good evening dear researchers!

almost 20 years ago my father was laid off from his job.  (hes done
quite well for himself since then, but thats another story...)  my
parents decided to move to the golden state to start over, but of
course, they had to somehow convince their two little brats, my
younger sister, then 10, and me, to leave our friends and the city
we grew up in.

it breaks my heart to think of it now, but my parents promised to buy
my sister a horse in order to pursuade her to move.  she was going
through a crazy 'i love horses' phase then and it seemed to be the only
thing that pacified her. looking back, i dont think it was exactly a
hollow promise, but they did manage not to actually buy one for her!
truth is, i never did ask my parents whether or not they would have
actually gotten her one, but who knows?  :)  anyhow, she ended up going
to horse camp for many summers afterwards and even got riding lessons.

kind of bittersweet memories.

but my question is this:  why do so many little girls love horses? why
arent more girls as rabid about butterflies or flowers?

---

Clarification of Question by banchan-ga on 03 Dec 2002 21:20 PST

https://answers.google.com/answers/main?cmd=threadview&id=118892

Hello.

Erin Harty's excellent article, "For the Love of Horses," examines
this very intriguing question.

Among the theories suggested in Harty's article: 

"Girls are so attracted to horses because they're evolutionarily
inclined to want to know how to control and work with large
muscle-mass animals."

Horses "give them confidence. 'You can't be shy and retiring around a
horse. The horse knows it,'

"'The horse provides a kind of path to mastery, control and power, in
addition to its beauty and all that other stuff. Women don't have many
opportunities for that... It gives a girl something she's good at
during a time when she's having a lot of identity problems.'"

"Riding is one of only two Olympic sports where men and women compete
as equals; the other is yachting. Although the ratio of men and women
evens out at the very upper levels of equestrian sport, girls
overwhelmingly dominate the beginner levels... 'Where else are girls
10 feet tall in the center ring?'"

"'[Riding] is their heroic fantasy. Few sports allow girls and women
the spotlight in the center of the arena the way riding does. And
horses encourage girls to be competitive! Girls are able to express
their competitive nature in a socially acceptable way, while at the
same time forging a strong partnership [with the horse]'"

Some psychologists such as Freud have theorized that there’s also a
sexual component.

"'Women are not excited by driving fast cars.' They enjoy the
nurturing and caretaking aspects of horsemanship… and a car isn't
going to appreciate a few extra carrots, or a good scratch in its
favorite itchy spot."

Source: "For the Love of Horses" by Erin Harty on the Vetcentric.com
http://www.vetcentric.com/magazine/magazineArticle.cfm?ARTICLE=For%20the%20Love%20of%20Horses

Also see an article on this subject from Mypetstop.com:
http://new.mypetstop.com/NR/exeres/00016641vteacldfhrwbtaho/MainArticleTemplate.asp?NRMODE=Published&NRORIGINALURL=%2fUSA%2fHorses%2fRelationship%2fHorses%2band%2byour%2bHealth%2fThe%2bbond%2bbetween%2bgirls%2band%2bhorses%2ehtm&NRNODEGUID=%7b367511E4-2534-4190-8B5F-9965B3CAFA2D%7d&NRQUERYTERMINATOR=1&cookie%5Ftest=1

Also see the article, "Women and Horses" by Suzanne Drnec hosted by
about.com:
http://horses.about.com/cs/western/a/eqwomen105.htm

Also see the article, "Horse camp helps at-risk youth regain emotional
health," from the Los Gatos Weekly-Times
http://www.svcn.com/archives/lgwt/20020731/lgcover.shtml

There's quite a bit of interesting information concerning a 1996
exhibition called "Girls and Horses" by Janet Biggs
http://www.jbiggs.com/exhibitions_page_files/girlhors/statement.html

Biggs cites [ http://www.jbiggs.com/exhibitions_page_files/girlhors/jbiggs.html
] an article that might interest you:
John E. Schowalter, "Some Meanings of Being a Horsewoman,"
Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 1983, Vol. 38. You might look for
this journal at your nearest university library.

You might also seek out the book "All Those Girls in Love with Horses"
by Robert Vavra. For more information, visit robertvavra.com:
http://www.robertvavra.com/v_allthosegirls.html
A couple copies of the book are listed by half.com:
http://half.ebay.com/cat/buy/prod.cgi?domain_id=1856&cpid=2472626&ad=1781

search strategy: "girls and horses", "horses and girls"

I hope this helps.

thank you for the great answer!

http://www.imponderables.com/cgi-bin/browse.pl?gender=mf&qnumber=8&qfile=mfq9&name=&age=&wherefrom=&emailadd=