I feel like in the horse world it’s so common that it’s not even news for someone to be LGBT. The horse community is so accepting that we just don’t even notice anymore.
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LOL…most of the Saddlebred/Morgan world would qualify.
When my sons (finally) came out, we got around to listing all the LGBT folks I had known. It’s a pretty long list - and they were amazed. My explanation? I showed horses and just about every guy I knew was gay. It was certainly no big deal for me, and this was in the very dark ages long ago when things weren’t nearly so open. Of course my sons thought I lived some kind of sheltered life and were stunned.
They probably would have come out a lot sooner if they had understood how the horse show culture had shaped my life oh those many moons ago!
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[QUOTE=ilmjumper;8289541]
I feel like in the horse world it’s so common that it’s not even news for someone to be LGBT. The horse community is so accepting that we just don’t even notice anymore.[/QUOTE]
Pretty much this. People have mentioned a lot of famous LGBT horsepeople, but on many local scenes you’d be surprised at how many there are. Another nice thing: I’ve known a couple of lesbian BOs who have made their barns a safe haven for LGBT teens.
I have some rainbow gear (including my saddle cover) and get a few questions now and again, which I will answer truthfully. “Bi, married to a man these days. But always always an ally.”
But it’s really not a big issue in the equestrian world.
There is a joke about this. How many straight hunter/jumper trainers does it take to screw in a light bulb? Answer: Both of them. Op you are definitely not alone.
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Portia de Rossi (Ellen Degeneres’ wife) is an equestrian.
I think the h/j, eventing, and dressage communities are very accepting of LGBT. How about the Western world–reining, cutting, etc?
[QUOTE=peedin;8292342]
I think the h/j, eventing, and dressage communities are very accepting of LGBT. How about the Western world–reining, cutting, etc?[/QUOTE]
Have you ever been to an AQHA show? LGBT is allllll over there, in ever discipline. I will say, less in cutting (though there) and more in WP/Trail stuff. However, a friend of mine is VERY gay and does all AQHA events, including Reining/Cutting.
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I think to get to the upper levels as a man it would not hurt to have a bit of the divine feminine.
Hercules 9th labor was to steal the belt of Hippolyta.
Reflect on how fast men abandoned horses in favor of tractors and cars.
Most things point to women being as a rule better with horses.
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When I was kid in the 60s it seemed being gay was as much if not the norm more than the exception in the show world.
Some of my favorite older guys to hang out around at my mother and step father’s show barn were gay. Some went on to be some of the biggest “names” in the business.
Was never much into showing, more into the racing side of horses. I had to be dragged to shows to help out. When girls starting getting my attention that all changed and I eagerly volunteered.
Being one of the few straight guys around as I was told I had no problem finding dates. Spent a lot more time hanging around our barn also.
I find it hard to believe in this day and age that anybody would even care let alone take a second look.
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[QUOTE=gumtree;8294342]
I find it hard to believe in this day and age that anybody would even care let alone take a second look.[/QUOTE]
Well, I can’t say for sure how it is now, but back when I was a teen there was plenty that “everyone knew” that didn’t filter into my world. The lines between “blatant/in your face,” out, common knowledge, open secret, who cares, and life saving affirmation to know there’s another horseperson like me can be thinner than you might think, more important, and vary a lot more depending on where you sit…
It’s definitely very cool to hear about so many big names I didn’t know were LGBTQ. And having people to identify with, especially if they model your riding aspirations, is a wonderful thing. But just because all these high-up people are out and successful doesn’t mean the equestrian world is a paradise of acceptance. I’m sure every LGBTQ rider, out or not, has more than one story of a nasty comment, rumour, joke, or something even worse that made them question whether they were truly welcome in this community.
And for us riders who exist outside the glitz and glam of the big circuits, who grew up in the middle of nowhere with no other choice but to hitch rides to shows with crusty old trainers whose jokes made us feel like nothing but a punchline - it is kind of a huge deal to know that being LGBTQ is ok in the horse world.
