Page 915 - The Veterinary Care of the Horse
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Figure 19.4 A unilateral cryptorchid with only one testicle visible
If you have a horse with no visible testicles, this may be because:
• he is a true gelding (most likely)
• he is a bilateral rig with two retained testicles
• he is a unilateral rig and the one descended testicle has already been removed by
incomplete castration (this is very poor practice which unfortunately still occasionally
occurs)
• he does not have proper testes in the first place: monorchid (one testicle only) and
anorchid (no testicles) horses are recorded, but this is so rare that it is barely worth
considering.
How to spot a rig
There are normally clues from the horse’s behaviour, with signs such as:
