Are mares more inconsistent

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OliveOyl

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Do you find, in your experience, that mares are more inconsistent in their competition performances than a gelding is?

A friend said this to me a few weeks ago and I know my own mare can certainly have her Girl with a curl days, but isn't the same true of any living thing - we all have bad days, whether boy or girl!
 
Geldings aren't real boys after all!!!!
Mares should be more compared to a stallion as they are still entire as such and will show the same sort of presence.Some riders get on better with mares than others ,they tend not to enjoy being niggled at and need tactful handling like most females.However if you click with one they will metaphorically jump over the moon for you!!
 
My Mare is the most even tempered horse I have ever met! She is also 5 and just learning the ropes, but comes out every day with the same attitude, no matter what.
No strops thus far, my Gelding had thrown many more strops by this point in his education and he is, again a very consitant, even tempered horse.
 
I have a 5 yr old mare and she has been an angel since day one. She did however the other day for the first time in her life behave like a warmblood stallion at full throttle! Think she had a sudden rush of hormones and she didn't know how to control herself. Was genuinely like hanging on to a full-on stallion! Like a bit of personality though!!! Love having an entire horse and all that brings with it.
 
popsdosh said:
Geldings aren't real boys after all!!!!
Mares should be more compared to a stallion as they are still entire as such and will show the same sort of presence.Some riders get on better with mares than others ,they tend not to enjoy being niggled at and need tactful handling like most females.However if you click with one they will metaphorically jump over the moon for you!!
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This. I adore mares, and have found them to be far more consistent than most of the geldings I've ridden. I've never had a hormonal mare either, never even knew when most of them were in season, they didn't show.
 
I would much rather ride a mare than a gelding! I seem to click with mares far better. I have evented 3 mares, and 1 gelding. The gelding definately has the most inconsistant record of them all!
 
"You tell a gelding, ask a mare and discuss with a stallion" is very true in my experience.

Mares are generally more sensitive than geldings and although I'm yet to find a temperamental one they do have "feelings" whereas geldings can be be thicker skinned and more forgiving. Obviously a sweeping generalisation as I know a mare that has to be bullied for results and a gelding who's a real delicate flower but there are always exceptions that prove the rule. However get a mare on your side and they will try there utmost for you.
 
My mare can have an attitude problem and really turns round and says "make me" some days, however when she realises that you won't fight with her then she'll settle and work although not as well as normal. I am hoping, however, that she'll grow out of it soon now that she's nearly 6! Having said that she is a typical welsh pony so maybe not LOL! :rolleyes:
 
I think if you can get a mare on your side, she'll be amazing. If you don't, you'll most likely end up on the floor in my experience!

I'm not a mare person- I wind even the most even-tempered mare up without trying. Geldings for me have been far more consistent. My sister's last pony was a very talented mare who was the epitome of mareish behaviour! If you could get her thinking it was her idea she'd jump the moon but if she didn't like you you'd be eating dirt.
 
Most definitely not! I love mares and would definitely have one when my old boy has to be retired or worse. Mini TX's mare is the most consistent horse I have ever met. In season or out of season she is consistent. The only way we know she is in season is that she is very slutty with the geldings on our yard, but it in no way detracts from her work, in fact for some reason she is even more biddable for you. We never have to feed her regumate or any of the mare products on the market and she is not marish in the slightest, apart from being a princess in the stable (you have to muck her out, feed her, hay and water her first or she gets a strop on, but she is easily told off and she then behaves herself).
 
I've always been a gelding person when riding other peoples horses, but since having a mare, that really has changed! My mare is a proper marish mare, she is a complete slut, and has plenty of "personality". Yet once she knows her job, she will pretty much always get on and do it, whereas a lot of geldings I have come across just aren't as "with it", so it depends what mood they are in on the day to how they go...
 
yup:D but i quite like it - it makes ownership interesting - i find the "leveleness" of geldings a little dull [ obs only based on the 2 geldings i have owned/loaned]
so, tues - lovely schooling session - happy happy happy
thurs - mare with a slapped a*** face - everything was a battle
tonight, who can tell???
 
TheoryX1 said:
Most definitely not! I love mares and would definitely have one when my old boy has to be retired or worse. Mini TX's mare is the most consistent horse I have ever met. In season or out of season she is consistent. The only way we know she is in season is that she is very slutty with the geldings on our yard, but it in no way detracts from her work, in fact for some reason she is even more biddable for you. We never have to feed her regumate or any of the mare products on the market and she is not marish in the slightest, apart from being a princess in the stable (you have to muck her out, feed her, hay and water her first or she gets a strop on, but she is easily told off and she then behaves herself).
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Al always said that Ellie (her little mare) was at her most brilliant when she was in season, but also at her most uppity. She went from being a bit opinionated to being completely kamikaze- brilliant if you could harness it!
 
