Women and Horses – A Powerful Synergy
By Bayard Fox
Horseback riding is a sport at which women excel. One can try to explain
their success because they are lighter than men and have obvious anatomical
advantages for the saddle. This is certainly not everything. After 70 years of
riding and close association with riders, I am convinced that the most important
reason for feminine preeminence in the sport is their ability to relate to
horses. It is partly a matter of sensitivity and patience. It is also a matter
of willingness to trust in a real partnership where the whole is far more
powerful than the sum of the parts.
Men are often too preoccupied by the need to show their macho strength in
dominating a horse and are less willing to seek a harmonious relationship. They
often seem to feel they must overpower a horse and make it totally subservient
to their will. Many of them would be pleased if a horse reacted in the same
insensate way as an automobile to a turn of the wheel, a foot on the brake or a
push on the accelerator. Some people are just more at ease with machines which
will always obey even suicidal commands unquestioningly.
For 25 years I have owned one of the world’s largest riding tour companies
and we have found that about 70% of our clients are female. They tend to find an
easy rapport with horses which most men have more trouble achieving. At our own
dude ranch the majority of our wranglers are women. They love working with
horses and are invariably patient, friendly and understanding to both horses and
guests without showing off. They have taken the time to study equitation and
horses in depth and many hold degrees from the British Horse Society or similar
American institutions. Our wranglers care passionately about the physical and
psychological welfare of their horses and are extremely conscientious. We have
seen few situations where great strength is an asset although men do have an
advantage with shoeing.
For 20 years Linda Tellington-Jones has been doing a clinic at our ranch each
year to teach people how to start young horses. During the week she starts our
four-year-old Arabians who have not yet been backed although they are used to
being around people from the time they are born. These clinics using
non-confrontational techniques have been immensely successful with clients (90%
women) and they have given our horses a wonderful start. During the week the
young horses are slowly prepared for a rider without being pushed too much. It
is a long process demanding considerable patience which few men seem willing to
offer. They prefer crash programs, much in vogue these days, which overwhelm the
horse in a short time and give quick results, but do not work so well to make a
trusting partner out of the animal in the long term.
Women are also frequently the leaders of the riding tours we handle around
the world so our own ranch with its 180 horses is not an exception
internationally. From Botswana to Argentina there are women leading rides and
doing a first rate job. It does seem to be true, however, that most Western dude
ranches still adhere strongly to the masculine cowboy mystique with Marlboro
hats, coiled ropes and jingling spurs. It depends on one’s priorities and many
of these ranches are focused more on the trappings of a Western experience with
barbecues, hay rides, square dances and sing-along’s rather than riding in the
equestrian sense.
Many patriarchal societies of the past in the days when horses were such a
symbol of power (it was not so long ago) tended to keep a near male monopoly on
riding. It appears that this has not always been the case. The ancient Greeks,
who knew a lot about human nature, have such a rich mythology about women riders
that it seems to me there is very likely some reason to believe in the existence
of early women equestrians. Certainly the image of the fierce Amazon horsewomen
belonging to a matriarchal society is a powerful and pervasive tale. These
fearsome equestrian warriors were reputed to have cut off a right breast so that
they could better handle their bows and spears. If so, they must have been
mighty serious about what they were doing. It is interesting that in Mongolian
society today women participate in riding for work and sports right along with
the men.
Women have come into their own with horses in much of the world now that men
no longer monopolize them. They find enjoyment and fulfillment in achieving a
harmonious relationship which empowers both horse and rider. One can find
somewhat the same kind of pleasure in teamwork with a working dog. Herding
cattle with a willing horse is a good example of the kind of thing people and
horses can do together. Whatever it is that makes women and horses such a good
match, it has been a great delight to me over the years to see the happiness
which this relationship has brought to both and I celebrate this partnership.
Bayard Fox has been riding for 70 years on six continents and has ridden
enough miles to circle the globe several times. He is owner and founder of
Equitours Worldwide Horseback Riding
Vacations. He and his wife also own the Bitterroot
Dude Ranch where
they raise and train Arabian horses. Bayard has been leading and organizing
riding tours for 35 years.
© Copyright 2005 Bayard Fox and Equitours, Ltd.
This article is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 2.5 License.
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