Is the bad rep that Chestnut mares get, fact or fiction? Do you believe that they are more opinionated? If so, in what way? If you were looking to purchase a 16 + hand, OTTB mare, who had a good work ethic, would you turn away just because she was a redhead? All opinions welcome. 
Chestnut mares are the best. 
I wouldnât trade mine for anything-even on her âopinionatedâ days!
I think the âreputationâ is largely the work of confirmation bias. You could have ten horses of each color, and one of each color acts up. People ânoticeâ the chestnut more because of the whole reputation thing and put it in their pile of âchestnuts are more opionated/crazyâ examples, while at the same time not really noticing that bays and greys do the same things at about the same rates.
I LOVE chestnut mares, but largely because of the âreputationâ they have which I think is silly.
I also think that thereâs a good number of people who expect chestnut mares to be feisty, so it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. If youâre expecting a horse to act up or be difficult, your posture and body language may reflect that, making the horse become more feisty or difficult.
I believe itâs a carry over of the whole âredheadâ thing in humans and is, to be blunt, pure B.S.
The only two chestnut horses on my trainerâs farm are two of the best horses. One is a mare, one is a gelding. Both will pack around beginners and the mare has the scope to be a solid mid-level event horse (though she requires special shoeing).
The reputation would not send me away from chestnuts. The fact that, to my recollection, chestnut horses were popular and in abundance when I rode hunter/jumpers keeps me away from them. But, if the horse fit the bill otherwise, I would certainly take it!
My chestnut thoroughbred mare is still super energetic and opinionated at 21! Sheâs also totally unflappable and seems better/more relaxed at shows than at home and is just generally my favorite horse Iâve ever had. My gray mare had a totally different personality, but could equal the chestnut in opinionated-ness. Iâd say buy that OTTB!
I personally donât know how true it is but I wouldnât discriminate based on color. Iâve always preferred bays (I have a bay mare now), and she can certainly be opinionated. Lately Iâve been drawn to chestnuts though. There are two chestnut fillies on the Canter CO site that I love. If only I could afford two horses!
If she fit the rest of my âwish listââ I would buy her.
FYI my chestnut TB mare turns 35 this winter.
The chestnut thing is pure BS.
That being said, some of us are mare people (me me me!), some arenât. Itâs just important to know which side you fall on. Plenty of mares defy the stereotype but there can be differences and it can take a full year to find out whether seasonal changes affect your mare.
Call me color blind, call me breed ignorant, and non-sexist. I just want a horse that will do what I want to do, when and where I want to do it.
I already own the 4 year old, OTTB chestnut mare. Because my 14 year old, event mare has come back sound from her injury (I gave her six months off), I want to downsize. My OTTBâs name is Chasing Piper. I have contacted several trainers for her to go into their Training/board, to sell programs. Because the red heads have a bad rep, they believe that it will be more difficult to sell her, thus my questions to you. Most of the trainers agree with all of you. However, Joe Q. Public seems to have issues with the âdreaded Chestnut mare.â Since I am currently a redhead, I see nothing wrong with any of us. 
BTW, has anyone else had trouble getting the Enter button to work? Not being able to make paragraphs is driving me crazy!
I think it is ridiculous. I have a chestnut filly who can have a bit of a feisty streak at times (she thinks she is right, and the kind of mare you need to take it down a notch. You canât force her into anything, which doesnât bother me personally) but she is two, wasnât very handled before she came here and her breeding speaks to her temperament. 98% of the time she is sweet as pie, quiet as they come, and she and my 2yo son love each other.
I actually read a thread on an OTTB Facebook group where this woman (who stood two stallions and was a semen broker) said bloodlines meant nothing and that no chestnuts made it to the upper levels of eventing. Really?? Amazing how ingrained this prejudice is.
But honestly OP I have met so many people who have never heard of the chestnut mare thing. Youâll find the right buyer.
I have had 2 horses,
the first was a bay ottb mare, she was lovely and never mareish.
My currant is a chestnut hannoverian who is the most mareish mare I have ever met, and very opinionated.
However I got the bay when she was 14 and the chestnut when she was a yearling. I also know that the chestnuts mother was very mareish. So I am not sure that is all color, but age and genetics as well.
Also after having said that I love, love, love my chestnut (who now at 8 is starting to become very lovely and well behaved) and would not bat an eye about buying another chestnut.
Weâve had 2 Chestnut TB Mares at our barn and they both fit the stereotype pretty well. However, they were always safe. I always described them as the safest hot horse youâll ever ride. However, keep in mind if you ever intended to sell⊠true or false about the stereotype⊠it is there and reselling one is hard work.
I will say that resale-wise, if I was looking to buy something I wanted to sell on, I probably wouldnât choose a chestnut mare. Actually, I may not choose a mare at all. Not because of any personal prejudice but because the geldings really do seem to sell faster/better. Some of the best horses Iâve had the privilege of knowing through CANTER are mares, and even when theyâre awesome (easy to ride, levelheaded, etc), the geldings always had more interest and sold faster.
It might well be harder/take longer to sell a chestnut mare. Itâs stupid, but doesnât mean that perception isnât out there.
Iâm fond of chestnuts with blazes⊠My old mare and gelding are marked and colored almost identical. I have had 3 chestnut mares and loved each of them. They were opinionated but thatâs the type of horse I like, my gelding is the same way so I canât say itâs a mare thing. When buying a horse I donât discount the color but I have to agree that many people would rather have a gelding so they donât have to deal with the mood swings. For my personal horses I prefer a mare.
When I was looking for an OTTB resale project I wanted a 16+ hand bay gelding, I would not have bought anything else that did not fit that criteria. #1 reason was I wanted something I could move pretty easy when I decided to sell. And a lot of people want dark bays or greys for show horses, it doesnât make them any better but thatâs what is in style. When I bred my chestnut mare last year I picked a stallion that would give me a good chance at giving me a dark/bay baby, I got lucky and got a dark bay/seal brown filly with almost no white.
Good luck in your sale. Someone will be very lucky to get your chestnut mare!
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I love mine, and will actively seek out the chestnut mares when shopping because I prefer them. Especially if they have chrome 
While it is B sâŠand I have sold several amazing chestnut maresâŠunfortunately I stopped buying for re sale chestnut fillies and am down to my last sale filly a bay.
It seems to take twice as long and get less $$$ even when the horse is exceptional. 
My heart-beyond-all-hearts-canât-put-into-words horse was a chestnut OTTB mare. She passed away over a year ago at age 27. I love her more than life itself, and I now have another redhead OTTB mare as well. Neither is any worse than any other horse Iâve ridden, and my big bay WB mare is outranking the little OTTB with the naughtiness so farâŠ
