# Are Chestnut Mares Wacky?



## ebrides (May 25, 2012)

My friend says all Chestnut mares are a handful... she calls them 'crazy red-heads' and claims they all have 'issues.' (I think she has mainly ridden TB's so perhaps that is part of it).

What do you think? Is this a generalization that is often true or just a myth/ prejudice?


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## Samstead (Dec 13, 2011)

just a myth! I know/have known many completely normal chestnuts, Lucy for example. She's calm (for the most part ut every horse has "those" days) and listens very well when she knows what you want. Homestly you could lever in the crossties unattached and she'd stay put, until someone went by with a whell barrow of hay of course!


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## RunSlideStop (Apr 21, 2012)

Coud just be a myth but out of the 4 mares I have owned, the three crazies were Chestnut! (The sane one was bay)

At a camp I worked at, the two mares were bay and liver chestnut. Guess which was pushy, arrogant, and a pig? The chestnut mare. Come to think of it, I can't remember a single chestnut mare who hasn't been hot tempered or otherwise just snotty. Always had good experiences with bays, and only had problems with two geldings of any colour (one chestnut), but they were unsound. 

So.. could be myth, could be fact


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## Oldhorselady (Feb 7, 2012)

Yep, my chestnut with flaxen mane and tail is a nut!


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## Janna (Apr 19, 2012)

Sure it's a myth. I've had a sweet chestnut mare. 


All the other chestnut mares I messed with were bitchy and hot tho ****


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## DriftingShadow (Jun 4, 2012)

I just love the horse world myths. My grandfather used to tell me, "4 white socks with a bald nose, better bop him on the head and feed him to the crows" hahaha. Wish I could visit it with him one last time to tell him a good friend of mine has a 4 sock bald faced gelding who is a complete gentleman and not nutty in the slightest 

But back to the original topic, I have met some pretty wacky chestnut mares. Ive met some pretty wacky palomino, black and dun mares too. But I've also met some great ones of the same color


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## PintoTess (Aug 18, 2010)

Haha! 
I really have the combo!! Chestnut, thoroughbred and a mare! She has a bit of an attitude but thats what gives her spunk! I love my horses with attitude as they usually have that little bit more "go" in them.


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## EvilHorseOfDoom (Jun 17, 2012)

Myth - yeah, I've known my share of 'that' type of chestnut mare, but I've known some really lovely ones too - my friend has a little chestnut mare with the sweetest, friendliest personality. I've also known lots of grouchy bay/brown/grey/black mares.

I swear palominos are all show-offs though!


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## Chiilaa (Aug 12, 2010)

Myth. The colour genes are not at all responsible for any sort of personality development.


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## Oldhorselady (Feb 7, 2012)

EvilHorseOfDoom said:


> Myth - yeah, I've known my share of 'that' type of chestnut mare, but I've known some really lovely ones too - my friend has a little chestnut mare with the sweetest, friendliest personality. I've also known lots of grouchy bay/brown/grey/black mares.
> 
> I swear palominos are all show-offs though!


LOL!...I agree about Palominos...don't they seem to act like Barbie? All in fun everyone.....palomino owners please don't take offence.:lol: Well, then again my crazy chesnut mare is a blond and is VERY snooty about her appearance. When I first got her, she was the only horse my BO encountered that wouldn't finish her grain....this lasted a couple years actually....(now I think it was nerves from the company of other humans around her and I didn't know better at the time). She does not like anything sloppy on her lips or she rubs them all over stuff. She seems to rarely be muddy. And I would swear that she sticks her muzzle in the air after a bath.:lol:


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## PintoTess (Aug 18, 2010)

Oh yes, I agree it is also a Myth! Thats just like saying a stallion has to be black! (like non-experienced horse people picture a big black stallion when they hear the word)


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## Tintara (May 27, 2012)

Myth about the redheads but a grain of truth about the blondes maybe.... Probably because they instinctively KNOW they are the beauty queens (and kings) of the horse world .

Interesting thing about chestnuts - I recall someone telling me a few years ago now that the reason chestnuts are not all that common in the Iberian breeds is because of the perception that they are hot headed so of course no one wants to breed them.


