Position on the Practice of Intentional Unilateral Castration

The removal of a retained testicle, while leaving the descended testicle within the scrotum without permanent identification of the horse as a unilateral castrate, may expose that horse to unnecessary additional invasive surgical procedures. Subsequent efforts to locate and excise the previously removed retained testicle may require extensive abdominal exploration with increasing risk of post-operative complications.

The AAEP recommends the horse’s microchip number and corresponding electronic record be used for permanently identifying unicastrates by the veterinarian at the time of retained testicle removal.

Revised by the AAEP board of directors in 2023.