Horse folks - do you see much ethnic diversity in your discipline or at your barn?
My husband came home from work yesterday and asked me if I'd help one of his friends find a couple of horses this spring. I said sure, of course, his friend is a great guy and we'll have a blast riding together.
It occurred to me that I just don't see many people of color out riding horses on the trail. Is that just a regional thing?
2008-01-28T11:58:55Z
ADDED-- I agree that any form of serious competition is basically a more affluent person's game...but for me personally, I'm talking about just cruising down the trails.
As for affluence, this african american gentleman (he would correct me and say, "I am a black man.") beat my husband's good salary by 15 K last year...and there are a LOT of people I've ridden with who make less than we do.
Like many other posters, I've seen other races working in the barns, but never once out on the trail.
JustaKaraokeMom2008-01-28T13:50:59Z
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Hey I am a 24 yr old Blk female from Washington DC ( now living in M.D.) ...... My parents whome rhode before I was born belonged to the "Rough Riders"... I began riding at 1 or 2 ... Now a days round here you can find several different black riding groups.... There are alot of us .......
There is absoluetly none whatsoever at my barn. of course i board my horses at home so that's why there is no ethnic diversity. However I do have some very dear friends that i constantly trail ride with. While most of the group is white there are 2 black guys , and girl of indian (from india not native american) descent , and a husband and wife both which orginally hail form Hong Kong (that always makes for a fun trail ride b/c the still have heavy accents lol) I think the degree of diversity varies area to area. For example here in TN Franklin area is almost 100% white riders, you get around Not\rth Nashvile area and it's about 70 % white 30% black Hartsville TN the numbers are about even. Our big state horse show for saddle club is probably about 70% white and the rest is a mixture of asian , black or indian. I like riding with different groups! It really makes for fun rides
I have taught black, asian, native and hispanic kids, but the majority of my students were white.
In various regions of Canada, I've seen asian adult and child riders, middle eastern, and native, but mostly caucasian.
In Michigan there is the Michigan Black Cowboy Association (I think that's what it's called?) And cruisin down the trails, I've run into native and black riders.
Again vast majority of riders were of European descent.
Starlight makes an excellent point, but there is also the fact that only a segment of any population is going to want to rider horses. So the segment of a majority population into riding will be larger than the segment of a minority population into riding by simple math.
Things are changing though, I'm starting to see more men and diversified backgrounds in riding.
I hope the Detroit Equestrian Club (located in the city) will help bring more black youth into horses.
And FYI I say "Black" too, cause I'm Canadian and any Canadians or Brits of African descent would beat me for calling them "African Americans." :P
EDIT: Just wanted to add there is a long tradition of black cowboys and cavalrymen in north america, but no one ever hears about it.
There must have been an Asian contribution as well from laborers getting away from working the railroads. We owe our railroads and early infrastructure to Asians.
Every ethnic group in North America has made some sort of positive contribution to our society and history (and lots of bad too :P) but we get so caught up on racial differences and "political correctness" that we miss out on exploring all our history.
Cnsdubie, you have noticed a trend that has been true for decades, not just in your discipline, but across the entire American horse industry, including in the racing business, at least to some degree. In the 20 or so years I was a horse professional, I knew exactly ONE African-American rider- and even she had only been in the business a year or two when I met her. I traveled across the US, and lived in over a dozen different states, and regardless of where I went, the story was the same. It makes no difference if one is in California or in Maine- riding is a sport for the elite, rich WHITE, period. I can count on my left hand the number of people of color whom I have seen in horse sports ( outside of racing, that is) who are actually doing something besides shoveling sh*t for a living. The situation is even worse on the international and national level, where we desperately need to have someone of color do something like win an Olympic or WEG medal for this country, and break the color barrier at long last. But because there are very few people of color in this country who can afford to ride or pursue horse sports to any degree, I don't see this happening any time in the near future, if indeed it ever does.
Do I like this situation? Of course not, but I am not sure what can be done to change it, other than trying to encourage more young people of color to get into horse sports on the grass roots level. What you have stumbled upon is a situation that I think a LOT of us would really like to see changed or eliminated, but until our society starts granting full access and citizenship rights to all our people, including the right to equal employment and fair treatment in the housing market ( there are still places today where African Americans cannot buy houses or farms because they can't get mortgages, and this is largely because of their skin color, not because they aren't qualified) then I don't imagine much will change any time soon. Added to this are the problems posed by illegal immigration, which effects probably a good two thirds of the Latino population, and has a very negative impact on their ability to do things like pursue horse sports. Most of the Latino people I have ever seen working around horses were working as grooms or day laborers, not as trainers, riders or competitors. There are a lucky few who manage to make it as jockeys, but the great majority of people of this ethinic background are still trapped at the bottom of the industry, with little or no chance of getting out of it. I am one of those people who wishes that this could somehow be changed, but I don't have all the answers as to how do this.
Just my thinking on this subject... Great question !!
I live in LA - Lower Arkansas, and while there are a few African Americans that ride, they usually stick to gaited horses, or at least all the ones that I know that ride do. There has never been very many of them at the shows though. Most of them have horses for trail riding and some for hunting.