Magnificent mares: Don’t rule out a mare as your next show partner

As an owner of a large equestrian facility in Southeastern NC, we quite often have between two and six horses for sale at any one time. I receive many calls from people looking for new mounts. Often when people call looking for a new partner to ride, they leave out about fifty percent of the horse population! I quite often hear these words, “I am looking for a horse but I do not want a mare!” This has often perplexed me as I have always ridden and competed on mares. Many people making these statements have never worked with or spent time with a mare and are basing their statement on what others have told them. I have actually gotten a reputation as a trainer that will work with mares which is something I have always enjoyed. Read on and you can find out why!

An Early start

As long as I can remember, I have had horses in my blood, as did my mother and her mother before her. My very first pony was an 11 hand mare named Rabbit. She was the most tolerant pony I have ever known; whatever I asked her to do she did, calmly and quietly. She was such a patient teacher. I was only about 4 years old at the time and I could ride her all by myself and we walked, trot, cantered and jumped! She always kept me safe. I guess it was from this day forth that I always enjoyed riding mares. As I grew there were a variety of horses and ponies in and out of my life but for some reason it has always been the mares that have stuck out in my mind.

Why are mares so special?

I have always found mares to be willing conscientious and great teachers. In the wild they would have to not only care for themselves but their herd mates and their young. This makes them highly intelligent and aware of their environment. I find them to be much more sensitive to aids and cues than geldings. When a male horse is gelded, they lose their hormone levels which make them calmer and less aggressive. Mares, for the most part, have their natural normal hormone levels and during different times of the month can be more sensitive and reactive. Some mare owners that are competing will regulate these hormone levels by giving the competitive mare regumate. I personally have never done this with any of my mares that I compete with. I like the fact that they are alert and listening and do not want their senses dulled by use of man made hormones.

What goes wrong?

I think the reason mares get a reputation as being difficult to work with is because they are so intelligent. As I stated before, in the wild, a mare needs to be aware of her surroundings to protect herself as well as their young. It never ceases to amaze me on how loving and caring a mare is with their young. They are nurturing, patient and help their young foal to learn about its environment quickly. If a mare were not able to do this, their foals would quickly be killed by prey. I guess why so many people have difficulty working with mares is because they do not understand how they work. I have never come across a mare in all my years of training that would not give 150% if they understood what was asked of them. The rules have to be set so they understand. I find most mares react negatively if they do not understand what is asked. They also tend to panic if they are reprimanded to harshly. This goes back to their natural “fight or flight” instinct. If a mare is treated aggressively they are going to do one of two things, try to escape the situation or react aggressively back towards its predator (i.e. the person being aggressive). Riding a mare takes patience and confidence. I also find that that are fantastic teachers just like they can be when teaching their own young. We have many great mares in our school program, all of which have been given to me by friends looking to move onto a new mount. What better place to be than North Carolina where the climate is nice most of the year and they are spoiled rotten at our farm! All of the mares in our program have been show horses for years and really know their stuff! As I watch my students ride, I can see how if the student does the exercise correctly the horse does its job but if they make a mistake the mare may not do what is asked. By acting this way, the students learn to ride correctly and learn from their mistakes.

Tia: An example of a bad mare turned good

If any of you know me or see me at shows, you probably know or seen my Irish TB mare named Tia (Touch the Sun). My students fight over her at the barn because she is such a wonderful teacher, she loves to jump and compete. When I tell my students that she was not always as perfect as they see, they do not believe me. I have owned her since she was four years old and at the time I was desperate for a horse to compete with as my old mount had an injury that was not recoverable. I had found out about her through a local Equine publication (much like THE SALT BLOCK GAZZETTE). There was a small ad placed that started as follows: very special horse needs very special rider…..and then went on to give a description of her. When I called her owner, she said she had had more than 150 people look at her but that she was still available. I drove right down to see her, rode her for five minutes and took her. She was a gorgeous red chestnut, beautiful conformation and only one problem; she had been abused in the past and trusted no one. I was ready to take her on though, as I stated in the beginning on this article, I have always enjoyed riding mares. This horse trusted no one and I was no exception. When I started to ride and train her when ever I taught her something new, she would refuse to do it and rear up straight in the air. All her riders in the past would get scared and get off of her. They had reinforced this horrible behavior be giving into her. When she would do this with me, I would gallop her for miles up and down the hills of Vermont and then go back and ask her to do the same thing again (a simple task like walking over a pole), if she reared again, off we would go into the hills again!. After about two weeks of this she decided it was much easier to do what I wanted. If she did something correctly, I would give her a lot of praise. After a while, she lived to understand what I wanted, it was fun for her and me. I went on to compete with her for over 14 years in the Jumpers, ending up being New England Open Jumper Champion for two years. I had many opportunities to sell her for huge amounts of money. I always refused as she was my once in a lifetime horse. She continues to teach riders at my farm at the age of 22.

In Conclusion

As I stated in this article, I have always enjoyed riding mares. They are challenging, intelligent and will always give their all for their rider. They tend to be careful and cautious jumpers and tend to be conscientious of their riders. I feel that most people that have had a bad experience with a mare, just do not understand how they work. Although different from riding a gelding, who tend to be a little more tolerant of mistakes, a mare tends to give more than they take if they understand what is asked. Patience, tolerance and understanding are they key to riding a mare and isn’t that what we all strive for? In conclusion, please don’t make a blank statement that all mares do not make good show partners, who knows you may end up which a great partner that will go the extra mile to do what you ask!