I loff mares.
If you are selling foals - fillies have a better chance to be purchased by someone (a breeder maybe) who has a farm. If you are selling horses undersaddle, I think there is more demand for geldings as riding horses.
I was alway told geldings are better, mares are “mare-ish”. I’ve owned both over the years & have to say I prefer MY mares. I think mares need a better PR rep because I’ve met many a gelding that was an a$$ but no one ever says he’s being gelding-ish. 
I’m mostly a rider attempting to be a breeder. I go with what ever horse fits me best no matter what sex it is.
Saying that, we use to have mostly stallions in our barn (all privately owned & rarely used for breeding)& I absolutely enjoyed riding/showing them all. They seemed to have a bit more… of something than the geldings without the attitude of a mare. But yet again, some of my best rides were on mares.
I was always told, that if you find a good mare they will have more heart than any gelding/stallion in the field but the key is you have to fine that one in a million.
I currently have one gelding & two mares. The girls definitely seem to be getting better with age at least competitively.
As a buyer, even though I try to talk myself into a nice, steady gelding, I am only drawn to mares. All my best horses have been mares (although I did have one that I sold that I could not trust).
I cannot explain it nor understand it myself, but I just love mares and the relationship I have with them, and really cannot imagine owning anything else.
That said, most of the people I know like and want geldings!
These answers really surprise me. I have friends who are breeders and friends who buy horses for clients and they overwhelmingly tell me males are easier by far to sell…maybe things are changing. I hope so. Personally,I love mares.
As a rider/buyer, I prefer mares, followed by stallions. Not really a fan of geldings.
I have a gelding & a mare. I prefer the gelding, but he is special, and I don’t think most compare (not just my opinion here). The mare is wonderful, and smart, but the gelding will give a bit extra, and take care of his rider when needed.
Have always heard that a great mare will give you more, but spare a few like the great Sapphire, with whom I agree gave it all (Goldlika was uber cool), but how far does that ever get you, with an average mare? Most are average, which is why the rider feels the way they do.
I would only buy fillies/mares. My boys are either my childhood pony, my rescue or the one I bred. I am a breeder and buyer, so I’ve only ever gone to so much as look at mares. Would buy the right gelding for dressage, but I’d prefer a mare.
[QUOTE=Sunnydays;6412402]
If you are selling foals - fillies have a better chance to be purchased by someone (a breeder maybe) who has a farm. If you are selling horses undersaddle, I think there is more demand for geldings as riding horses.[/QUOTE]
Agree, when I was helping a friend find a 3rd level dressage horse (a few yrs. ago) there were so few geldings still available since geldings sold very quickly.
It’s so funny, because so many people buying riding horses will say that they don’t want to “deal with” a mare. But as I think about the horses at the very large boarding barn I board at, ALL the problem children are geldings. Either they are studly and freak out over the mares, or are hellions and always hurting themselves, or just being a general PITA in every which way (bucking, rearing, just generally being difficult). I can only think of one mare that is any sort of “problem”, and it’s just that she gets very attached to any mare that is in the stall next to her so she calls for them. There’s probably only one mare on the property I would not want to own, and that’s only because she is enormous and an alpha mare and I wouldn’t enjoy riding her. There are a dozen geldings you could not pay me to own…
:yes::yes::yes: This.
My fillies tend to sell to people who want to breed someday down the road and want strong dressage lines top and bottom. The boys are attractive to people who do not want to breed, but want to compete.
While I agree that geldings are easier to sell, I think Perfect Pony is right about mares. How many of us have just been told (by trainers, old-timers, etc.) that we “need” a gelding, mares have too many issues?
All the years that I rode, I never owned a mare. I had been told (and foolishly believed) that mares were moody, difficult, unreliable rides.
When I put on my breeders hat, I bought several young mares. My trainer rode them all, as well as their best daughters. None of my geldings from my riding days would have been as good under saddle as my girls.
I see more and more riders making the discovery that a good mare is a joy to ride. Those who are unenlightened only want boys. :lol::lol::lol::winkgrin:
[QUOTE=Miichelle;6413952]
While I agree that geldings are easier to sell, I think Perfect Pony is right about mares. How many of us have just been told (by trainers, old-timers, etc.) that we “need” a gelding, mares have too many issues?[/QUOTE]
Thanks! I have known so few truly difficult mares, and know of so many wonderful mares that truly take care of their ammy riders, and are the most trustworthy and hard-working horses on the planet. 90% of the mares I have known and have owned would walk through fire for their person.
And frankly sometimes when it’s that time of month for me I just need to be left the hell alone. If any of the wonderful mares I have owned tell me they are crabby every once in a while, we go for a nice hack that day.
I know there are mares with issues but I think the “geldings are better” theory goes back to when horses really did have to work for a living. I do think that geldings will tune out & make better “drones” that do better with indifferent handling.
I do know at least one boarding barn in the area that ONLY accepts geldings. As for me, I’d chose a different boarding barn.
I know many of the “shows” (such as Cavalia) will only use geldings and stallions, but I think a large part of that is that it is distracting to the large number of stallions that they have, not because the mares can’t/won’t do the job.
[QUOTE=JWB;6414110]
I know many of the “shows” (such as Cavalia) will only use geldings and stallions, but I think a large part of that is that it is distracting to the large number of stallions that they have, not because the mares can’t/won’t do the job.[/QUOTE]
See how sexist it all is? It’s not that the mares are the problem! It’s the boys reaction and how THEY behave that is the problem. It’s the horsie version of “she was asking for it!” :rolleyes:
Buying as a breeder, I look for mares as I no longer want to stand stallions.
As a rider, I take all 3 sexes, but prefer to ride, in order of preference, stallions, then mares, last geldings.
But, as I put in my last post, as a seller, I’ve had no difficulties selling either colt or filly and I’ve always had them sell usually before weaning, but I had one, colt, that was 8 months when sold.
I have purchased 7 horses over the last 20 years…6 have been mares and one was a gelding…it was not intentional …but just the way it worked out…when I go looking I go looking for “the horse” not the sex!! But having ridden way more mares then geldings…I must admit I do love my mares.
Dalemma
