"A mare person"

[vhf]

Is this really a thing, are some people more successful with mares (or of course, geldings/stallions). And the counter option "not a mare person".
Or is it the type, or the unique individual/s, and the perception becomes that it's about the gender?
Can we generalise about equine gender any more than we can human? (I don't mean PC-ness, but in genuine objective study).
And would "mare people" also be "stallion people" (so that the difference is more about being entire than gender) if there were enough around to make it a realistic experience for most?

 

[IrishMilo]

I've always found mares to be much more willing to please, same as bitches in dogs. I always cringe when people say things like 'Oh she's just a typical mare' - it usually comes from someone with a horse who has a chronic underlying pain issue and they conveniently put it down to the horse 'just being hormonal'. I've had a fair few horses and not one of the mares has ever been bargy, bolshy, or unpredictable to ride. Some of the geldings on the other hand have been rude arseholes, unhinged under saddle and completely unapologetic!

 

[Skib]

For my first year of lessons I rode a gelding. No complaints but for some reason, ever since, (apart from a very few rides) I have ridden three mares both in RS lessons and for hacking. Both my long term shares have been mares. I like them, their alertness, their intelligence, but may be that is feminist prejudice.

 

[dottylottie]

i consider myself a gelding person, and it translates into other animals too - my dog is a boy, my pet rats were boys etc. yet i currently own two mares i love to death and all my childhood dogs were bitches.

for me personally, i just love how dopey geldings are. i don’t think it’s that they have more personality, especially having a mare with enough personality for the whole yard, i just think they have a different kind of personality!

when buying both of my girls, a gelding was one of the only requirements i was “set” on, so maybe i’m a mare person after all!

 

[CanteringCarrot]

I'm a mare person but keep buying geldings because I'm an idiot.

I almost always get along well with mares. They'll walk through fire for you. They give their all and just aren't as "silly" about things. They're true working partners. I also prefer and only own female dogs.

I'm borderline considering buying my geldings sister. The breeder just didn't have many fillies available when I bought mine as a colt.

It could be that mares are entire. I feel as though something is taken away from a stallion when they're gelded. Of course gelding can alter the horse in desirable ways and make the horse easier to manage in a few ways.

 

[toppedoff]

I prefer mares, I seem to have click way more better with em

 

[maya2008]

Geldings annoy me. My husband and son prefer them. Horses for courses.

I don’t mind riding a gelding occasionally, but for myself? Mares all day long.

 

[eahotson]

I am a mare person.I know I am because my mare tells me so.!!

 

[shortstuff99]

I'm a lazy bum so I don't like having to tell a horse what to do every 2 seconds so I like mares as they think for themselves

 

[meleeka]

I’m a mare person, but also own a mini shetland gelding. I think he’s even better as a gelding, because I don’t need a partner, or a connection, I just need him to be comical and make me smile, which he does. I just seem to click with mares and find them easier to read (my Welsh mare for example, ears forward = good mood, ears back = p*** off ). I also find mares show their personality sooner. It tends to take me a good year, sometimes longer, to bond with a gelding

I probably wouldn’t choose a boy dog either, but that’s more to do with the peeing.

 

[LadyGascoyne]

I’m a mare person. I’ve owned mares and geldings, and ridden stallions. When I think of all of my best horses, all but one are mares - and that one was a stallion.

I like geldings too and I’d have another, it’s just that looking back, my mares have stood out.

 

[iknowmyvalue]

I’m a mare person, but own a gelding. But he doesn’t count because in almost every way, he’s like a mare (and it’s not just me who’s described him like that)

 

[smolmaus]

but may be that is feminist prejudice.

I suspect this about myself too. But then we have always had mostly female animals when I was growing up, so its automatically my first choice.

The two male hamsters and the two male cats have been noticeably less confident and less chaotic than their female counterparts. Sweet and stupid. I don't/ didn't love them any less but its different.

The two geldings I have gotten on with the best recently have both been subject to frequent "are we sure he's not a mare in his brain" comments too also down to general chaotic vibes and big big personalities. My own mare is genuinely one of my best friends. So communicative, smart, sneaky, cheeky and a bratty little menace but mostly only with me, to almost everyone else she is a boring little dope on a rope.

 

[Chiffy]

I think everyone is different in what they like or seem to bond with. We have always preferred geldings and bitches, so that is different from the person who has boy dogs and horses or the one with mares and bitches .
I don’t find geldings ‘dopey’ either. They can be sharp and smart if that’s the type you like. We have always had competition horses.
My granddaughter had a connemara pony mare for a while. Just a nightmare forever in season , grumpy and stroppy. However my daughter has a mare at the moment for the first time in her life…a TB that was given to her and we never notice her in season!
I think it depends on the horse, it’s type, breeding and temperament rather than it’s sex.
However I will always prefer a gelding!

