Grumble, moan, rant - sexist equine industry

PaddyMonty

PaddyMonty

Well-Known Member
Joined
11 October 2006
Messages
8,349
Location
Northampton
Visit site
Just because I happen to be male does not mean when shopping for new jods/breeches I should have...
a) far less choice than females, both style and colour
b) pay two or three times as much for basically the same item
c) have to have a waist size of 34" or more.
and dont even get me started on off the shelf options - internet shopping choice is limited enough. :mad:
 
PaddyMonty said:
Just because I happen to be male does not mean when shopping for new jods/breeches I should have...
a) far less choice than females, both style and colour
b) pay two or three times as much for basically the same item
c) have to have a waist size of 34" or more.
and dont even get me started on off the shelf options - internet shopping choice is limited enough. :mad:
Click to expand...

I agree with you. I had huge problems finding breeches when my 50+ hubby took up riding.

However, this is a UK problem. Here in France riding a horse is not a female only sport. Real men ride horses!!! (sorry can't do smiley faces)
 
I have never noticed this issue (probably being female!), but can you not try any European companies for cheaper options, failing that what about the likes of Ebay and Amazon? Have you also tried Equestrian Clearance? :)
 
Agree I am not a man but buying horsey stuff for my husband is very hard - sizing is very limited he is a tall broad man with huge feet! His half chaps say 'fuller fillies' on them as I couldn't get men's ones wide enough - luckily he has never noticed'
 
Agree its a UK problem. My current everyday breeches i bought in lithuania back in 2007. Fantastic quality and only £5. I did notice the roles were reversed when I was there. Tack shop full of mens clothing and very little for women. Might be cheaper to fly out and bring back a few (hundred) pairs.
 
redfoxhunter said:
This made me laugh!
Click to expand...

I laughed as well, left the thread, and carried on laughing. So I thought I'd come back and say so!

Finding women's biking gear when I first started riding 12 years ago was almost impossible, unless you wanted it in pink and without body armour of any kind. Feel your pain OP!
 
Ooooh, somebody call Rhino! It's a "men's jodhs" thread, and we all know how these turn out... :D
 
Ha ha, completely agree op. not only that but have you noticed special intro offers etc are always women's range of clothes, even a recent HH one for years subscription had no men's gear ( that I could see) maybe there's a market opportunity here
 
I also agree - and the 'discrimination' starts very young! My 4yo boy is a mad keen rider and getting jodhs in anything other than black or canary is impossible. If he was a girl there are at least 5 x the choice. There's definitely got to be a gap in the UK market!
 
How awful it is to be male and have dominance in almost every area of life!
Ever notice how it's so hard to find mens jods etc, but the majority (certainly in my discipline) of famous riders are male? Men are never expected to cook for their family, man pro chefs are men. Most cosmetics companies are run by men etc.

I say this as a man, suck it up!
 
It is awfully one sided in the UK. My OH has recently taken up riding and he gets so fed up trawling round tack shops where the men's section is either tiny or just plain non-existent! We were lucky and found some breeches in a sale which he likes and can cope with as he's only having weekly lessons/the odd hack. Once he starts riding regularly and wanting more riding clothes we are going to have to shop around.
 
JFTD said:
Ooooh, somebody call Rhino! It's a "men's jodhs" thread, and we all know how these turn out... :D
Click to expand...

If PM were to post his stats and maybe some pictures of him in his current breeches, perhaps we could all be ever so helpful and search the web for him...24 minds are better than one and all that... 😜
 
I'm having terrible problems trying to find riding kit for my friends little boy, it either doesn't exist, doesn't fit or anything I find that should be unisex is pink and glittery!! There's a little boy at my local yard who rides in girls jeggings so we might go down that route and remove all the labels so he doesn't get a complex. He took great exception to trying on a pink Harry Hall hat you see!
 
My son is 21 & half his breeches are women's. Luckily he doesn't seem too scarred by it.
One year he was looking for new comp breeches & we tried the Derby House stand at Burghley only to be told men don't wear breeches!
 
I agree it's very difficult to find breeches for my 50+ OH .
Too many of the men's ones are not age appropriate.
 
My oh has a 28" waist & therefore unable to find any men's jods as smallest size is always 30/32.
Sadly I also have a 28" waist, so unless I buy pink jods they get "borrowed"
I've never even worn my bargain 1/2 price ariat sticky bums & last time I saw them they looked nearly worn out.
Op, many women's jods look fine on men & if you're internet shopping no funny looks to worry about in the changing room.
 
Mongoose11 said:
If PM were to post his stats and maybe some pictures of him in his current breeches, perhaps we could all be ever so helpful and search the web for him...24 minds are better than one and all that... ��
Click to expand...

He does have a lovely pic of him in his breeches, which shows off all the important areas...
 
Oddly my OH is the chief cook, bottle washer and nappy changer so does that not make him a man I rather think he would disagree
 
Leviticus, I admire your sentiment- if only sexism for women were this simple, eh?

PaddyMonty, there's the nice Mark Todd ones for £40-£55 on ebay. Those last and last, and hide the dirt beautifully. And are cheaper than the ones my sister buys. At Burghley there were men's breeches under the same offer as the women's on most of the stands we looked at.

I wouldn't consider that to be a particularly high price for nice jods and is about in line with what women would pay for the equivalent...
 
Lolo - you took the words right out of my mouth! Mark Todd Auckland - lovely breeches, and come in a 28, with several nice colour options.
 
I totally agree my OH has trouble buying his breeches etc and gets so disheartened when we go anywhere or internet shopping especially when there is such a huge range for woman. I can't believe we have so many top male riders and it is still not seen as a mans sport too. Most breeches are three quarter leg which my OH finds uncomfortable but Equetech do nice full length ones but surprise surprise only in black or canary. As for half chaps try Tredstep as they do extra wide too.
 
Cazzah said:
I also agree - and the 'discrimination' starts very young! My 4yo boy is a mad keen rider and getting jodhs in anything other than black or canary is impossible. If he was a girl there are at least 5 x the choice. There's definitely got to be a gap in the UK market!
Click to expand...

The market is shrinking to get rid of the gap. The harder it gets to buy gender neutral or mens jods the more boys give up riding and the pinker ponies get. Glad your boy is enjoying riding though.

Leviticus said:
I say this as a man, suck it up!
Click to expand...

Assuming this is tongue in check the bad, un-PC part of me is a tiny bit in love.
 
I don't think that the lack of choice is the issue. The lack of entry level/cheap options is the issue!
Look at any of the premium brands and they have a decent enough selection of male gear; it's just that they typically come with a much higher price tag.

Stores are unlikely to keep male riding gear in stock as women vastly outnumber the males for shopping at tack shops. Customer demands coupled with the high price tag of the male goods means its very expensive for stores to keep a male product line in stock.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top