# Do some horses prefer men over women riders and vice versa?



## smezera (Aug 24, 2011)

I'm still working with my 9 year old 1/2 qtr horse 1/2 arabian. He's very nervous (barn sour, buddy sour). He bolted on me Saturday and we went for a very scary ride. I managed to stay on him, but was shaken nonetheless. 

My male friend rode him Sunday, with very little problems. He mentioned to me that he thinks my Joey is a "man's" horse. My question: is there such a thing? Do horse have a preference over who's handling them? My vet tech friend said it was bull. Bad manners are bad manners no matter who is on their back. Just want some feedback from other horse people. I've never heard of this before and just want some opinions! Thanks!!

Joey's previous owners were both male.


----------



## capercowgirl (Oct 14, 2011)

I don't think that they are focusing more on if your male or female. They will test everyone who gets on their back. Joey may respond better to your male friend because he can handle him differently. Maybe your riding is different? Do you spend a lot of time with him??


----------



## kait18 (Oct 11, 2011)

i think its a load of poop  it is bad manners.

but... i do think some horses have a preference. my older mare has always liked kids. prefers kids over any adult and will chose a kid over adult in the field to catch her. i also know my friends horse hates males. so i do think it is possible. but no matter if the horse has a preference he should work for anyone. which leads to bad manners. 

ground work and leadership by you will resolve these problems


----------



## smezera (Aug 24, 2011)

Thank you for responding. Yes, my friend is much more assertive with handling him and also a more experienced rider. And my friend is pretty fearless in that he'll jump on any horse and ride them the crap out of them! Joey and I have definite 'trust' issues and I work with him alot, both on the ground and in saddle. He's excellent in the indoor arena and in the round pen. He's very well trained, but just so nervous when I try to ride him off the farm or away from his buddies. I know alot of it is me and I'm working through that, as well. I had just never heard of a 'man's' horse vs a 'womans' horse.


----------



## smezera (Aug 24, 2011)

Thank you for your response! I agree with everything you said. It's nice having some positive reinforcement. I do work him as often as I can and have every reason to believe he and I can work through this. It will also help when it's spring/summer and we can ride outside more often. He really is an awesome horse, I'm pretty sure I'm the one who needs the guidance!


----------



## Jacksmama (Jan 27, 2010)

As kait18 said, I think it is probably the fact that your gentleman friend is a more assertive rider. How much experience do you have? Sadly there is no quick fix to confidence issues, but it sounds like you are definitely on the right track to getting it worked out with him! 

That said, I do believe some prefer men or women, my own gelding MUCH prefers women to men, but that may have something to do with the fact that he was raised and trained by me, and has had very limited contact with men. The only man to ever ride him hopped on after Jack blew up on me at a show and I sprained my wrist, he needed to be ridden through it and I was hurting so he rode it out for me. IMO it has to do with their past experiences.


----------



## smezera (Aug 24, 2011)

I agree with the past experiences. He was left out in a pasture by himself for almost 3 years. So, he really doesn't like being alone or away from his buddies. I have a great support network of horse people around me. My horse riding ability is sound, my horse training ability needs some work. I think the bottom line is I need to establish that I'm the herd boss and that he can trust me. Also need to not push him when I can tell he's going to blow. Baby steps.


----------



## kait18 (Oct 11, 2011)

you are already in the right direction  you know what needs work and where you want to go  have fun with your project soon your horse will be a one person horse ;p joking of course


----------



## MangoRoX87 (Oct 19, 2009)

I think my colt prefers just random people. He is in love with my boyfriend, and just about wanted to kill my farrier. Dusty pinned his ears the moment the guy took his lead rope, tried whatever he could to kick at him. Needless to say, just got taught a lesson


----------



## xxBarry Godden (Jul 17, 2009)

Personally I have no problem in accepting as a generalised statement that men deal with their horses differently to women. And some men may ride more boldly than some women. But that a horse can from a distance detect a man from a woman is pushing my credence, unless all women go round wearing overpowering perfume. Being a male who lost his sense of smell years ago, I can nowadays only tell the difference in the sexes by the shape of the butt and the hair style. Although the presence of a beard is a pretty good indicator.


