Why are horses considered more for girls?

Question

Im a guy and I grew up riding horses. I rode Western and English.

Well of course at horse camp it was mostly girls and just me and two other boys. I didnt mind it because naturally I liked the girls! But I wondered why people associate horseback riding with girls only.

Because when you think about it, its a very masculine more boyish thing to do. I mean, its rugged and all.

All the horse stories used to be about a boy and his horse. Now they are about a girl and her horse. Does this mean horses as a sport once considered masculine , is now considered more feminine?

Answer 1

To tell you the truth I dont think there are any guys at my barn i think all the people who ride are girls lol

Answer 2

It's not that they associate horses with girls only. But most look at guys riding and think they are self taught. Lets be honest, men hate being told what to do and instructed how to do certain things, so they do get fed up easier.

And also because every little girl wants that big beautiful horse. ;)

Answer 3

I never thought much of it, but I just realized that I'm pretty much the only guy that rides at my barn too.  I went to a horse show a couple weekends ago and I only saw about 2 male contestants.  From what I see and have observed, there are 2 very different perceptions around horses.  Women seem to dominate when showing horses and performing.  Men seem to be more about racing and breeding and such.  The idea of the cowboy has pretty much faded over time, which is when horse riding was considered "rugged and butch" if you will.

Answer 4

it is becoming a female dominate sport and there are lots of guys that ride at my barn but it's like judging a book by its cover unless you take the time to look you could assume that it is mostly girls and get the wrong idea

Answer 5

because guys don't get that lovey dovey into- the- sunset romantic type feeling that i'm sure girls get. thank goodness i'm not that way! girls tend to love animals more than guys do i think. and also guys think they are too cool for it... they're losers. maybe they also don't want to embarrass themselves when they just about fall off at a walk/ jog. and at first, they sit on "themselves" than on their pockets/ seat. i wish there were more horse guys that i know... all the guys i know now are city boys... ick.  

edit

kevin- what a r****d! lmao lol

Answer 6

I guess it's just become female dominate. There's not a whole lot of boys that ride. I think it's cool if guys ride.

Answer 7

"She's a good girl, loves her momma, loves horses and America too"

TOM PETTY!

Answer 8

I am asking the same thing.  Although, I am a girl a lot of my friends are guys.  Little girls grew up with unicorns and pony dreams take it from there

Answer 9

In my world more men ride then women. I have my horse and my husband and 2 sons each have their own horses. I recently went camping with family and friends out of 12 people there was only 3 women.....

Answer 10

Haha. It's too bad more guys don't ride! I think it's because most guys are afriad of horses and don't want to admit it. They get scared byt he fact that a 1000+ pound animal could bolt/rear/buck/kick/bite/roll at any time. I though guys liked danger until I though about why more guys don't ride.  

Answer 11

I am with you there bro. And I agree, seeing I like the girls too, I don't mind that there are a lot of women riding horses. And, don't they all look good in thar tight pants. Yeah Baby! Haha



And those guys who say it hurts are Pu#@y's, they are just inadequate of their lack of athletic ability, so they make up excuses.

I couldn't imagine living with out horses. And again I'm with ya on this bro.

I would like to add, ladies please keep wearing them tight pants, they look good.

Answer 12

I think part of it is that parents are trying at the first possible moment ot put their little boys on horses.They are entering them in t-ball and soccer. Young girls are often put on horses to start lessons even if they could care less. My trainer has a number of small girls that couldnt care less about the horses but the mothers have them riding because they loved riding as a child. Even worse is the girls who don't want to ride and their parents make them because they think it is good for the kid. I actually see this a lot.

If boys develop a love of horses later in life then they get to face the cruelity of the kids in their age group. The other boys make fun of him for doing a 'girl' sport and the girls make fun of him because they can. Young girls tend to be nasty like that. This happens even with the guys who start riding as young children. At 10 they haven't developed a real passion for it and getting picked on will discourage them from continuing.

