# Mares and Geldings? Not a good combo?..



## Born2Ride (Apr 13, 2011)

wasnt sure where to put this, so if it doesnt fit here, feel free to move it .

I was just wondering what peoples thoughts are about mixing geldings with mares? As in, a owner having both mares and geldings. For the past 2 years i've had mares. Before that i had both geldings and mares, without much problem. Well i recently brought home a 4yr.old gelding, to a barn with 3 mares (2 twh's and a mini). Im not sure he's been with a mare since he was weaned. The person i got him from had him about 8months and he was pastured with 2 geldings, then the person before her got him as a 2 year old and she pastured him with a gelded pony. So anyways, how do you feel about mixing geldings with mares. Do you feel it effects there behavior? He gets very panicky and impatient whenever i pull him away from eye sight of my mares. My mother feels like hes acting like a stallion, i think its just the youngster in him. But i was just curious, does anybody else own mares AND geldings, does it work for you? Have you had any negative reactions to mixing both genders?


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## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

Depends on the gelding. Some are fine, some think they are stallions & need to protect their mares against interlopers and can't stand to be away from their "women". I will say though for the most part - "Mares make geldings do stupid things."


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## Duren (Oct 25, 2011)

I've never had any problems in my 2 mare and 1 gelding household. I suppose it depends on the horses. Before I brought the mares home my neighbors stallion somehow ended up in my pasture with my gelding. They paid no attention to each other. I didnt even realize it was a stud until I went to catch him and noticed the "extras". Just good-tempered horses I guess.


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## Born2Ride (Apr 13, 2011)

waresbear said:


> "Mares make geldings do stupid things."


Sounds like what a man says about a woman haha... 

Back when i use to board i'd always hear people say never mix mares with geldings. I personally dont pasture them "together" but they can touch each other over the fence. My one mare is just very dominant in the pasture so i have to be very slow and careful with whom she's pastured with. I had a 21yr.old arabian mare whom she ran threw my fence :/, yet she seems to do well with my moms walker. So i guess she's picky on who she tolerates.


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## Country Woman (Dec 14, 2011)

my cousins had a gelding and mare and they were great friends


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## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

Country Woman said:


> my cousins had a gelding and mare and they were great friends


Of course, keeping a gelding and a mare is fine. Problems arise when you try to add another gelding or take the gelding away from his "woman".


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## Cowgirls Boots (Apr 6, 2011)

My horse is in with mares and geldings on 60 acres and there are no problems.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Born2Ride (Apr 13, 2011)

waresbear said:


> Of course, keeping a gelding and a mare is fine. Problems arise when you try to add another gelding or take the gelding away from his "woman".


I've had a gelding and stallion, with 2 mares. Granted the stud was only 2, but he was actually great friends with my gelding. You could walk out in the pasture and pull the stud from the group and he minded just fine. My new gelding on the other hand... im not sure if maybe it was because he's not use to mares, or its just his particular temperament. For example, we let our mares out first so we can separate them from the gelding, and he goes nuts in his stall. Then when hes out in the pasture he will continue to act frantic until the miniature is put out to pasture or one of my walkers walks over to the fence near him.


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## csimkunas6 (Apr 18, 2010)

My gelding loves mares. He prefers mares over geldings, and until this past week was turned out with mares. A horse left, leaving an empty spot open in a bigger, better pasture. They turned the mare back out with the mares, and my little guy out with the geldings


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## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

I had a gelding & a mare together for years. He was there when she foaled, he weaned her foals, which were colts, he didn't care, he thought HE was the dad, lol. He also tried to beat up a stallion at a show because he looked at his "woman". He always tried to kill a mini gelding we put with him & his "woman." Fortunately this mare liked the little mini & saved him. As this gelding got older, and I sold his "woman", he cared less & less about mares.


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## Born2Ride (Apr 13, 2011)

csimkunas6 said:


> My gelding loves mares. He prefers mares over geldings, and until this past week was turned out with mares. A horse left, leaving an empty spot open in a bigger, better pasture. They turned the mare back out with the mares, and my little guy out with the geldings


Do you feel like his attitude/temperament has changed at all since leaving the group of mares?