----------



## bsms (Dec 31, 2010)

Well, my mare prefers men. If a guy stands next to the corral, she'll come over, sniff, and hang out with the guys. She has little interest in women, even if she knows them.

I have a gelding who prefers women. I'm pretty sure it is based on his experiences at a ranch in Colorado, since he avoids anyone with a cowboy hat. Over the years, he has learned to tolerate cowboy hats, but a woman without a cowboy hat can approach him much easier. The scars on his side where he was spurred bloody make it easy to understand his feelings.

My BLM mustang shows no preference.

For riding, skill makes far more of a difference than sex. Any of them strongly prefer a good rider to a newbie, although the geldings will tolerate newbies, and the mare has put up with a couple of first time riding guys (but not girls...she despises teen girls). But in the saddle, they care about balance & confidence, not sex.


----------



## nuisance (Sep 8, 2011)

I had a mare who would not let a man touch her. She would tolerate other females. I could do anything with her. I was also the only one who ever rode her from the first to the last time. But, she did not like men!


----------



## apachewhitesox (Dec 9, 2010)

I agree with it just being about past experiences and manners. 

I knew a mare who had been abused by the man who trained her and so she was very aggressive from then on towards anyone, in particular men though. I think it was mostly men who reminded her of him. As long as you were always aware and readhy to put in her place you were pretty safe to handle her on the ground, though she had been known to charge at people from across the paddock. 

Then I also know a big gelding who apparently is only a mans horse. My riding instructor however easily handles him because she puts him in his place when its required. When you see him though he will walk up to a man before a woman hes the same with horses too he has to be in a paddock alone or with geldings because he attacks mares.


----------



## trailhorserider (Oct 13, 2009)

I once was given a horse that was said to prefer women (I am a woman). What I decided is that he was sensitive and could be handled gently. He didn't like being rough-housed. 

If the men who rode him were sensitive/gentle there was no problem. He did great for a couple of guys that I let ride him. 

Your horse might prefer someone more confident/assertive. I doubt gender has much to do with it, it's more that men tend to be assertive, women sensitive.....generally speaking of course.


----------



## tbrantley (Mar 6, 2011)

I think it depends on what they get used to. As well as, there has to be trust and/or respect between the horse and the rider.

I have a horse that I have had since he was 22 months old. I trained him myself, I am the only one that has ridden him, I am the only one that takes care of him. I spend hours with him everyday. He is nine years old now. We have been on hundreds of miles of trails, all over the place. He completely trust me and I him. 

My husband and I was going on a trail ride with some friends and I was trying to pack up the rest of the stuff in the horse trailer. I asked my husband to brush my horse down to save time. My husband informed me that my gentle horse that I never have trouble with, pinned his ears back, attempting to nip at him , cow kicked at him while he was trying to brush him down. My husband said that he could tell that I was walking up because my horse started watching the barn door and straighten up and acted as if everything was fine as soon as he seen me. 

This horse is so spoiled to me that he will not let any of our other horses near me when I walk out in the field with them. Soon as I go to the gate, he is running to the gate and I have to catch him first and put him into the stall so that I can catch the other horses. 

So, I am thinking if you want this horse to trust you and get attach to you, then you need to be the one to do everything for this horse. I did a lot of round penning and teaching ground manners and control before I ever ride my horses. I spend time with them every day, brushing while their eating, talking to them, cleaning out their stalls while they are cross tied watching me. They are completely depended on me. 

I think that if you spend a lot of time with him, take time to do a lot of ground work and get your confidence while working with him. He will trust you and it will not matter to him if you are a male or female.

Good luck with him, I hope that you will have many happy trails with him.


----------



## NeuroticMare (Jan 8, 2012)

I think they most definitely have a preference.

