Men in Horse Riding

I don't have much to say. But Great thread Barry, I've enjoyed reading this.

I think he's saying that men and women approach horses differently. I can't argue with that at all. I train horses for a lot of different people from all different backgrounds but each gender seems to have problems in common with others of the same gender. Most notably, many more women have pushy horses than men do. Most men however let problems develop far longer before they seek help.

Quoting this from Barry's post: In return I have admired a lot of horses when I have not noticed the female owner even when sometimes she was sitting on the horse.

I had to laugh out loud. I'm guilty of doing the same thing RE men riders, especially if they were riding a great horse. Could describe the horse and remember its name and history later, but had no recall whatsoever about the guy. So, maybe fellas trying to meet lady equestrians should carefully consider whether the horse they ride will keep them from being noticed at all!

Pooh, I am not implying anything - I am merely saying in a roundabout way, that I wish there were more men in the sport. Unfortunately as a lifelong horse lover, I have been unable to introduce many men to riding and not for the want of trying.

I have been lucky enough in my life to discover the friendship of four superb horsemasters in the male company of whom I have enjoyed the horses I have been privileged to know.

On our small select stable yard in Britain there are four keen horse women (including my wife) and me. The five horses are unquestionably well looked after, which is what counts.

But I readily confess that I miss the companionship of those male friends down on the yard.

I think I understood, my response was poorly worded so that it sounded as if I were implying you personally were seeking to be noticed by ladies - not my intention, I apologize. I should have made it more clear that I was just really amused by the idea that some men might not realize that some ladies like myself are much more interested in the horses than the men!

I agree with you about companionship. Even though I'm a woman and thus one of the gender majority in this sport, it's been hard to find ladies with similar temperament and riding goals with whom to share pleasant time with horses. I've had two such ladies in my life, both of whom were important influences on my horsemanship. Fortunately, in the last 3 years, my husband has finally found a horse of his own that he is comfortable with on trails and off property, so when weather and health permit, we enjoy shared time with the horses.

This is an interesting thread - I hadn't considered the issue before. There are a lot of men riders in my part of the US but I can't think of any male riders of my acquaintance whose equine sport is something besides one of the cattle-oriented sports such as team penning, sorting, cutting cattle, roping or reining.

Men are often goal oriented, so riding for the sake of riding doesn't do much for them. I probably took up riding a couple of years ago because I grew up watching westerns, but I've kept riding because I like learning about horses & how to train them.

However, I'm a retired military officer. If I was still putting in 12+ hr days and deploying 5-6 months each year, I wouldn't ride horses.

Incidentally - regarding my four personal male horsemasters:

DP, was a world renowned stuntman, an ex professional boxer and a life long horseman , trained by his father who owned one of the last commercial livery yards in London. As a bruiser he could be frightening but watch him with a disturbed horse and then witness his magical touch. He had performed in numerous films and TV productions but it is his work as stunt horsemaster for which he will always be remembered. His eye for a horse’s movement is exceptional. In him, I have had my own personal Monty Roberts.

KR moved over to England at the beginning of World War 2 to fight Hitler. He had been a professional rodeo rider in Canada, but he never went home after the war. He created and ran a Western Riding Club down in plush leafy Surrey. Much later when I first read the writings of Tom Dorrance I realised that I could have been reading the words of my own bow legged Canuck cowboy. KR taught me to ride and handle horses the Western way.

LL was the charismatic son of an English aristocrat who had taught officers to ride at Weedon the old British Army riding school. He’d spent much of his later life watching, riding and training horses in the classical way of Portugal. He had a winning smile which he used on both horses and, I suspect, the females in his life. One week with him riding his Lusitano stallions brought home to me just how fascinating horses can be. His eye, his way of teaching, his relationship with horses was exceptional. His death was a loss to the equestrian world.
His wife carries on with his teaching but for me she lacks his touch.

PT was born into a horsey family and ran the family’s unique trail riding centre. When not chaperoning riders up in the mountains, his hobby was team chasing - British style - that is indeed a rough way of racing. He brought me, by then an older man, back into fast and furious riding over uneven moorland terrain and introduced me to a fast sure footed Welsh/Hannoverian cob. When one day I was privileged to ride his personal team chaser, the half brother of my own regular mount, I peeked into a whole new world of horse riding. If I was judged competent by him to ride his equine racing machine then I was competent to ride a spirited horse. It was a lot of fun being around the guy. The cob which I rode so often with him has proved to be irreplaceable in my life with horses.


Each of these four horsemasters, to whom horses were the stuff of life itself, taught me something different in their own individual ways. Whenever I was stumped by a behavioural problem, invariably one of them would come up with an answer which usually worked. And all four of them were a lot of fun to ride out with.

Over the course of years, I will never deny I have learned a lot about horses from experienced lady riders but if ever I were to write my equestrian CV, those four guys would certainly be on it.

Barry, if you ever write a book I can promise you will sell at least one copy.

^^Make that two copies.

Kevin and Kate - that's nice of you to say. Thank you.

The book is written as 52500 words about my old horse Joe - but working out just how to get it printed remains a puzzle. The best bet at the moment is through Amazon's Kindle e-book system but we shall see.

The writing was easy enough but reaching publication is another deal altogether.

Barry