# Dominance in mares vs. geldings



## AQHA13 (Apr 19, 2017)

We used to have a mare that was dominant over the group. I think it depends upon a horse's personality though. Since then we've acquired a gelding, when he was put in with the two mares there was only a small confrontation and in about 10 seconds is was all done and settled, he was boss.


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## Poseidon (Oct 1, 2010)

If I am wrong about this, feel free to correct me, but I'm pretty sure in wild herds, the herd is led by a "lead mare". The stallion(s)'s main purpose, other than breeding, is to protect the herd. So it would make sense that your mare would have dominance over your gelding.


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## Strange (Jan 11, 2009)

In my experience mares in a group of horses have always been more "dominant" (i.e. been higher up on the totem pole) than any others. It is quite true that "lead" mares in wild herds are the ones that run the herd, so to speak, so it would make very much sense for this to follow in our more domesticated horses too.


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

Generally, it is true, the mare will be the alpha. However, there are always exceptions. Take my Bessie for instance. She is at the very bottom of the totem pole in a pen with nothing but geldings. Even the low gelding bosses her around.


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## Poseidon (Oct 1, 2010)

The herd where I work in the summer has a gelding and a mare that have basically the same rank at the top of the pecking order. They never fight each other, but everyone else avoids them. The gelding is just rude to the rest of them and the mare is the biggest mare in the herd and definitely throws her weight around..generally through her hind legs.


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## MacabreMikolaj (May 9, 2009)

Mmmm, my Arab gelding was ALWAYS dominant - he was kept alone for several years after my grandpa sold his herd, and when we got Zena who was pregnant and abused, it was weird because he would let her kick the crap out of him - until the foal was born. After that, he laid a few lickings on her and went back to being dominant. They didn't even get along, although Playboy doted on Zierra like she was his (in fact because they were both chestnut, people always thought he was the dam before looking at his equipment, LOL.)

Same as when the neighbors pony kept escaping and they finally kept her with my group for awhile - she challenged Playboy, and they went *** to *** kicking like demons the first couple times, and she finally gave up.

At Shay-las, the herd is entirely mares except for the Mini gelding. Although Flika and Cinder are the "leaders" of the herd and the ones who will put a new horse in their place, NOBODY messes with Mini Man - he rules the roost and won't hesitate to lay boots and bites on anyone who challenges him.

I think in general, a lot of geldings seem to be more passive - right now at the ranch, it's mares that rule each herd out of a mix of geldings and mares. But I've definitely seen some pretty dominant geldings in my day!


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## LindseyHunterx24 (Nov 1, 2010)

Yes, in the wild there is a mare known as the "lead mare" she tells the herd where to go but the stallion tells them when to go and also tells them where to go if the herd is in any danger. His main purpose for being there yes is to protect the herd and to spread his genes. So yea, i think that the mare would be the more dominant one. But then again there is a gelding at my barn who still acts like a stallion so when he is with mares he is the more dominant one. So it really does depend on the horses personality


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## devildogtigress (May 17, 2010)

I rescued a mare this summer who was def. NOT alpha to my gelding. Of course, she was 14.2 hands, and he is 16.3 1/2 hands...so the size dif. is dramatic. LOL


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## SaddleDragon (Sep 20, 2010)

Poseidon said:


> The herd where I work in the summer has a gelding and a mare that have basically the same rank at the top of the pecking order. They never fight each other, but everyone else avoids them. The gelding is just rude to the rest of them and the mare is the biggest mare in the herd and definitely throws her weight around..generally through her hind legs.


I have a group like this. It is two mares in with 3 other mare though. Sorry I dont have much else to add. My mares used to have a gelding in with them. My alpha mare will still try to get out, chase him down, and try to KILL, I mean KILL him. Thus the saddledragon name.


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## AnitaAnne (Oct 31, 2010)

Every herd I have had there is a dominant gelding. One was very laid-back & gentle, but still in charge. he was smaller than my big mare, but she was only in charge when he was out of the pasture. The weird thing is, his friend was a large pony & the pony could boss the mare around when the other gelding was there. It was very different.