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## MHFoundation Quarters (Feb 23, 2011)

Myth, most likely coincidence. The most sane & steady horse on my place is the only chestnut. She's the one you put the most novice of riders on and know she'll take care of them. She won't go any faster than she thinks they can handle nor will she turn as quick with a beginner. (she's a retired reiner) With a capable adult though, she has a lot of motor and precision handling. 

Side note color coincidence, every palomino I've ever rode or started was cold backed. Doesn't mean they all are, just the 7 or 8 that I've thrown a leg over were.


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## Emma27 (Feb 3, 2012)

Not sure if there's any truth in it but some people believe that they are the same as human red heads. http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/love-sex-and-babies/201104/why-are-redheads-more-sensitive


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## Sunny (Mar 26, 2010)

I know someone with a bumper sticker that says, "Hell hath no fury like a chestnut TB mare."

What is Sunny? A chestnut TB mare, but she is very quiet and well-mannered. Not "wacky" at all, not even at four years old.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Golden Horse (Feb 20, 2010)

I would love to know where that one started, it is surprising how many myths and old wives tales have some foundation in fact, even if it is just a little tiny part of it.

I've grown up with that one, and I have to see that the only real chestnut mare I ever bought was a genuine fruit loop,


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## shandasue (Nov 22, 2011)

my dad believes all paint mares with any blue in their eyes are crazy because my first horse was. lol. She really wasnt crazy, she never got me off her back but my dad never had an enjoyable ride on her!
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## smokeslastspot (Jan 11, 2012)

Does having a crazy red headed coworker who sometimes pretends she is a horse count?


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## BlueSpark (Feb 22, 2012)

Total myth. 

Most dependable thoroughbred mare I've ridden was a chstnut, did endurance with her.

Her colt was my "heart horse" who had to be put down as a yearling. Most fantastic temperment.

2 year old off the track last year was the most bomb proof throughbred I've ever seen.

Have a chestnut mare on the farm thats arab/qh, dead broke kids horse.

Also had a crazy chestnut mare and gelding. Most insane horse I've ever seen was black.Crazy as a road lizard.

Funny enough, I'm a blond that is not showy and hates having my picture taken. and I have the firey "spirit" red heads are known for(I blame my irish ancestry).


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## Wallaby (Jul 13, 2008)

As a redhead, I'm going to say it's a myth. :lol:

However, I wouldn't be surprised if there's some correlation between people expecting their chestnut mare to be sorta "off" (not saying those with "off" redheaded mares are like this, it could be as a result from a previous home), treating them differently because of that, and that chestnut mare ending up sorta nuts due to that "different" treatment (more inconsistency/harsher/gentler/whatever).
I can tell you that every chestnut mare I've ridden/been around has been pretty normal. One was super dead headed, one was super untrained and therefore a challenge, and one had a really bad saddle fit that she didn't appreciate. 
If we're going to make chestnut stereotypes, every chestnut gelding I've met has been either ridiculously laid back or really really dumb. :rofl:

I know that sometimes people expect me to be feisty or "off-kilter" due to my hair color and I can safely say that people like that drive me up a wall so I end up being "feisty" with them because I hate being treated differently for something I 100% cannot help. But, really, while I am a sassy human (within reason! haha), I'm not any more nutso or crazy than the average person.


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## Endiku (Dec 6, 2010)

Sure, its a myth- but funnily enough it seems to be true at our farm! XD

Take Sour for instance. Adorable little baby faced mare, but she's one of the most sensative, hot little horses I've met in a long time. Then theres our gelding Buddy, who thinks that he owns the world and no matter how much we reprimind him, he's always trying to bulldoze you over. Our ASB mare Corona is also a chestnut, and the nuttiest of all of our horses. She has absolutely NO problem with trying to shed you on a tree or fence...even if that means running HERSELF into it. And ofcourse we have Shaniah, our flaming red OTTB who throws almost anyone who tries to get on her back UNLESS you're maybe three particular people. Spanks too. She's such a nutcase that we stopped trying to saddlebreak her. She's a dream on the ground but stick a saddle on her back and she's a spawn of the devil! 

