The article is summed up with this sage advice from old time trainers:
"There are only two ways you can argue with a mare and neither one works."
If you can accept a mare for who she is, very often you can have a great horse. If you can't, it is just horrible for everyone. I think that is why so many trainers don't like mares. Geldings are so much more pliable. They will work on your time table. When working with a mare, everything is on her time table. Now of course every mare is different.
Abby and Madison. . . Madison is not really mine, she is my mom's. I have her Madison several years ago as a Christmas present. Of course I take total care of her but I always hoped that my mom would drive her one day. I have not given up hope. Although I need to train her to drive. I love these two together. Notice their stars and snips. They are very similar.Of course my new mare:
Kinsey~ who is actually loved by a gelding lover. Not sure what that says about either of them. lol I thought that Kinsey would come in to my little herd and be at the bottom of the pecking order. She isn't, silly girl. She is the top. Pushes Abby, a good hand and a half taller than her and at least 500 lbs heavier, around. I had to remove my little guy from the herd and put him with the goats because Kinsey quite literally knocked him on his butt.Honestly she is becoming a different horse now that she is outside all the time. She can run, which she loves to do. She runs up to the fence to say hello, nickers for food, is becoming an almost affectionate horse. She is all mare for sure, which I why I was think that having so many people using her and handle her was getting confusing for her. Mares like routine.
Oh don't worry nobody was harmed during this play session. They had just been turned out into the field to stretch their legs without mud and these two just happened to cross paths. You have to admit that Madison really can get down can't she. Could be a little cow pony.
I'm a mare person myself, although I also have a wonderful gelding. Mares have mare-itude!
ReplyDeleteI like my mares too. Dusty is definitely an alpha and queen bee around the barn. Sweetie is all prissy mare where Dusty is a tom-boy and likes to hang with the boys. She's not very affectionate like the geldings are but I'm hoping one day she will be. The only time she is affectionate is when she wants a treat! Your mares are adorable, I really like the little one, so cute.
ReplyDeleteI, too, am a mare lover. I started off with a mare and I tend to hoard the mares I've bred. I can sell the boys.....but the girls just have my heart.
ReplyDeleteYou just gotta love a mare that comes in and takes over despite her size, don't you!!
I love that last picture! Nice moves.
ReplyDeleteI'm so not a mare person lol. I loved my Appaloosa mare that I grew up riding, but we would get into power struggles sometimes. Of course my training methods have changed a lot since I was a kid so it probably would have been a different story if I had her now. Mares just don't seem as affectionate and don't seem to like being messed with. The ones I had anyway. It got kind of depressing when I'd go out to groom and spend time with my mare and she'd be her happiest when I was done and leaving her alone (my sister's mare was way more affectionate). I guess that's why I eventually gave her up because we just weren't a great match. I still love her though. She was a fantastic beginner horse.
I love mares, too. My first mare was rather stand offish, so when she allowed me to fuss over her or steal a hug, I felt so honored. I think I like mares because they seem more like girlfriends and somehow seem easier to connect with. Once you have them, they are yours and there is that deeper level in communication.
ReplyDeleteThey also seem to take their jobs seriously and aren;t as goofy.
Most geldings seem to be rather goofy and almst ADHD at time. The ones I've come into contact with have been more pushy and touchy-feely.
But that's just a generalization, of course. It's all about personality and every horse is different.
I just like mares. lol!
~Lisa