Is there REALLY much difference?? Mares Vs Geldings..

SatansLittleHelper

SatansLittleHelper

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Just curious really as I've always gone out of my way to buy geldings as never seem to "click" with mares.
I'm not sure if it's more that I expect mares to be more difficult etc but I've never given them the time of day.
I do ride friends mare but she is much older and very laid back, though she doesn't seem as sweet and affectionate as my boys have been.
Is it really all in my head??
As I'm browsing ads for horses for sale I've noticed that most that fit the bill are mares....normally I'd dismiss them but now I'm trying to be more open minded 😊😊😊
 
I used to be a geldings girl. Now it's mares every time. You do get some aloof mares, but if you get an affectionate one, they are the best!
 
Oh yes, I always had mares, but as I only hunted their PMT times were whenthey were in the field, generally! My best ever horse was a mare and we had a fantastic time together, most mares though are tricky cowbags who like to test you.
Geldings are the same every day - like husbands really! - mares are like us, a slave to their hormones.
 
I always said I would never have another mare... I couldn't understand why people would put up with the ears back, unpredictability, independence, stroppiness etc. etc. and my first mare scared me witless. Until I just bought a little 15.3 from some people I really trusted and now I find myself making all the same excuses for her behaviour that owners make - well how would you like to ahve your hair pulled out? Well if we don't like the flies how must they feel etc. etc. He he. It's early days yet but she's very sweet and there's a lot to like. I love her independence actually and I do feel that when we finally click I'll have a friend for life. My gelding was absolutely scrumptious - but he was anybody's ride. There's pros and cons, but they're no way the same that's for sure! x
 
I've had mostly mares over the years, but the two geldings we have now are so genuine and consistent I would have to think hard about buying another mare!
 
I prefer mares, my mare has so much personality which can be good/bad but I love her! I know people can be put off by mares when they are in season but it totally depends on the horse. When my mare is in season I still ride her and treat her no different, she never acts different to normal.
 
I'm going watch this thread closely. I'll be horse shopping within a year and have only ever had mares. I have recently been advised by a very good horse man to only consider geldings because they will make my life a lot easier, apparently.

My childhood pony was a welsh mare and she was absolutely brilliant. I currently own a mare and a yearling filly. Filly is very sweet and affectionate and well behaved (most of the time!). Mare can be sweet but not very often, although she is much, much more interested in me than others. She does have her "I'm not interested in any humans" moments though.

If geldings are all they are cracked up to be I'll narrow my search in a heartbeat!
 
I've always been a gelding girl; I've always found mares stroppy, opinionated, and unpredictable. Just like I find human women!

I now have a mare and she is my horse of a lifetime and only the second one I've met out of thousands that I have a telepathic connection with. She is very blokey (a lot like me, I have a boy mind in a girl body) and you have to know her well to know she's in season. She likes the boys but she is incredibly affectionate and tries her heart out to please. She isn't moody at all.

Would I have another mare? Yes, but only if she was just like my girl! Perhaps mares ARE like human women. Most of 'em are stroppy and opinionated, but the right ones are a treasure, like your best friend!
 
An older mare who is wise and patient and has a sense of humour is the best horse you will ever have. I have just taken on a gelding on a month's trial after losing my mare she was so special, she looked after me and I trusted her implicitly, she always knew what to do to keep us safe and I felt we understood each other as much as two beings from different species were able to and i feel that I failed to keep her safe. This gelding, i am not sure I will ever have that bond with him though i am sure he is a very nice horse.
 
I would not have another mare. The mares I have had, i've had a business type relationship with and although competed successfully with them, I was never really fond of them. I couldn't knock their competitive attitude I just didn't like them as people. They upset my geldings and made the field smell of wee.

I've done a fair bit of stud work and the split personality of the mares is incredible, they are generally lovely, when in foal and utter bitches if they miss a year. Normal non thoroughbred, not brood mares might be different.

I'd rather deal with the blatantness of a unruly colt than the sweet, soppy in season filly that is spiteful and devious when not.
 
I always try to look at each horse as an individual but historically I've got on better with a mare. Not sure why but give me a good mare any day of the week.
 
I've never had much of an opinion having always got on well with both however, geldings I find to be more amenable and dependable than mares.....if they fancy it you'll get it however that said.....get a good mare get her on your side and my god she will give you the world and be the best friend you ever had, not every day but the days she does will be the best ride you've ever had and you will feel lucky to be in her world. That said get one you can't win over its bl00dy hard work lol!

I definitely find mares to be more tricky but after all.....Mares are 'entire' horses too, why should we think of them differently to stallions, ask the question gelding v stallion the answer will likely be the same, some bite, some are affectionate, some down right don't care. Get a tricky one it will be hard, get one on side....winner winner chicken dinner! They will be more distractable just like mares (that tree over there could be work a wink ;) in case it fancies me too) hormones are ever present and that is fundamentally the difference that you're dealing with when it comes to mares.

Just to add I love my mare hehe took me a good year but once we got past that cow bag stage....wouldn't swap her for the world most affectionate talented hilarious animal I've ever owned!
 
