What is a gelding?
A gelding is a castrated male horse: the calmer, more even-tempered choice many owners prefer for everyday riding.
A gelding is a male horse that's been castrated, usually while young, which is why most riding and leisure horses you'll meet at a yard are geldings. The procedure typically settles temperament, removing the hormonal drive that can make an entire male harder to manage, especially around mares.
The other terms are worth knowing too: a stallion is an entire (uncastrated) male kept for breeding or showing, a mare is an adult female, and colts and fillies are young males and females who haven't yet reached maturity. Which of these an owner keeps says a lot about what the horse is for: breeding, competing, or simply being ridden. Whatever the answer, our gifts for horse owners work regardless. Height is the other label used loosely around a yard, and how a horse is actually measured explains why two people can give different answers for the same animal.
Whichever of the words applies, the day is the same. The horse still needs feeding, and the stable still needs mucking out.
Written by Craig Fearn, Stable & Hoof. Last updated .
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The amateur end of British jump racing, and the only racing in this country legally tethered to hunting.
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