Men - where are they?

G

GGRider

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Ladies?

Assuming no men are on the forum...but where are they all? Why are men not riding in equal numbers, where are the little lads at riding schools? Are we losing 50% of the potential competitors who could win medals for us?

I hate the 'pinkification' of the horse industry, just look at any horse catalogue and it is all girlie and fashion stuff. I can't hardly find anything for my riding OH. Give me MEN!

Whatcha think?
 
I think Jodpurs scare them away once they hit puberty and if they try to get back into horses at a later age, we women scare them away!!

I have a couple of male friends who ride and own horses. One of whom is gay. The woman at the yard are shameless, they pounce on the poor guys. A few women have even tried to covert the gay guy!!!!
 
Every girl needs a gay best firend tho! Esp if they are good looking and enjoy play flirting! I'm almost obscene with my gay best friend, its great! lol

We have a few boys in the riding club, one in the beginner group and 3 in out BUCS teams. I'm with you on the the jodhs thing, our fantastic new sponsor, cavaletti clothing, is giving out team free jodhpurs (in amounst some amazing deals, cannont recomend them highly enough) and I'm insiting the boys get breeches!

Its the same in catering tho, the bottom is full of women but the top, its all men!
 
Well i would just like to say that i am a bloke who is 23 and loves riding. granted i cant find mens jodpurs anywhere and they cost twice as much when i do. however i think you are more a man when you know how to ride and if men knew that women would pounce onto them, would inspire more men to ride.

(from OH)
 
lol definatly! Spoke to someone the other day who thought all men who ride were gay... then I had to explain to her that (older) pony club and young farmers were giant swinging clubs!

I also explained how the young apprentice farriers are treated to a male firend.... he now wants to be one... lol
 
GGRider, you assume wrong.

I am a 49 year old OH who started to ride properly a year ago and I have been a member of this forum for around a year.

Unfortunately, I do often feel like the only gay in the village, being one of only three or four males who ride locally. I say males, because only one other is a man, the remainder are lads, who may or may not continue to ride once they have 1) discovered girls (that don't smell like a stable) and (2) have a driving license.

Being an only male brings with it a number of disadvantages. First, everyone assumes you are gay, regardless of the wedding ring and OH who is often with me. It also makes it pretty hard to attend riding club events or camps, especially if you don't know anyone. I am not shy, but there is a slight difficulty being the only bloke in a group of ladies. As mentioned all riding gear, especially Jodhpurs cost at least twice as much. Lastly, it is rather the reverse of the 'can anybody hear me' gag that used to run on the Fast Show, especially on this forum. I find that on many occasions I can make a point or voice an opinion, or even say 'Hello' when riding, and I appear to be invisible and inaudible.

For me, riding started out as a Martial skill. I have spent most of my adult life training in the Martial Arts and horse riding was an essential skill of any ancient warrior class. However, I have also discovered the sheer joy of spending time with the giving and amusing personality that horses possess and apart from archery I have dropped all other past times in order to learn to ride properly.

GG, we are a rare commodity, but there ARE men riding horses, and some of us are NOT gay
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My son is now 12 but got his first pony 4 years ago when he was 8 - when he first got his pony the kids at school used to laugh at him and say horse riding was for girls etc, I was so proud that he didn't care what they said - he loved his pony and enjoyed his riding and he is still the same now - he's a goalkeeper for a local football team - he's a fly half for the school rugby team, he's as rough as ol' boots, far from feminine but he lurves his horses and i can't see him ever changing, in fact he's already saying he wants to become a farrier when he leaves school and to top it all we have a queue of friends (all boys) who now love coming to the stables with us and all love being up there.
 
At my son's level in Pony Club there are more boys than girls. Given that a significnat proportion of the Dads either ride or used to ride the proportion may change, but a good number will continue. At our local show men / boys are outnumbered, but only just and I'll probably ride next year as well.

Puberty is probably even more of an incentive to keep riding given the number of teenage cuties in the Pony Club.

Having said that I remember going to get riding boots, when I said they were for me I got a very strange look. Apparently a man's job in the tack shop is to wave the credit card and lift heavy things into the boot of the car.
 
There are no males at my yard & not any that i no of immediately close by!
Saying that though my OH has his own horse and rides for owners & other horsey males i no are gay.
I think its a case of being in the right place as halloween said!
 
There is a young man called Tom who teaches Part-time where I keep my horse and he has caused a few eyelashes to flutter. The little girls love his lessons, he is brilliant with them keeps them busy and interested and fortunatly for my OH is far too you to cause more than a whimsical fluttering of my eyelashes!
 
Im a chap and i can find loads of good stuff clothes for competing.. General riding I buy good ski jackets for winter. Cant stand all that pink crap and bling that the girlies wear. Cant beat a pair of jeans and some good chaps and boots. What does your OH want?
 
Hi GGRider!

It sounds like NeilM is a real man, who rides also! They do exist, albeit a bit on the rare side! Good for you, Neil! Wish there were more like you!

Best wishes to all, BS x
 
Eventer, where do you get your cheap gear?

I have lots of outdoor type clothing that is just as good for riding as it is for walking or fishing, but I have found that when it comes to specialist riding gear the price rockets. Even on discount web sites, look for jods or a decent short jacket and you have a choice of two pairs of jods, with the cheap pair priced at £60 or £70 and the short jackets come in a nice range of powder blue, pink and black and are never sized up to XL.

I stopped riding in jeans when I changed from being young and tough to old and wanting to be comfortable
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GG, sorry I missed the point of your original post.

A good place to find men's riding gear is eBay. I have bought all sorts of things there and pretty much all my jods. The alternatives are tack shop sale rail and country / equine shows. The recent show in Exeter had a lot of man sized clothes at really good prices and I got some really nice thin leather gloves for a fiver at the Bath and West last year.
 
Another male (not gay) rider here although the majority of users on this forum seem to assume I'm female.

I found riding in my late teens (long time ago) a pleasure. male / female ratio was about 15 to 1, beats any nightclub
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Agree about the stupid prices charged for male gear and why do manufacturers assume all men that ride have at least a 36" waist
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I've been riding for 44 years now and cant see myself ever stopping
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