Shopping for a second horse to be kept at home with my current gelding.
Would you restrict your search to a particular gender and if so which one?
Current horse has been turned out with all genders pretty happily provided they are a similar activity level (he’s not so good with the elderly senior types).
Some people have fixed ideas. My experience is that behaviour depends on the individual character of the horse rather than it’s sex.
It is difficult enough to find a horse so don’t make your life even harder!
Each horse is different and will bring their own quirks to the mix, but generally, same sex groups do better, have less strife.
A mare and gelding can become overly attached, generally the gelding, the mare may not care.
Have friends that kept mixed herds and did say, they had more injuries, but for them it was worth managing them all in one group.
We always kept them separate and rarely had any injuries over many decades, broodmares and riding mares in one, geldings and one stallion in the other…
Whatever horses you get, you will never know how they will get along until you try them together.
Even horses that get along for years, one day something will set them off and have some big differences, to us humans seemingly out of the blue some times.
That is horses for you.
For 30 years, I owned mares. I purchased my first gelding a few months ago.
My experience has been that the mares are the ones that most often “keep score” - as in, they remember stuff that my gelding seems to forget after 60 seconds. My gelding does not seem as annoyed when I change my barn schedule or skip a few days (I board at a full care barn, so they were seeking my attention - not food :D)
I would not shop only based on gender. I have had a mixed herd of 3-5 horses for at least 25 years with no issues. I currently have three mares and one gelding.
I was always a mare or gelding, no preference person. This time around I bought a stallion because he was the first horse I found that met all my criteria and passed his vet check!
Another vote for no preference. I’ve had all geldings, all mares, and mixed herds and all have done just fine! OP, you have a young, playful gelding right? Perhaps just make sure the other horse is barefoot behind in case they get annoyed with their new friend!
Too right you are about the difficulties found in horse shopping. Thank you for sharing!
You make an excellent point regarding any horses may not get along at all or may cease getting along at any moment. With any horse, I will need to hope for the best and prepare for the worst. Thank you for sharing!
How funny, the majority of my previous horses were mares including the current boy’s dam. He was raised in an all mare herd and I think the ladies must have rubbed off on him. He’s currently boarded and if I miss a day going to see him he will greet me the next time with an anxious whinny. But I tend to agree with you that mares keep score, in many aspects. Thanks so much for your perspective!
It sure would be easier to shop if I was open to both genders! Thank you for your reply!
That’s what you call keeping your options open! Good for you! I will keep that in mind. I have no intentions of keeping a stud, but a nice colt could easily become a nice gelding if he otherwise met my needs! Thanks so much for sharing!
Yep. Young (ish) and playful. He enjoys a good game of wild stallion. He’s pretty good about not messing with mares though. They give him the “mom look” and he settles right down.
You make an excellent point re shoes. My boy is barefoot all the way round and it might make more sense to prioritize ability to go barefoot (at least behind) over gender! Thanks so much for bringing that up. I appreciate you sharing!
I generally prefer mares, but am not opposed to geldings and wouldn’t limit my search to only one or the other (unless looking to breed, of course).
I’ve had no problems with mixed-sex groups, and have not yet noticed any increase in injury. You run the risk of them not getting along no matter what the gender, as others have said.
I’ve never had problems with mixed groups. I personally do prefer mares JUST in case the horse ends up wildly talented then I’ll always have the option to breed. It’s also a little bit of insurance for me. If anything ever happens to me and my horse needs a home she could make a nice broodmare for someone and hopefully not end up in a kill pen.
Geldings for me, I love my two remaining girls for sure, but geldings cannot reproduce. I am a breed-a-holic, I have my 12 year chip, I still surf stallion ads and my mares are 26 and 22. I am not allowed to own mares, repeat I am not allowed to own mares. Plus my boys are only in it for the food, I can relate, 😆
I am not sure if I’ll ever breed another foal. So I’m not looking for a broodmare prospect. Thanks so much for sharing your experiences!
Ideally you need to see the future horse in a mixed group to understand where it thinks it ranks in a herd. Really makes little difference as to gender as we have had herd leader mares and dominate geldings
Current mix another herd leader mare who is often concerned as to whereabouts of its “herd” of a gelding who could be Rhett Butler as frankly he does not give a damn where the “Lead” mare is
Best horses we have had overtime have fallen all over the rankings…but best mare was in middle of the herd while best gelding was very dominate and had a mare who thought he created the world and her job was to sanctify the ground before him…she worshiped that horse. The easiest to handle by along shot was the middle of the ranks mare.
That’s very true that with a mare you do have the option for breeding. Thanks for sharing!
Lol! In it for the food! That’s my gelding, always looking for a snack! Thanks for your input!
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