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## Born2Ride (Apr 13, 2011)

waresbear said:


> I had a gelding & a mare together for years. He was there when she foaled, he weaned her foals, which were colts, he didn't care, he thought HE was the dad, lol. He also tried to beat up a stallion at a show because he looked at his "woman". He always tried to kill a mini gelding we put with him & his "woman." Fortunately this mare liked the little mini & saved him. As this gelding got older, and I sold his "woman", he cared less & less about mares.


Wow, must of been true love for him lol. My gelding is use to other geldings, so i think he is overwhelmed with the selection of women he's been given.


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## Randella (Dec 13, 2011)

My older boy has always been out with mares, and I've never had a problem with him (taking him out of eye shot of the herd, riding, hacking past mares, etc.) when I've had him out with just geldings - he gets very cranky over time, and becomes more difficult to handle. 

My younger boy gets beaten up pretty bad by mares because he's such a gentle giant. However, he did find a friend in a tiny 22 year old mini mare before she passed away. She mothered him so much. It was such a beautiful friendship. 

It really depends on the horses


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## Piaffe (Jan 11, 2010)

My one and only gelding is pastured with my 5 mares. He gets along with them fine although they do push him around some. He isn't protective of them at all and doesn't mind being taken from them..lol. So I haven't had a problem with it personally.


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## usandpets (Jan 1, 2011)

We have 9 horses in our "herd." 5 are geldings and 4 mares. They all get along pretty well. There were some scuffles when the last three were introduced. Those three are not our horses but belong to two other people.

When we boarded our horses and before we had our "personal" pasture for our horses, they were split up into mares and geldings. There was a gelding that did get switched back and forth between the mares and gelding pastures. He was a very agressive horse and switching him kept him at the bottom so he wasn't too bad.


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## Born2Ride (Apr 13, 2011)

I think boarding facility's just separate them into groups to keep things organized. I'll probably never pasture him with the twh mares, just for the simple fact that my mare is very dominant. When she bites or rears at him over the fence he pays no mind to it because she cant really do anything to him, and he either stands there or just simply gets bored and walks away. So i cant tell if he would hold his own with her or be another horse ran threw my fence, so i figure its best not to find out.


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## BarrelracingArabian (Mar 31, 2010)

My gelding would bully other geldings but the second we brought home a mare who whopped his butt a good couple times they were best friends he was very attached to her. I think having mares and geldings is fine but it also depends on the idividual horse sometimes it jsut doesn't work :].


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## Whisper22 (Jan 2, 2011)

We have 2 mares and 4 geldings. The mare I own gets turned out with three of the geldings. The other mare is pregnant and there were some issues when I first bought my mare and they were trying to figure out the pecking order. So for now we thought it would be safer to keep the two mares apart. The pregnant one has always been the herd leader and since coming home MY mare has been put in her place at the bottom by every other horse, except the old man. 

The pregnant mare gets turned out with the old man and two other geldings that know their 
place. It's kind of a crazy rotation but it's based on the pecking order THEY have established, combined with health reasons, not because they are geldings or mares.


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

We've always had mixed herds and never had a problem.

I would say that your gelding's behavior (and you're certain he _is_ a gelding, right?) is just herd-sour issues that can be addressed with training.


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## mlkuhn12 (Jan 7, 2012)

I think every mare gelding combo is different. For example, where I board my horse during the summer my horse is out with a mare and a gelding and I never have any problem taking him out and riding him he is very calm and laid back. But, where I board him when I'm at college he is out with one mare full time and another mare and gelding go out with them during the day. He got so attached to the one mare he is out will full time, there was a point I could barely take him out of the paddock and groom him, especially if the other gelding was in there. He would run in circles whinny try, pace back and forth, he would get so worked up. It's been about 4 months and he seems to have settled down since then but he still tries to whinny, if I take him on a trail ride and he can't see, what I now call, his "girlfriend".


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## PaintsPwn (Dec 29, 2009)

I have a big mare atm, and two geldings... She's fine with everyone, she causes no one any problems and she is not a fighter... my paint is fine too when he's turned out in a mix... but the red dun doofus? omg. He's getting sold. He wants to fight anything that looks at her, and I don't tolerate 'mellow harshers' in my herd. As long as theres no mare in the mix for him, he's a sweetie. 

