Crypto Orchid Blood Test?

I recently bought what I thought was a 10 year old quarter horse gelding. Turns out he's mounting every mare thats in season so I'm starting to have serious doubts on his gelding status. As visually he does not appear to be a stallion I needed to know if there is a blood test to find out for sure if he is fertile or not, preferably before the mares come up pregnant.

Crypto Orchid Blood Test?
You can certainly have a blood test done to check his testosterone levels.



Plenty of properly castrated geldings will breed mares.



The fact that you mention he only mounts mares in heat, and that you say nothing of the fact that he acts studdy any other time is a good indicator he had both his testicles removed.



I do not know a vet alive who will castrate a monorchid in the field. It is considered unethical. It is also unetchical to only take off one testical (meaning if only one is present...certainly in a case of cancer of a testicle on a stallion it would certainly be all right in that case)



Therefore anytime two testicals are not visible the vets refer horses to the equine hospitals so that the castration can be completed there. In other words they go inside and find the undescended testicle.



Even if your horse really was left with an undescended testicle he could never get a mare pregnant. From the testicle being kept inside the body all sperm would be dead from overheating.
Reply:it is possible that the horse could be a FULL cryptorchid. but not common. before wasting money, on a test that may not be available, simply check to see if there is a noticable scar from where he would have been castrated. there are testosterone tests, but it will not tell you if he has this condition. in the end he may just be proud cut.
Reply:Yes, you can have his hormone levels checked with a simple blood test. Your vet can easily do this for you, and he can also give you an opinion as to whether or not this horse is proud cut or not. If he is, and he has an undescended testicle, he will be sterile- the retained testicle can't produce sperm because it's too hot inside the body for this. If the horse was only gelded late, however, and was used as a stud before being cut, he will retain the studdy behavior for life- you can't train him out of it. You can have a sperm count done to be sure he's sterile, but if it turns out he's proud cut, then your only option may be to send him to an equine hospital for the major abdominal surgery he needs in order to be gelded completely. This is a good example of why cryptorchid horses should NEVER be used for breeding, no matter what their credentials are- this condition is hereditary, and your horse got this way because his dad was this way. One of the most prominent sires in the racing world right now, A.P. Indy, has this condition- and so do all his colts. Good luck, I hope this helps.
Reply:He could have been gelded after he had already been used for stud, this behavior can still exist afterwards, but the guy is shooting blanks. It is not uncommon for geldings to mount mares, they don't know they aren't intact! If he has a retained testicle, it is rarely fertile as the body cavity is too hot for sperm viability. The vet could run a sperm count on this horse for you to see if he does have a count at all. The retained testicle can cause all sorts of troubles besides mounting. It is like their hormones are in overdrive. This can be tested through bloodwork.
Reply:Yes you can have a vet run his testostrone levels to see if he is within the normal levels for a gelding. Anything above the norm may suggest that, while he maybeis not fertile, he is proud cut (has the right idea, just no way to carry out the plan). I had a gelding that was the same way. He thought he is a stud and acted like it. I had him tested and he turned out to have lower than normal levels. After that I firgured it was a major case of bad manners and after a small attitude adjustment, he has been fine. Some geldings get it in their heads that they ar boss when they are turned in with a bunch of open mares. Mine was cured when he tried to "stallion up" to a bred mare. She nearly ripped his head of. I would have the vet check him, and if all is normal, then an attitude adjustment may be in order. Good Luck!
Reply:geldings mount too....they just cant get a mare pregnant..just like a human male that had a vesectamy