Lolo said:
I think if you can get a mare on your side, she'll be amazing. If you don't, you'll most likely end up on the floor in my experience!
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Couldn't agree more. Anyone can ride my mare, as she's such a donkey but a very capable show rider got on her once, decided to bully her into doing exactly what she was told and the mare planted her in about 10 seconds. She is a paragon of virtue this mare and has never done anything like it before or since!
 
You could argue that hormones make a make more prone to inconsistency...And that literal lack of balls make a gelding less bolshy and less argumentative.

If I was hypothetically looking to buy, I wouldn't look at mares, not even a first glance....
 
I adore mares, none of mine have ever been inconsistent. In fact the opposite! It takes me longer to bond with a mare then a gelding but the bond I've had with my girls has been unbreakable. I find with mares that they can have balls of steel and when all hell breaks loose if you have a mare on your side she will move heaven and earth for you. My mare unbeknown to me was in pain for a lot of her working life but apart from a flick of her tail and a toss of her head you would never have known it. I could have ridden her into battle and she would have stood our ground.
On the flip side she was a bit temperamental to handle and it did take ages to bond! Unlike my Gelding who is just a charmer and a pleasure for everyone :).
 
They're female, of course they're inconsistent!

Only joking, honest!:D

I've had two mares, both have been consistent, one consistently mad, the other consistently would do nothing for me and everything for anyone else who rode her! :(
 
nikkimariet said:
You could argue that hormones make a make more prone to inconsistency...And that literal lack of balls make a gelding less bolshy and less argumentative.

If I was hypothetically looking to buy, I wouldn't look at mares, not even a first glance....
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This... If you look at the horses competing at the very top level of dressage, the vast majority of horses are geldings. Mares and stallions seem to be the exception.

Just an example but if you take the current world ranking list, of the top 50 horses only 5 are mares:

http://search.fei.org/Search_Centre/Ranking/Pages/Search.aspx?rankingCode=D_WR
 
I love my mare and filly, they are 'my girls' and I would be very reluctant to have a gelding!

I love their quirkiness and their intelligence. They are IMO free spirits and I feel very lucky to own them.

It has taken me years to bond with my old mare, as she came from a bad past, yet I feel she still has more to give, but I wont be pushing her to open up more until she's ready.

The young filly and I are great friends and I know her history from birth, so this has helped to gain the bond with her. She is so willing to please, that when she feels she is doing the wrong thing, she gets quite wound up with herself. So she does need constant praise.

I think also, it depends on your personality, some people are more bossy and dominant and maybe a gelding would suit them more. On the other hand, other people are quieter and would suit a mare.

I would not let anybody handle my girls who was bossy, brash or wants to argue, as they would wind them up too much.
 
FrodoBeutlin said:
This... If you look at the horses competing at the very top level of dressage, the vast majority of horses are geldings. Mares and stallions seem to be the exception.

Just an example but if you take the current world ranking list, of the top 50 horses only 5 are mares:

http://search.fei.org/Search_Centre/Ranking/Pages/Search.aspx?rankingCode=D_WR
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There are alot more mares and stallions at the top of the game in SJing than Dressage or Eventing which I find very interesting... Mares are DEFINITELY becoming more common at the higher levels in all equestrianism since things like Regumate have been FEI legal...
 
purely behaviour wise my mare can show little "moods" more of i cant be bothered not ever nasty.....

she would jump to moon if i asked :)
 
FrodoBeutlin said:
This... If you look at the horses competing at the very top level of dressage, the vast majority of horses are geldings. Mares and stallions seem to be the exception.

Just an example but if you take the current world ranking list, of the top 50 horses only 5 are mares:

http://search.fei.org/Search_Centre/Ranking/Pages/Search.aspx?rankingCode=D_WR
Click to expand...

That's interesting, thank you. The original comment was made to me with reference to dressage horses, but my question for discussion didn't need to be restricted by discipline, I was just interested in people's experiences.
 
i've found mares to be more consistent. most of my mares never even showed they were in season, they weren't hormonal at all. i've found mares to be more generous, personally... less likely to do something cheeky/naughty, more likely to take the game seriously. my geldings would do the odd cheeky run out if i made a mistake, but the mares put themselves straight and jumped the fence because it was there and they knew they should, as opposed to because i'd done a perfect job of presenting them at it, if that makes sense. i had this happen a few times incl at Osberton 2* and Weston 2*, fwiw... good girls. ;) ;) ;)
so, i find mares are just as bright, but with less 'misplaced sense of humour', shall we say... ;)
 
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