Should a Beginner Rider Buy a Stallion, Gelding or Mare?

Geldings

For a beginner rider, there is a slight bias in favor of geldings. The reason for this is that geldings tend to have fewer mood swings than mares because they have no heat cycles. Depending on the horse’s training, temperament, and how late in life the horse was gelded, a gelding may or may not be the best choice. Geldings gelded late in life may still retain some of the behavioral characteristics of a stallion, although they are physically unable to reproduce. These horses are not a good choice for a beginner. A horse that was gelded early in its life will likely be the steadiest.

When choosing a gelding, there is one thing a buyer has to watch for, and that’s a ridgling. If a horse is stallion-like in its behavior but appears to be a gelding, it may be something called a ​rig, or ridgling. Before modern veterinarian medicine ensured gelding was done properly, a horse left with some testicular and epididymis tissue may have exhibited stallion-like behavior. This is where the term ‘proud cut’ comes from.

Today, it’s unlikely you will find any truly ‘proud cut’ geldings. They are more likely to be cryptorchids. This is a procedure that renders the stallion unable to reproduce while still producing testosterone, a hormone which makes stallions more aggressive.