Girls and Horses...

[Kekken]

One of the most prevalent (and, I think) still existing stereotypes is that little girls and even a lot of older girls and women love ponies and horses.

I would like to know how true this stereotype is, if at all, and if so, why? What is it about horses that is so fascinating? And please don't tell me its Freudian...

And if its not true at all, then how did the stereotype start? Does anyone know when it first manifested itself in art or literature?

[TSED]

Entirely unfounded theory, but I suspect it has something to do with the whole "knight in shining armour" / "knights ride horses" correlation.


I have nothing to back it up, though. Not a girl, and don't like horses.

[Comet]

I bet it's because riding lets the girls be above us males. The taller the horse, the happier the girl.
Those ladies can be such snobs, I tell you.

[bosssmiley]

It's not Freudian; it's outright sexual. The movement of a running horse stimulates the girlybits in - what I'm told - is a very pleasant way.

The sex thing aside, there's also the aesthetics of the animal. Horses, with their big brown eyes, long hair, elegant physique, and (usually) docile temperament, are nice to look at and be around. They are far more aesthetically pleasing to look at than cows or sheep, and are generally not involved in the grimier parts of rural life (fattening and slaughtering for meat).

There are also the socio-cultural associations of equestrianism. Horses are an expensive status symbol that require endless care, expense, and fussing over, and can be used to establish pecking order and bragging rights in your own peer group (look at how insanely competitive and bitchy the world of pony club gymkhanas can be ).

Finally there's the 'power and control' element. Having half-a-ton of speeding muscle under your precise and delicate control is a massively empowering feeling. In a lot of pre-modern cultures that's the only exercise of power and dominance a young girl would have been allowed. You can see how that would be a little intoxicating...

So, yeah. Horses; the quintessential girly fantasy animal.

The origin of the horsey girl thing? That probably goes back to medieval courtly love. The ideal of female grace taming wildness mixed with the equestrianism culture of medieval Europe. Again, at base it's all about sex.

(side note: in the Classical world women were expected to travel by carriage or litter. Riding was strictly a masculine pursuit and infra dig for true ladies. Net result: no girly horsey culture)

[Quincunx]

I still stand by the theory that the horse-lovers' gene is one of those most easily corrupted into a computer-lovers' gene. There was some blast of radiation, or possibly electromagnetic interference, that turned children of respectable yet horse-mad families into computer geeks. (At least, this is the best theory anyone's come up with to explain how geeks cropped up in moneyed rural families. In proper farm families it's just a transferrence of the "tinker with the doohickey until it works" inclination.)

The horse-mad female exists but not nearly to the extent that merchandising would have you believe. Marketing is straining to find interests that they can market to girls with an implicit guarantee that boys won't also be swarming into that interest and drowning out the girls--well, actually, no they're not, they're just flooding the market with the few interests which already seem to fit the bill.

My mother and my mother-in-law are both in the horse-mad demographic, although with different approaches. My mother grew up when Westerns were insanely popular movies and owned cowboy toys and miniature Western-style saddles; my mother-in-law follows sulky races and once had partial ownership in a racing horse. Both of them were at their happiest mucking out stables and bringing treats to the horses; neither of them would be interested in the 'dressage and gymkhanas' image of horse ownership which is marketed.

[Decoy Lockbox]

Long ago when I was in elementary school, most of the girls were in a clique that they called "the herd". They would gallop and canter around the playground making horse noises while everyone else sorta stared at them like this:

Crazy as hell, y'all.

[H. Zee]

Long ago when I was in elementary school, most of the girls were in a clique that they called "the herd". They would gallop and canter around the playground making horse noises while everyone else sorta stared at them like this:

Crazy as hell, y'all.

Did you live near some kind of nuclear power plant?

[Starscream]

I avoided clicking on this thread because I got entirely the wrong idea when I saw the title.

[Finn Solomon]

Oh, great. I'm not the only one then.

Incidentally I was thinking of Bad Horse when I clicked the thread.

[raitalin]

While girls might love ponies more, I thought the love of horses was common among both sexes in America.