Come to think of it, the only non nutty chestnuts we have are the BO's son's gelding, who is a nice roping horse. He can be really hot though, if he isn't worked hard. And Pudding, who's 28 1/2 years old XD but we didnt own her in her golden days. She may of been a nutcase too, but now she's a nice, solid therapy horse.


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## ebrides (May 25, 2012)

LOL, these are great posts! Thanks to all. Actually one of my favorite horses I used to ride H/J was a chestnut mare. I loved her and never had any trouble with her, but other riders did and she eventually was sold out of the school horse program.

The current chestnut mare I'm riding is an Arab so I don't know if her 'issues' are due to breed, color, or just her personal temperament. I really like her but she does have a tendency to threaten biting and is girthy. She will also put her ears back and/or kick out if she doesn't agree with what your'e doing in the saddle. I just turn her in a sharp circle and give her the gruff voice, that's about all it takes.


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## AnnaHalford (Mar 26, 2012)

I call it the 'Ginger' myth - remember her in Black Beauty? Bitey chestnut mare...

But it is a myth. I think it might be something to do with the anticipation = different treatment thing, though. 

I've ridden four chestnuts: a sane mare, an insane gelding (and he was called Ginger, lol), an incredibly sane gelding, and a nuts mare. So i think I have the full set. 

The maddest mare I've ever ridden was black, though.


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## Tintara (May 27, 2012)

Sunny said:


> I know someone with a bumper sticker that says, "Hell hath no fury like a chestnut TB mare."


I want one............! 

I have 2 chestnut TB mares and two TB X chestnut mares and I have to say 3 of them ARE a tad temperamental. The fourth is a pain in the .... because she is so quiet. I also have a brown TB mare that I've called Ditzy ever since I got her for a reason  Probably a bit unfair now tho because she's grown out of a lot of the ditziness but names stick. 

Reckon with mine it has more to do with the breed than the colour.


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## SGM (May 31, 2012)

I've wondered the same thing myself. I have two chestnuts and both have quirks about them. My other two horses are a palomino pony and a blue roan paint and neither of them are quirky.


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## scaequestrian (May 16, 2012)

*Really now?*



smokeslastspot said:


> Does having a crazy red headed coworker who sometimes pretends she is a horse count?


Gee thanks. Nice.


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## scaequestrian (May 16, 2012)

Heh, my chestnut mare is my Valley Girl. A total flake, and hot as the day is long.


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## HollyBubbles (Jun 22, 2009)

Myth 
I looked after a chestnut marewho was also a thoroughbred (shock horror! :lol: ) and she was the sweetest thing ever, you could do anything with her and she wouldn't bat an eyelid.
She gave her owner her confidence back after a nasty fall where the horse bolted, fell over a fence and flipped on top of her onto the road and cracked her pelvis. After that accident she was so scared of horses she was on the lead rein again, and she had been brought up riding the craziest things!
She's now showjumping at 1m30 thanks to the old girl, RIP Sarah


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## EvilHorseOfDoom (Jun 17, 2012)

Aww Holly, I've known so many sweet and quiet track TBs. Much-maligned things. Shetlands on the other hand... totally evil 
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Jore (Dec 4, 2010)

Oldhorselady said:


> LOL!...I agree about Palominos...don't they seem to act like Barbie? All in fun everyone.....palomino owners please don't take offence.:lol: Well, then again my crazy chesnut mare is a blond and is VERY snooty about her appearance. When I first got her, she was the only horse my BO encountered that wouldn't finish her grain....this lasted a couple years actually....(now I think it was nerves from the company of other humans around her and I didn't know better at the time). She does not like anything sloppy on her lips or she rubs them all over stuff. She seems to rarely be muddy. And I would swear that she sticks her muzzle in the air after a bath.:lol:


Completely and totally agree about the palomino comment haha. I always joke that if Major was human, he'd be one of those stuck up guys who wears polo shirts, is oblivious, is very flamboyant and very concerned with appearance.


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