I seen the saying once that "you can tell a gelding what to do but you have to discuss it with a mare." Sometime I feel that's true. lol

All kidding a side I have owned both geldings and mares. I don't find much difference personally. I think it depends on the horse. In fact currently I own one of each. I love riding them both equally.

 

thanks for sharing your opinion

 

I have found geldings easier to get along with but mares as more bondable. That being said, my primary riding horse (since I sold the other) is a mare who is one of the best trail horses I've ever owned - but if you look up "mare" in the dictionary, you will see a picture of her. She is the stereotype mare on the ground but fantastic under saddle once she knows you are in charge.

 

I've had mares that were moody when they cycled, mares that never got moody...and geldings that were moody ALL THE TIME. Every horse is an individual and I haven't noticed any real training differences in the long run although young filly's tend to be more brave and retain new training better for me than colts. In general, I'd rather ride a mare as I click with them better than geldings.

 

I have had mares and geldings, past and present. I don't see a whole lot of difference between them, except my mare has more of a personality!

 

I only own mares-Arabian mares. Some say I'm a glutton for punishment.:wink:

 

I think I prefer geldings. I think they are more EVEN tempered, not better tempered, but you know what your getting day to day. My gelding gets pissy faces like a mare ALOT. But i expect it because it never changes.

I have a friend who wont own anything but a mare. Her thought is, if the horse goes lame, it can always be a brood mare and isnt just eating for free

 

wow, there is many different opinions out there!

THANK YOU to everyone that is replying =)

 

I think they both have their ups and downs. I think Geldings can be a little easier going in temperament, but I have seen some easy going mares too. For some reason I find it easier to bond with Geldings, but I think that's more of an issue with my own personality. Not that I haven't bonded with a mare, my "heart horse" was a mare.

As for care, mares tend to pee more, especially when in season which can be a pain in the butt to keep their stall nice. They can have mood swings, especially when they are wanting to breed. 'Geldings on the other hand have to have their Sheath cleaned every now and then, and well, I really HATE that job but I'm not sure I hate the once or twice a year cleaning of that more than I hate the constant pee stall....

All I know is when I looked for my current horse, Geldings were higher on the list than mares ha ha.

 

I truely lok for mares. I perfer them. My only gelding is SUCH a girl! He's always in a marish attitude but my mares will settle down and work for me. Plus they have the ability to breed if i ever decided i wanted to breed them (would be to a WC show stallion of course if i ever did) Im hoping my colt woulnt be as moody as my first gelding. He's really well mannered while my first gelding is the worlds bigger grumpy pants prankster jelous jerk that i love. That saying.. i dont pass up geldings for rides, but im in searching to buy i want a mare.

 

Speaking only from horses that I've owned... On the ground, when riding off alone, when around large new groups, with children, when chillin' I want to be on my geldings. When I want to conquer the world I grab a mare!
I have found in my own personal horses IN GENERAL that geldings have a I don't care where we are, what we're doing as long as food is involved in the end.
My mares have all been terrors in the pasture, mad at the world, bossy "she's MINE" around other horses, and two have left me high and dry on the trail to get back to the herd when I let my guard slip for a second. But two in particular would climb the steepest mountains, like GOATS!, jump off cliffs into water, go further, harder, faster, smarter, better in endurance, and had a endless amount of power if asked... Kinda like us ladies...
But really, it's just up to the individual horse.

 

If I accidentally leave something, anything, within reach of the geldings it will become a toy, the mares won't touch it. (ask my jacket that I left for 1 minute between stall bars while cleaning)
I think geldings have a fun side to them & while they seem more playful it often translates into ripped blankets. Boys will be boys.

 

Haha that is so awesome... they are playing what looks like tug a war..my boy fetches sticks.

 

I read in an article that while geldings are more even tempered, mares catch on quicker. Don't know the truth in it. I have found that most mares and I clash, very much so personality wise... So I prefer geldings, as they seem to like me more

 

I used to say that I wouldn't own anymore mares, I just didn't bond with them, but now I own a whole bunch of them, and I love them.

