Do mares really make better polo ponies?
Bottom line
A long-running belief in polo is getting another look: mares may be favored on the field, but the evidence that they’re inherently better polo horses than geldings is still thin. Equus Magazine’s piece on whether mares make better polo ponies reflects a common view among players that mares offer sharper responsiveness and competitive instinct in a fast, contact-heavy sport. Recent research adds context, but not a clear verdict. In a 2025 survey study of polo players, 73.8% said their best-performing horse was a mare, yet the same study found no statistically significant sex-based differences in willingness to perform, ambition, or endurance when researchers analyzed player ratings more formally. Broader equine behavior research also suggests many assumptions about mares versus geldings are shaped as much by human perception as by measurable ridden behavior. (mdpi-res.com)
Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, the practical takeaway is that sex alone is a weak shortcut for predicting performance, rideability, or management needs. That matters in pre-purchase exams, behavior consults, and conversations with trainers and pet parents, especially when mare stereotypes can overshadow more relevant factors like pain, training history, reproductive status, housing, and workload. In polo specifically, injury and soundness risks may have more to do with ground conditions, tournament frequency, and sport demands than with whether a horse is a mare or gelding. (mdpi-res.com)
What to watch: Expect more scrutiny of polo horse selection and welfare, particularly whether future studies can pair player perceptions with objective performance, injury, and behavior data. (mdpi-res.com)
Polo has long had a favorite in the mares-versus-geldings debate, with many players insisting mares bring extra sharpness, grit, and game sense to the field. Equus Magazine’s recent look at the question captures that conventional wisdom, but the wider research base suggests the answer is more complicated than sport lore implies. The strongest recent polo-specific evidence shows that players clearly value mares, yet objective proof that mares outperform geldings remains limited. (mdpi.com)
Part of the reason this question persists is that polo asks horses to do something unusual: accelerate hard, stop fast, turn tightly, tolerate crowding and collisions, and stay mentally engaged through repeated bursts of play. That has helped build a culture in which temperament is often discussed in highly sexed terms, with mares seen as more competitive or intuitive. But outside polo, published equine behavior research has repeatedly found that broad claims about mares and geldings often outrun the data. A 2019 PLOS One study on rider perceptions found geldings were more often labeled calm, reliable, trainable, and predictable, while mares were less preferred for several riding disciplines, suggesting human bias plays a major role in how horse behavior is interpreted. (journals.plos.org)
That bias matters because it may cut both ways. In the general horse world, mares are often stereotyped as less dependable, especially around estrus, while in polo they may be elevated as the ideal competitor. A separate E-BARQ-based study published in 2020 found no evidence of significant sex-related differences in ridden behavior between mares and geldings, even though some non-ridden behaviors differed. In other words, people may carry strong expectations about sex and temperament that don’t translate cleanly into performance under saddle. (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
The most relevant recent polo-specific paper, published in Animals in 2025, helps explain why the mares-as-best narrative remains strong. In that survey of active polo players, most respondents identified mares as their best-performing horses, and the paper reports that 73.8% of “best performing horse” selections were mares. At the same time, ordinal regression analyses found no statistically significant differences between male and female polo horses in willingness to perform, ambition, or endurance. The authors explicitly note the contradiction: player preference favored mares, but the modeled performance ratings did not confirm a clear sex advantage. They also cautioned that the findings were based on subjective reports and small subgroups, limiting how far the results can be generalized. (mdpi-res.com)
Industry commentary helps fill in why the preference persists. In an interview with Equine Info Exchange, polo professionals described wanting horses that are exceptionally calm yet highly responsive, and they noted that many top players choose mares because they believe mares respond especially well to the constant fine-tuning polo requires. That’s useful context, but it remains expert opinion rather than controlled evidence. Veterinary readers should separate the culture of horse selection from proof of sex-linked superiority. (equineinfoexchange.com)
Why it matters: For equine veterinarians and others advising polo barns, this is a reminder to avoid over-reading sex as a predictor of suitability. When clients ask whether a mare will make a better polo prospect, the most evidence-based answer is that some players strongly prefer mares, but current research does not show a definitive performance advantage. Clinical evaluation should stay focused on the horse in front of you: soundness, pain, reproductive status, recovery capacity, training history, and management environment. That’s especially important because the same 2025 polo survey suggested injury concerns in the sport are more closely tied to factors such as ground conditions and competition demands than to sex alone. (mdpi-res.com)
There’s also a communication opportunity here. Mare stereotypes can influence purchase decisions, training expectations, and even how normal or problem behaviors are framed for pet parents and trainers. Research in the broader equine population suggests those assumptions can become self-reinforcing, with observers perceiving temperament through a gendered lens. For veterinary teams, that means behavior discussions may benefit from reframing away from “mare versus gelding” and toward specific signs, triggers, pain assessment, and management patterns. (journals.plos.org)
What to watch: The next step is better polo-specific evidence, ideally prospective studies that combine objective performance metrics, injury outcomes, and blinded behavior assessments. Until then, mares may keep their reputation as polo’s preferred athletes, but the science still says preference and proof aren’t the same thing. (mdpi-res.com)