I agree. All really big names I can remember at the moment (in western) are guys (except Stacy and Julie). Actually I'd say it's true for not-so-big names but still very successful trainers in my area. However most really good english trainers around here are female. As one of the local male western trainers said (who did lots of English as well): he looks too bad in breeches... :lol:

 

Yes! I notice that most very well known english trainers are female, and most western are male. Most HUS and western trainers around here are male aswell.

 

Every little girl loves horses but by the time they are in thier late teens the novelty has gone away and they quit riding. Maybe they come back after they get done with kids and maybe they don't. Most of them don't. When a boy gets involved with horses and really takes to it they have less reasons to quit than the ladies. Also, men have bolder personalities and more physical strenght than most women. Also, men are generally percieved more successful in business and that is a major part of becoming a professional horse trainer or clinician.

 

I am sticking my tongue at you! Hmph. You are probably right though. But I'm 37 and the novelty hasn't worn off. One thing I will say though is that the older I get, the more timid I get. I have ridden some crazy fool horses, I own one, have owned him for 23 years. He could rear, buck, paw, do whatever on the ground and I would never back down. Now I have to remind myself that I am in charge.

I just wanted to add that there are a lot more male trainers in my area then females... that may have something to do with it as well.

 

I also notice men dont get emotionally involved with their horses. You wont see them crying because "the horse wont listen to them" and taking it personally which i have seen many many gals do.

 

^you've seriously seen that? :shock:

Really, I just think it's that boys are in general more competitive. They always want to be the best of all while girls are maybe content with being the best they can be.

 

Back in 4h iv seen many many girls throw a crying/hissy fit because "the horse wont listen to them" and take it personally.

 

Oof, some people..

 

This may be a little off topic but I train alot of horses for other people so I meet people from all different walks of life and I have noticed that men and women have very different reasons for sending a horse to a trainer. Women almost always admitt that they are not experienced enough and need someone to help them get a good start on thier horse. In 15 years I have only heard the previous reason from a handful of men. It seems like every man used to train all his own horses but what with work or business or a sports related injury they can't do it any more. It may well have been true with some of them but I have seen some of these men ride and they have very little ability. The women may not have much ability either but they are far more honest about it.

 

Men and their "pride"

 

It's called marketing and promotion. It is still very much a biased world out there.

There is also the fact that when women have children - there is a time during pregnancy and after child birth they cannot ride. If you have several children - that takes a huge hunk of a decade.

 

There is also the fact that when women have children - there is a time during pregnancy and after child birth they cannot ride. If you have several children - that takes a huge hunk of a decade.

I completely agree with this. I gained 63lbs with my son, (a 9lb'r) and was unable to even swing that right leg over to get INTO the saddle. My belly protruded so much there was no way I could even handle a walk without the horn digging into me! I wouldn't even consider riding bareback, for obvious reasons. And yes, it's taken the majority of 2 years already, and I just found out about 3 weeks ago we're pregnant again. This will be the last, I'm sure, because there are sooo many other things I need to be doing than laying around in bed all day with swollen feet! Not to mention, I had to wear my husband's boots to feed at night because my feet swelled up so bad! And if there was any kind of accident, I couldn't catch myself. It's just too dangerous. But, it's really made me focus on what I want to get done with my horses when I deliver. I was riding 6wks post-delivery, but it still stung a bit if I rode more than 30-45 mins at a time. Even now, a year after my son was born, my boobs are still to big to ride without being uncomfortable and making my back ache! But, I'm tough, and don't complain!

Haha. Well, I believe that it hasn't truely been a full day until you have cow blood and poop from at least 3 different species on your jeans. LOL.

I think we'd make quite the work partner, there, smrobs! I'm the same way. I have to remind Chris to shed his top layer when he comes in at night to keep the crud from getting on the furniture! And I don't mind being stinky, cause I know there's a HOT shower at the end of the day waiting for me!