I dont have experience with western but the above is fairly common with english. I knew a few young guys that competed hunter a couple years ago but they have all quit. Now that I have joined pony club, there is about 1 guy for every 50 girls at large events. Better ratio than at most shows. These guys also had parents that were active riders and were brought up around horses.

I think the change from girls to guys is because girls are naturally attracted to the beauty of the horse from the start. One sighting of a horse and they want to get closer. Guys tend to be attracted to parts of riding that take a little while to learn. My brother hated horses when I got my first but he has since learned to love their personalities and strength. He he doesnt ride much now but he did ask me to teach him a few years ago. He can do basic stuff and enjoys it but is obsessed with galloping which I wont let him do. Once he learn I was serious about the no galloping (and he watched me take a nasty fall at the gallop) he lost intrest. Anyway, since it takes guys just a little longer to learn the greatness of horses, many never find it.

The switch from boy and horse to girl and horse (the flicka movie sucked, the guy in the book was much better) is because of the above switch from more male riders to more female. People wont buy what they believe to be unreasonable and guys loving horses in unreasonable in their eyes.

One of the best event riders that I know is a guy who rides in pony club. And one of the nicest guys I know is a polo player in pony club. Riding with guys is really nice because there is way less drama and psycological competition. Its also nice having them around the barn to carry the heavy stuff!

I wish more guys would take up riding if not only so there were horse savy guys to date and hang out with. I would love to take some friends out to ride but none of the guys know anything about horses and I cant risk having them with my horses while I might be in distracted with someone else. Just taking one guy friend out to ride doesnt really work either cause I met all my guy friends fairly recently so there is still a little bit of akwardness without friends around. Coupleing that with the horses they get pretty nervous which make my horses a little nervous, which make them more nervous which make even my calmest horse edgy.

I REALLY wish more guys rode.

Answer 13

Actually horses haven't been considered more for girls for very long. Although females have ridden and driven horses for centuries, horses have been considered an almost all man thing from the days of the war and work horses in ancient history up until the U.S. Horse Cavalry was disbanded and farms, ranches, and transportation became mechanized. There was still a very large U.S. Horse Cavalry during World War I and farms, ranches, and even transportation were still very heavily dependent on horses and the men who rode and drove them. But that began to change before World War II and although there was still a mounted U.S. Horse Cavalry during World War II it was very small and farms, ranches, and transportation was all near the end of the transition from horses to mechanization. And it was the disbanding of the mounted U.S. Horse Cavalry after World War II which opened the door to women, for sport, being attracted to horses. In the late years of the U.S. Horse Cavalry the Cavalry units began competing in dressage, adopting that discipline from the Europeans. There was little else for the Horse Cavalry to do since horses had become obsolete vehicles for war. Then when the Horse Cavalry was disbanded the focus on dressage in the United States shifted from the Horse Cavalry to civilians for sport competition. U.S. Horse Cavalry teams were already competing in Olympic equestrian competition long before the Cavalry was disbanded and so civilians closed the gap after the Cavalry was disbanded. American men and women soon became passionate about dressage but it wasn't until the early 1950s when the first women was allowed to compete in Olympic equestrian competition and then especially in the early 1970s when the first woman won an Olympic gold medal in equestrian competition that young women in mass began to become attracted to horses. In the eyes of young women, horses suddenly became fashionable. And then in the early 1980s the "My Pretty Pony" and "My Little Pony" toys came along and the hearts of young girls by the millions was smitten with a love for horses. The My Little Pony toys even began to outsell the Barbie fashion doll toys for awhile. And the rest is modern day history. While most of the western disciplines, rodeo, and horse racing are still male dominated, the English disciplines in dressage, jumping, and eventing has become a fashionable sport and female dominated. Boys like to be tough, to get rough, down and dirty, and to compete in fast moving sports, hence, they dominate rodeo and horse racing. Girls like to dress up pretty and be fashionable and the Olympic equestrian sports has made dressage, jumping, and eventing fashionable and those disciplines are girl dominated. But it has not been that way for very long, just since that first female won an Olympic equestrian gold medal in the early 1970s and since the hearts of young girls was smitten with the My Little Pony toys in the early 1980s. Before that it was boys sitting on pasture fences trying to entice horses close enough to jump on and it wasn't long after that girls was sitting on the pasture fences to watch. But they wasn't eyeing the boys as much as they was eyeing the pretty horses under the boys and then it wasn't long until the girls was doing the same. Stable owners nowadays are chasing more girls off the pasture fences than they are boys. But the boys are there, though not there looking for a gentle and docile horse to jump on so much as they are there to jump on the back of a mean-spirited stallion.

