I’m a “Penny.”* A woman who loves horses, and horse riding. It’s been like this since I was eleven and I still can’t pass grasslands without cooing and cuddling with the horses (if they’re up for it, of course). Somehow this makes me — in some people’s opinions – someone who can’t let go of her girly past. Because horses are so very much a girl thing.
Maybe it is. Even though for centuries horse riding was only for men, knights could only be men and women were too fragile to be thrown around on a horse’s back, maybe society somewhere turned this upside down (like the pink for boys thing, maybe even at the same time?) and made it a girl-only thing. And following that, men and boys that like horses and riding them, must be gay or overly feminine. Or they’re just “expanding their dating/hunting grounds.”
Because no way they could just enjoy it, of course. No, after a certain age, a (teenage) girl is only on the back of a horse to get an orgasm (NO, very hard to achieve), while boys/men might have a cowboy-fantasy problem.
If you prefer to spend your Saturday in the stables instead of the mall, you’re silly and possible an a-social loser. Especially because — to throw another cliché in — none of these “horse people” are friendly towards each other. It’s only rich brats, their servants and the poor that don’t even own a horse. Almost like the real world, but with more hay and dung nearby.
Just like in the real world, there are people who think they’re better because they can ride in an A-brand outfit and have three horses. There are non-heterosexual people, yet I have to meet the first one that blames a horse for his/her sexuality. There are people of all ages, some don’t act like them, some do. There are people that have been around for 35 years and some that give up on it after three months. Almost like it’s just an ordinary hobby, instead of something that got the gender-treatment.
*Over here Penny is a magazine for (pre)teens about horses
2 replies on “Horses Aren’t Just for Girls”
Aw, this was a lovely read. I was a stable girl through my tween and teen years, and yeah, it wasn’t a rich-person activity in my case. I absolutely knew of the girly stereotype but found it an incredibly strengthening (I can’t think how else to phrase it) time and experience.
You made me realize that I think I noticed ‘growing up’ more in the stables than anywhere else. And thanks :)