Hah! ROFL!  Smarter means they learn quicker?  You're somewhat right there, but that doesn't mean they're learning what you want you them to. Smarter means that the human had better get smarter still.  My gelding is a great horse, well broke and reliable, but he's the one who unties the other horses, opens doors, tips buckets, etc, etc, etc, and generally causes a quiet riot while standing in the middle of all the chaos and admiring it.  He's always thinking too hard. I could make a list as long as my arm of things he's done that not one other horse I've ever owned has even thought of.  He's way too funny

Anyway, as for the mare/gelding thing...I've owned plenty of both, but currently have 5 mares and one gelding, the mischief maker.  There's not one quality I would assign to one or the other and say "he/she does that because he/she is a gelding/mare."  A good horse is a good horse.  Same with heart - they either have it or they don't, and I've seen it in both mares and geldings.

Of all of these mares, there's only one I can guess at when she cycles, as the rest sure like to keep it a secret.  Cycling or not, they behave the same year round.

As for buying a young horse, I wouldn't pass up on a gelding that I liked, but I do factor in the mare part as a plan B, in case plan A - saddle horse - fails.  I don't breed my mares, so that's not a temptation for me.  I like the plan B back up plan for resale value, if the time every arrives.  I also like plan B in case the horse is injured, and unable to ridden. 

What's that saying?  Tell a gelding, ask a mare?  Funny, but I think that kind of applies.

I've got two geldings and two mares. And I'm hard pressed to see any difference.  I ride the geldings more because they are 16 hh and my mares are 15hh.

My daughters ride the mares, just because they are shorter and easier to get on.

I never know when they cycle. They just don't show unless they are standing near a stud horse.

I say a good horse is a good horse regardless of gender.

Geldings are a better, safer bet when young horse shopping IMHO.  Great fillies often don't become great mares.  Hormones are nasty things best left to people that want to breed  If you just want to show then geldings are about as dead level a bet as you can make for disposition.  Mares don't give more heart, they give more headaches!

In following the Billings, Montana Horse Sales for many years, well broke ranch geldings typically bring far more than even the well bred broke mares. When on ranch vacations, I asked the cowboys why they prefer geldings....always same answer..."only thing mares are good for is producing good geldings." That said, I have had mares and geldings for 50+ years. I admire a mare's attentiveness on the trail. My mare was the only one on a ride (rest geldings) that noticed a rattler by the edge of the road., and quickly did a 180....I barely held on! I have been on geldings that step over snakes on the trail, oblivious to the fact they are there. The rider behind me yells, and brings my attention to it! My mare knows where the deer, etc., are long before I do. At the Kentucky Cup Endurance event this month in Lexington, Ky., I had the priviledge of serving as a vet scribe. A mare earned best conditioned, and the 69 year old owner/rider talked eloquently about her "heart." Mares did well overall. All food for thought, and comes down to personal preference.

Marla

This month's Trail Rider has an article that covers this topic. Some interesting statements in it. Writer says that he enjoys mare's becuase they "Won't quit on you in a tight Place". He also states something that I totally agree with - a mares reproductive cycle should not be used as an excuse for poor behavior.

Good training is paramount to either mares or geldings. I ride both and equally enjoy both sexes. He also states that sometimes a bond between a mare and person can be very strong which may be due to maternal instincts.

I wouldn't discount one sex over the other, but rather go on disposition of the horse.

Marla, read the post, for young horse shopping and showing, I feel that Geldings are a better bet.  Shows happen at all times of the month, and I would say that more geldings than mares make it to the show ring (Youth and Amateur).

Everyone should know one great mare, but that does not make every mare that even and steady.

My opinion flip a quarter!  We have 14 horses total about 1/2 and 1/2 and if you have to pick a "best" out of the bunch I would have to say our mares are the best (at what we do)!

Like everyone else has stated, really does not matter the sex!  I do have a 7 year old quarter horse gelding (15hh 1350lbs) I bought last year with no papers.  The horse came off the Waggner Ranch and the guy I bought him from had all types of trouble out of him.  I bought him and after 1 ride he has been GREAT and gives me 100% at anything and everything I ask him for.  The only thing he does not like is shooting!  Thanks to the dumb a** I bought him from.

Sex like color has little to do with a good horse, if the horse is well trained and well mannered they all are good rides.

Just my 2C's...steve

The only problem I've had with my geldings is my mares.

It's the horse, not the gender. 

Good thing you guys have gotten this settled. 

I just wish people would stop buying mares with the thought of "If she don't work out, I can breed her". If you can't get along with her, she isn't worth breeding!

I have owned and trained both and believe you can have good and bad in both. Buy the one you want and work your a## of to bring out the best in them.