We shouldn’t gender discriminate when it comes to our horses but the reality is, we do.
It may not be intentional (which is the case for me) but when it comes down to it, if you find yourself with a yard full of mares (or geldings), there will be a number of reasons why.
Keep reading to find out why I think that my current string of horses is 3:1 in favour of mares (and the gelding is actually a homebred!)
Price.
I’m not sure where this originally stems from but mares generally have a cheaper price tag. Since I am usually on a tight budget when horse shopping, a very high proportion of the horses available to me will be mares. As a result, the probability of me buying a mare is greater.
No two days are the same. 
While some mares are more “mare-ish” than others, I do enjoy the fact that no two days are the same. They can often have very distinct and changeable personalities, which makes for an interesting life and certainly keeps me on my toes!
Work Ethic.
There is no denying it, if you can convince a mare to work with you, there is no stopping her! The tricky part can be in the convincing. Mares will be quite clear with you when they don’t like something so a big part of this is working with your mare to find something that she enjoys. One of my mares for example, enjoys dressage (lots of “good girl” from me leaves her uber confident), doesn’t enjoy the SJ quite so much but absolutely LOVES cross country! As a result, eventing works for her as the XC is deemed as her reward!
Independence.
The majority of mares are quite content with their own company (with their humans often deemed as staff). As a result, on those rare occasions when they actually “allow” you to give them a kiss / cuddle, we feel extra special!
In contrast, the majority of geldings will perform all sorts of acrobatic routines & dramatic gestures in order to receive some attention. From whom, they are not fussy. #needy.
Protective Instincts.
This is an aspect of mares which many may dislike but I love it. If you own or ride a mare, you may acknowledge that she has a need to “look” at everything. You couldn’t call her spooky, but nothing gets by her and she sees everything! While this may be slightly annoying to ride, as the female and mother of the species, her protective instincts are the cause of her suspicious tendencies… In the wild, being cautious is her job! I still find this fascinating & it rings true for my 3 mares. Nothing gets by them, they want to see everything yet they are not spooky. My gelding on the other hand, while he is super chilled and doesn’t look at anything, I am unable to confirm if that is down to bravery or him simply not seeing the “dangers”. I often wonder how long he would survive in the wild?!
So there you have it, while my circumstances may dictate that the majority of my competition horses are mares, I am not complaining about it.
In general, life with a mare is anything but predictable & I quite enjoy it. I do know that there are exceptions to every rule but I find it interesting (and amusing) seeing the stereotypes in real life!
Does your mare or gelding fit the stereotype? Or… are they their own unique sort of special?!
Sarah Elebert
xxx
