Hi,
What is the best competition horse: stallions, geldings, or mares? I'm not sure on this one, but I have been told that if a competition is on a day when your mare is "in season" she will go crazy and all the stallions there will try to get close... sounds like a lot of trouble to have a mare destined for the comps! So what do you guys think? I co-own a beautiful gelding that is the calmest thing, and I know another gelding that acts like a stallion. Does it make much of a difference on pushy types? Please help!

It is the age old question, and truly a matter of personal choice, experience and opinion. If you are fairly new I would suggest a gelding as you don't have to worry about any type of "breeding imperative" -- but it depends on what suits YOU.

I always preferred mares over the boys when I was younger, but they can be moody -- but then so can I, so it seemed to make sense to me! LOL

What kind of competition are you talking about?

As a general rule. Geldings are much easier to get along with.

But a talented athlectic horse comes in all sexes. My best upper level competition horses are mares. And one of the easiest to get along with in the barn is a QH stallion. Sex does play a role, but more important is rider/handler horsemanship and of coarse correct training.

As stated by the previous posters it depends on the level of the rider and horse as to which sex is best. There are more risk with stallions. Mares can be moody, even geldings can have their days. For novice I would say for safety it would have to be a gelding or mare. Stallions are best left to a more experienced person no matter how nice they are. Even the best stallion will have a lapse of good judgement from time to time.

Hope this helps.