How Mares, Geldings and Stallions Communicate


Today I would like to talk to you a little about mares, geldings and stallions and how they respond differently when communicating with us.

Mares can be moody. In these periods I find that if I take the time to connect with them slowly in the beginning before riding or training on the days they are moody, they will come around and forget their sensitivity and work with me as consistently as they would on any other day. If I cannot turn them around on the days they are moody, then I give them the time off they need. Mares can be very fussy about trust issues regarding strangers and even with other horses. In my experience, mares will try harder than stallions and geldings to please you and when they don’t please you, they get nervous and defensive. I think mares are more focused on reading the intentions of people than geldings and stallions. Mares can have strong opinions on what is right and what is wrong in regards to human behavior. Mares get along with other mares better than they do with geldings. I have noticed all horses may prefer one sex or color of horses to another. Some horses will prefer women to men or men to women.

Geldings need more encouragement to pay attention. Gelding a horse to reduce stallion behavior makes them quieter and easier to manage but after being gelded a horse can lose a certain amount of zest. To put the energy back, some speeding up exercises in the “warm up” may be necessary. I start off by using the last Waterhole Ritual™ Liberty Dancing which I used to call Go Trot and Come Up to warm up the bond and connection with any horse that needs
more enthusiasm, focus and drive.

Stallions as well as geldings need to have exercises on improving the gas pedal and brake but once you have a stallion trained to be forward he will generally stay that way where a gelding needs to be maintained. Once a gelding is energized, they are almost as quick to learn as mares.

They are more consistent and are easier to manage than mares and stallions. In a few cases, geldings can have the same behavior as stallions. When a gelding retains stallion traits, it can be due to the horse being “proud cut” or “late cut.” “Proud cut” means a horse that was not properly gelded leaving him able to still produce male hormones.

A horse can carry a certain amount of hormones after gelding that then continues stallion behavior even when the operation is performed properly. In the case of “late cut”, they have developed their masculine personalities and they may maintain their attitude.

Stallions can be difficult to handle, however in many cases, if they feel that you respect them they are much easier to handle. People can make mistakes in trying to win respect with attempts to prove their strength and by trying to lower the position of the stallion. The best approach to take is to not start any form of training until the bond and respect are established first. You would do this using the Waterhole Rituals™.


Carolyn Resnick
Liberty Training for Your Horse

 

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