geldings are cheaper and easier

Gelding stallions can help cut the running costs for breeders, who are currently being faced with a difficult economic climate, says Dr Mac.

Politics, drought and veld fires have resulted in a difficult economic climate for all extensive livestock breeders, but horse breeders are particularly hard hit.

While the South African National Equestrian Schools Association (SANESA) has boosted the market for performance horses, this has not assisted breeders, as foals take about six to seven years, as well as a lot of expensive training, before they can be sold. As a result, there is virtually no market for stallion services, and several breed societies say the number of foals being registered has dropped over the past few years.

The price of foals has fallen, and those breeders who run large herds of unregistered mares with a few registered stallions, thus making money from quantity rather than quality, now realise it takes at least four to six years before an adult horse can even be sold for slaughter.

Moreover, running large herds of substandard breeding stock is no longer affordable, because of a feed shortage. There are so many unwanted horses on the market that the going price for a reasonably well-conditioned slaughter animal can be as low as R1 000. That hardly covers the cost of transport to an abattoir.

Grazing is in short supply because of the drought, and a great deal of the hay baled over the last year has already gone to livestock farmers trying to get their few remaining breeding ewes and cows through the drought in South Africa, Namibia and Botswana. Even lucerne, usually baled and sold in August in Gauteng, is hard to find because of the unseasonably warm weather since the end of June ( see FW, 22 November).

The Eastern Cape is usually the backup supply for lucerne bales in Gauteng, but the drought there has resulted in high local demand, and trucks are no longer taking bales up country.

Benefits of gelding

Under these circumstances, gelding your breeding stallions becomes very attractive. Semen can be frozen and the stallions put back into work as riding horses. Gelding will take the edge off a stallion’s aggression, and he can then be sold onto the SANESA market.

After gelding, he can be run in a gelding herd, as there will be no need to keep him in a single, high-walled paddock during mating season.

To further reduce costs, sound broodmares can be taken out of the breeding herd, put under saddle again and sold or leased as riding horses, keeping only a small breeding herd of top mares with good bloodlines related to the stallion that was gelded.

GELDING TAKES THE EDGE OFF A STALLION’S AGGRESSION

PROCEDURES

There are two ways a stallion can be gelded: standing and sedated, or fully anaethetised and lying down.

Standing castrations require heavy sedation and local anaesthetic.

This is usually cheaper than a full anaesthetic, but is not recommended for an experienced, mature breeding stallion, as severe haemorrhage is more likely.

Colt foals can be gelded early, to reduce management costs and make bloodlines more expensive due to scarcity.

The cost of castration varies between about R3 500 and R10 000, but it still remains a good investment, both from a cost-cutting point of view and to improve cash flow.

In the long term, strategic gelding can also increase the value of bloodlines in the future. • Dr Mac is an academic, a practising equine veterinarian and a stud owner. Email her at farmersweekly@caxton. co.za. Subject line: Horses.

DR MAC It is preferable to geld a mature stallion under general anaesthesia, as blood vessels can be properly tied off, and there is less chance of complications.