My current draft cross is very gelding aggressive. I had to sell my paint gelding after a year because he kept trying to eat the stall wall down between them. He would body slam the wall too. This went on for a year! i never even could turn them out together! 

The minute I sold the paint gelding, the draft cross stopped tearing at the wood & body slamming the wall. So I bought a mare & they were fine together from day one. He acts more like a stallion than some stallions I have riden!

I think it depends on the horses personality & who they are with. The first barn I boarded at as a kid had them divided up into 5 pastures:
1 - aggressive mares
2 - aggressive geldings
3 - gentle mares
4 - gentle geldings
5 - foals & ponys
plus some individual paddocks for stallions & severely mean (can't be with any others) mares or geldings. Or if you just wanted to keep your horse separate...


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## mom2pride (May 5, 2009)

I've seen the tables pretty "equal" in either direction over the years. 

My mom's old Arab gelding is a BEAR when it comes to other horses, and he IS dominant no matter "who or what" the horse is, he's been that way since he was young! 

The filly I worked with for a school last year was the same way...she even over dominated my mare who is MUCH older than her! 

I think it just depends on the attitudes of the horses in your particular herd, really, because you may have a good mix, but if only a mare want's leadership, then that's who will be the leader; if it's a gelding that fights for it, then that's who will be the leader; but that's not necessarily how it is in the wild, as usually mares are the herd leaders...the stallions are the protectors.


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## wild_spot (Jan 30, 2008)

My herd is three geldings, one mare. Mare is definitely not the boss - She is about third, behind the two big ASH geldings.


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## MN Tigerstripes (Feb 20, 2009)

In my experience it depends on the horse. 

Soda has been dominant with every horse he's ever been in with. The mares don't mess with him and either do the geldings. He's the boss and he's a mean boss. 

My 3 childhood horses were 2 mares and a gelding. They had a weird relationship/heiarchy (sp?). 1 of the mares was the bottom, but the other mare and the gelding shared the top. The gelding never went after or bossed anyone around. I don't think I ever saw him pin his ears or threaten to kick. The "lead" mare never acted dominant towards the gelding either. She would occasionally act dominant towards the low mare though. 

One of my friends has 5 horses. 3 geldings and 2 mares. 2 of the geldings are the top dogs, then one of the mares, then a gelding, and the last mare. That recently changed though and now the 3 geldings are top dogs. 

Another friend has a very dominant mare, she won't even put her in with geldings. 

Another friend has a mare that's always been the bottom of the totem pole. Her boyfriend has a gelding that's mid range or doesn't really seem to care.


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## Xhex428 (Nov 8, 2010)

I had a Quarter Horse gelding that was the boss in every group he was put into. Didn't matter if it was with mares or geldings. But I think it has alot to do with the horses personality. My Buck thought he was a 17h buff stud when he was really only 14.1h on a good day. LOL.


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## New_image (Oct 27, 2007)

I've always wondered why people prefer geldings. They say the mares a dominant and moody, we want a gelding. 
I train 20+ horses a year and hands down prefer to train a mare. I have never in my fifteen years of horses had an in heat mare cause me trouble, if she does its a training problem or if she truly feels poorly its ONE DAY she needs off for the month, big deal.

Anyways back on topic - My geldings rule here. Each has a mare, each fights when his mare is talking to another gelding. I'm not sure what it is in the air here but the geldings are a pain. They are bossy with the one mare and always have to squeel at eachother and chase eachother off. My mares could all care less and just want to be left alone. I have fifteen horses, three pastures and the horses are all paird off. Two geldings here have two mares each. One has no-one.