Of course the truth is all horses are individuals and should be treated as such, BUT, I find my geldings to be on the whole, more reliable and steadier, most of the time.

The mares, well they are something different, they typically take longer to get to know, they can be more difficult to establish that you are the boss mare:lol:

All in all I now MAY choose a mare over a gelding, because one they accept you as a boss mare, then you have a great bond.

 

Hmmm. I'm not too sure which I prefer...I try to go more by the individual horse's personality rather than it's gender. I guess that I do tend to gravitate towards geldings, because they're generally reliable and willing to just go along with what you say- but I've met plenty of crabby geldings who I could of sworn had PMS cycles. Likewise I've met a few (though fewer and far between) mares who had no problem with doing whatever you say whenever you say.

My heart horse is one of the pissiest, most bipolar, picky mares I've met in my entire life. I mean...her name is Sour for goodness sake. But I love her to death and I've learned more from her than I would learn from any pliable, easy to get along with mare or gelding. I've learned to be the dominant, confident leader that my horse needs and to provide her with the assurance that she will always be ok if she trusts me.

Ask me again when my fire-cracker of a gelding calms down a bit he's still on 'my way or the highway' mode atm, as he was only gelded a little over a month ago!

 

I worked on a dude ranch, and out of the 100+ herd, there were only 3 mares. The reason being that the mares would kick and cause horse drama in the corrals. Both these reasons were very true, as I hated taking a mare in a string of horses because they were guaranteed to kick constantly. Other than that, every horse is different, regardless of gender.
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I can't really say - I have never owned a mare but I do own 2 geldings - so I can't that I prefer one over the other.... but maybe someday I'll get another and I would like to own a mare...

 

You are avoiding the obvious. Your gelding is neutered. Your mare is not. Hormones rage in mares and stallions and affect their behavior, more or less. I've owned mostly geldings bc of this. I've owned about 6 mares in the last 26 years. The one I own now loves on you when she's is heat. I had another who kicked my favorite gelding so hard that I thought she broke his leg. (She also spun and tried to kill my Amish farrier when I sent her to him for retraining.--TOTAL BITXX!!!)
Although dr's started neutering mares about 100 years ago, it's much easier today. If your mare is a great ride, but an emotional mess every 3 weeks, it might be worth it.

 

i have had both mares and geldings and i personally dont see much difference. they all have there mood swings and i personally like geldings more just bc you dont have to worry about pregnancy and heat cycles and blah blah.
saying that though i have had 1 really sweet ottb mare who was so calm even when in heat that no one would know enless they looked at her charts.
as for geldings i have seen some moody geldings usually rare but it will happen

at the point i am at, i would rather just get geldings from here on out. after my current pasture puff mare passes she will be the last mare i have for a while. i think the herd dynamics will be alot better without the mare and just the boys. but i wouldnt rule them out, some mares are great like my ottb mare. she was a dime a dozen with her no attitude lifes style.

 

Being of the female persuasion, I understand moody! Mares don't bother me.

 

I love mares! They bond very well with their person and I beleive they are more down to work for yo and arent as laid back.but sometimes that isnt true but so far for me it has been

 

for me I would rather have a gelding

 

I've never owned either, but I've had the opportunity to work closely with both. I've always seemed to "bond" better with male animals in general. All of the animals whose gender I could tell by looking (excluding fish and hermit crabs here :3) have been male. I love geldings and I've met quite a few memorable boys but I love the girls I work with now. Definitely MOODY but they all have very distinct and lovely personalities. We all get along as long as we keep in mind who is the Head ***** in Charge (usually our BO; she's everyone's boss!)

 

I have neutered male cat
and he is very lovable and follows me every
where

 

I can tell you I've ridden mares and I've ridden geldings.. and they ALL have their frustrating moments.
I've only dealt with a few "mareish" mares and we got along great.

My boy right now can be SUCH a drama queen at times. But when he's good, we click and things are awesome. Same thing with the mare I was working with, I even showed her and she never gave me a terrible day. Took a few times to put her back in her place and afterwards, she didn't give me a wink of trouble.

But then again I'm pretty stubborn myself ;P