Half Geldings? (horses)?
I'm talking to someone right now who claims that there is such item as a HALF gelding in horses. I would think that I should know if here was such a thing, and I personally don't have a sneaking suspicion that they exist (at least not in America). So, is there?
that makes no sense. unless maybe they're not cleanly cut(gelded, but missed "something" and can still reproduce)??
idk..:S
Some horses retain sexual behaviors after gelding and are often called "proud cut". In the past this be said to be due to some testicular tissue being missed during the gelding procedure allowing testosterone production (but not sperm production) to continue. In some cases, this may have be true, especially considering the variety of crude methods of castration practiced over the last 2000 years. However, nowadays, with the availability of restraining drugs and the level of knowledge and surgical technique, it is unlikely that missed testicular tissue is the cause for the estimated 25 percent of geldings that are said to exhibit some type of stallion behaviors. Since the adrenal glands (located near the kidneys) also produce testosterone, it is thought that the cause of so-called "proud cut" behavior may be due to the (hyper)activity of a precise horse's adrenal glands. Other stallion-like behaviors may simply be poor manners due to inadequate training.
Answers: You my friend, are right, there is no such thing as a half gelding.
A manly horse is a stallion or a gelding.
Perhaps she is referring to a cryptorchid - a horse with only 1 descended testicle.
If this horse is castrated and only have the external testicle removed he is still capable of breeding, making him still a stallion.
Or perhaps she read a misprint in an trailer somewhere. I've seen a lot over the years along these lines, I even saw a "half mare" advertise once.
No half geldings. But a gelded cryptorchid beside a retained testicle is not capable of reproducing although he will very much think he is Mr macho, best stud on the block. Because the retained testicle is still contained by the body cavity there is too much heat to produce viable sperm. They are often more complex to handle than a stallion with both testicles descended to to hormonal problems and sometimes pain cause by the retained testicle.
A gelding is a castrated horse. If you only did half the available job, the remaining testicle would still produce enough hormones to keep him from having the characteristics of a gelded horse. Gelded horses are quieter and more sufferable then stallions. They also tend to put on weight more easily. A horse have one healthy testicle could still sire a foal. Is your friend from Arizona, by any chance? If so, are his initials B. W.?
I don't think there is such item as a half gelding, but it could be a rig(g) or it may have been cut in arrears. This might make the gelding act like a stallion, and this might be what your friend is discussion about.
She may be referring to a "rig"; a stallion; a stud with only one descended testicle. OR, a gelding, when gelded, had just one descended testicle and left the other in the abdomen since it did not descend. Very expensive to try to find an undefended testicle within an equine abdomen.
No, I reckon your right. From what I can gather, there is no such thing as a 'half-gelding'.
