Siennasong
Active Member
Hello, I'm new here and very happy to be part of this lovely community! I've realised maybe it's time to stop boring my husband to death with constant horse talk and redirect it here 😊 So for my first post I was wondering what people think of the relation to gelding and a horse's intelligence, bravery and so on? Does castration 'dumb down' a horse? Diminish his bravery? Take away his spark? Take away his ability to bond with the owner as deeply?
The reason I ask this is because there seems to be a general consensus within the horse community (that I have experienced) that a gelding can never beat a good mare, that geldings are less intelligent than mares, mares are braver than geldings, mares will try their heart out for you that bit extra (if you get them on side that is), and most of all the bond thing; most people seem to agree that if you get a bond with a mare it will be deeper than any bond you could ever get with a gelding. So this has got me thinking: if this is because of being gelded (as stallions are a whole different story) what would this mean within particularly intelligent and brave types of breeds? Would their intelligence etc cancel out the effects of castration? Some breeds are known to be 'one rider' horses who bond very deeply to their person, they are brave and highly intelligent... If this type of stallion was castrated would it turn him into the typical gelding or would these breed qualities cancel that out?
Sorry for the long post, I have been on a horse hunt for the past year concentrating on looking at mares only because of these reasons but have come across a stallion I love. If I bought him I would have him gelded and am wondering if he would lose those qualities I love in him if I did this.. I would never keep a stallion so this would lead me to having him gelded or passing him up. Anyway, this whole debate interests me so would be lovely to hear everyone's thoughts! X
The reason I ask this is because there seems to be a general consensus within the horse community (that I have experienced) that a gelding can never beat a good mare, that geldings are less intelligent than mares, mares are braver than geldings, mares will try their heart out for you that bit extra (if you get them on side that is), and most of all the bond thing; most people seem to agree that if you get a bond with a mare it will be deeper than any bond you could ever get with a gelding. So this has got me thinking: if this is because of being gelded (as stallions are a whole different story) what would this mean within particularly intelligent and brave types of breeds? Would their intelligence etc cancel out the effects of castration? Some breeds are known to be 'one rider' horses who bond very deeply to their person, they are brave and highly intelligent... If this type of stallion was castrated would it turn him into the typical gelding or would these breed qualities cancel that out?
Sorry for the long post, I have been on a horse hunt for the past year concentrating on looking at mares only because of these reasons but have come across a stallion I love. If I bought him I would have him gelded and am wondering if he would lose those qualities I love in him if I did this.. I would never keep a stallion so this would lead me to having him gelded or passing him up. Anyway, this whole debate interests me so would be lovely to hear everyone's thoughts! X