male participation

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d62ctj

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hi,
i was wondering weather anybody had any thoughts on the reasons why boys tend to drop out of riding, especially out of the pony club at certain ages.

i would be really gratefull for ANY thoughts u may have!
 
hi i have two boys both who still ride(now 19 and 21) , one is keen the other prefers his motorbike but can be persuaded out on the occasional hack , (hes unfortunatly the one thats very talented rider and would have done quite well competitivly ), i never pushed him as i could see although he loves horses they arent a drug to him as they were to me lol, its odd about boys there are very few teenagers that i know riding but the majority of competitors at county level show jumping seem to be men
 
A lot of the time I think it is because riding schools and the like are very female orientated. I remember riding as a child and being the only boy. Not terribly comfortable for a young boy!
On the whole the boys I knew who continued to ride had horses at home, so didn't have to be subjected to all the smelly girls at the riding school!
I also blame jodhpurs- the best way to make a boy feel self-conscious and never want to get on a horse again
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My youngest girl dropped out of riding............ I hope she hasn't discovered willies
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Oh one to watch out for!!! The thing is Girls can multi task, so she can ride and still make time for willies........... GOD that sounds so so so wrong!!
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Girls like cuddling ponies, boys just want to hurtle around the countryside very fast. I think if boys start to succeed early, they stay in horses, but otherwise they get fed up and go off to find something else.
 
At the risk of sounding very sexist, I think there were two things that made me give up as a teenager...firstly the realisation that I wasn't going to make it to the top and thus make a living from it...and secondly that as a bloke I realised I would have to have a career that paid well enough to support me and any family I may have in the future. Many girls don't (or certainly wouldn't have) considered the career aspect as it was more normal to marry a wealthy man and live the life of riley without having to worry about how things were paid for.


* Runs for cover.....very quickly
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Rambo, are men only interested in things that will enable them to make a living? The vast majority of recreational fishermen don't catch enough to feed their families, so why do they do it?

I never ever considered making a career out of horses, but still enjoy their company.
 
Rambo - great male name - i dont think thats sexist i think its sweet and unfortunatly a little bit true sadly! I gave up to go to uni and have a career then came back to horses afterwards as i knew i couldnt afford to keep them otherwise. I dont think that most women look for wealthy men tho - only the horrid ones, when i met mine he earnt a third of what i did. Glad you are back at it!
 
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Rambo, are men only interested in things that will enable them to make a living? The vast majority of recreational fishermen don't catch enough to feed their families, so why do they do it?

I never ever considered making a career out of horses, but still enjoy their company.

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Most fishermen wouldn't be spending the equivilent of their months wages pursuing their hobby though would they !? I'm afraid it came down to simple mths for me. My horse was costing about 200 pounds per month to keep and my take home pay as a well paid trainee in IT was about 300 pounds per month. On top of that I would have had to pay rent, food and entry fees as well as providing transport....and with just the one horse I wasn't going to win that sort of money every month let alone earn it in the horse world
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Rambo, I think you are right. Men also like to succeed, whatever their "success" is, whereas girls don't mind being hopeless at competitions so long as they can look after their horse.

I have come across several men who have gone back into riding, or even started completely when they have families and they want to do a family thing together, not necessarily competitions.

If you get into the top of equestrian life - jockeys, top show jumpers and eventers then there are more men than women.
 
I overcame a fear of horses, aided by a horse fanatic wife, to start riding in my middle 20's. Work and a greater dedication to Martial Arts rather than equestrian training took me away for many years and I have just started to really ride very recently.

I cannot agree with the 'boys want speed' comment, as having spent hours at various shows (I live close to Badgeworth) where I have seen many little girls thrashing the stuffing out of their ponies and flying over jumps like veritable Thelwell cartoons, I also do not hold with the 'girls don't mind if they lose' comment either. The girls may not mind, but the proud mum or dad who has given up time and much of their hard earned absolutely hate it. I have never come across such a strong ' competitive mum' community as in the horsey world.

I think the reason boys give up riding at teenage are many fold. Girls, booze, cars/ bikes and of course willies and the use thereof. Also, I have noticed as a male rider, that any man on horseback is viewed with utmost suspicions and pretty much dismissed as gay! No teenage boy wants to be thought of a girlie or gay (unless of course he is
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