Are there any famous ones? Just curious.
Found this for you… http://www.academia.edu/1601122/Dressage_is_full_of_queens_Masculinity_sexuality_and_equestrian_sport
One comes to mind: Carson Kressley (of “Queer Eye”). I think he showed in saddleseat.
Uh, Carl Hester.
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[QUOTE=emipou;8287559]
Found this for you… http://www.academia.edu/1601122/Dressage_is_full_of_queens_Masculinity_sexuality_and_equestrian_sport[/QUOTE]
Very interesting research! As a side note, I think another area of sport related to animals that is more LGBT accepting is dog showing.
I can think of at least 10 dressage professionals off the top of my head.
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[QUOTE=Caol Ila;8287619]
Uh, Carl Hester.[/QUOTE]
Yup! And Ed Gal and Hans Peter Minderhoud 
I wonder if the OP is serious?
Robert Dover,George Morris, the late Jack Fritz, come easily to mind.
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Cool! Thanks! It’s nice to know I’m not alone
[QUOTE=Easysgirl;8287550]
Are there any famous ones? Just curious.[/QUOTE]
Many, Easygirl, just like the real world.
In all disciplines, at all levels of competition from local schooling to Olympic/World Cup.
My brain’s not fully functional right now, but I’ll add Anne Kursinski and Lauren Sammis.
Welcome to the horse world from an OSWW. (old straight white woman ;))
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I am pretty sure that at one Olympic Games the ENTIRE US Jumping Team was LGBT.
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[QUOTE=GrayTbred;8287572]
One comes to mind: Carson Kressley (of “Queer Eye”). I think he showed in saddleseat.[/QUOTE]
He’s not the only one in Saddlebreds, just out of the closet. I’ve heard if you show Morgans, you wont pin if you have a straight trainer.
In my (admittedly shallow and heterosexual experience), the hunter-jumper horse world has been much more accepting of GLBTQ than the general population.
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[QUOTE=Darkwave;8288082]
In my (admittedly shallow and heterosexual appearance), the hunter-jumper horse world has been much more accepting of LBTQ than the general population.[/QUOTE]
Same. I wonder if the OP is serious.
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[QUOTE=GrayTbred;8287572]
One comes to mind: Carson Kressley (of “Queer Eye”). I think he showed in saddleseat.[/QUOTE]
My old battle axe ex-BO, lifelong Saddlebred person and permanent fixture on the show scene often says the only straight guy riding a Saddlebred is William Shatner.:lol: I met a lot of her trainer friends and I think every male trainer I met through her was out and proud.
A dear friend of mine that rode endurance, whom I trail rode with for decades was a lesbian. One of the first big group rides I went on with her and her partner, I asked if they were the only lesbians in the bunch. She pointed out all the discreet little rainbow flag window stickers on the trucks in camp, laughed and told me I was one of only a few straight women on the ride. Even when we were on camping/trail ride trips without their main group of friends every single camp we went to from Missouri to Tennessee they would find at least one couple at the campground in the sisterhood (as they called it). No matter where we were, every single time after walking through camp she would come back and say “I just met a couple of sisters from XYZ, ice down the beer and throw some steaks on the grill they’re coming to our campsite for dinner!”. Met some awesome people, made some great friends and had some helluva good camp parties riding with her. She lost her battle to ovarian cancer last year but I still ride with her life partner and some of her friends from time to time. :sadsmile:
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I think like 90% of the guys doing dressage are gay?
But I have, for sure, heard less about lesbian jumpers or dressage riders.
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[QUOTE=Hej;8287776]
Many, Easygirl, just like the real world.
In all disciplines, at all levels of competition from local schooling to Olympic/World Cup.
My brain’s not fully functional right now, but I’ll add Anne Kursinski and Lauren Sammis.
Welcome to the horse world from an OSWW. (old straight white woman ;))[/QUOTE]
I think that, if you are not GLBT, it doesn’t enter your mind as even relevant.
It is s a non-issue, you just don’t notice, too busy with all else in life and social situations to think about this one more difference in humans.
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Who cares and why does it matter what someone’s sexual attraction is?
They’re athletes with talent, that’s what matters (well, besides how well they treat their horses).
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@GaitedGloryRider–what a great story!
Although no sphere of life is free from prejudice (and granted, I am speaking as a straight woman), it does seem as if in the horse world there is greater acceptance of athletes in terms of what they can do, regardless of sexuality, versus an obsession with labels. And that even carries over into how riders are talked about in the more general media. Like this article on Carl Hester (from the Daily Mail, a pretty sensationalist source) which discusses the fact he is gay casually without making much of a big deal of it–but not hiding it either:
FWIW, the protagonist of my most recent work of (equestrian) fiction (link is in my sig) is a gay man.
[QUOTE=Trakehner;8288730]
Who cares and why does it matter what someone’s sexual attraction is?
They’re athletes with talent, that’s what matters (well, besides how well they treat their horses).[/QUOTE]
Yes, of course their sexual orientation is not important, as long as they are good horsemen/ horsewomen. I just was curious if there are any famous ones with whom I could identify. I don’t really follow the upper-level competitions so I barely know of any famous riders, straight or not.
