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 Expert
Posts: 1631
   
Location: Somewhere around here | Over my lifetime of owning horses I've learned to favor mares more and I think that's because IMO they tend to have more heart. Now I'm not saying this is a black and white issue, or that geldings have no heart/try, but I'm curious about everyone else who has had their fair share of mares and geldings. |
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 Not Afraid to Work
Posts: 4717
| I would say as a general statement mares have more heart. But have also known a lot of geldings with a ton of heart and mares with a **** poor attitude.
Another general statement - geldings are more consistent. |
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 Serious Snap Trapper
Posts: 4275
Location: In The Snow, AZ | I've gone thru a lot of geldings. I've liked most of them. Only my mare has stuck around. Granted, I've been thru several mares as well. |
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 460
| My geldings have always had BIGGER hearts (Much more personable and lovable), but my mares tended to have MORE heart ( in a competitive way). =] |
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Not Afraid to Work
Posts: 4717
| Katielovestbs - 2017-04-21 6:36 PM
My geldings have always had BIGGER hearts (Much more personable and lovable), but my mares tended to have MORE heart ( in a competitive way). =]
Yes, I would agree with this. |
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Expert
Posts: 1314
Location: North Central Iowa Land of white frozen grass | I have always got along with mares. But both of my daughter's would much prefer geldings. I think mares have more heart. All though mares are much harder to get along with. |
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 Lady Di
Posts: 21556
Location: Oklahoma | Heart isn't gender specific. They either have heart or they don't. Personally, I've had more pea hearted mares than geldings. ****y little devils who don't want to do what you want at the drop of a hat. My geldings, on the other hand, would run with a broken leg if I asked them to. Just my experience. |
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 A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | dianeguinn - 2017-04-21 7:00 PM Heart isn't gender specific. They either have heart or they don't. Personally, I've had more pea hearted mares than geldings. ****y little devils who don't want to do what you want at the drop of a hat. My geldings, on the other hand, would run with a broken leg if I asked them to. Just my experience.
Ditto  |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 514
| I love my mares! Id say in my opinion, they have more heart and grit. But it depends on the horse too. |
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  Ms. Marine
Posts: 4641
Location: Texas | Mares. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 966
Location: Loco,Ok | A good horse is a good horse. |
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 559
| Love my mares ... I cannot stand most geldings . Just my opinion though ! But as a previous poster stated , a good horse is a good horse !
Edited by Fancy Lass 2017-04-21 11:47 PM
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 I'm Cooler Offline
Posts: 6387
Location: Pacific Northwest | I've been lucky and all my horses have had heart. They all are willing to work and they have all worked through some sort of soreness. I've owned more geldings than mares, but I honestly don't have a preference. As long as the horse wants to do their job and I don't dread having to ride them, that's all I care about.
But of all my horses, my one gelding has been through more than any of them (bronchitis which kick started his moderate IAD and now he bleeds, blood clot in jugular vein which caused him to get very very sick, more abscesses than I count including two caused by punctures of stepping on glass, bruising his heel so severely I had to get X-rays because I thought for sure he broke something and ended up being lame for 3 months) and he still has the best work ethic. The bleeding, blood clot and severe heel bruise all happened consecutively so he's been retired from barrels ever since, but he would still happily run a barrel pattern if you asked him to.
I would give anything to have anther horse with half his heart (and hopefully none of his accident proneness). |
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 Veteran
Posts: 112
| I LOVE a geldings demeanor way more then a mare. I owned a gelding that was the sweetest horse ever, but he was a little heartless at times I felt. If he was a little sore he wouldn't run near like he should, but in turn he was seriously the sweestest boy and wouldn't do anything to hurt anyone and was pretty beginner friendly. Now I currently have a mare and she is a firecracker! She can be super sweet, follows me, lets me hug all over and do anything to her, but when she doesn't want to do something you know it! Her attitude comes out mostly when riding. But she had a super sore back and got her worked on an continued to ride her and she never rode off any different, and cruised a nice pattern even (she is only 3 so adding some speed finally). I think she would run on any type of ground and try hard no matter what. I still love geldings though lol! |
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Location: Not Where I Want to Be | yes |
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 Living on the edge of common sense
Posts: 24139
Location: Carpenter, WY | mares |
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Veteran
Posts: 107
| My mare has a whole lot of attitude and not a lot of try. I haven't noticed any more heart from her than geldings I've been around. Maybe I have the wrong mare, but geldings seem to be a more consistent and "smooth sailing" companion... |
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 I Don't Brag
Posts: 6960
| In general? Mares. I have had one gelding that gave 150% in everything you asked. I have had 3 or 4 mares , that once I gained their trust and loyalty, did the same. My good, old, now deceased rodeo mare ran through all kinds of pain with her ovaries, a torn stifle and an issue in her gut that ended up in colic surgery after years of an on again off again, undiagnosable problem...they removed 30 FEET of her small intestine. 100 days later she won the average at an IPRA regional Finals. How is THAT for heart? She was the most fun I have ever had on a horse. Shove the reins down her neck and get out of her way. I was given and aged, but not used much mare that is coming very close to that first mare. Both crabby with attitude but gives me the world when I ask them.
