I have a 23 year old Standardbred
gelding that is an absolute sweetheart. Will go by himself or in a
group. He is not the boss in the pasture, but is not on the bottom of the
pecking order either. He does at times mount mares in heat. This
does not bother me, because at his age, if he feels that good, he has a few good
years left. This horse is also great for kids to ride. I do not know
when he was gelded. I guess the behaviour is just an individual
thing.
We gelded a horse at age 14 that had
been used sparingly for live cover breeding. He is very easy to handle and
ride with other horses. He has turned out to be the alpha gelding in our
pasture, even at age 19, but he doesn't bite or kick the other geldings. We
have also pastured him with mares (recently). He does tease mares in heat, but
he has not tried to mount or become aggressive and has never been a problem
riding with mares.
