What Horse To Look For – Part 2
I talked about the mature horse and their many good attributes for a novice owner in my last post. Let’s talk about the next choice to be made. This choice is a personal preference. This choice is gender, whether to get a mare, gelding or stallion.
The first on my list for a novice of what not to buy would be a stallion. Yes I know, they are so majestic and powerful. You may be like me and grew up on Walter Farley’s "The Black Stallion" books. I actually thought as a young girl that a stallion was my ultimate horse. Well, I grew up and found out that stallions are hormones on 4 legs! During breeding season, any mare in heat that comes within 500 ft of them is fair game. Breeding season is as long as there are mares in heat. In today’s world, that is all year long. With breeders trying to get the 1st foal of the year as close to Jan 1 as possible, mares are artificially stimulated with lights in the barns starting as early as November. Stallions are actively breeding from Februray through June or July. When you throw in August & some of September, this is almost the entire year! If you are a kind soul and have trouble with discpline, if you are hot headed, or if you are just a bit scared of horses in general, a stallion could be a dangerous animal. I know I will hear from stallion owners that say they have the best mannered stallion in the world. I will agree that I have come across some very outstanding stallions. I still say a stallion is not a good candidate for a novice.
The actual 1st choice for most would be the gelding. Geldings are castrated male horses. They are, for the most part, even tempered. Yes they have personalities and even they can have a bad day, but what creature doesn’t. You will also run into some that are unruly and bad tempered, but that is true of even the mare or stallion. Most geldings aren’t bothered by the mare’s heat cycle. My experience with the geldings that I’ve owned is that they are looking for a playmate. They don’t care if the buddy is a mare, stallion or gelding. They are all about playing. Life is good for them.
My personal preference is the mare. My mares have all been sweet natured. They learn fast and are always wanting to please. They seem to handle each individual that rides them better. (Remember in my About Me page, I told you my horses are school horses.) They do have a down side. They have a heat cycle every 28 or so days from spring to autumn. Some, one of mine included, cycles all year long. Some mares will tease anything in the pasture or stall next to them. Some mares can get very witchy at this time, but then again so do some women. You don’t have to breed your mare. They are more than just a baby vessel.
Like I said above, the gender question is purely a personal preference. In my book, you can’t go wrong with either a mare or gelding. The stallion, on the the other hand, is best left to the more experienced and the professional.