I guess my trainer is an exception. She rode up until the day she gave birth and was back training a couple weeks later. Having a child has not slowed her down in the least.

She must be SuperMom then, cause there's no way I could do it. Maybe if I didn't get so big, and my boobs weren't the size of freakin' cantaloupes, and my horse was 7hh, I might consider riding... lol. It threw my balance off sooo bad, kudos to your trainer!

 

I am right there with you FP, the novelty hasn't worn off for me either. mls, I think that likely your point is a pretty strong one. Lots of customers wouldn't want a trainer that would take a year off every couple or 3 years. They want a trainer that will be there whenever they need them. I would guess that some of it also has to do with women being physically weaker than men. There are certain times with certain horses that require a bit of manhandling and if you don't have the physical strength to do it, then you are just out of luck. I would guess that some of it is also the fact that girls are girls. Horse training is a dirty job. By the end of a day, you're sweaty and stinky and covered in dirt and sometimes other, less appealing, substances. That just doesn't appeal to most normal women.

 

Only the SPECTACULAR ones.

 

Haha. Well, I believe that it hasn't truely been a full day until you have cow blood and poop from at least 3 different species on your jeans. LOL.

 

Hahaha! My Mom always complains that I clean my geldings' sheaths but I don't like rubbing lotion on her feet, lol! Saddly, that's really rather true! Can't help it, horses aren't gross to me, no matter how gross the are. :lol:

I am 34 and never outgrew my love of horses. I think it started around the age of 5 with The Black Stallion and stuck with me like glue ever since! But I have seen some friends growing up go through a horsie faze only to outgrow it for boys in a few years. I never quite understood that. Can't you have both? Well, maybe not, I'm still single, lol!

I always felt that women and girls love horses, and men love what they can do with horses (the activities and such). But women are more in it for the relationship with the animal. Do you all feel that is true?

 

I really think it depends where you are and what level you ride at. There are many well known female english trainers, but there are JUST as many well known male english trainers. English, I feel, is a lot more open to female vs. male trainers than is western, though maybe that's just me. I haven't been a part of the western word for a long time, so I couldn't tell you.

 

I personally train and have done so for about 4yrs now. I don't think I will ever stop (unless I can't ride anymore). My old boss is also a higher end reining trainer but she doesn't get into the hype of media and stuff. She gets great buisness from this area and trains for congress and other high end shows.

The thing about women and training is if you get that really big powerful horse then you have to come up with other ways of dealing with it then men. We know going into it that we don't have the strength so have to adjust and make it work for us. But really even a smaller sized horse can overpower anyone if you aren't working efficiantly with them. You have to use a horses weak areas to your advantage.

I think also that women tend to me more willing to be in the background, we don't need everyone to know us to make us feel successfull.

 

As much as we love to believe that women are "equal", I find it a ridiculously foolish mentality. Nobody is saying you are any less equal then a man because you aren't as strong or don't have as much stamina. Men and women are both built to excell at different things, and I just find it amusing when women constantly try to keep up, like somehow we're inferior because we can't lift as much weight or be as tough.

The fact of the matter is, a lot of the Western disciplines are focused around actual ranch activities, and it's just something MOST women aren't exposed to unless they grew up in a ranch atmosphere (smrobs for example). Most men who get into those Western activities do so BECAUSE they were born into the ranch atmosphere and then got interested in competition and training to create better horses for their everyday activities.

The average city girl who loves ponies goes through her phase of enjoying a little English or some Western Pleasure before either losing interest or getting married/having children. The ones who DO stick it out don't typically make that transition into the "rougher" disciplines because they never started out in them.

It's a rare person who goes "Mommy, I want to learn how to cut cattle!" Most riding lesson places lead into the more docile sports like pleasure classes. If you take English lessons, you ultimately end up leaning towards the English disciplines. If you take Western lessons, you ultimately end up aiming for the "ladies" events like pleasure or barrel racing.

