Uma Gender Differences

All umas are girls, but the horses they’re based on may be male or female. There are two main distinctions, one being their ear decorations, and the other being whether they wear shorts in their training uniforms. Umas based on male horses wear shorts, while ones based on female horses wear bloomers. Males tend to run in the Triple Crown, while females tend to run in the Triple Tiara.

Umas with decorations mainly on their left ear (the right side when looking at them), like Haru Urara, Vodka, and Mejiro Dober, are based on female horses. Umas with decorations on their right ear, like Nice Nature, Mayano, and Grass Wonder, are based on male horses.

One exception is Fine Motion, who has equal decorations on both ears. She wears bloomers. After she retired, she couldn’t breed, and the reason given was a “chromosome error,” which some people took to mean that the horse was androgynous. She raced as a mare.