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## charlicata (Jan 12, 2010)

Rook is definitely the dominant one in my case. Rose is the bottom of the totem pole...even in the case of the mini donkeys. When she was in the same area as them, with stalls opening into the paddock area, the donkeys would eat...then run her out of her stall. The last straw was when it was cold and raining last year, and they wouldn't let her in either stall. I can't stand those little suckers. It was the same way with the SB gelding I used to have. The BO tried turning Rook out with them without my knowledge one day, and had to get grain to get him away from them. He kept chasing and trying to bite them or running ahead and trying to cow kick them. (IMO...that's what he gets for doing it without me knowing about it or being there) But before I moved everybody around, I would have to stick around til my horse finished eating or they would steal his/her grain. What P'd me off even more is that when I told the BO about it, all he did was laugh.


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## LoverofHorses (Jan 3, 2010)

In my experiences it is usually the mare who dominates but it really just depends on the personality of each individual horse. Although my TWH gelding rules our herd of 6 geldings, a mare and a filly, which is funny considering he's the one who's always on the thinner/weaker side and has a "nail-biter" personality.


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## Heatherloveslottie (Apr 12, 2010)

I guess it depends on the horse, Lottie definitely rules the roost over my arab x Tazz. Even when they're separated it's shown in their personalities really, Lottie is defiant and acts like she knows it all, whereas Tazz is just a complete attention seeker and I've never known him to act aggressively in the slightest.


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## ponyup (Nov 15, 2010)

I think it depends on the horses' personalities. There is an alpha mare move that people, especially people with long hair, can do that will establish YOUR dominance on the ground. If you shake your head in "headbanger" style out in the pasture your horses will toe the line but fast! I use it to get the other horses away from the gate when I'm trying to lead one horse through it.


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## Standardbred Luver (Aug 5, 2010)

I think that mares tend to be higher up in the 'food chain' than geldings. My mare is only 15.1 hh yet she bosses around bigger geldings. Other mares follow her lead and there are always a few geldings hanging around her (she is in season and they think they're studs).


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## x Branded Heart x (Jun 17, 2010)

This is an interesting question actually. Because again, like everyone has said, in a wild herd there is an alpha mare who runs the herd and doesn't let anyone step out of line, then there is the stallion who basically protects the herd and spreads his genes. It is interesting to see different personality types go head to head when put out together.

In a herd of over 20 horses of mixed genders, we had a gelding who was always the ladies man. He was laid back, very gentle, but his 'dominant mares' made sure no one touched him. They worked (as a team I guess) to keep everyone else in line. If someone got in a fight, they were always the first there to break it up. But once, one of the dogs got out into the field and that gelding was chased that poor dog down and attempted to strike at him while running (quite amusing to watch). The dominant mares ran close behind but they didn't get near the dog. It seemed as though the herd dynamics this herd was similar to that of a wild herd. 

I also noticed that geldings tend to stick together, and mares stick together. But if genders mix as friends, its usually only one and one. Or one gelding and more than one mare, never one mare and several geldings. Which is probably why (whoever it was that was saying they put their mare in with the geldings) had their mare being kind of a loner. 
Just a thought lol but I do find herd dynamics quite interesting. I'll sit out in the fields and watch them for hours on end, just observing the ties between different horses.


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## mliponoga (Jul 24, 2010)

It's definitely different between what horses you have and the experiences these horses have had along with even their breeding. My mare is by far one of the most dominant horses I have ever seen and every horse knows it. I would love to see that dominance taken from her, but I don't believe I've met a horse that could. But I've definitely seen it both ways, where a gelding has been the most dominant in the herd and where a mare has.


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## Hrsegirl (Mar 16, 2010)

I think it does depend on the horses that you have. For example, when I was younger, my mom and dad had quite a few horses and the dominant horse was my mare Annie. She bossed everyone around including our gelding, Doc. 

Now I have two of my own horses, my gelding, Cherokee, and my mare, Smokey. Cherokee is definitely the dominant of the two and he sure lets her know it when needed. It could be because he is almost 10 years older than her or just because he is a dominant horse. Where I bought Cherokee at, he was with all geldings and I didn't really notice if he was the dominant guy or not. Where I bought Smokey from, she was definitely the lowest on the totem pole. So maybe it is just her nature to let Cherokee be boss because that's all she's ever known. I'm not sure but I definitely don't believe that the mare is always alpha.


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