Help!

[Lucy J]

Can someone explain rigs to me?

My horse has moved to her new home which is great and she loves it. The only problem is she has moved in the same day as an ex-racehorse 'gelding'. THey are madly in love. Now, apparently this 'gelding' has been castrated twice? but is a rig, however he exhibits complete stallion behaviour. I do not know alot about rigs, but this one sure doesn't act like one. I had to risk my life to separate them yesterday! My mare is in season too which doesn't help. I do not want an unplanned pregnancy, what can I do? They are in separate fields at the moment, but they were out all day Saturday together and when I separated them and stabled my horse she unbolted her stable door and ran back to the field. How can I find out if this horse is a rig or not? Its a nightmare!

Any help appreciated. :(

[Piaffe]

Hi lucy

A rig is a male horse which has apparently been 'gelded' but normally has one testicle left - usually undescended. The only way you would be able to tell for sure if this horse is a rig is to have a vet examine it.

If you are very concerned, it might be an idea to speak to the yard owner about separating either your horse or this other horse from the others - should really be the other horse if he is riggy, as I am sure other owners would not want their horses damaged.

Having said this, some horses exhibit stallion behaviour and aren't rigs, so you do need to be sure before saying too much around the yard.

Perhaps a quiet word with the new horses owner would be a good idea - chat to him or her about their horse and then bring into the conversation about your mare being 'in love' with their horse etc. They may offer information that could be useful, such as how he behaved at other yards etc.

Hope it all works out for you!

[Lucy J]

I had a quick chat with the owner who said her horse has always been very quiet and never acted like this before. I do know she travels over 35miles to the yard and I am beginning to wonder why. She says he is a rig, but I didn't know they could castrate a horse more than once which they have done. I am just concerned in case she is not saying everything, I don't want my horse injured. He doesn't bother the others (apart from a 2 year old gelding) as they are only tiny ponies.

[Mehitabel]

rigs aren't *normally* fertile, as the undescended testicle is too warm inside the body to produce viable sperm, but the hormones are still there, which causes the stalliony behaviour. i've heard of horses being gelded and then the other testicle descending and the horse having to be done again - maybe this is what happened? if this is the case, he won't be fertile, but being gelded late will mean he still has delusions of stallionhood.
but as piaffe said, a true rig is one that still has a testicle, so if he is a true rig, there's a small chance he's fertile, so you should talk to the owner and find out.
some geldings are riggy, mine covers mares like mad all summer!

[Lucy J]

It was chaos yesterday! He is trying to attack the 2 year old gelding that is in the field and climb all over my mare. I think the decision has been made that he should go in the bottom field away from everyone else, the problem at the moment is we are having to walk through him to get our horses out the field! It was a nightmare exercising my horse last night too as he kept calling for her and she wanted to go to him.

aaaarrggghhhh

there are 2 more geldings arriving at the weekend, maybe that'll sort him out!!

[Piaffe]

If there are only the two 'male' horses in the field and this new horse is riggy, then this is natural behaviour. The new horse still showing stallion behaviour is trying to see off his rival. I do think the best thing would be to separate him for a while - perhaps put him with another, quiet horse for company.

It is difficult when situations like this occur, but I certainly would not want to risk my mare in with a riggy horse, as Es said, they can still be fertile if a true rig.

[horsemad]

Can I just ask - is this sort of behaviour more pronounced at the beginning of Spring, or does it continue at this level of intensity all throughout the Spring and Summer?

I have experienced a similar situation with my shared mare, who is completely 'in love' (!) with a gelding in the same yard. He exhibits all the stallion characteristics you talk about (he was gelded late in his life) and she has been very erm....excited when she is near him. He wouldn't let me near her when I went into the field to catch her last week, and I am quite wary now of going into the field when the two of them are in together.

Is it likely to continue like this all over the Spring and Summer, or will the hormones settle down after a bit?

[Ikon]

<QUOTE>

Having said this, some horses exhibit stallion behaviour and aren't rigs.

<QUOTE>

Tee hee hee got that one right! Rode one stroppy welsh that thought she was a stallion. :rolleyes: Rounded up all the other mares and attacked me when I was leading one of her girlfriends!!! :o
Got me right down my back (1cm from spinal cord) with a front hoof (she struck out at me like stallions do when they meet a new mare that is in season , :eek: apparently) Not a happy chappy after that one!!!

[Mehitabel]

if my old git is anything to go by (he's not a true rig, but can cover, ahem, properly, if you see what i mean) there's a surge of activity when they start coming into season, and then it calms down, but watch out when his girlfriend comes into season. copper has to be on his own quite a lot, as he has issues with being caught, and with his mares being caught if they're in season and he has other plans for them.

[galadriel]

We've got a gelding at my stable who's been thoroughly examined for any traces of testicle at all, and is VERY gelded. And he was gelded when quite young. He _still_ thinks he's a stallion!