Why most male horses become geldings, and why some races ban them
Horse breeders have long reckoned that only about one male in ten should stay a stallion. The rest are usually gelded, turned into calmer, more trainable animals that riders prefer. The practice may go back to the Scythians, who wanted quiet warhorses that could live peacefully in groups.
The word comes from Old Norse gelda, rooted in an adjective meaning barren, and Aristotle is said to have mentioned the practice around 350 BC. The same idea applies to other livestock under other names: a castrated bull is a steer or bullock, and a castrated ram or billy goat is a wether. Donkeys, mules and even domesticated camels can be geldings too.
The one-in-ten figure mirrors nature. A wild herd is typically led by a single dominant stallion with ten or a dozen mares, while surplus males band together in bachelor groups, where without mares around they behave much like geldings. Some cultures, notably the Arabs, rarely gelded, preferring mares for work and war and keeping ordinary stallions among other males.
Racing rules differ sharply. In British steeplechasing nearly every runner is a gelding, for safety. Across much of Europe, though, geldings may not enter the top flat races such as the Classics or the Arc de Triomphe, although one French classic has admitted them since 1986. North American and Australian races let qualified geldings run against intact males.
Timing has changed with veterinary practice. Owners once waited until a colt was over a year old or even two, a habit from the days before anaesthesia. Now gelding before the yearling stage is favoured, and studies show that delaying it does not make a horse bigger. Hormones can linger for up to six weeks, and around 30 percent of geldings keep some stallion-like manners, which training generally corrects.
Source: Gelding