So, continue to celebrate your fave LGBTQ BNT idols, but please remember that there are many, many, of us regular people in the horse world for whom being out is far less simple.
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Even in the rodeo world. My cousin is a very solid calf roper, and out and has had NO issues for a very long while. All the guys are really proud of him, because he has mad skills, and that’s really all that counts. I don’t know how it would be if he didn’t, but I suspect they’d just ignore the issue. There IS a gay rodeo circuit and he participates just to demonstrate solidarity, but for the most part he just lives his life :).
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Why are people asking if OP is serious? Really? They said they didn’t follow the big names and are looking for some successful LGBT+ riders to look up to and it’s not as if most people walk around declaring their preferences so how else would they find out if they don’t ask? It’s not a crime for OP not to know.
I don’t know of any LGBT riders at my barn (doesn’t mean there aren’t any though!), but there are some riders/trainers that we frequently see at shows and that my trainer works closely with who are gay. I can definitely agree that the equestrian world is a much safer community for LGBT+ people than most sports.
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I know Ben who posts on here as Belambi is. He competes internationally in reining, and with his partner own a number of international event horses … I am sure they wouldn’t mind me pointing it out. I believe they also have 3 children and having seen them both on TV a lot, and in magazines etc, they just seem so normal.
I have always known that Tab Hunter was gay. I recently watched a great bio about his life.
I am old so have witnessed the acceptance and change in society’s attitude towards gays. One of my best friends is gay. I used to be his date when a female was required. He worked for a Japanese company and felt he had to hide his sexuality. He boarded his horse with me. A young girl exercised his horse at my barn. She opened up to me, quite worried, remember this was many years ago, stating that she was gay. Stupid me told her not to worry that the horse’s owner was also gay.
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I also am old enough to have watched the 100% turnaround in social attitudes towards gays, and reflecting on that is one of the those things that give me hope for the human race :).
I had a lot of gay friends in college and after in the 1980s, mostly women, and while they were out in their immediate social circle, it was clearly something they had to keep on the downlow at work and with landlords and even some with parents. This was in a generally liberal and progressive city, but with a conservative exurb/hinterland, and obviously anyone over 40 would have remembered when being gay was a criminal offense.
The change to now is just amazing. I teach at a college in the more conservative rural exurbs, and even over the past decade I have seen my successive generations of students more and more able to show themselves and be themselves, and have acceptance from their peers. I’m sure things aren’t perfect for them, and obviously I’m not in a position to know if they get some pushback from family and peers. But from how they express themselves, I can see that they live in a much more accepting world.
My first go-round with horses (1970s/80s) as a teen/young adult was in the low-end, yahoo, Western world, and even as a straight woman I didn’t feel that comfortable with the sum total of values and horse care there.
The other change I find amazing is attitudes towards marijuana. When I was a kid and a teen, people were still getting criminal charges for simple possession. Then we had several decades where illegal grow ops were estimated to be the biggest agricultural producer in our province, and there were spectacular raids on greenhouses, tunnels under the border with the USA, and a huge distortion in real estate prices as all this money got laundered. Then we had medical marijuana. and once (only once) I heard an ad on the traffic radio station for a dispensary. Which was so surreal that to me it sounded like some inspired piece of 1970s stoner comedy. And now it is totally legal and licensed. The real estate market also took a bit of a slump after that.
So things do change, if people put enough work into making them change.
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Because LGBT youth want and deserve LGBT representation in their sport, just like ANY youth does?
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It matters to the OP because the OP does not want to feel alone. Those of us who swim around all day, every day, in the great pool of heteronormativity can afford to say “Why should it matter?” because the majority of our experience reinforces us as the norm.
OP, I had a huge het-girl crush on Gunter Seidel, even to the point of having a photo of him on my barn locker, and it was a rather disappointing day when the barn owner mentioned his husband.
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This is a zombie thread and the person you quoted has sadly passed away.
