Cocadori.
Although there is alot of truth in what you post, good training or not,it has been documented many times over that geldings are more stable on temperment as a general rule. Inducing drugs into the equation should not be necessary.There are times when a mare is more desireable. Such as leading a pack string of mules, which generally bond very quickly to a mare horse.For a person using a horse once a week or less,it probably does not make a difference,but if you are making a living off a horse, or just using one a lot, that little bit of snottyness or worse that mares can sometimes get into during the heat cycle can be very irratating. I don't want to have to go find the drug to stop it when she comes in heat 1/2 way thru a long 5-6+ day trail ride or hunting trip.
Take a hundred mares and a hundred geldings with all the same breeding and training and you will get a higher percentage of stable animals out of the geldings, but may very well get several good mares out of the lot and a few jugheads out of the geldings.
We ran 70 horses and 10 mules. We were about 40% Mares. Never had issues. We had performance horses ( reined cow ) we had one mare that got regu-mate.
Our picket animals we mares. Never had to lead a string with em. Our pack strings coulda cared less who led em. We did have our point animals and drag but they never cared who was leading. Just who was picketed.
Never had one "in season" while hunting. The ones in season on pack trips might squeel every now and again but nothing that ruined their work ethic.
Not sure about you but I don't know that many making a a living of a pony these days. I'm in talk with a few right now with some big outfits in SW MT , NV and UT and they never specified gelding or mare. But they are much more concerned about build, smarts and the initial ground work.
I realize that my opinions and experiences won't make a hill of beans difference on what sex horse anyone buys. I'm just growing weary of this "gotta have a gelding cause mares have issues" way of thinking. So many "horse people" have this ingrained in them that they have been fools and overlooked exceptional horses cause they were a mare. And still do.
