Mare vs. Gelding

The old saying goes, “Tell a gelding, ask a stallion, and discuss it with a mare.” There’s definitely an element of truth in those words. Mares and geldings have different personalities, just like men and women.

My favorite horse to ride at the stable as a girl was a bay pony named Tiny Bubbles. Raisin and Lacey were my teachers later, so I’ve always been a little partial to mares. Plus I tend to root for the underdog, and sometimes mares get a bad rap because of their moodiness. The term “marish” is one horse owners sometimes use to describe a cranky horse, which is somewhat unfair since I’ve met some cranky geldings too! But ask any horse owner their preference, and you’ll usually get an animated response either for or against geldings and mares.

In his book Ride the Journey, three-time Road to the Horse Champion Chris Cox says, “Personally, I don’t pay much attention to the differences between mares and geldings. I think horsemanship is more about recognizing individual personalities than about males or females.”

Cox is right. There are great mares, and there are great geldings. Try not to be swayed either way. Look for personality over gender. Unless you’ve got a really good reason you simply must have a mare or a gelding, you don’t want to limit your search too fast by generalizing about gender. You might miss out on a real sweetie if you do.

If you do decide to buy a mare, keep in mind that from Spring to Fall a mare goes through an estrus cycle every 19-21 days. Each mare shows her “heat” differently, but some can become grouchy for a few days or distracted when asked to work. Their ovaries can become painful, and this can cause a sore back. Have a little patience, and you’ll be just fine. (There are rarer circumstances when a mare has more severe pain issues during her heat, and your veterinarian will be able to advise you of options to help.)

I specifically searched for a mare because the barn where we wanted to keep her only had an opening for a mare. That narrowed our search, but I would’ve happily looked for a gelding if we’d had that option.