Hiya,

Does anybody have horses or know anything about them?

I have a Welsh Mare and her5month old colt, and an Irish TB Gelding.
They've all been living out together as the weather has been so good, but I've got a problem. My colt, has started to chew on my geldings tail. A week ago, the gelding (tango) had a lovely long tail, and thoroughly enjoyed swishing the flies with it.
Now his tail is no more than 18 inches long.

Other than separating them which would be difficult at the moment as I'm replacing fencing, does anybody have any ideas on how to stop it?

Also, What's the right age to have my colt gelded?

One more thing (sorry..I'm going on a bit now) the colt was born a very dark grey (so we called him Blue) he's lightening up now, although his mane and tail are still black, and he has a black line down his back. What colour is this?

Thanks

Lisa

Hiya,

Never owned my own, i have to say, but been around them longer than i care to recall!!!!

Sounds to me like your colt could change to a dun, or a dark grey (steel gray?)....the stripe down his back would suggest a dun, but who knows! I know of one colt born jet black, by the time he was three he was a blanket appaloosa sort of thing...black body, but #wiuth a white backside, with black spots!

As far as the tail chewing goes, errrrrrr is there anything you could use to spray on the tail? Is the gelding letting him do it because his tail is itchy? Not sure on that one really.

As far as gelding goes, depends on what you want to do with him, how his temperament is coming along, how long he takes to mature etc etc..... Not all stallions are nasty buggers, but some can be right little gits....however geld too young, and you could risk spoiling his growth....colts left until 2 or three often develop a very showy stalliony look about them, BUT can also retain a stallions temperament as well.....if he was mine, if he is being a bugger, get him cut in a few months time, depending on how he is growing.....if not, and you have plenty of time to handle him, leave him be. Thats my own personal opinon though....

One thought, he could be chewing the geldings tail because he is bored, in which case, get him doing stuff, its never too early....My dads neighbour used to pay me to 'play' with his foals, that was from pretty much the month they were born, as he favoured the 'turn 'em out with a stallion an let them breed' method of stud farming.

I used to get them used to being handled, feet, ears, faces, bellies tails, backs, touching all over, get them used to buckets, straps of leather, lead ropes, hoof picks.
By five months, i was usually taking them for walks, taking them to see traffic etc, and cows and sheep and dogs.. socialisation for a horse is much the same as for a dog!

You could also give him toys to play with? swedes on ropes etc?

Just some ideas,
Em

Hi Lisa, I think that the black stripe down his back is called a dorsal stripe. Is he like a dapple grey?
Diane

Hi Lisa,

First of all greys do get lighter as they get older. I have a grey and have had him since he was ten. When I bought him he was dapple still but now he is turning flea bitten and he has been through a pure white stage as well. As a four year old he was quite dark as I have seen photos of him. I have had other young greys and they have all turned lighter as well :)

As for the tail chewing try putting something on there he doesn't like the taste of until such times as he grows out of it.

Most colts are castrated at about 2 before they turn into complete nightmeres :D!! But I would chat to your vet about this.

HTH

Tracy

Ihave a grey he was black when i got him at the age of 6 months he is now 10 years old and lives with an entire male and has done for 10 years.

If you are planning to geld your colt later you will need to separate him from his mother as otherwise when she has a season ...........

My colt used to be out with cows and they chewed his tail right off! (:)) You could spray it with crib off or bitter apple etc

Could be a blue dun but "odd" colours do change quite a lot!

HTH

Does the colts sire have any Highland Pony in him? They often throw offspring with a dorsal stripe.... I'd expect it will disappear as he matures though

Colts can be gelded (like dogs) as soon as both testicles have descended - from about 6 months...

My pony used to get his tail chewed by the Arab colt he shared a field with, I'd think if Tango's tail had been itching he'd have found his own way of scratching it before now..... I'd go with the Bitter Apple spray, so long as Tango doesn't have any open wounds on his tail

firstly, get him cut asap or you will find your mare is in foal again & he is the father. :(....he is plenty old enough & there is no need whatsoever to keep him entire.
Colour wise he could well go dun or a really dark steel grey sometimes has a dorsal line.
re: the tail....spray it with something he doesnt like the taste of such as the stuff you paint on rails for crib biting.
You need to seriously conseider weaning this foal now, getting him handled and used to having his feet trimmed and halter broken & lead on a lead rope. Now is the time to get on top of it before he starts getting stroppy!

Buy a tail guard that will cover it so colt can't chew.

But then you run the risk of him chewing the tail gaurd - even chocking on it :(

Hi all,

Thanks for the info.

Digger, his sire is a full Welshie, so no highland in him. His colour is really lovely, I just wish I had a name for it! :D

Still not sure when to have him gelded, I don't want it to affect his size, but I don't want him getting out of control either....Have to have a good think about this one!

Take care, thanks again.

Lisa

Mmmmm
He sounds lovely..i love welshies!

If you can keep him seperate from the mare (BIG fences! lol) id leave him as long as is possible, of course depending on how bolshy he gets! They do look a lot more showy, a lot more 'presence' if left longer, however having known a few welshies, they can be stroppy buggers even when cut fairly young! Good luck and get him really really well handled! (lend him to meeeeeeeeeeee, oh, and a field, stable, money, blah blah blah!!!!)

Em

HI Lisa - it will be really hard to keep him entire and keep him away from his mum next year.(same as dogs!) and it will be much harder to handle him while he is a colt . It depends on your facilites and your plans for him. If youre going to have him done late Oct - late Nov is the ideal time, once the flies have more or less gone. If you want him to mature more so that he aquires "stallion build" you would have to wait to cut him til he's 3 or 4 really. Sorry if you know all this!! As far as colour goes he sounds like he could end up a dun or maybe even black. What colour are his parents?

Hi Lisa,
We used to geld our boys the same time as weaning, no need to keep him entire to maintain his stature.
We bred Irish Draughts, pure and halfs, and didnt do any of the boys harm getting cut early, all grew to resemble police horses, with a bum to match their shoulders.
I would also put something horrible tasting on your horses tail, have had mares tails chewed before, also give your colt a horse ball or tyre or something else to play with.
Good luck with hs training and enjoy :)

Sam