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, and geldings are common as riding and leisure horses. Owners often choose one because castration removes the hormonal drive that can make an entire male harder to manage, especially around mares.
Gelding, stallion, mare, colt and filly
| Word | What it means |
|---|---|
| Foal | A horse in its first year |
| Yearling | A horse between one and two years old |
| Colt | A young entire male, usually under four |
| Filly | A young female, usually under four |
| Stallion | An adult entire male, kept for breeding or competing |
| Mare | An adult female |
| Gelding | A castrated male of any age |
| Rig | A male that behaves like a stallion after castration, often because a testicle was retained |
Which of these an owner keeps says a lot about what the horse is for: breeding, competing, or being ridden.
Why most riding horses are geldings
A gelding can usually be turned out with other horses, including mares, without the fights and fence-jumping an entire male can bring, and it can go to shows, livery yards and riding schools that would not take a stallion. Its temperament is steadier from day to day, which is why riding schools and first-time owners lean towards them. Mares are just as popular with many riders; the choice is often about the individual horse more than its sex.
Gelding or mare?
Riders argue about it endlessly. Mares are often described as sharper and more opinionated, especially in season, and geldings as more consistent, though plenty of riders find the reverse with their own horses. A good riding horse of either sex is worth more than the label; sale adverts list it mainly so a buyer can plan turnout and companions.
When a horse is gelded
Most colts not kept for breeding are gelded as yearlings or two-year-olds, though it can be done at any age. It is a veterinary operation, done under sedation and local anaesthetic standing, or under general anaesthetic, and the colt usually needs a few weeks of gentle exercise and watching afterwards. An older stallion that is gelded may keep some stallion habits for months, or for good.
Reading the shorthand
Racing and sales catalogues abbreviate the sex of every horse: g for a gelding, m for a mare, c for a colt and f for a filly. If you're buying, ask when the horse was gelded as well as whether it was. One gelded late may keep some stallion habits, and that's worth knowing before it shares a field with mares or goes to a busy livery yard.
The other terms are worth knowing too. Height is the other label used loosely around a yard, and how a horse is 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. Our gifts for horse owners work whatever the horse.
