Table 1.

The traits with more than 5% percentage difference scores between mares and geldings, selected among the 151 candidate items reported on in full by respondents (n = 1233). Traits with univariate p values < 0.2 on a χ² test (or Fisher’s exact test) were selected for further analysis.

Question	$\overline{{\overline{\mathrm{X}}}_{\mathrm{Mare}}-{\overline{\mathrm{X}}}_{\mathrm{Gelding}}}$	Percentage Difference	Higher Score	Χ2 Statistic	Χ2 p Value	Fisher Test p Value
Chew lead rope when tied	0.331	20.4%	Gelding	33.408	0.000	0.000
Chews rugs	0.146	12.2%	Gelding	23.889	0.000	0.000
Will stand for facial area tidied with electric clippers (without sedation)	0.342	11.6%	Mare	7.553	0.109
Move away when being caught	0.202	10.5%	Mare	14.773	0.005	0.004
Push handler when offered food	0.166	9.6%	Gelding	9.270	0.055	0.055
Hold up one foot when feeding	0.122	8.1%	Gelding	12.076	0.017	0.014
Will stand for body to be clipped with electric clippers (without sedation)	0.237	7.6%	Mare	6.537	0.163
Undoes gates	0.111	7.5%	Gelding	5.657	0.226
Signs of aggression when signalled to canter on the lunge	0.180	6.8%	Gelding	13.844	0.008	0.007
Signs of aggression when ridden in arena with other horses	0.167	6.4%	Gelding	30.766	0.000	0.000
Pulls back when tied	0.095	5.8%	Mare	5.413	0.248	0.243
Strongly avoided, shied away from or bolted from umbrellas	0.105	5.8%	Gelding	5.220	0.266	0.282
Walk the fence line repeatedly	0.078	5.3%	Mare	5.545	0.236	0.238
Fail to slow when signalled by a rein or lead rope cue	0.095	5.2%	Mare	4.739	0.315	0.310
Vocalising when taken away from other horses	0.149	5.1%	Mare	3.986	0.408	0.408
Head shake when handled or ridden	0.077	5.0%	Mare	7.616	0.107	0.105
Strongly avoided, shied away from or bolted from wild animals	0.093	5.0%	Mare	2.474	0.649	0.643
Signs of aggression when lunged or worked in round pen	0.141	5.0%	Gelding	8.045	0.090	0.100