This article first appeared in the March 2022 digital edition of Equestrian Life. To see what’s in the current issue, click here.

Team Gelding vs Team Mare

By Amanda Young

Variety of opinion is common in the equestrian world, however there is perhaps no debate more passionately argued than that which compares the merits of owning and riding mares versus geldings.

When a group of horse enthusiasts are brought together, it’s rare to find unanimous agreement amongst them. Within moments, a diverse range of opinions on all topics such as the best horse breed to the most exciting discipline will be aired, while contentious issues such as shoeing versus barefoot trimming and the need for rugging, will – if raised – likely result in animated or heated discussion!

While such topics can result in hours of verbal discourse, there is no debate more passionately argued than that which compares the merits of owning and riding mares versus geldings. Those that swear by geldings will roll their eyes and tell you that if they had a dollar for every time they heard the expression, “Get a good mare, and she’ll try her heart out for you because she truly loves you”, they would be rich enough to buy some really fancy geldings! Mare enthusiasts are undeterred by responses of that kind, touting that if you don’t like mares, it’s simply because you don’t know how to handle them and have not yet learned that, while you can tell a gelding, you must politely ask a mare – before adding that gelding enthusiasts may need to work on their questioning skills…

Read the full article in our March 2022 magazine here.