Gelding might be proud cut

Question
QUESTION: I have a 17 yr. old, 16.1 h. QH gelding that acts like a stud if he comes in contact with a mare. He did mount a mare in season but did not penatrate since I ran him off. He was also very aggressive to a different mare that wanted no part of him. She was new to the barn and just kept running away from him. He is very focused on any mare that may cross his path and will even wait for days to see if another mare will pass by. My horse does not have a pasture mate. Not for a year. As of right now I'm his best friend along with my 3 dogs. Some mares he has no problem with, they are the bossy ones. Normally he is a quiet horse, doesn't not bite or kick. He has no problem with other geldings and does not act like a stud trying to control a herd.

How do I handle this type of behavior? I'm not sure if I will be able to trail ride with other people if there are mares in the pack. As of right now, the only two horses around are mares but are 1/4 mile away. Once in a blue moon the owners will ride down my dirt road.

I do not know the background of this horse other then the previous owner could not afford to feed him. At that time he was called a hard keeper. I was told he use to barrel race and other western riding. He was considered a rescue horse. I've had him 1 1/2 yrs. now and he is doing great. I would really like to know how to handle my horse when he shows up with this behavoir. It's as if he becomes a different horse.

Thanks,
Chris

ANSWER:  The term "Proud cut" really has no meaning. There are people who believe that if a horse acts as yours does even after castration, then the Vet must have missed a portion of the testicle allowing the continued production of Testosterone and this would explain the bad behavior.
In reality, if a horse is castrated both of the testicles are completely removed from the horse unless the testicles (one or both) are retained inside the body cavity(Cryptorchid). In this case a more invasive surgery in necessary to remove the testicles and some owners will choose to NOT remove them and leave the horse intact.
The horse is then still a stallion and can be very capable of breeding mares even though the fertility of the sperm may be compromised due to the higher body temperature of the retained testicle.
If you know your horse HAS been castrated properly then you can chalk his behavior up to bad manners. Get together with a Trainer and work with him around other horses, give him a job to do to put his mind on something other then the pretty girls. You being his only "best friend" in all likelihood is part of the reason he acts out the way he does. Humans are not horses, we don't speak horse and we don't provide the same sort of security and comfort a herd animal depends on normally.
If you have doubts about your horse being properly castrated, have your Vet do an ultrasound exam to look for a retained testicle. That will absolutely prove if he is Cryptorchid or not. A lesser reliable method of determining this is to have a blood sample analyzed to determine the Testosterone levels. Much of the bodies Testosterone is produced by the testicles but not all. Higher then normal levels would indicate SOME issue that would then have to be investigated to see what is going on.
I hope this gives you some ideas to work with toward solving your potentially dangerous situation.... Good luck,  Stallynrydr

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you for responding to my question. It is definitely helpful. I do have another.

Can you give me some helpful ways to work with my horse to better his attitude around the pretty girls? This is a smart horse with a short attention span. He learns quickly but I would like to learn ways to teach him to better focus on the job at hand.

This horse is not a "bad" horse and does not get aggressive to the point you can't go near him. Nothing like that.... he just gets a bit excited and would really like a date.

What kind of things can I do with him that will help this behavior?

Thanks again,
Chris  

Answer
At his age and lack of social exposure it's going to be tough to change his behavior, it sure won't happen overnight. That was my reason for advising you to contact a Trainer to help you with him. It isn't possible for me to actually witness him acting out, I do have a good idea of what you are going through after dealing with a very aggressive (sexually) Thoroughbred stallion for almost 20 years.
My stallion also was basically a good boy but when a pretty girl caught his eye, if I didn't keep right on top of him things would start snowballing until all hell broke loose. He would start with pawing and calling to the mare and ignoring me, looking over my head and wanting to spin around if I turned him away. He would rear and buck and do anything possible to keep her in sight. During a show and in the Dressage arena this was really a huge pain to overcome.
What I had to do with him was to keep him in a central area in the barn, out of reach of any other horses physically but where he could always see them. He learned to respect my instructions by using a stud chain over the noseband of the halter, snapping it sharply when he would start getting high headed and sassy. I did an incredible amount of ground work with him... using a buggy whip to make him focus on moving each foot individually while in-hand, never whipping him mind you ... only tapping the fetlock and being able to stay out of range if he should fire off a kick in retaliation. It made him mad when I would "distract" him from the object of his affection.
Under saddle I found it worked best to put him into endless circles (seemingly) as soon as he started yelling at other horses or dropping his penis. The active working trot seems most effective for redirecting attention back to the job at hand. You see it is all part of being a horse, wanting to be around other horses, but when we are doing something with them, they should be thinking about what we are asking them to do.
So hitting them and keeping them completely away from other horses isn't the answer. Let them be a horse when they are on their own time but stay cool and calm and make them DO something when you have them in hand or under saddle. Eventually it will sink in that bad behavior just gets me put to work. (That's the theory at least)
If your horse were at a Trainers, he would likely be around other horses that were constantly being done something with. A Trainer is going to be more "job oriented" when handling your horse, grooming and tacking up and going immediately to work without paying much attention to the hissy fits he may throw.
Fighting a horse never works out well for the human. They are bigger, stronger and more single minded about getting to the thing they want. When we can make the thing they fixate on seem less desirable, we have much better success in the long run.
Oh .. another thing that works to keep scent from lighting them up is to put some Vick's Vaporub on their nose. That will help to keep them from smelling attractive aromas like a mare in season for example, giving you a much better chance of keeping their attention on you instead of on the girls...

Good luck... I hope something I've said helps out...

Stallynrydr