Historically Americans have loved horses for the same reason we love care, because they symbolize freedom.

Maybe that's why they continue to appeal to females, as the oppressed sex.

[Avilan the Grey]

My sister was (is) a horse-girl.

What I find the oddest (and saddest) is that just like with "professional" cooking, a majority of the "hobby" is women, but the vast majority of the "elite" are men (look at the international show-jumping circuit. However it's far more women there now than when I was forced to follow the competitions as a kid (prot-horse-girl mom, horse-girl sister, only two channels on TV).

Anyway, I think it has to do with a lot of factors combined, such as:

Interest in animals

Already existing outlets (riding academies, etc)

Friends with the same interest

Lack of interests that compete (pre-boys) (a boy loving animals might get a dog, and still work on his motorcycle / moped. Or computer, these days)

Personally I think it is a brilliant hobby, it teaches responsibility, promotes health (anyone trying to ride for more than a few minutes will notice that both your legs and your back contains muscles you never knew existed), although I never got into it (being the boy, I combined my love of animals with a computer, and got Sims ; Seriously I combined it with gerbils and aquariums, but anyway).

[Mauve Shirt]

My mother is a crazy horse lady. I think she likes them because they are big and cute, with weird eyeballs and rocks on their feet. Ok, that's not true, she really enjoys riding and is really good at it. Got second place in a show on Saturday, actually. Second because she was riding a horse that is really good at jumping but not very fast.
I am not a horse person, I think they are really too big, and they have weird eyeballs and rocks on their feet.

[Pharaoh's Fist]

Riding horses is fun.

People like to do fun things.

Therefore, people (such as girl) like to ride horses.

[kamikasei]

Riding horses is fun.

People like to do fun things.

Therefore, people (such as girl) like to ride horses.

The OP's question was clearly about a) why girls are supposed to like horses more than boys do, and b) why they are supposed to like horses more than other "fun things".

It's a rather strained reading to think he was asking, "why do any girls anywhere like to ride horses?".

[Coidzor]

Sexual symbolism of some sort? (Personally, I'm of the opinion it has something to do with an idealized male figure...)

I'm not sure why you're so keen reject that out of hand. ...Especially since you're asking about it in light of a difference between the sexes.

And I'm not quite sure how much of it seems to be that people think they're supposed to like 'em more than they actually like 'em.

Though since we're looking at things that winnow out the male sex... There's the fact that it's built up as a "girly" thing to be concerned with the horse itself and to "like horses" rather than viewing the horse as a means to an end (say, for riding to chase down injuns to fight). It's also like one of those things where it's ok for a boy to like dogs but weird for him to say he likes dogs, whereas it's not weird for a girl to say she likes horses... and ok for boy to say he likes activities but to a lesser extent for girls (this has changed and is changing still due to various influences) So activity versus objects/animals...

It's considered feminine to have compassion for animals...

It's the least stressful of the acceptable ways to lose one's virginity.

I still stand by the theory that the horse-lovers' gene is one of those most easily corrupted into a computer-lovers' gene. There was some blast of radiation, or possibly electromagnetic interference, that turned children of respectable yet horse-mad families into computer geeks. (At least, this is the best theory anyone's come up with to explain how geeks cropped up in moneyed rural families. In proper farm families it's just a transferrence of the "tinker with the doohickey until it works" inclination.)
.

Easy enough to change an "easily obsessed with things, only acceptable outlet is X" to "easily obsessed with things, partially acceptable outlets are now more numerous than solely X"

[Ilena]

Well for me, i just feel closer to horses then i do people, they surely listen better then almost every person i know! I mean my own horse just knows what im wanting by me looking at him, most people will wonder why your staring at them :P but i grew up on horse stories from my mom, who told me alot of stories from when she was young so i suppose it kicked things off for me, but i started working with my horse and things went from there,

something else is, working at the barn is relaxing, time to reduce or remove stress, and while men like playing with cars or computers and so forth, women like something that we can talk to that listens, and having big brown eyes and long flowing hair :P but as to why more women then men ride, who knows, on the trail you probably see about 1/4th the riders being men, and i dont go to shows myself so i cant say there, (im writing this on almost no sleep so things may or may not make sense, just an FYI :P)

[Ziren]

I noticed that girls/women who are into cats seem to care less for horses. Of course this doesn't mean that girls/women who don't like cats that much are automatically horse-fans.

