Here are a few things that you will need to do after your colt’s castration surgery to reduce the risks of post-surgery complications and make sure that everything goes well for your horse. 1. Stall rest for the remainder of the day of his surgery. 2. Monitor the surgical wound. It is completely normal and expected to have some blood dripping for a few hours following surgery. You may see small blood clot(s) hanging down from the surgical incision, but if you see any tissue(s) hanging down out of the incision or if there is a lot of bleeding from the incision, please contact us right away. 3. Using a rectal thermometer, you will need to check his temperature daily to make sure that he isn’t running a fever as a result of infection of the surgical wound. Hopefully you already have a good idea of his normal temperature from practicing this in the days leading up to the surgery. Normal temperature is up to 101.5 degrees F. Anything above this would be considered a fever, and you should contact your veterinarian right away. 4. You are going to need to exercise your horse at both walk and trot twice a day for 7-10 days following the surgery to promote drainage from the surgical wound. This is very important to help prevent infection of the surgical site! The horses that develop infection of the surgical wound following castration are often the horses that the owners neglect to exercise him for at least 15 minutes twice a day after surgery. 5. Monitor your horse’s attitude, appetite (food and water intake), and the appearance of the surgical site. There will be some swelling of the surgical site and often down into the sheath in front of the incision. Excessive swelling of this area, however, may be a sign of infection (again, exercise of the horse is key to preventing this). If your horse show’s excessive swelling, lack of appetite, and/or change in attitude (depressed), contact your veterinarian right away. 6. Keep the wound free of flies by applying fly spray frequently. 7. House the horse in a clean environment. Bed with plenty of fresh shavings or straw. 8. The wound site will gradually close up and should be fully healed in about 3-4 weeks. 9. Let us if you have any questions or concerns below.