Gelding

A gelding (/ˈɡɛldɪŋ/) is a castrated male horse or other equine, such as a pony, donkey or a mule. The term is also used with certain other animals and livestock, such as domesticated camels. The equivalent terms for castrated male cattle are steer or bullock, and wether for sheep and goats.

Castration renders the male animal calmer, better-behaved, less sexually aggressive, and more responsive to training efforts. This makes the animal generally more suitable as an everyday working animal, or as a pet in the case of companion animals. The gerund and participle "gelding" and the infinitive "to geld" refer to the castration procedure itself.

The verb "to geld" comes from the Old Norse gelda, from the adjective geldr 'barren'. The noun "gelding" is from the Old Norse geldingr.

The Scythians are thought to have been among the first to geld their horses, as they valued war horses that were quiet and less defensive, as well as easier to keep in groups and less likely to be territorial, without the temptation of reproductive/mating urges. Aristotle is said to have mentioned gelding as early as 350 BC.

A male horse is often gelded to make him better-behaved and easier to control. Gelding can also remove lower-quality animals from the gene pool. To allow only the finest animals to breed on, while preserving adequate genetic diversity, only a small percentage of all male horses should remain stallions. Mainstream sources place the percentage of stallions that should be kept as breeding stock at about 10%, while an extreme view states that only 0.5% of all males should be bred. In wild herds, the 10% ratio is largely maintained naturally, as a single dominant stallion usually protects and breeds with a herd which is seldom larger than 10 or 12 mares, though he may permit a less dominant junior stallion to live at the fringes of the herd. There are more males than just herd stallions, so unattached male horses group together for protection in small all-male "bachelor herds", where, in the absence of mares, they tend to behave much like geldings.

Geldings are preferred over stallions for working purposes because they are calmer, easier to handle, and more tractable. Geldings are therefore a favorite for many equestrians. In some horse shows,^[which?] due to the dangers inherent in handling stallions, which require experienced handlers, youth exhibitors are not permitted to show stallions in classes limited to just those riders.

Geldings are often preferred over mares, because some mares become temperamental when in heat and the use of mares may be limited during the later months of pregnancy and while caring for a young foal.

In horse racing, castrating a stallion may be considered worthwhile if the animal is easily distracted by other horses, difficult to handle, or otherwise not running to his full potential due to behavioral issues. While this means the horse loses any breeding value, a successful track career can often be a boost to the value of the stallion that sired the gelding.