Showjumping...why are there more men at the higher end..

W

wizzi901

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This has always puzzled me other than maybe they have more guts!!

But how come there are less male riders on the novice side of the sport then as you get to Grade C, B and A, many more men and the professional stuff ie HOYS etc, main circuit are predominantly men??

I must be missing something really obvious....!!
 
i think it was tim stockdale who said its because woman are more concerned weather the horse doesnt hurt itself than if it actually leaves the poles in the cups. he said woman tend to get to attached and to sentamental about their horses and from the male jockeys i know 98% treat their horses like machines so i totally agree with him
 
I had a male isntructor as a teenager who reckoned it was because men tend to sit better because of a natural desire to protect themselves.
 
Nah I reckon it's simpler than that. Women have babies and that's probably what kills off their careers. To be a top showjumper you need to do the sunshine tours all over Europe. It's difficult to keep your kids away from home for that long, specially when you're living in a lorry.
 
i think its partly due to the fact that men are physically much much stronger than women and holding a 16.3hhish horse into a 1.60m takes more than just plain skill and talent you have to be very very strong and most women just arent - thats probably part of the reason we see some very interesting bitting in some sjers mouths!!!
 
Isn't it Stocky himself who had to wear thick leather gloves in order to save his hands when riding Winston Bridget as she was so strong?
 
agree 100%, when i was a kid all i wanted to be was a top sjer, did well BSJA as a jr, had a bad injury so needed over a year off before i could ride again.

then i met my hubby,had kids & didnt have the time/money to carry on traveling to big shows so have had to give up my dream.

my 7 year old wants to be a top sj now, hope thats not my fault
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I think there are a number of factors which contribute to the apparent imbalance in SJ'ing...

Obviously 'the baby / family thing' does have an impact, although I would argue that that is less of an issue than some might think. Woman have careers now in all forms of business and with the average age for having a first child increasing there is still plenty of time to have a career in SJ'ing AND a family
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The 'strength' argument also comes into play I believe. although not all horses need strong riders and many a sympathetic female jockey has got results from a horse that wouldn't go for a more physical rider.

I think also there is a lot of bravado involved. The old 'i can go higher / further / faster than you' attitude is predominantly that of the male.

Finally, and for me most importantly, there is the 'dressage' factor
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I know loads of blokes who wouldn't even entertain doing a dressage test....whether it came as part of a 3DE or not
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Yes there are more men than woman .... but the World Show jumping Final - 3 women 1 man - I know it was won by the man though....

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Good point
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And I believe that at least 2 of the top 3 or 4 riders in the FEI rankings are females too...
 
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