4 February 2012

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Mares or geldings?

Tuesday 4 November 2008

Here come the girls

I'm currently searching for a new horse and I'm beginning to feel like I've looked at pretty much every gelding in the entire country.

If you're wondering why I'm restricting my search to boys only, well there's that old saying, 'Ask a mare, tell a gelding'.

But I've been looking for my ideal horse for so long that I'm starting to wonder – am I making a mistake by discounting mares from my search?

In doing so, am I avoiding future trouble, or am I missing out on the chance of a lifetime?

I want to event with my new horse, so I decided to do some investigation into how mares have fared in the sport.

Few would pass up on the opportunity to ride a mare like Headley Britannia, Lucinda Fredrick's bold little chestnut who entranced the horse world when she won Burghley in 2006 and then Badminton eight months later.

But before her, the last mare to win Badminton was back in 1954. Surely that's a case for the geldings?

However, a number of other event mares have reached the very top of their sphere of late – such as Sarah Cohen's The Wexford Lady, Phoebe Buckley's Little Tiger, and Vicky Tuff's ride Tudor Romance.

They have all reached four-star level – proving that 'girls' can hold their own in top-level competition.

So maybe I am being a stroppy mare by only searching for geldings in the 'Horses for sale' ads.

As long as a horse has talent and a good attitude, it stands as good a chance as any in the competitive world of eventing.

Wish me luck with my search.

Cassie Brough is undertaking a work experience placement at Horse.