Not all females (I'm sick of writing girl/women all the time) are into horses, but frankly I've never seen a guy who was as obsessed over them as some females are.

Of course this is all just personal observation.

[Decoy Lockbox]

Did you live near some kind of nuclear power plant?

Huh, that would certainly explain all those weird polyps...

[TheThan]

Funny enough, every person I know that has owned horses has been seriously injured while one them.

And I have cleaned stables before, it was hard work and definitely not relaxing, in fact it was down right backbreaking and not fun at all.

[Zencao]

Oh, great. I'm not the only one then.

Incidentally I was thinking of Bad Horse when I clicked the thread.

You know what they say, all girls want bad-horses :P

My sister was (is) a horse-girl.

You're sisters half horse?

[Katrascythe]

As a girl...

Yeah horses are pretty nifty, but they're not the end all of animals or transportation. They also don't really stimulate the "girly bits." If you've sat in a saddle all day you're lucky if you can feel *anything* in that general area. I suppose some chicks like horses because they're a symbol of beauty and grace. *shrugs*

For my part, give me an Aston Martin any day. That's much more graceful and much sexier than any horse can be.

Although that makes me think... Perhaps horses are to females what cars are to males. Since I've never really seen a girl obsess over vehicles to the extent that a guy will.

[MountainKing]

While girls might love ponies more, I thought the love of horses was common among both sexes in America.

Historically Americans have loved horses for the same reason we love care, because they symbolize freedom.

Maybe that's why they continue to appeal to females, as the oppressed sex.

Not me. I got thrown off the first horse I was introduced to. It almost put a hoof through my head. I've never trusted, let alone LIKED horses since then (so for eighteen years).

Horses: big long faces and metal feet. 100% murderous, untrustworthy monsters.

[Rutskarn]

As a girl...

Yeah horses are pretty nifty, but they're not the end all of animals or transportation.

Obviously, the answer to both of those is Velociraptors.

[Prock]

I avoided clicking on this thread because I got entirely the wrong idea when I saw the title.

I got the same idea as you.. But thats why I CLICKED on this thread

[FoE]

I blame My Little Pony.

[Ravens_cry]

I think girls that like horses,especially stallions, is because they are safe masculinity. Not as threatening as a full fledged male human. After horses, they then start to go for those the next stage, boy bands, those squeaky clean man boys, where the 'bad boy' is the one with with a five o'clock shadow and/or some facial hair.
Just a theory. Not everyone complies with it, but I have seen it repeatedly. It certainly happened to my older sister.

[Katrascythe]

Obviously, the answer to both of those is Velociraptors.

I'd probably take one of those as a mount. Ok, a larger one since V-raptors are actually tiny... Although I took a class on dinosaurs and I do have some serious reservations. They were smart little devils and in a battle of me vs them I think it's gonna be them.

Utahraptor is hawt

I think girls that like horses,especially stallions, is because they are safe masculinity. Not as threatening as a full fledged male human.

I have horrible horrible mental images now of Catherine the Great and her horses. You men aren't that scary. And I'm personally more afraid of a horse than a human. A horse can kill me more easily since with one bad fall I'm dead. One bad fall from a human and things just hurt for a few days.

[TheThan]

There is also the phrase "hung like a horse"... wonder if that has to do with anything...

[kamikasei]

I have horrible horrible mental images now of Catherine the Great and her horses.

Apocryphal, I feel I must note.

[Kekken]

I'm not sure why you're so keen reject that out of hand. ...Especially since you're asking about it in light of a difference between the sexes.

My plaintive cry that it not be Freudian was supposed to be ironic, since I already had a very strong feeling that it would be...

... and I just realised how Freudian the term "very strong feeling" can be...

My fault, I guess, for not using some sort of smiley face to indicate this.