Discriminating against Mares

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BrightOrbit

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Hi
On my recent search to find a new yard for my lovely little mare, I stumbled across an issue
2 of the places I visited wouldn't take mares
I'd never had this problem before so was very confused
In a way it makes me a bit angry
Ive had my mare for 6 going on 7 years and she's never been a problem
She doesn't kick, bite etc and isn't mareish at all
I also noticed at previous yards when certain people were looking to buy a new horse they would exclude mares from their search
Am i the only one who thinks this is stupid?
I know you can get the odd stroppy mare but ive seen my fair share of stroppy geldings too!
I understand its too do with them being in season sometimes too, but ive never had a problem with mine (apart from the occasional exciteable moment when riding)
It really shocked me to find certain places wouldn't take mares
Oh well its there loss really cos mine is lovely, I have her over a gelding anyday :D
So it got me thinking has anyone else had this problem?
 
I guess that each livery yard has the right to do things as they want.

When we did DIY we once turned someone away because they had a gelding and all the other horses were mares. (Truth be told we were more wary of the owner being a problem - she later did come on the yard, and our concerns were right!).

My mare is fine too, in fact our two geldings are much more of a pain. We have, however, had a mare on DIY that was a nightmare - bossing others, and attacking some others. I also had problems when my mare was on DIY in a big mixed field as the geldings would hassle her when she was in season, resulting in a fight. I'm not a fan of individual turnout - I like them to be able to interact, so small well-suited groups are best.

Regarding riding, some people prefer mares (I do) some prefer geldings. They both have their pros and cons.

Hope that you find somewhere that suits you.
 
I've never heard of anywhere around me that won't take mares, but we have single sex groups so not a problem. I can understand on a small yard how it could affect the dynamics though. Good luck finding a new yard!
 
If a yard has predominantly one gender of horse on the yard it's reasonable that they may not want to alter the status quo by introducing an opposite one.

It's not uncommon - mare only or gelding only yards.
 
Have heard of this a lot usually ok if mares all together and geldings all together or completely individual grazing, which is what I have, I prefer if mine have individual grazing then hopefully there are no problems if you have very good fencing, whcih we do.

I presume the yards that say absolutely no mares haven't got facilities to separate easily, so they don't want the problem.

I have always had mares, and still have two, wouldn't swap either of them for the world.
 
Only one yard i knew wouldn't take mares but that is because they had a few stallions, so were taking all precautions. Fair i'd say.

I have a mare now, but i kept away from them for years as i just didn't get on with them as a kid, hormonal child and mare didn't mix!!!! :rolleyes:

I advertised for my girl, was after ex-racehorse between 3-6, her then trainer replied saying they had a 2 year old filly that matched what i wanted...i wanted a gelding but i'd not changer her for the eorld now, she is amazing and we have a great relationship.
I love my old gelding to bits too, but with a mare it's a different kind of friendship.

She is the best and i'd never turn a mare away again.
 
My mares are fantastic....my gelding is a grade A NOB!!!! Now i know why I sold my old gelding at 15 and specifically looked for mares whe buying again, do not get on with geldings full stop.....I`m still keeping him though :D
 
Never heard of a yard not taking on a mare, interesting!! But there are some people at my yard who wont turn there horse out with a mare (although its mixed turnout) because they kick and are just general cows apparently!! News to me as my mare is as sweet as pie and causes no problems. But i must admit when i was looking for a new horse i was against getting a coloured or a mare (mines both :rolleyes:) incase i ended up with a grumpy goat of a nag lol but whats the point in passing by a good horse because of gender or colour.
 
When I first bought my horse I said I'd never have a mare... I'm now on my 4th one :rolleyes: ! I am now completely converted and would probably now look at mares over geldings :D

Also on our yard we will be advertising for a new livery, specifically a gelding as we already have 2 mares plus my boy so want to even things up a bit for him as he is left on his own a lot.
 
I run a small yard and don't have enough land to seperate mares and geldings and still be able to rotate fields. As I don't know until the mare arrives and settles in whether she's going to be mareish or not I'd rather have geldings.
 
I am def a mare person and will always buy one over a gelding, but from a YO point of view having 6 mares or so that all come into season at the same time and scream at each other it is a total pain in the a***. They upset the whole yard.

All horses are turned out in individual paddocks but I have to be careful what goes over the fence from them and yes I know quite a few yards that only take geldings and I can see where they are coming from. However I would never turn one away, it's just a case of managing them and I am lucky that I have the land to do it.
 
i have nothing against mares, but i am a small livery yard and due to the layout of the land find it difficult to seperate the sexes and having a couple of geldings who find mares fascinating found it difficult when i did have a couple of mares on livery they would hang on the fence line and get narky with others , so now have a policy of no mares .
 
I have three mares at the yard at the moment, and I wouldn't turn one away for livery. But I do have enough land to keep them separate from the boys so it works out fine. Though, I must say I can see why some smaller liveries wouldn't accept them - some of them can cause a fuss:)
 
the yard i'm on takes both but at the moment they are advertising for gelding only due to field space and the herd it would go in to. I have come across gelding only yards before bot never had too mant problems finding a space for my mare, infact grass livery is sometimes easier as geldings seem to be more popular with lack of spaces than mares where spaces are available!
 
ridiculous I would always buy mares my first mare was 100% wonderfull nice nature rip hunny


my other mare who i still have is honest caring loving gentle perfect in ALL WAYS my pony mare is bossy but still wonderful

my donkey is a mare and my half own horse is a mare my pony who died to colic is a mare, in fact i have never bought a gelding/ colt. the only one who i have who was a colt now gelding is diamonds son who i won sell as he is hers.. I would and will only buy mares when loss of use or injury insurances have told me they would pay out in more circumstances with a mare cos they can be bred from. dont touch that yard if they have that rule and it doesnt suit your requirements thre will be one out there who will be good.

here at my livery yard either sex is welcome. we dont separate as i have had more injuries from spiting up horses than not as many come to the yard in pairs and wont be split from their girls friend./ boyfriend. we have run our yard since 1996 we always seperate new horses for a week when they first come so the intro is done with a fence between them.

In fact i have more problems with geldings than any mares..


breaking fencing
kicking all horses
breaking out my stable damaging it

barging out stable escaping by barging stable door out
rearing up and missing my husbands head by mml
kicking my horse almost breaking her leg
kicking out at me while trying to put haynets in biting lashing out

all the above have been done by geldings just a few examples.
 
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We've always had a mix in our fields and move them about into new groups if theres a problem, but we've never found mixing mares and geldings to be a problem, just the odd horse (mare or gelding) trying to throw their weight around.
 
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