Gender Split in Horse-Riding

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jkenny

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I've been riding for about four years now (25 yo male) along wth lots of other sports. What always strikes me about horse-riding is that there are sooo few male riders and so many girls- estimate it at 15/85 split. Does anyone know why this is? any theories- myself and a good (female) horsey friend of mine were discussing this and couldnt think of any other sport that was so female dominated even sports traditionally played at school, such as hockey. Not that I am complaining
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, but just curious as to what makes riding so unusual?
 
Maybe one of the problems is that horse-riding is seen as a 'girls' past-time so it must be hard for young lads to stick it out through their teens when they might get a lot of teasing from other lads for not playing football, rugby etc.

I know its a generalisation but it might be one of the reasons
 
There is always netball....

I was discussing this with my mum recently, actually. We came to the conclusion that a lot of it is due to the "riding school ethos". If you look at riding schools, the gender split is even more pronounced there, with very few males around at all. I think that while boys enjoy riding as much as girls, once they have mastered the basics they tend to want to be out there doing stuff, whereas girls are happier with the riding school "going round in circles improving steadily " thing. Boys want to go out and charge around.

This is why at competitions, you see the gender split begin to re-balance the higher up the levels you go, particularly in more macho disciplines such as hunting, XC, racing. I see a fair few men competing at the higher levels in dressage, but almost none at the lower levels (except for young boys). Most hunt staff are men. Most jockeys are men. Most show-jumpers that the general public could name, are men (sorry, Ellen).

Also, horses are incredibly care-intensive, more than practically any other animal. There is a limit to how much time you can spend caring for your dog or cat or guinea-pig, but horses seem to suck up all the time available. Again, this appeals to girls more than boys.

Smart boys and men, of course, realise that riding gives them access to a world of women, often in slinky clothing, and often, they can be the only male for miles.
 
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when it gets really interesting is if you look at the split amongst the top competition riders!

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That's exactly what I was going to say BB! Up the top end, it does seem to be a lot more equal, and in SJ I might even be so bold as to say there are more men
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!
 
It is odd. My son says exactly the same thing - mind you, he really emjoyed being the only male doing a "horsey course" at Sparsholt College a few years ago!!! He reckons that males don't stick around at the happy hacking or local competition level because males tend to be a lot more competitive than females and so go on to higher levels, which is why the top levels of most equestrian disciplines tend to be male dominated. Men don't want to mess about mucking out and grooming ("care" aspects are more of a girly thing) - they want to be out there winning!
 
Interesting thread. My OH is South African, and when he came over here, was surprised at the gender split, he hadn't noticed it as much over there although he mainly rode on a friend's farm and played polo, so maybe it was that specific environment rather than a general thing.
 
Its interesting that the gender split is not so pronounced amongt the 'upper classes', i wonder if thats because boys are expected to hunt etc and dont jave to look after their own horse?

My daugter was one of only a handfull of girls who did not go to a private school at her PC, the split there was probably 60:40, only 1 boy from state school, and he kept it quiet!
 
I find it is a little like cooking, all women until you get to the top, then all men. The funny thing is that when there is a lone man at a yard, such as mine, people assume they are gay! (he isn't BTW!)
 
V interesting! we have 1 token man at our yard and he is into polo, never really see him unless he is having a lesson or hacking his horse out (which is v occasionally) and the horse is on full livery. Only other males tend to be bored OH's that have been dragged to yard to fix things!
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When I broke my collar bone comeing of my beast a bloke said to me it was my own fault for doing a girlie sport !!!!!!
Any way I dont mind all the women in their jods everywhere, lurrrrrrrrvly
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I started my son on the lead when he was 4 (he's 7 now) but he can take it or leave it when it comes to riding. He always asks if he can go galloping (LOL!) but he can't be bothered going around and around in circles trying to "improve! That is why when I'm teaching him, I've got to play LOTS of games (like around the world, stop & go, etc) to make it seem like he's actually doing something.
Whereas, when I was a kid, I was quite happy to pratice rising trot endlessly until I got good at it!

My son comes with me to the stables but when he's there, he'll just bring his soldiers and play on the floor in the stable, muck about it the mud or build things with sticks. Sometimes he helps me poo pick the field but he just lets me get on with the horse stuff!
 
There was a study done in the US last yeat (might be 2006 actually) and it concluded that men who haven't ridden all their lives are intimidated by sitting on top of something so physically superior to themselves, preferring less duanting sports such as football etc.

No idea if it's true but knowing what the male ego can be like in some cases it's prob true
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My son is exactly the same! I have twins one boy one girl, girl loves ponies and can't get enough of them, riding, grooming looking after.... boy, like yours, just wants to go fast everywhere, play with his toys, throw sticks, get muddy and show off!!
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