It's not to say that English is any less ferocious - heck, I'm pretty sure the bigger names risk their lives a lot worse then most cowboys do unless they're bronc riding daily! :lol: It's just a fact that MOST women, unless they're born into the dirt and the grit, aren't going to find any lure in sports such as cutting or even reining.

So if you take the limited amount of women you even have interested in a lot of the Western sports, and it's understandable to see why we have less big name trainers.

 

It's the breeches, definitely the breeches.

Plus what real man would turn away a HUGE BELT BUCKLE?:wink:

 

Plus what real man would turn away a HUGE BELT BUCKLE?:wink:

I'm not a real man and I worked hard to win my HUGE BELT BUCKLE!

 

^ Lol, my thoughts exactly!

Good point MM. I guess people these days are riding because it is a luxury and not a living, which goes with why most women aren't riding the tougher western sports. Your explaination makes sense to me. The horse world is so interesting. :wink:

 

By the end of a day, you're sweaty and stinky and covered in dirt and sometimes other, less appealing, substances. That just doesn't appeal to most normal women.

Lol, is it bad that I don't even notice that i'm stinky and filthy?

Where I live, while there isn't a western/english divide, those girls who ride the quintessentially 'english' disciplines definitely look down on those of us who ride the 'rougher' disciplines. They think we are rough as guts, and just hoon around, paying no heed to our horses. Little do they know :]

I think Miko hit the nail on the head - We gravitate to what we know. I gravitated, eventually, to the more 'country' disciplines (Cattle work, ASH showing) because I was born on a farm, and while I do live in the city now, my dad is a farmer and I spend all my free time there. Most people I know are more country than city. I can see the practical side of what I do with my horses, I can see the necessity of what I do in a farm situation, and I understand the complexity and skill it requires.

 

Personally, I like that it's mostly men. I've seen alot of girls, don't get me wrong. But normally they are sitting on the sidelines watching. :lol:

I also like guy trainers over girls. It just makes for an easier time :p

 

At my barn, the BO'S are our riding instructers. They are married to each other. Sam is our second mom, our personal phyciatrist (sp), and our dressage instructer. lol.

Peter is our second dad, our farrier and our jumping instructer. So we get the best of both worlds. I must say though, that we like Peter abit more than Sammy lol. He's more bold in the saddle, and isnt afraid to push us.

So basically they are also our best friends

I know that was off topic, so sorry lol

 

The novelty of having a horse was supposed to wear off???

 

Western disciplines are "rougher"? Have any of you ever heard of eventing?

 

Ever heard of steer wrestling?

 

I do not agree that most of the English professionals are female thought.

Most of the BIG name English pros are actually male. Yes, there are some females.
At the lower levels almost all of the trainers/instructors in the English world are female. At the George Morris level they are mainly men.

 

Just to throw my $0.02 in here. I think that women like to do more of the teaching and training babies than the traveling and show grind and the men like to go out and pound chests, yell at students in the warm up rings and come home with the ribbons. I know a lot of women that love to compete and of course there are those that compete at the highest levels but I think more men need the spectacle and adoration than women to feel they have accomplished something. I know a LOT of husband/wife trainers and they usually both start babies and teach students, but the women finesse and finish the greenies and teach more and the men put the show miles on the finished ones and take the upper level students to shows more often. While not always true, I think women do just enjoy staying closer to home and enjoy the challenges of working with fresh minds than the grind of a show circuit. I know I prefer to start and train greenies and then sell them or get students to ride for me at the big shows so that I can oversee and evaluate as I get a bigger piece of the puzzle that way. I get more satisfaction from a horse and rider I trained winning than me on a horse I trained winning.

And to add to the finding guys that like horses...My boyfriend 2 years ago wouldn't ride but I could occasionally twist his arm to be my show slave...This year...he bought himself a mini donkey =P. He learns well just gotta get him one he can ride next!