Cryptorchidism
A stallion where one or both testicles have not descended through the inguinal ring into the scrotum.
Cause/diagnosis
Complete or partial failure, due to developmental reasons, of one or both testicles to descend.
Symptoms
-Complete rig: both testicles remain in the abdominal cavity. Physically, the horse is like a gelding, but shows stallion-like behaviour.
-False rig: stallion-like behaviour is shown by horses that have no demonstrable testicular tissue and are thought to have been castrated. The condition is associated with incorrect castration where not all the testicular tissue has been removed.
Both complete rigs and false rigs are infertile.
Treatment
-surgical removal of the undescended testicle
-the „riggy" behaviour of false rigs can sometimes be improved by shortening the stumps of the spermatic cords.
