Does Anyone Else Prefer Mares?

[goodkarma]

Oh, the number of times I have heard “I would never own a mare”… so many people seem to cross them off their list when looking for a new horse, much to my joy- more mares for me to pick from!

I have only ever had mares, currently on my third. I would have been open to a gelding, but am extremely biased towards mares and I feel like you can get more bang for your buck because people generally shy away from them. My current mare is extremely sensitive on the ground and under saddle, which makes for a really fun ride- she is so responsive to every little aid. At first she was very uncertain of me, now she greets me with nickers and whinnies every day. Over the years riding many different horses (owning my own mares but riding geldings for other people), I would pick a mare over a gelding all day every day. Are they prone to mood swings? Yes… but so am I (LOL) so I feel that we can relate. But once you bond with a mare, they are just simply incredible. Team mare!

[NancyM]

I have had brilliant mares. I have had brilliant geldings. Both have their advantages. It isn’t something that I would consider when shopping for a horse.

My current main mount is a mare. A little TB mare, homebred. She doesn’t look like much. But she packs my ass over 5’ like a trooper, has the courage of a lion. I have great respect for her. But not all mares are like her.

[KyrieNZ]

I’m a mareaholic. LOVE my mares. I love how hard they try for you - it takes a while to bond with them but once you have it, I don’t think it can be broken. You will have arguments with a mare, but they don’t shut down like a gelding does.

[RRB]

I own two chestnut mares and have one on lease too… I guess I prefer mares! I think for a trainer perhaps geldings are easier because they are more consistent, where mares have “days”. But for this rider my sweet mares are the best.

–R

[peedin]

My first horse was a gelding and I had him for 27 years. I always said I wouldn’t have a mare, but that was because I didn’t like the mare turnout at my barn (yes, I stayed at the same barn for 27 years). Three years after I lost him, I started lessons at another barn and fell in love with the school horse I rode, a chestnut OTTB mare. I now full lease her and most likely will buy her. We haven’t fully bonded yet but we will. If I were horse shopping though, I would probably only look at geldings. Ariel doesn’t have much of a sense of humor and gelding do. She is a doll under saddle, not without her opinions though!

[Roo]

I love and adore my mare. At the same time, she’s the most difficult, sensitive and wonderful horse. We’re bonded so tightly that I think of her as a human best friend. I dreamt that we went shoe shopping together at the mall. The only thing that struck me as odd was that she was happy in Macy’s. In real life she’d be snootier, preferring Neiman’s or Saks.

[Scribbler]

I read somewhere that the top polo ponies are mares.

[ItchyRichie]

I prefer sensitive horses. So usually that ends up being mares for me but I’ve ridden some very sensitive geldings that I’ve clicked with in the same way.

I had a trainer who always said she preferred mares for the jumpers and geldings for the hunters.