I learned to love my crabby mares. But I will have to admit, I do really enjoy my new, uncomplicated gelding. He is not yet finished, so his "heart" has yet to be established.
There is a saying that I think holds very true. It goes something like, You demand from a stallion, you tell a gelding and you ask a mare. With my crabby mares I have found that asking rather than demanding gets me WAY more of what I want. So training and riding styles will probably affect what you like and get along with.
As they say, Different strokes for different folks. |
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 Regular
Posts: 65
| Yep, my mare runs her little heart out, my daughter's gelding is the sweetest, goofiest, best babysitter there is. I think mares have that witchy competitive edge geldings just show up to work. |
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 Regular
Posts: 84
| I prefer geldings. My boys have as much try and heart as the next one. That and i don't have to put up with the attitude of a mare. Don't get me wrong I've owned mare's but as i get older i appreciate the patient dispositions of my boys. |
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 Angel in a Sorrel Coat
Posts: 16030
Location: In a happy place | dianeguinn - 2017-04-21 7:00 PM Heart isn't gender specific. They either have heart or they don't. Personally, I've had more pea hearted mares than geldings. ****y little devils who don't want to do what you want at the drop of a hat. My geldings, on the other hand, would run with a broken leg if I asked them to. Just my experience.
I agree with what Dianne said. |
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 Expert
Posts: 1612
Location: Cocoa, Florida | Mares have always been more of a pain in the butt, but with that being said they have also had the most heart and try in the pattern, almost every mare I've had has loved to run and loved their jobs. My geldings have done what I tell them to do with less attitude but they haven't had the natural drive as the mares. |
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 Midget Lover
Location: Kentucky | Katielovestbs - 2017-04-21 7:36 PM My geldings have always had BIGGER hearts (Much more personable and lovable), but my mares tended to have MORE heart ( in a competitive way). =]
Agree. I've had some sweet geldings, but my mares are the workers. They don't want to be your buddy, they want to do their job. Give me all the mares. |
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Veteran
Posts: 217
| I prefer mares, but I get along much better with the bit of sass. Put my mom on my mares, and they are completely different (not even just the testing thing they do). Sluggish, no will to work. My mom will only take geldings now because every mare she gets on is the same way with her. No real work ethic. Give her a gelding and they'll try their heart out for her....minus one. He should've been a mare. Sassy, firecracker, and he wanted to work his heart out for me. For her, he'd crowhop, not run, push her buttons all over. |
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Regular
Posts: 84
| There is a saying around here that has always stuck with me
"Mares will give you 100%, 80% of the time. Geldings will give you 80%, 100% of the time."
It has held true for most everything I have had the privilege to swing a leg over. |
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 Undercover Amish Mafia Member
Posts: 9992
Location: Kansas | I've mainly owned mares, most of which have a ton of heart. I did have one gelding who I rehabbed and spent alot of time training him and he had alot of heart, but mentally he wasn't all there. I owned another gelding, who was a complete idiot and wouldn't try worth a darn.
I would say both have heart, I just like my mares lol |
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| 100% Mares |
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Red Bull Agressive
Posts: 5981
Location: North Dakota | The overwhelming answer seems to be that mares tend to be grittier and have more heart as far as being tough and competitive. That being said, there are certainly exceptions! I also don't get along with mares. Probably because I don't care about those things. I want my horse to be my companion above all else and geldings are great at that. Cash has a big heart and will do anything for me...but is also my big baby. He will tell me very obviously if something is hurting or bothering him. I will always be a gelding person. |
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Mares vs Geldings; who has more heart?