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Stable & Hoof

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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.

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 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 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.

Next — The partnership

A birch fence and running rail on a point-to-point course laid out across open farmland.

Point-to-point and the jumps season

The amateur end of British jump racing, and the only racing in this country legally tethered to hunting.

Try it

Type a horse's name and watch the print set itself. Free, no photo needed.

Try the name print

Buying for someone who rides?