I ride a horse that was gelded at five and have never had any problems
Stallions are more inclined to bite, mares are more inclined to kick. This is what I was taught as a child by my Irish horseman grandpa. Seems true as far as I’ve see. Stallions are more likely to take on a threat, where mares are more jealous of their bodies and being touched.
I was at a schooling show this weekend and in the warm up somebody ran their horse up my mares behind like touching close. Without even thinking I cried out, “She’s a mare!” She was completely chill about it, but heck, I’d have kicked in that situation. I thought we were going to get humped by a gelding!
I’m sorry but NONE of my stallions tried to bite. I had ONE gelding that bit my farrier. Picked him up by the shoulder. My mares? None were kickers but I had an awesome colt that i thought I would keep intact Kick me in the face. He shattered my cheek bone, the bone above my eye and my facial bone. My alpha mares would take on anyone. My stallions, not so much. Maybe my grandfather who was more about Morgans had it all wrong but he brain washed me to believe that stallions were no different than alpha mares - you earn their respect and establish you as the leader, they’ll turn over their role to you. I’ve been blessed by having multiple alpha mares in my midst before I started keeping stallion, Thankfully that and my background of working/breeding stallions prior to me establishing my breeding program helped me learn the ropes. Get a mentor. That’s the best advice I can give. i was born into a family with two of the best mentors I could ask for. If you’re unsure of anything, get assistance. No shame and everything to gain.
THIS^^^^^.
If you cannot handle a dominant mare, then don’t get a stallion. Every horse will test to see where the boundaries are. Stallions will too,
Unfortunately people will excuse dominant mare behavior by saying “Oh, she’s being mareish.” Now, have a stallion do something rude, and he gets slammed.
I always told my stallion that having testicles was no excuse for rude behavior. I have a new vet come to pull blood for a Coggins and when he asked Sex? and I said Stallion, he did not believe me because the horse was well-behaved and not a nut case.
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Limited experience here. I’ve ridden several fairly consistently for other people their stallions, young and breeding stock. I know that I wouldn’t personally want one unless he was very very exceptional.
You have to be on your toes every single second working around them and riding them. All horses are aware of your body signals and confidence levels and they mentally put you in some sort of pecking order. A stallion may intend to act on that knowledge. May…or may not, but you can bet your bottom dollar, something as innocuous as you grooming him and you moving around him…not making him move to accommodate your needs will be noticed and filed in his little brain. Your authority level has just dropped. May not matter now, may next time.
Working a full time job and coming home a bit sleepy or distracted could be a recipe for trouble. A gelding will probably forgive you (he’ll notice though) ducking under his chest or letting him lean into you a bit when you ask him to move, or you ask him to back up and he does but then one forefoot kind of sneaks forward again. That kind of subtle thing. no biggee in the course of things, but keep doing it and your stallion will notice and you will slip down the pecking order.
Most of them are super rides…the odd one, you get on esp on a cold day and it feels like he has a hump in his back and his head is “up periscope”…you gotta fix that asap. Trust me. Forward is your friend, forward into contact and GO… walking on a loose rein will not solve this problem or settle him. You should get “forward” and “go” tattooed on his ears to remind you. LOL
I enjoy riding them, I enjoy riding them under supervision from their trainer even more. 
I am not mentally equipped to be that “on” day in and day out.
I did have an OTTB who was gelded at the age of 12…I got him as a 13 year old. He was a bit reactive around mares, but other than that, just a very sharp TB. One of my heart horses and I miss him dearly. I had to be careful with him and not sloppy - as you should be obviously with every horse. I got nailed a few times because of my stupidity. But hard working ammies get sloppy at some point and a horse that won’t act on that is a blessing.
I ride a stallion and there are 3 others at our boarding facility - we have about 25 horses. (and oddly only one mare…) Each of the stallions are different but under saddle all are very well behaved. One (friesian) can be a bully; he will try to drag you around the ring if he thinks he can get away with it, and he is a bit of a chicken. The other three (warmblood, two lusitanos) are all unflappable in pretty much any setting, and the two lusitanos big work ethic and not lazy - typical of the breed.
My lusi can get hot, in part the breed and in part because he spent some time before I got him w/ a trainer that pressured him too much. But he does not spook. Ever. He is mouthy - cross ties, bridle parts, etc - but so is one of the young geldings. He may be the most “stallion” in the barn - he is a talker when not working. He watches over 1/2 dozen pastures that are his herd, and he takes that very seriously. He has a presence that is different from the others. He does his weenie workout every day:yes:
As most have said, its not a horse to take on lightly. I’m much more on alert when handling than with my past horses. There is always a chain on the lead rope.
But the questions OP asks? It mostly depends on the horse, sometimes on the breed and not so much on the sex.
It is interesting, when you watch young boys play in the pasture, versus young girls, I would agree with this assessment. Boys bite and rear, girls pin their ears and kick. Boys play the "bite-bite-face game - starting with the face, and biting their way down, trying to knock their boy opponent to the ground. But that isn’t always what happens when they interact with people - I’d agree with ExVet there - I was seriously kicked by ONE youngster, and he was a colt. I was seriously bit by one youngster, and she was a filly. As a kid, I was bit by one horse, and it was a late gelded horse - he reached over the paddock fence and picked me up in his mouth - I will never forget that!
Neither of my two stallions ever bit anyone. I have known SOME stallions who were biters, but I’ve also known mares who were biters (I was at a clinic several years ago, and one of the mares was muzzled, she was so nasty, although super talented). I think there is a difference between how horses play versus how they show aggression.
Yes, the play versus aggression aspect is significant.
The more playful geldings I know play bitey face constantly in turnout and seem to all know the rules of the game. They will also do nippy mouthy things to humans to get their attention, if not monitored carefully.
My alpha mare never bites or threatens to bite in play. She never plays aggressively. But she certainly bites aggressively. She once waited two hours for revenge on me and drew blood from my butt when I had forgotten all about our earlier battle of wills. That has never happened since; I’m alpha enough to put a stop to that.
She tends mostly to put other horses in their place with snake ears and kicks that don’t make contact. But this isn’t play, it’s serious social hierarchy stuff to her.
When she wants attention or is happy to be with you, she is very soft and gentle. She will offer up her tricks, or touch you gently with her nose as you are leading her.
Of course in heat with a studly gelding there is lots of squealing and strike and nibble. Like a socially awkward 1270 lb grade eight girl flirting with equally nonplussed boys.
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I’ve ridden 2 stallions in the past. Owned one, an Arab, when we lived overseas and they simply didn’t geld their horses. Treated like any other horse. He was 8 or so. The other was a Morgan Sport horse, a breeding stallion and his manners were impeccable. I don’t remember how old he was, 10 maybe.
If a mare is in heat or it’s breeding season, the rider/handler’s awareness has to be higher but other than that, the awareness with any horse should be there.
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Owning a stallion is the “PhD” of horsemanship skills. Even a well-behaved stallion will still check in to see if his human is asleep at the wheel.
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