That being said, I've turned my mini studs out together with a few mares and there are no problems... but those mares are feisty and they keep them in their place... I'm not saying anyone else should do this either, but these two stallions get along and are buds to the max. I'm blessed with great herd chemistry and it makes turn out easier... till spring and heat cycles roll around, then we get separated until mares are settled to the stallion of choice, then it's a free for all again.


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## Born2Ride (Apr 13, 2011)

smrobs said:


> We've always had mixed herds and never had a problem.
> 
> I would say that your gelding's behavior (and you're certain he _is_ a gelding, right?) is just herd-sour issues that can be addressed with training.


Well unless both of his testicles are retained inside him (which I highly doubt) then yes I'm sure he's a gelding.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## MangoRoX87 (Oct 19, 2009)

I have 1 gelding with 3 mares..no problems ever. Even when I had two geldings and three mares. No issues.

I had a gelding who was just a total loner (this was several years ago). He was perfectly happy with staying away from the mares and minding his own business. However, one time the neighbors horses got loose so we rounded them up in our back pasture until they got home. And OMG. Mango just about tore them apart when they came to say 'Hi" to Dream..


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## Corporal (Jul 29, 2010)

Temperment is a consideration. My mare is docile and was the lowest ranking broodmare with her last owner. I believe she doesn't want any other mares pushing her around, but doesn't mind being 3/3 with her 2 geldings and considers their pushing around to be more like playing. (When I first bought her I had 3 older geldings and she got along very well with them, too.)
It has REALLY helped me to be able to stall everyone at night and during winter bad weather. SHE really appreciates not competing for hay. Don't tell me she's not heavy enough!!~


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## LoveTheSaddlebreds (Jul 9, 2009)

I grew up at a place with all mixed herds, and it all depended on how the individual horses got along. If a horse didn't get along with the group, they'd switch him out to another field and so on until he did. My mare grew up in a mixed herd and only at the most recent barn has she ever been out with just mares, and I gotta say, she ends up with more cuts and scrapes now than ever! lol


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## Born2Ride (Apr 13, 2011)

Yeah I would be afraid my 1 mare would try and beat on him, since she can be pretty intense with other horses. She always wants to make sure the new ones know she's the boss, and since he is a big boy if he did decide to fight back he would certainly hurt me mare. She's older with a bit of a sore leg as is, so id rather just keep him in his own pasture. I just feel bad for keeping him by himself. Id put my mini in with him but she climbs threw the fence .
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## farley (May 23, 2010)

My gelding rides better with other geldings hes more focused and better behaved, but Ive had several mares be pasture buddies and hes soo sweet with them. However he cost my cousin 1500 in vet bills after housing his timid gelding with us for two weeks.. he looked like awful poor thing :sad:. we would separate them but my gelding loved my mare, and my mare loved my cousin horse.
It was just a mess and I am happy to say its over. 

on the other hand my Aunts gelding will terrorize the mares, he will chase them into corners, charge at them, bite, kick, anything he can to show his dominance I guess... I say hes just a bully. 

So Id say it just depends on the horse really.


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## Corporal (Jul 29, 2010)

Farley, I believe that your Vet bill came about bc you didn't (or weren't able to) spend the time introducing them over the fence. I have worked many horses into existing herds and I have had Vet bills from fights. I learned the hard way to introduce them slowly. Only ONCE did it happen overnight (literally.) My horse, "Tyke" (Tyke, the toughest horse I have EVERY MET!!) was in a makeshift partitioned stall over the "fence" from the rest of the herd bc we thought he looked docile and fluffy. The next morning Tyke had broken down the fence and taken over herd leadership from a very spastic overweight gelding who made everyone else nervous with his running. Tyke put everyone is his place and let the older mare and the pony eat with them--he was my very best herd leader.
I give my horses several months of turnout and nosing over the fence and plenty of trailering and trail-riding with the herd before I let them fight out their pecking order in the same turnout. Just FYI.


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## farley (May 23, 2010)

Corporal I agree! my horses are on my parents proprty, and I havent lived with them for awhile, anyway Scout (my cousins gelding )only stayed for a month and of course it was a very busy month for me with work and school. So when they told me Scout was coming I explained in much detail how to introduce and to keep them seperated for the time being. Well to them I am just an over concerned kid, I know this because not one bit of my advice was taken! When I finally made it out there their were all together... Grrr so I seperated them and explained again how this was not going to end well. My parents however insisted that they all want to betogther because they all hung out by the fence together... So I explained that my mare and Scout liked each other, and that my gelding is WAY absested with my mare, and to keep them seperarted.. they didnt. 

the last time I saw Scout his hip was thrown out and was scared from head to toe...
Lets just say my parents kinda take my advice now.


