Equine Genders

For those of you who don't know, here are the different names for the genders of equines!

Horses & Ponies
mare - a female horse
gelding - a male horse that has been "castrated" (AKA "gelded"); this means he has had a surgery so that he cannot cover a mare
stallion - a male horse

Donkeys
jenny - a female donkey
jack - male donkey

Mules
mule - the offspring of a male donkey and a female horse
hinny - the offspring of a male horse and a female donkey


The difference between the three (horses & ponies, donkeys, and mules - horses & ponies counting as one) is relatively easy to tell...

Here's a bay horse.

Here's a donkey (note the longer ears; also, donkeys tend to have longer tail bones.

And here's a pair of mules (hinnys and mules look pretty much alike). They are very similar to horses, except for their long ears.