Why does it seem like more women than men like horses and horseback riding?

In the USA, female equestrians represent over 80 percent of all those who are devoted to the field, a shift from a previously male-dominated sport that has taken place over the last 30 years or so. Equitation is only sport in which men and women are rivals in the same competitions, abiding by the same criteria. Ever since gentler training methods became popular and proved more effective and faster than breaking the animal's spirit, women have poured into the field. Most male horses in the US are gelded making them calmer. Women compete in nearly all equestrian fields and a fair number of farriers (horseshoers), equine veterinarians, grooms and stable hands are female. SOURCE: http://www.academia.edu/4143659/Women_Men_and_Horses_Looking_at_the_Equestrian_World_through_a_Gender_Lens_

Well, I had female colleague who was very into horses, including competing in dressage: It just so happens that one day I asked her the very same question. And here's what she said: "Women have extensive experience in getting lumbering animals with brains the size of walnuts to do exactly what they want." She has a point there.

Well, horses are beautiful, noble animals (some of them, anyway). They are very strong but can also be incredibly trusting and gentle if they know and trust you. Riding is tremendous fun. Speeding at a full gallop across the landscape is like flying. A beautiful feeling of symbiosis between house and rider.I think that handling animals and learning to communicate with them (and horses are very communicative) is something that appeals to young and teenage girls, where the average teenage boy is wasting his time trying to look cool and playing football. Our locked in his room playing ps4 games.I was a boy who loved horses and my teenage son also regularly rides. When other kids tease him by saying "why do you ride? It's full of giiiiirls there." He answers "Yeah. I like girls. The problem is what?"

It seems this way because, in this savage age, unfortunately, it simply is this way - certainly in the US and UK.  The more interesting question is how it came to be so.  On the face of it, it is paradoxical:  high school dressage, at core, is a martial art, originating during a time when matters of honor (among men) were settled via mounted 1:1 duels.  The advanced horsemanship and training required for this endeavor eventually became an art unto itself, as well described in the two manuals written by the Duke of Newcastle during the 17th century.  The practice of the mounted duel was outlawed, and with the advent of gunpowder and long range weapons, the role of the horse in the military had been reduced to that of a troop transport by WWI - until the widespread use of the automobile, which overtook that role as well.  Since then, the pursuit of high school horsemanship has been left to the very few with a passion for it,  the time for it, and the means to pursue it, while also affording the expense of one or more horses, which, on average, probably equates to an extra rent or mortgage payment.  Thus, there is a bias towards the non-working and wealthy - you can do the math from there.  Moreover, it is an artistic endeavor, so, as with most of the fine arts, if you pursue it, you can either be a female, else be a male whom people will suppose is gay - which is, of course fine, but it is an unfortunate stereotype which keeps too many men - sensitive to being mis-cast, as it were - away from an historically gentlemanly, noble - moreover, martial - pursuit.

I've made similar observations and I don't think it's just bias. My daughter did summer camp with an equestrian option and every one of the 20 campers who chose equestrian were girls. The trainers were far and away mostly women as well. Some answers are found in this blog page which is pretty interesting. http://genderleisureandsport.wordpress.com/2014/03/31/equestrian-the-sport-where-gender-stereotypes-have-turned/ We commonly hear of sports like hockey, football and rugby for example, where masculinity dominates and female participation leads to negative stereotypes of participants being lesbians or butch. Equestrian is a confusing 360-degree reversal of these negative stereotypes.  Equestrian is a sport commonly stereotyped as a very feminine sport and male riders are commonly regarded as “girly men or gay.” Equestrian sports actually require extreme amounts of toughness and masculinity. Amateur equestrian events rarely feature male riders, but professional events often have more men than women. Why is this? There is little to no research answering this question. It is important to note that equestrian is the only sport where men and women compete against each other. Melissa Hanscome is an American Quarter Horse Association professional and pointed out that in AQHA, amateur competition females strongly out number men. But in professional AQHA competition, men strongly outnumber women. I myself have noticed this trend as well as I compete as an AQHA amateur in classes with 50 competitors and I often am the only guy. But professional competitions often have more men than women. Studies actually do show that male riders are more aggressive and dominant in equestrian competition where females are found to be easier going and less aggressive (McHugh, 2013).

I think it might have something to do with the kind of equestrian sports in question. From a Johannesburg, South Africa perspective, you are correct - women do seem to outnumber the men in disciplines like showjumping and dressage. These seem to be, now that I am considering it, to be disciplines that have a lot of bonding between rider and horse, which is - call me stereotyping - women tend to enjoy more than men. This is not to say that it is all about a gentle ride - the former can, for example, be quite dangerous (imagine yourself 1.3-1.4m mid-air on top of something alive that can spook). As to things like polo and racing, the men outnumber the women by a very hefty margin. Particularly the former is a bit like rugby on a horse and is more attractive to the testosterone-laden types. Racing is one of the ironies of the game, really, because most jockeys have to be around 50kg in weight, but I suspect more men than women are represented has to do with the jockey trade that often gets passed on from father to son. As to hunting (that is, the mounted pursuit of fox or jackal with hounds, which is currently done in the "drag" variety, namely by taking said fox or jackal out of the equation and setting the hounds onto a trail of scented sand in their stead), men and women are about equal, from what I have seen. This kind of makes sense. Pound for pound, equestrian sports are probably the only games that men and women compete on on an equal footing.

I think it depends on where you look. For equestrian event riding you're right that it's mostly women. Why? Probably because it appeals more to them.On ranches (my experience) the use of horses as a tool on the ranch is still very popular among men. In fact you'll find more Cowboys than cowgirls.Roping and polo is dominated by men. Why are they so different? Honestly I believe (I have no statistics to back this up) that if you put it all together, men and women riders are equal. It just depends where you look. If you look in the roping ring you'll see man after man after man competing. If you look at the equestrian events trials you'll see woman after woman after woman competing. I really think it's about the same.

I think it seems that way because filmmakers are fond of showing women riding horses. That's probably because a lot of men like to look at women riding horses. Whether it is actually true is another matter. Certainly the vast majority of thoroughbred jockeys are male (which seems odd when you know that they have to weigh around 100 pounds or a bit more and there are a lot more women in that weight class). I am pretty sure this is also true of other horse racing categories. I don't know about other equestrian events.

Well, horseback riding used to be an all mens sport. A lot of men ride. But, there are a lot more woman in general. In my experience this is why. I know multiple boys that stopped riding, could have been really good, but they stopped. This is why: One was driving his pony (in a cart) and he was young, he used to pick up girls that way and one day some older boys saw him driving around the whole day picking up girls. Near the end of the day they came up to him and said, "wow you must be so gay with your little pony" and just laughed at him calling him gay. Guess who said he never wanted to ride again that day? the little boy. So many boys are called names for riding, young boy riders get teased for riding, they wear the "tight pants" and are gay apparently. Western has a lot more men involved it seams. In Europe more men ride, (they do a lot of Show jumping, eventing and dressage there) Its more of in America boys quit when they get older and are teased for being gay. It sucks.