 

[sarcasm_queen]

I’m very much not a mare person. I get stressy enough as it is without adding more hormones into the mix!

But yes, a lot of people tend to have a preference.

 

[spoo]

I’m a mare person. My only requirement when looking for a new horse is that it’s a mare. I just don’t gel with geldings. Once you click with a mare, which seems to take longer than to click with a gelding but it’s worth the wait, the loyalty they have for you is like no other. They will try their absolute hardest for you and go to the ends of the earth.

 

[Irish Sally]

I get on with mares. I find you can correct geldings multiple times before they get something. Mares tend to not like being corrected so learn straight away. I do like the odd gelding though as well.

 

[Ample Prosecco]

I don't think it is just preconceived bias in my case as I always considered myself a gelding person. Till one day I ranked all the horses and ponies my family and I have ever owned in order of preference. The top few were all mares, while the bottom few were all geldings. With a few of both in the middle. So I stopped buying geldings!!

But have bred two so I better get my head round boys again

 

[Zoeypxo]

I prefer mares and have a female dog, would be hard to convince me to get a gelding

 

[scats]

Mare person here. I’ve owned plenty of both and all lovely but I just seem to have this connection with mares and I think if you get a good one, they’ll do anything for you. The horses I’ve had the best connections with have been mares.
I love how switched on they are and that they like to have an opinion about things, because when they dig deep for you, you know they are doing it because they want to. That’s pretty special.

Most of my animals are female, too. Apart from one cat and my Guinea pig.

 

[cindars]

Best of my horses have been mares,but my friend had a gelding I was very fond of.

 

[Peglo]

I live with a man and work with men so I like having my girls around. My cousins pony (but I look after/see them daily so feel like part of my lot too) didn’t get along with other geldings so we always got mares for him and I like the excuse to get them. I can’t deal with grumpy men of any species so lean towards females. My cat is male though and I love him to bits. I got him so OH wasn’t so outnumbered in the house but he’s very much my cat.

I can’t think of a gelding I wished I owned but I’ve never had one (other than cousins one and he’s a pest) so I likely shouldn’t say I wouldn’t connect with one the same but I love having mares.

 

[ycbm]

I've had a lot of mares and the only reason I would prefer to buy a gelding now I'm down to being a one horse owner is the potential for unpredictability of mare behaviour when they are in season. You never know when you buy one that you haven't been involved with whether there are going to be issues or not.
.

 

[smolmaus]

I've had a lot of mares and the only reason I would prefer to buy a gelding now I'm down to being a one horse owner is the potential for unpredictability of mare behaviour when they are in season. You never know when you buy one that you haven't been involved with whether there are going to be issues or not.
.

Would by far deal with seasons than penis beans tbh. But to be fair mine isn't a demon when she's on, the worst thing is having to throw buckets of water down the yard because she's squirted all over it.

I can’t think of a gelding I wished I owned

I can think of a couple for riding reasons. They're reliable, sweet, easy and sensible but for me a horse is always going to be a pet first and a sporting partner second and although I love them I think I'd miss the sass and comedy.

 

[JBM]

I prefer mares but male dogs

 

[ycbm]

Would by far deal with seasons than penis beans tbh.

There's no chance of getting my hand up there on mine!
.

 

[dorsetladette]

I'm a 'boy' person. Grew up on a stud riding both mares and stallions and always gravitated towards the stallions. I had the last stallions from the stud and they stayed with me until they died. I kept a couple of mares to but they went out on loan as I just didn't connect with them the same. Possibly as they were out a lot so less care/management required equalling less time spent with them but the boys always had my heart. These days my place is a boys only environment, but for a better lifestyle for both the ponies and me they are all gelded. I'm very much team boys! Oddly I also get on better with men than I do women in work and in general.

 

[splashgirl45]

I’ve always found my personality works better with mares on the whole. My first horse was a gelding and I gelled with him, I started riding him for the owners and when they decided to sell I couldn’t let him go to someone else. All of my others have been mares , I did always have bitches until I got my little terrier , then the second terrier was a bitch and I now have a lurcher who is a dog, so I seem to be a bit mixed in my loyalties

 

[smolmaus]

There's no chance of getting my hand up there on mine!
.

I've never even thought about going up there, but I have very generously pulled shavings off a nasty gunky overdue peen because I truly loved that horse and it looked horribly uncomfortable. That was that for me though. All mares forever.

 

[splashgirl45]

Mares can still get mucky underneath and some can be quite difficult if you fiddle round down there but it needs to be done