Answer 14

it depends on where you look,most people around me who ride are males but i also live on a ranch and we work with our horses everyday.most hobby,gamers and show riders are female.

Answer 15

well at lower levels and stuff, its mostly girls, but look at the olympics and stuff and theres tons of guys!

but i think its rlyyyy cool when guys ride... especially when they ride english and do hunter/jumper [like me!]

theres only two guys at my barn!!!

Answer 16

I think its mostly English that is associated with girls,cause Western is like cowboy,thats rugged,but English is more of an art,while gaming,is more for both,I was in pony club and it was normal to see guys....(I ride western)

Answer 17

People don't associate horseback riding with girls. But for some reason, girls are more interested. I am glad that you are interested and hope you continue to ride.

In history it was probably more of a man thing. But things have changed. Men have football, motorcycles, and other c**p taking up their time. I read that 60% of horse owners were women.

Also, let me tell you something. Girls are more likely to attend a horse camp than boys. But that doesn't mean OVERALL, that more girls ride. Its the same with adults. I (and I am a guy) went to a Parelli clinic. There was only 1 other guy there. Its really because of men not wanting the instruction. Macho cowboys don't need Parelli.

David

http://gentlenaturalhorseman.blogspot.co...

Answer 18

Well my opinion is that in the olden days women were expected to stay home and clean/cook (be a slave in other words :P haha), i mean watch old movies based on true events where it was unheard of that a woman was seen riding a horse (especially in competitions or races). nowadays, we have more freedom. Horses in the old days were used quite frequently. They were our transport, our battle heroes etc etc. There was no way people could live without one really! But today we have cars and other things that guys are more into than an animal.

My opinion about why girls are associated with them more is coz guys dont usually like animals (dunno y!) as much as girls... its a mystery really haha. I even knew one guy who rode and once i asked him how his horse was in front of his friends (i thought he LOVED his horse) and he got all emabarassed and wouldn't say much. When his friends stated the fact tht he had a horse and hadn't told them he got real annoyed. I felt a lil bad but confused as to why he seemed so ashamed of the fact.

Personally, I think its cool that your a guy and u seem to like riding. Most guys at my school pay me out (i dont hav many friends BECAUSE of horses but i don't care coz i love them so much. I'm not givin up on my dreams coz of people).

So really... I think girls are assocaited more coz there aren't many guy riders... tho i do have to point out... who says its more of a guys sport anyways :P haha

Answer 19

I'm thinking it may be a regional thing. I have land in WY & it is mostly male in work ranch, some female & more female showing. Then in Ca. where I grew up it was mostly female, hardly any male. Mostly older males. And  here in Las Vegas I only see the male in rodeo's. & Female in trail & shows.

Answer 20

Well, I think the reason is because  most "non-horsie" people don't relize really HOW rugged horseback-riding is. They think it is easy because of how easy us riders make it look :) While, in reality it is very difficult, dirty, and VERY demanding SPORT.

Pretty much the only reason it is CONSIDERED feminine is because alot of guys think it isn't difficult, like their so called "sports" football and baseball. Guys alos tend to hate trying new things, so they automatically think horseback riding is easy and skip it.

Actually, alot of guys start out ridng...just quit after they find out there are many men, and switch to a more "guy friendly" sport.

Truely, I wish more guys would stick with it.

Though it isn't like any of you guys are competition to us girls :)

Oh, and kudos to you for being "unique" if only more guys rode horses in my area...that aren't g*y or under the age of 10 xP Keep up the riding, and don't worry about it being masculine or feminine...like you said it is just more girls for you xD