My mare adores men! My farrier keeps my horses on a schedule and if I'm not there, he'll just pull them out and do them... last time, I went to meet him to give him a Christmas gift and stayed and chatted while he shod my mare and trimmed my boy. My mare cuddled him so much I asked if I should get them a room lol. He said he loved her back and that she is very sweet. She also adores my boyfriend, and she slipped in some wet grass at a jumper derby last year and fell, I fell off and rolled away and she got up and trotted over to BF.

My gelding loves anybody and everybody, he is an equal opportunity lover.


----------



## MangoRoX87 (Oct 19, 2009)

I've heard of stud's getting really aggressive towards girls when it's that time of the month...true or false?


----------



## Iain (Jan 3, 2012)

I don't think gender is a deciding factor with horses... I think it's more of a matter of the attitude of the rider, and how soft the rider is with them... I think personality has more to do with it.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


----------



## LynnF (Jun 1, 2011)

I agree that it probably isn't a gender thing, its more the way a person rides. He was probably responding to the fact that your friend is a more aggressive rider and not the fact that he has more testosterone.


----------



## scarlson (Nov 25, 2011)

Yes and no? I think a lot of it has to do with if the horse respects you, but my friend's horse isn't really great with males. She's an OTTB and we think she might have been abused by men or something, because she doesn't trust them. She's fine with us girls though.


----------



## DraftyAiresMum (Jun 1, 2011)

My gelding decidedly does not like most men. He will tolerate certain men, like the farrier (as long as he approaches from the side) and one of the other boarders, and he does love our BO (who basically raised him from a weanling til I bought him, so they do have a special bond). However, if a man walks past him while he's tied, he will pivot to keep the man in his line of sight. If a man comes up to his stall, he will (generally) observe them from the other side of the stall and make no move to be friendly. Even enticements of food (for a growing 2.5yo draft cross) aren't enough to get him to accept most men. It has been tried. Women and children, on the other hand, can do just about anything to him and he could care less. He has never had a bad experience with men to my knowledge. I was told (by the BO, the BO's two sons and one of the guys who kind of works at the barn) that about six months before I bought him, he decided that he just didn't like men. If a random woman were to stand at one end of his stall, a random man at the other, and a random child in the middle, Aires would more than likely go to the child.

I can't say about in the saddle, as the only three people who have ever ridden Aires have been women (myself, the trainer at the barn and my friend).


----------



## ahalleyscomet (Dec 12, 2011)

Out of seven there are only a few that seem to prefer one gender over another. We have an OTTB mare that does not like women at all, but adores men and children. One QH gelding doesn't like men, but I think it is because he doesn't like a "big" voice used on him.


----------



## sierrams1123 (Jul 8, 2011)

yes, an appy gelding I had HATED any man that sat on his back but rode like a dream for any woman.

The only guy he ever even care for on the ground was my boyfriend, and I think that is only because he spoiled him with treats every time I turned around.

I also knew a horse that would lock up its knees and pass out if it saw a black person, funniest thing ever. It did not matter what he was doing at the time he would fall like a sack of potatoes. I would say he was definitely racist, funny thing was he was dark bay almost black himself 

I almost forgot. There was a OTTB mare at a barn I used to work at that had to be pastured and stalled by herself and away from any male anything. She would nut up (in a good way like all happy) if she even smelled anything male, horse or human. She was a brood mare for a few years so we all thought maybe that had something to do with it. She was sold after having her last baby, it ripped her pretty bad causing her not to be able to be bred ever again.


----------



## Brighteyes (Mar 8, 2009)

My mare loves big, deep voiced, quiet natured men. She was bred, raised, and broke by men of that discription. It's what she's use to. I've found she doesn't test new riders if they are males. She behaves without a hitch, but will throw out some annoying misbehaviors for beginner females. And females in general, really. She never tires of testing my trainer and only tolerated me for the first six months I owned her.


----------

