Men and riding....

I shall have to ask a young friend who is a dressage/event trainer where he gets his riding clothes, because he is also very tall and quite thin.

He had some luck with his boots a few years ago, as there was a pop star who made and starred in a video and was wearing a lovely pair of leather dressage boots made that (I can't remember) either he didn't want or didn't fit and my young friend ended up with them!

So there he is walking around in the boots once worn by ……………………………. and I can't remember that either, but he was very famous at the time.
 
Kat said:
Boots and gloves are the most frustrating as they would literally just need to be sized up with the same designs. Why do so many boots only go up to a 7 or 8? Ariat only have two styles of long boots that go above an 8, and they are more expensive.

Breeches are a bit more difficult as they do need to be a different shape but often a brand will have 3 pages of designs for women and just 2 styles for men, in 3 colours.



Really frustrating.
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Ah, let me give you my fave boot find! I have big feet, 11 and wide and there is virtually nothing out there unless you get it made.

Then I found a place called Soldier of Fortune which does stuff for re-enactors - they do repro German officers jackboots for less than £100. Brilliant for everyday, they do come up wide but any good cobbler can narrow them either with or without zip. Top tip!

As far as breeches go the specialist hunting shops do them but I simply wear moleskins or chinos (including for cubbing) and have never had a hint of a rub!
 
Thanks turnbuckle! I will check them out. Sadly he won't ride in chinos or similar, not even breeches without proper stretch. He also cycles so he isn't afraid of lycra!!
 
turnbuckle said:
Ah, let me give you my fave boot find! I have big feet, 11 and wide and there is virtually nothing out there unless you get it made.

Then I found a place called Soldier of Fortune which does stuff for re-enactors - they do repro German officers jackboots for less than £100. Brilliant for everyday, they do come up wide but any good cobbler can narrow them either with or without zip. Top tip!

As far as breeches go the specialist hunting shops do them but I simply wear moleskins or chinos (including for cubbing) and have never had a hint of a rub!
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In my teens, I did a lot of historical reenactment, starting with English Civil War, then adding early mediaeval and War of the Roses. Suppliers back then were less numerous and prices were much higher, relative to salaries. We ended up making a lot of stuff ourselves.

Nowadays, there seem to be far more suppliers and prices are much more affordable. I've seen Soldier of Fortune, and there's also The History Bunker in Leeds. German boots there are only available in sizes 8, 9 and 10, at 110 quid.I've been looking at breeches on there as possible riding wear for this winter; there are a few models that look like the Elephant's Ear breeches that some people on the forum have been having nostalgia attacks over.

I've got a pair of 17th century bucket-top boots on order from an online shop in the UK, and I've seen exactly the same photo on that site as on another site, at a similar price; I think that they are probably made in India or Pakistan, but with a bit of care they should last me twenty years.
 
Glooc said:
And it's made me think more about the whole women-as-caregivers or 'mums' to their horses - so interesting! I wonder why/how we've gone from seeing our horses as work machine/military tools (for men) to the way horse culture is now...
It's also made me think about the way we talk about our horses' gender! I wonder if mares really do have more 'feminine' features, 'moody' natures etc. Or is there stereotyping at play here?

What does everyone think about the idea that horses are 'substitute children' for some women?
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I think it's over-simplistic nonsense. There are, quite probably, women out there for whom their horses are akin to either substitute, or additional children for them, but it's certainly not the case for all - or even the majority - of female horse owners. I certainly don't see myself as my horses' mother, nor regard myself as their care giver. If anything, I'm closer to being the housekeeper :rolleyes3: And I certainly don't treat my horses as anything other than what they are - large, powerful animals with a very different understanding of the world.

I also don't conflate equine gender with human gender - I suppose there is a tendency to link mares and moodiness (though I don't think that is anywhere high on my list of associated attributes for human females, so hardly a human-equine blur). People often say stupid, stereotyped, simplistic things - like moody mare, soppy gelding - but they're rarely representative or useful. Obviously there is an evolutionary imperative for the majority of females to behave in certain ways around offspring - but beyond that, I think it's facile (bordering on misogynistic) to draw parallels.
 
I quite like the housekeeper reference JFTD :lol:

Although with Arty I would say I'm more of her PA than her housekeeper.
 
DabDab said:
I quite like the housekeeper reference JFTD :lol:

Although with Arty I would say I'm more of her PA than her housekeeper.
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Yup I was def Millie's PA when she was on the yard. I am not anything's mum, nor do I wish to be. Even as a youngster I was adamant that I would spend my free time on horses and not children, the idea of mothering a horse is a bit bonkers to me. Though I do love them, dearly, I can still bung them in a field and walk away, or sell them (and tbh I think it's frowned upon to saddle up human children and say giddyup :rolleyes:)

I also don't buy into the horsey gender gubbins. I like mares for the way they seem closer to nature with their hormones and instincts, I would probably like stallions in a similar way but the logistics would be impossible at livery. But they are all different, I have one hormonal sop, one happy go lucky dobbin, one standoffish old tart and one clever monkey. They could be a cross section of any group of horses, it's a coincidence that they've all landed with me so they are all mares.

