Comment

Comment by John Freeman on May 13, 2010 at 8:18am

More details would be great, Ward. Thank you.

I agree, a lot of horse's ability to recognize the sex of human's comes through smell. I think it's the same with dogs, that and the sound of one's voice. With my gelding, I've deliberately worked at it by keeping my voice as light as possible and sometimes used moisturizer on my face to help with my bad male smell. We've only been together since last August and he seems to be bonded with me now and I don't have to work at it quite so hard.

As to guys riding mares, I guess it makes sense given what we've both noted about equine sex preferences. It has crossed my mind when I experience other boarder's mares being openly affectionate to me and my gelding nuzzling women boarders in a way he would never consider doing with me. Also, I find that a lot of the horses that I go "Wow" over turn out to be mares. There's something about their femininity and elegance that is so beautiful. On the other hand, all the mares at the barn have been in heat lately and I'm just as glad I don't have to deal with that on a regular basis.

I'd be very interested in the results of your survey, should you do one.

Comment by Ward Edwards on May 13, 2010 at 7:30am

My wife taught riding at Sunnybrook stables in Toronto for 20 years, mostly kids, and she found that the boys needed to be challenged more than the girls or they lost interest. I will ask her tonight for more details

As for horses knowing the sex of the human, I suspect they can tell by smell. Quite often horses that have been abused, have been abused by men, so it is not a surprise some of them don't like men.

On a related topic, I have notice that most of the men in my area ride mares. I don't know if this is a trend, or just an anomoly for this area. It would be interesting to do a survey on this.

Comment by John Freeman on May 12, 2010 at 6:57pm

That's a great family history, Geoffrey. I envy your son having that lineage. The reaction he got on the school bus is exactly what he would get here in Canada.
Maybe it all just comes from ignorance. You know they think we just sit there and allow ourselves to carried passively around. I suspect a bunch of these ignorant people would be terrified if they did what you do as an event rider. Or did what I did in my younger days with thoroughbreds directly off the track. That was fun and exhilarating, but I wouldn't want to try it now.

Comment by Geoffrey Pannell on May 12, 2010 at 5:26pm

Hi Fellas, My 8 yo son came home from school the other day with a story about an older kid on the bus. The older kid asked Nick why he rode horses cause only girls did that. Nicks friend Jack said don't be stupid lots of boys ride it's not just for girls. When Nick came home we worked out how many men and boys in his family ride. Well, Nick and me, his uncle on his mothers side, both his uncles on my side, both grandfathers and greatgrandfathers, all the male cousins on both sides. So , we worked out that just about ALL the males in our extended family ride horses. Cheers Geoffrey

Comment by John Freeman on May 12, 2010 at 4:06pm

I know, John Freeman is such a common name it almost doesn't count as a name.
See if this works:
http://www.facebook.com/?tid=1438711492464&sk=messages#!/profile.php?id=667860240

If that doesn't help, use Ryerson as a key word, it's my network based on my teaching at Ryerson University until I retired in 2008.

Your comment regarding IT and technical professions and riding is interesting. In addition to teaching, I am a graphic designer - another very detail oriented profession, but I am/have been an artist, which is more intuitive.
Out of the 5 instructors or coaches I've had over the years, two have been male and the first was my father. The second male instructor was, surprisingly, here in Ontario.
Why is that you say boys and girls have to be taught differently? It never ceases to amaze me how much horses are aware of the sex of humans, but I never thought of it making a difference once you're in the saddle.
My gelding definitely prefers women, but he seems to be getting over that as his confidence in me grows. Since he was race trained originally, it's possible that before me his only experience of kindness came from women.

Comment by Ward Edwards on May 12, 2010 at 2:35pm

I have noticed that there are more men at the upper levels as well. I suspect that part of that is that the upper levels are dominated by the Europeans, where men riding is more common.

I think part of the problem is that many of the instructors are female, particularly at the lower levels, and boys and girls have to be taught differently. I find they don't challenge the young boys enough to keep them interested. The ones that do stay with it are really keen, and so often go up the ranks.

The one that gets me is that more men don't get into riding just to meet women. Where else can you go that you have next to no competition? Yes, I did meet my wife at the barn, she was (and still is) my riding instructor.

Another thing that I have found interesting is that many of the male riders work in technical professions (I work in IT). It may be that people in these professions are more detail oriented, which is helpful in riding.

Looking forward to more discussion.

Comment by John Freeman on May 12, 2010 at 12:52pm

One last thing, Ward - you were the only guy over 18. In this neck of the woods, even that's impressive. There was a teenage boy (just one) who took the summer riding camp at a local barn and was criticized in school for pursuing a "girl's sport". I heard this from the barn owner.

Comment by John Freeman on May 12, 2010 at 12:49pm

Hi Ward. Welcome to the group. Thanks for joining us.
Your dressage schooling show experience is exactly why I started this group with Michael's encouragement. I grew up in the UK and it isn't quite the same there. There's very little Western riding, for instance, so if a man rides, he's most likely riding English. The Marlboro man doesn't exist there. Anyone who looks at the pictures on the web sites for the many fox hunting organizations in the Europe will see all kinds of men as Masters of the Hunt, or just as followers.
What I find an interesting cultural phenomenon is the way that riding reflects the same attitude as cooking and gardening. At the lower (domestic) end, it's dominated by women, but when you get to the higher levels - professional, international, Olympic, etc. there's just as many men as women, if not more.
Another of my passions in life is roses and the world's great rose growers and developers are all men, but ask how many men grow them here in North America, or do any kind of gardening other than spading the vegetable patch.
When it comes to riding, my theory is that a lot of guys are just too scared especially English, where they don't have that horn to hang onto, and don't have the cowboy thing to make them feel butch.
Sorry, I'm on a soap box here.

Comment by Ward Edwards on May 12, 2010 at 12:19pm

It's great to see that there are other men out there riding. At the last dressage schooling show, I was the only male riding that was over 18.

Comment by John Freeman on May 11, 2010 at 8:08am

Thanks, Michael. That would be great.
You know, part of my motivation comes from seeing a number of guys essentially bullied away from other groups. I think, though, that part of that came as a result of the pervasive nastiness online, where so many people write anonymously and therefore feel they can say anything.

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