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## Corporal (Jul 29, 2010)

Farley, you're not alone. DH (now 63yo) was a scout and when his family took a 4 week cross country camping trip--they DIDN"t know how to do it--they wouldn't listen to his 14 year old advice. He slept great the whole time bc he knew how to do it. Some of the family got a terrible sunburn and sleeples night, and one member had a banana smell to live with bc they didn't listen to his advice, "don't eat inside your tent." You are NOT alone. =D


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## LAhorses (Jan 5, 2012)

I have a mare and gelding and the mare is the boss. They get along well, but the one that gets left behind has a fit. My question is- is a mare more likely to be the leader of the herd?


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## Lexiie (Nov 14, 2011)

My barn has 20+ horses, and the fields are all pretty well divided between mares and geldings.
None of them have a problem, but my horse's field. She's the only mare with four geldings. And her "boyfriend" goes crazy when I take her out. He ran through the fences and he's needed stitches from freaking out in his stall.
I hope this doesn't scare you!
He's just a very affectionate horse. and he's been in the field with her for quite a few years


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## equiniphile (Aug 16, 2009)

I have 4 mares in with 3 geldings and have no problem. They have long since established their pecking order and tend to cluster with their buds--Arthur with Lulu and Frappe, Molly with Excel, Lenox with Latte. I have two very territorial geldings that each have "their mare", but I don't have any problems with aggression.


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## farley (May 23, 2010)

Yes an no. In the wild most herds depend on the "lead" mare and not the stallion, all the stallion does is mate and keep other bacholers away. But the lead mare is the one that will guide the herd to food, safety and water. 
However some mares do not have that insentive just as some mares in the wild dont. And some geldings can be bullies and that can go back to temperment, personality, and how long they were studs before gelded. It all just depends.


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## Born2Ride (Apr 13, 2011)

Well he seems to be doing pretty good, hes still separated from the mares in his own pasture. He tends to listen to me better than my mom though lol. She tried to bring them in for feeding tonight by herself and he was a pain in the butt for her to get him in his stall.


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## farley (May 23, 2010)

haha thats funny. my mom has a similar problem.. for some reason only when she feeds, everyone ends up in the wrong stall. and All my dad and I have to do is toss hay in their troughs and call them in from the field and everyone goes into their own stall just perfectly. haha she also cant halter my gelding or lead him with out him being a total brat I think its the ways she presents herself to him.. I dont know for sure but its a little funny though cause she gets so irritated that small children can do a task she has struggle with. :rofl:


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## Born2Ride (Apr 13, 2011)

farley said:


> haha thats funny. my mom has a similar problem.. for some reason only when she feeds, everyone ends up in the wrong stall. and All my dad and I have to do is toss hay in their troughs and call them in from the field and everyone goes into their own stall just perfectly. haha she also cant halter my gelding or lead him with out him being a total brat I think its the ways she presents herself to him.. I dont know for sure but its a little funny though cause she gets so irritated that small children can do a task she has struggle with. :rofl:



Yeah, her mares the same with me. We mutually dislike each other lol. But she does pretty good with my mom, but when it comes to riding she's good for anybody haha. I think hes just trying to test her, im normally the only one who handles him, so i think he figured he'd try and see what he could get away with.


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## farley (May 23, 2010)

yea I dont know what Gradys deal is...I give lessons with him all the time and hes a sweet heart always .. just not with my mom haha He knows to respect everyone, he loves my dad ...puts up with me haha but is just a jerk to my mom ..


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## Born2Ride (Apr 13, 2011)

farley said:


> yea I dont know what Gradys deal is...I give lessons with him all the time and hes a sweet heart always .. just not with my mom haha He knows to respect everyone, he loves my dad ...puts up with me haha but is just a jerk to my mom ..


Hmm, weird. Maybe its her personality towards him? Some horses just dont click with certain people i guess.


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## farley (May 23, 2010)

yea something.. He feeds off of emotion really easily, an she is kinda timid but acts tough, and I think it confuses him and he just gets difficult


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