Male riders!

squidsin

squidsin

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Feb 16, 2013
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I know there are a few on here - come out, come out, lurkers! I'd like to pick your brains if I may! Being male riders in a predominantly female sport, are there any issues that male riders have that us women riders are blithely unaware of - all eyes on you if you're the only bloke competing, always having to ride the big cob at your local riding school, that kind of thing? I'm writing a feature about this for Horse & Hound and could do with some tips, being a girl! Thank you.
 
My OH has to wear proper riding supportive underwear, especially when trotting! The other issue we had that the local riding school didn't have a horse big enough to cater for him so we ended up buying a horse that he could learn on. He was very confident and gung-ho (more cautious now after a few falls and an unrelated bad back) and was soon galloping about. He also, annoyingly, seems to have a naturally good posture on a horse and irritates me intensely by pointing out that my toes are sticking out etc. He is outnumbered at the yard, being the only male rider, not that it bothers him. He also gets asked to do all the 'heavy' tasks - despite his bad back. He's really not that bothered about riding though - would rather be watching the cricket!
 
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I'll ask the male rider at my yard if you like? He rides beautifully and always makes riding his mahoosive warmblood look like a walk in the park, not sure he wears special underwear but I will ask LOL.
 
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My semi paralysed OH learnt to ride in his forties and from his first lesson you'd have said he'd been riding all his life. By lesson six he was cantering circles. There was another man learning at the same time who believe it or not had stick from neighbours for doing so when he told them he was learning to ride. Comments about him only going to get close to teenage girls and that kind of thing. He gave up in the end. Very sad that people are that narrow minded and have nothing better to do than spread nasty rumours.
 
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Yes please to asking your friend Kite_Rider.

I KNEW it would be all about the pants!
 
I think I qualify to answer!

I have a number of issues but not to do with anatomy! I don't wear special underwear :)

If I ever book a ride and go with a female they almost always automatically assume that I can't ride, whatever I say. Apparently its very common for ladies to bring their boyfriends/husband who can't ride, but get them to claim that they can. This means that the first time I go I end up with the steady Eddy mount (and I'm definitely not a steady Eddy sort of person!)

Its also a problem to get riding clothing. Want a pair of long boots? Biggest size for most brands is 8. A pair of Mark Todd waterproof riding trousers? - only for ladies (I presume Mark Todd wears the ladies version?). A pair of cheap jods/breeches? forget it! (remember the thread about the Aldi equine stuff)

Never mind - I'll have a read of my horse magazine - they have a nice group test of show jackets. Oh - they have only tested ladies jackets :( I'll enter the competition to win jods/boots etc - nope - only for ladies.

These points aside I actually find it rather fun spending my time with a crowd of horsey females!
 
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What I am curious about is how it is that 99% of casual riders and kid riders are female but such a large %age of pros are male. Is it that only really talented or passionate boys keep it up because of the pressure against male riders - so those who do carry on are disproportionately good? Or is it that boys are more competitive? So they don;t fuss/pamper/play with their ponies but spend much more time actually riding?
 
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KP nut said:
What I am curious about is how it is that 99% of casual riders and kid riders are female but such a large %age of pros are male. Is it that only really talented or passionate boys keep it up because of the pressure against male riders - so those who do carry on are disproportionately good? Or is it that boys are more competitive? So they don;t fuss/pamper/play with their ponies but spend much more time actually riding?
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Oh no you couldn't be more wrong on the not fussing/pampering and playing, not with the guy on my yard anyhow, he's a great rider, used to compete to quite a high level SJ, but he spends as much time doing all of the above as he does riding, probably more now his horse is semi retired, his horse is the cleanest on the yard and never has a hair out of place :D heaven forbid if his horse has a stable stain :eek: - out comes the wash bucket in a flash! He's a lovely guy btw.
 
chev said:
There was another man learning at the same time who believe it or not had stick from neighbours for doing so when he told them he was learning to ride. Comments about him only going to get close to teenage girls and that kind of thing. He gave up in the end. Very sad that people are that narrow minded and have nothing better to do than spread nasty rumours.
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That is awful chev, can't people be horrible, poor man.
 
My husband has never really had riding lessons but he is a natural rider, thoughtlessly brave (as many men are) with lovely balance and posture and gentle hands. He rode Mattie occasionally and Mattie loved going for a gallop with him. He is 6ft but at the time was under 12 st so it was no problem for fine-boned 15.2 Mattie to carry him.

He used to be carefully to wear supportive underwear, but the ones he wears for yoga did fine. And his riding jacket was a ladies Musto, size 16 fitted him fine.