Re the men in riding thing, the ones I've known have been into it for the riding/competing and not for the care and hour by hour interaction. I expect OH would like to come for a ride now and then, and while he will help out on the yard, he has no desire to be faffing about looking after them every day. And he is VERY horsey, can appreciate a nice horse or decent training (farrier) :wink3:

ETA Oh, and fingers. My index and ring fingers are the same length :)
 
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DabDab said:
I quite like the housekeeper reference JFTD :lol:

Although with Arty I would say I'm more of her PA than her housekeeper.
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"I'm not your housekeeper" is one of my more common complaints at them across the field, as they create more work for me, in a seemingly gleeful fashion. Mine don't need a PA. It's bad enough having Daemon, a criminal mastermind, in the field without having Organised Crime too.

And my mare is nothing like the "moody mare" stereotype - she's the most level headed animal I've had. The boys are far more temperamental!
 
Keith_Beef said:
I've got a pair of 17th century bucket-top boots on order from an online shop in the UK, and I've seen exactly the same photo on that site as on another site, at a similar price; I think that they are probably made in India or Pakistan, but with a bit of care they should last me twenty years.
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My bucket top boots finally arrived, and very nice they are, too. With a looooong shoe horn I can get them on without too much trouble, with a boot jack I can take them off all by myself.

I'm still looking at breeches for this winter...
 
We send significantly more women on riding holidays than we do men and 82% of our Instagram followers (so interested in riding holidays) are women. I think that reflects the population of leisure riders in the UK but I agree that the ratio of men to women increases dramatically as you look into competition, hunting, polo, ranching etc. I have been fortunate to ride in 29 countries and women dominate the sport far more over here than anywhere else I have been.

As someone essentially said earlier, it's self-perpetuating in the sense that horse riding is often seen as a sport for little girls, boys are less inclined to participate. Most of the male riders that I know either come from a horsey family or came to riding late in life when they were less bothered about what people thought, whereas I know plenty of women and girls who didn't come from a riding background at all but asked their parents for lessons or were given them as a gift, something like that to get them started.
 
My husband said the other day that he would love to be able to ride, but he doesn’t want to have to learn and struggle first. So he’s not doing it.

I wonder if that’s part of it? Unless boys are part of horsey families and start young then they don’t want to have to learn and be embarrassed a little later on life
 
I am male and started riding age six did not own my first horse until in my 40s 8 years ago, now have two and my other half has one. I always have and will mucked them out or checked them when in the field 24/7.
Hacking is my thing often put one of the horses on the lorry and go out to new places on my own or join EBA rides which are very good.
I do jump never had any saddle problems and am quite happy to learn new things.

Problem for a lot of men is they are too heavy for most horses.
 
GTRJazz said:
Problem for a lot of men is they are too heavy for most horses.
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That's only true if the yards are catering to light people, for example teenagers and women who are on average lighter than adult men.

I weigh 95kg, and there are now four horses, I think, on the yard who can comfortably carry me for four hours.

(The count of four is excluding horses on livery; I'm only counting those belonging to the riding centre; there are additionally a couple of lusitanos that arrived a couple of weeks ago that could easily carry me, since their owner is a shade heavier than me)
 
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Keith_Beef said:
That's only true if the yards are catering to light people, for example teenagers and women who are on average lighter than adult men.

I weigh 95kg, and there are now four horses, I think, on the yard who can comfortably carry me for four hours.

(The count of four is excluding horses on livery; I'm only counting those belonging to the riding centre; there are additionally a couple of lusitanos that arrived a couple of weeks ago that could easily carry me, since their owner is a shade heavier than me)
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Most UK yards are aimed at teenagers or children cannot blame them as that's where the demand is also more expensive to feed bigger horses.

Another reason men do not ride is that many have hard manual jobs and need rest time not more work in their spare time.
 
My OH was self taught in his early teens as he was desperate to learn as he was passionate about hunting. He acquired cheap TBs and learned to stay on. It was a revelation to him when he was lent a horse that could jump (the previous ex flat horses had scrambled or cat leapt!)

He has now been riding for over 50 years and has never ridden in an arena, never had a lesson, never entered a competition - he has however hunted with most packs in the UK and has crossed country most of us would have nightmares about.

If he had been put on a pony as a child and taught to do rising trot in ever-decreasing circles, he would most likely have chucked it. My brother did - he had formal lessons as a 5-10 year old, and gave up ponies as soon as he discovered motorbikes didn't need mucking out!
 
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