Everyone...........your opinion

[Firefall]

Someone told me that they didn't want a mare as a pet cause they were told that mares are too moody.

I've heard that before but never noticed it in my group of mares.

Just was curious if any of you have noticed it? I figure if someone is grumpy they are having a bad day

like some of us do.

Thanks!

 

[Cathy_H]

I'm assuming they are talking about personality changes in SOME mares when they come into heat or when they have a foal on their side. ........ I have seen some mares in herds where one mare is very dominant or bossy. In the past we have had one or two mares that didn't seem to get along with the rest of the herd or insisted being the head mistress. Some would call this moody I suppose.................................. I guess if you were classifying stallions, mares & geldings, then yes I would tend to say that mares tend to be more moody than the other two but I don't see a problem there. There might be reasons for the mare to be the way she is such as, not getting fed properly or way pass dinner time, being kept in a stall etc. I would need to see the mare in her every day environment to determine if there is a reason for her moodiness................ Moodiness is subject to individual interpretation but I feel it can just be the horses personality which the owner does not like & to restate the above could be in part the owners fault........................................... Also most of us keep our stallions alone but mares are usually kept together. The mares in these situations would have more opportunities to display their individual not so pleasant personalities than the stallions. Take the mares out of that environment & they may have a more pleasant personality....... My view on the subject matter anyway. :saludando:

 

[ThreeCFarm]

They are like people--some women aren't bothered by their cycles, and some are. I have a QH mare that was always real touchy when in heat--a little leg went a LONG way during that time!

 

[Lacie's Foal of Hope]

Hello Firefall! :saludando:

That's a good question, and yes, I have heard people say stuff like that about some mares, (Particularly when in heat cycles.) However, from my own personal experience (with big horses) I would prefer to only have mares as pets. The geldings we have had were very aggressive and extremely buddy sour over our only other mare. No offense to you gelding owners.... because I have seen some other owner's with nice geldings, but that's just my opinion. When we were looking for our first horse, someone advised us to, "never get a gelding they will hurt you," and in our case this has proven to be very true.

On the other hand my sister and I work at a huge breeding farm, and handle many, many mares a day of all breeds and ages. And yes, we have seen some pretty nasty mares... in that enviornment... as well. Not so much that they are "moody" just that their dispositions vary from horse to horse.

So there you have it... my opinion is... its propbably not the gender of your horse that makes it nice or not, it is the horses own individual personality.

~Carly~

 

[LisaF.]

I am going to sound like a mother here...LOL

In my oppinion it depends on alot of how the horse was treated when they were young and as time goes by.

I also think that each horse has their own tempermant. I would suggest a mare over a stallion anyday for a pet. Both of my stallions are wonderful to handle...but, if a mare goes into heat....it will change their attitude very quickly.. they are alot harder to handle for me anyway.

As far as geldings...I don't have enough experience to really state my oppinion...but, I would think a mini that was gelded at a very young age would be great.

 

[REO]

All the many mares we've had over the years, I've never noticed any being moody. I don't know why.

Most of our mares are home bred and raised. *shrug*

But I guess it depends on the mares.

: Some are and some are not.

 

[Margaret]

Although some mares are a little more reserved than others, I find the general temperment of the mare quite pleasant, and likeable. Come breeding time they cooperate quite well when being handled. I think it is important to consider that until a "positive relationship" is established between handler and horse, that any given horse can be difficult to deal with. We have both mares, and a stallion, and I can honestly say that I enjoy working with them both equally well.

:

 

[chandab]

I've had both mares and gelding, and recently added a stallion. My full-size mares have all been a little moody (the first one was the most moody, the other two less so; all are related), but my mini mares are just dolls. I've not owned a gelding that was moody or mean; although, I have a young one that is spirited.

My mini stallion hasn't been much trouble at all, so far. But, my mini mares are young, so we haven't jumped into the breeding side of it yet. [He's very good about respecting my space and minding his manners.]