His biggest problem was that he hates any kind of rule with a passion and always wants to do what he likes. "Why do I have to have reins this long? It's ridiculous, what do I need them for?" Well, Mattie might put his head down. "Oh. Ok." And when we went out a couple of times to ride abroad, he would always want to canter and gallop even though the ride leader told him not to, which was very embarrassing to me and led to us being grounded once!
 
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GaryB said:
I think I qualify to answer!

I have a number of issues but not to do with anatomy! I don't wear special underwear :)

If I ever book a ride and go with a female they almost always automatically assume that I can't ride, whatever I say. Apparently its very common for ladies to bring their boyfriends/husband who can't ride, but get them to claim that they can. This means that the first time I go I end up with the steady Eddy mount (and I'm definitely not a steady Eddy sort of person!)

Its also a problem to get riding clothing. Want a pair of long boots? Biggest size for most brands is 8. A pair of Mark Todd waterproof riding trousers? - only for ladies (I presume Mark Todd wears the ladies version?). A pair of cheap jods/breeches? forget it! (remember the thread about the Aldi equine stuff)

Never mind - I'll have a read of my horse magazine - they have a nice group test of show jackets. Oh - they have only tested ladies jackets :( I'll enter the competition to win jods/boots etc - nope - only for ladies.

These points aside I actually find it rather fun spending my time with a crowd of horsey females!
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This is great stuff, grist to my mill, thank you GaryB!
 
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KP nut said:
What I am curious about is how it is that 99% of casual riders and kid riders are female but such a large %age of pros are male. Is it that only really talented or passionate boys keep it up because of the pressure against male riders - so those who do carry on are disproportionately good? Or is it that boys are more competitive? So they don;t fuss/pamper/play with their ponies but spend much more time actually riding?
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No, it's the usual reason - massive gender inequality in society. Women athletes never get the same support and financial backing that male athletes do, whatever their field, because society believes men are 'better' at sport. And most top-level female riders have husbands and families to look after, whereas the male riders have wives who look after the kids and support THEM.
 
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GaryB said:
I think I qualify to answer!

I have a number of issues but not to do with anatomy! I don't wear special underwear :)

If I ever book a ride and go with a female they almost always automatically assume that I can't ride, whatever I say. Apparently its very common for ladies to bring their boyfriends/husband who can't ride, but get them to claim that they can. This means that the first time I go I end up with the steady Eddy mount (and I'm definitely not a steady Eddy sort of person!)

Its also a problem to get riding clothing. Want a pair of long boots? Biggest size for most brands is 8. A pair of Mark Todd waterproof riding trousers? - only for ladies (I presume Mark Todd wears the ladies version?). A pair of cheap jods/breeches? forget it! (remember the thread about the Aldi equine stuff)

Never mind - I'll have a read of my horse magazine - they have a nice group test of show jackets. Oh - they have only tested ladies jackets :( I'll enter the competition to win jods/boots etc - nope - only for ladies.

These points aside I actually find it rather fun spending my time with a crowd of horsey females!
Click to expand...

OH used to buy Splash brand denim jodhs. They are waterproof and unisex. Not sure if they are still going but they used to be reasonably priced and a good range of sizes.
 
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Trewsers said:
OH used to buy Splash brand denim jodhs. They are waterproof and unisex. Not sure if they are still going but they used to be reasonably priced and a good range of sizes.
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I will be investigating! Thanks :)
 
A few observations:

My daugher ( and myself in years gone by) always seem to work better with male trainers as they were more systematic in their training systems and we did not argue with them!! They are/were all successful in their main discipline. Perhaps that is a reflection on our learning styles but I suspect more their attitude to riding is the key as by no means were any of them 'people pleasers'. ...the sort of coach that the occasional well ridden leaves a glow and makes you trly even harder and a 'good horse' is even better!!

I suspect attitude/discipline of rider is the key to sucessful men competing.

My second observation comes from teaching men/boys occassionally and over a number of years. Unlike women/girls who will persevere,males tend to want to do a lot quickly and if they can't give up.This suggests to me that generally only the most talented men carry on whereas most .women do

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Have asked my friend this morning. He said he's been riding since he was six and never really encountered any problems. He says he used to wear protective underwear when he was competimg and he's always found the girls /women he rides or competes with treat him just the same as any other rider. He is very disciplined though and also much less afraid than some ladies. Basically he said he's just like the rest of us and while he always wanted to win his horses wellbeing always comes first. he also said of you have any specific questions you want to ask he would be happy to answer :)
 
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