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Rigs and Proud Cuts
27 September 2008
Charlie Brown has been a happy addition to my life for a couple of weeks now. During that time it has come to my (and my very understanding barn manager's) attention that Charlie has a couple of "unique" traits.
Charlie and I have bonded beautifully and for that I am extremely thankful. It has been a fabulous learning experience so far. In our bonding, I have noticed that Charlie has become protective of me. He does not allow the other geldings to approach me in the field.
Charlie also puffs up and does what I call the stallion challenge when he feels threatened. Be it another horse or a scary object. He can be strong on the ground for others but listens to me. Under saddle he is a dream come true. All of these things are no biggie until the latest was brought to my attention. Charlie has now been herding the other two geldings he shares a field with. So much that each horse is covered in bite marks and scars. Not good business in a barn that houses dressage beasts and eventers.
So, I have done a lot of research. Two big possibilities jump out. Charlie could either be proud cut or a rig. Proud cut is where a horse is gelded later in life after reaching sexual maturity. This is more of a behavioral challenge that can be worked with.
A rig is a horse who was gelded but not all the way. Most commonly this occurs when only one testes drops and is cut. The other may be retained within and still producing testosterone. This can cause problems in two main ways. The first being a horse who produces testosterone and portrays all of the characteristics of a stud horse. The second being the undescended testes could become cancerous and needs to be removed.
My barn manager and I have come to an agreement of getting bloodwork to check Charlie for being a possible rig. In the mean time, we will construct a temporary paddock beside the gelding field to separate Charlie so as no more injuries occur to the show horses. I like Barbara and Izzy too much to have them unhappy with me.
More to come and crossing my fingers for a late-gelded horse. They make supplements (like that available for moody mares) to help calm geldings. Much easier than surgery.