What say you of Mares?!?!?

[akijoy]

Horse connoisseurs out there in the Avenue! I need your help. Okay, so my daughter is outgrowing her chincoteague pony and she is looking for a horse. She loves mares and wants another. But it seems like every horse person we talk to discourages us from mares and tells us she should get a gelding.
What's your opinion? Is there any truth to all they say about mares being hormonal and moody and difficult and generally hard to live with?
Any insight you have is appreciated! (Tell me about your wonderful mares!)

 

[Birdlover]

You know, Ive never been a "mare" person myself but I do have one now She is wonderful. I still have not really "connected" with her yet, but its only been a couple of months.

There are great mares, and mares that give them all a bad rap. There are naughty geldings too!

If she prefers mares there is really nothing wrong with that at all. Yes some can be moody but I have found that there are a LOT more good ones than those that give them the reputation they have. I think I'll always be one to be more drawn to geldings, but not for any real reason other than I them and up till now, thats all I have ever had.

 

[Sparky04]

I have met a few mares who are stubborn and a bit cranky, but I've also met mares who are complete sweethearts. I've ridden mostly geldings, but that's because there are a lot more geldings around here than mares. I've met my fair share of cranky and stubborn geldings too. If you find a well tempered mare, I say go for it. Horses have their own personalities.

 

[Archiesmom]

I had a mare that I showed and she was absolutely AWESOME. She had the best personality and earned her nickname "The War Horse" because she was so trustworthy, kind and reliable. To this day, she still has one of the sweetest dispositions I've ever seen on a horse
Mares can be moody and temperamental, but it's not really as bad as some people make it out to be. If you have a horse that is very sweet and likes attention, is trustworthy etc. she is not going to do a jekyll and hyde flip on you and become a completely different horse. They can have moments where they get upset and I will say they tend to be more skittish than geldings, but I think that has more to do with instinct than anything else. Mares need to react quickly to outerward stimuli if they want to keep their foals alive, so I think they are just more aware than geldings personally.

 

[Welshanne]

We have had both and personally just think it is down to the personality of the horse. There are good points and bad in both. Think a gelding is easier to handle as at times our Mares have issues at certain times and always love to bat their eyes at whoever takes their fancy in the horsey world!
If you find one with a good disposition then it does not really matter whether it be Mare or Gelding. Good luck.

 

[Shamrock]

I've not ever been a fan of mares, but I do know there are some fantastic ones out there. Geldings are free from the raging hormones, but that doesn't mean that they can't be just as cantankerous as a mare. Some people will let you have the mare for a trial period, and if you can find one who will let you try her out for 30 days to see how she works out through her heat cycle, then that would be the best thing all the way around. That way you know how she'll be during her worst time. With fall coming, though, her heat cycles may be "off" (unusually mild) or non existent all together. It might be best to try a mare out in the spring as her cycles come in full swing.

 

[waterfaller1]

I have been away from horses for so long, I cannot give any advice. A long long time ago in a land far away, I had one of each.
I just wanted to say hi, and good luck!

 

[SallyQZ]

I've had some great mares, but I've also had some witchy mares. I think my personality just doesn't mesh very well with a more dominant mare. We're constantly getting on each other's nerves. So I have pretty much stuck with geldings in the past few years. I've noticed that my mares have been more competitive than my geldings - they seem to understand when they are showing or competing, and bring that extra effort.

On the other hand, I have two geldings that were both stallions for a long time. Dino was a breeding stallion until he was 12, then gelded. Panama was a stallion until I bought him at 7 and gelded him. They still show stallion mannerisms from time to time, so having a gelding is no guarantee that gender specific behavior won't crop up from time to time.

I think the best advice is to find a horse that you feel a connection with, regardless of gender.

 

[Renae]

I have found that it can vary with the mares, you might be able to tell with a few, but with others, you wouldn’t even know… you may have one very cranky and moody mare, while another is the complete opposite. The geldings can be just as much of a challenge, but a lot of people seem to prefer the geldings over mares, that is just their personal preference I guess for whatever the reason is.

 

[akijoy]

Thanks for y'all's input!
I guess we'll just have to try a lot of different mares/geldings and try to get a feel for the right fit.

 

[stephwin]

I'm a bit late but both the meanest and sweetest horses I have ever met were mares. Most of the tempermental mares I have come across weren't really that mean to people if they knew they couldn't push you around. I worked as a counselor at a horse camp and there were several mares who were notorious for pushing the kids around or were difficult to handle. Most of those mares would never try the same stunt with a counselor or the people who owned the place because they knew we wouldn't put up with it.

Most geldings I have come across are nice and easy to handle, but I've never really clicked with any of them. There are only two horses I've ever worked with that I would've seriously considered buying (if I had the money of course!) and they were both mares.

 

[roxynoodle]

I actually prefer mares and have had quite a few more mares than geldings. But, I might also be nuts because my favorites are the alpha mares. They are the most difficult to start with, but I love how bullet proof they are once you win them over. I've had deer jump up right under their noses and they stood there and watched it go bounding off. My gelding would flip over backwards if that ever happened to him.

 

[merlinsmom13]

I always had mares, never a gelding. I can't say I noticed anything that would prevent me from getting another mare. The only thing that would prevent me from buying a child a mare would be the proximity to stallions. A very dangerous game w/ a mare in heat & stallions.

 

[roxynoodle]

I probably should add that I would not get an alpha mare for a child or the horse will bully her. But, a gentle, submissive mare should be just fine.

 

[cosmolove]

I have one and there are days that we want to kill eachother. But I mean it's not that bad. More or less an annoyance.

 

[WenM]

Just be aware that no matter how sweet the mare is most of the time, there will be days when she is just out of sorts and possibly more so in the company of other horses, strange horses, such as when your daughter will show or ride in a group. This is when mare problems show up the most - some groups will not allow mares or stud horses on trail rides simply for the safety factors surrounding their hormones. I have a mare I love but alas she is terrible if there is another mare in the group. If it was just me riding, I would not consider gender and only the horse itself, but if another person/rider is involved, I like to take that extra issue out of the mix - hormones is a fact of life.