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I prefer mares i have 3!

Mine are so affectionate, my 6 year old is like a dog on the ground, adores cuddles & sometimes just walks up behind me, plonks her head on my shoulder & blows in my ear ....love her a lot :D

They are more opinionated to ride but when you get them on side they will fight so so hard for your cause !

My mare can be opinionated but when i need her on my side she will try so hard for me :)
 
Mine is the most unpredictable mare I've ever worked with. She has as I would say a very high opinion in herself. She is very much a alpha mare. Can tear like a trooper & very much can't be forced to do anything. However; she is the most loyal & protective horse; before she was semi retired through injury. She hunted; did dressage; showjumping Hacked. Now we hack & she is very happy living that life. But boy; I miss galloping on Boxing Day hunt on a horse who new she was in a class on her own. She's also a chestnut thoroughbred.
 
I have no preference but always end up with mares. All of mine apart from one have been sweet natured and talented. The crabby one was still talented.
 
My gelding is suspicious and worried and independent (although quite sweet when he's not worried). My mare is friendly and co-operative and very sweet. I think one can't generalise, really. :)
 
I always used to prefer geldings but now I have my little mare I think I've changed my mind. She's the kindest and most affectionate horse I've had (and we've had a few, including a few mares I didn't like!). I think it does depend on the individual horse though. I once knew a horrible gelding who was nice one day and then Satan the next. He was awful. His mother, on the other hand, was a kind and honest mare.

I will say though, without a doubt, that when you build a bond with any female animal, including mares, that bond is so much more rewarding than a bond with a male animal. I've always found with any female pets I've had that once we've built a trusting relationship, it's something very special.
 
Sister and I have always shared all our horses, although these days we don't really share the rides. Our first horse was a gelding and he was a wonderful first horse; really knew his job and was happy to teach us about horse-owning, (I should stress here that we had spent years at an excellent RS, learning about stable management as well as to ride a variety of good horses) He had a sense of humour and looked after us, he was completely bombproof, understood traffic and was brilliant with friend's toddler).
The next horse we got was a mare- and she was incredibly hard work but we have had mares ever since! They have all been very giving in one way or another, some more aloof than others but always generous. They will take charge if they think that you don't know what you are doing, whether that is on the ground or ridden. I find that with mares you develop more of a partnership, than with a gelding. I must admit that even all those years ago, and again when I have had lessons since, I preferred riding mares at RS but they can be trickier than geldings.
 
Now that I think of it, you're right, my dog Cassie was my dog of a life time, as my mare Maggie will probably be my horse of a lifetime. Only exception I have is that my "favourite" cat of the cats I have had is my boy Friday, but he was neutered late

eta- in favour of geldings, in my experience, is that the ones I have had tend to be neater in the stable than the mares I have known, but that may be just a fluke, and my little ginger Tb is very sweet, and quite a worry wart but in a gentle way
 
I find it terribly sexist when people dismiss a whole gender based purely on their experience with a handful of individuals, I don't honestly know how people can try to justify it as anything else.

I know that I don't have the facilities for a colt or stallion, so I have to have either geldings or mares. They are all individuals with different personalities. Neither of my mares are marish and the gelding is the most tricky of the three by a long, long way (bless his cotton socks), but he has good reason and it is nothing to do with the fact that he is male. He is the messiest horse in the stable that I have ever come across (I'm not sure that it's because he's male, more that he moves about a lot and stirs everything into one big mix of bedding, wee and poo), thankfully the horses live out most of the time.

Go and view anything that ticks all your boxes, hopefully you will soon find your perfect, confidence giving horse, whether they be male or female. :)
 
Clodagh said:
Oh yes, I always had mares, but as I only hunted their PMT times were whenthey were in the field, generally! My best ever horse was a mare and we had a fantastic time together, most mares though are tricky cowbags who like to test you.
Geldings are the same every day - like husbands really! - mares are like us, a slave to their hormones.
Click to expand...

I think my mare makes more sense than my husband.
 
My mare is my best mate, strong willed, opinionated, stubborn, affectionate, she chases the other horses away from me in the field, snaps her lead rope and comes to find me if I go out of sight when she's tied up, and bites anyone else except me who tries to girth her up. She makes me laugh every day and I love her dearly
 
Gelding only actually has a very clear effect in 75% of cases (according to research, irrespective of age). The remainder may be prevented from learning hormone-driven behaviours to do with mating but they remain a bit temperamental and stallion-y. (If you geld late, behaviours may already be learnt - but the same statistics apply.) Those 25% are actual the geldings I like most. The ones where gelding takes full effect always seem a bit too dull to me. Not in terms of how they do being ridden - just their personalities. Mares are highly variable... Some of them are very hormonal. Others are not. Same with stallions. I'm not sure I could say with them which I prefer. Kind of like men and women really! I suspect my favourite horse personalities have actually been stallions. I like that there's a lot going on in their heads but it isn't all just social horsey stuff like I feel it is with most mares. Mind you that's largely likely an artifact of how stallions tend to be kept isolated...
 
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