I have to admit, this is somewhat of a strange topic. Not only because equestrian isn't the most popular sport but no one would ever expect this happening. Well it does because just like any other woman out there, it is sexualized. I have been riding horses for many years now and the more I aged, the comments began. I can remember one time at a show I was 15-16 years old and a male trainer told me that I have "a nice ass." I was confused at first because it's not like I overheard him talking to someone else, he was looking right at me and smiled in this creepy way. Keep in mind that I was fifteen. Fifteen. I don't think I told my own trainers or mom about it, just friends. At the time, I didn't think it was a big deal but looking back at it now it was. It wasn't a big deal to me because that's how those situations functioned. "It's not a big deal" or "that's just what guys do." Well when you have a forty something year old commenting on a fifteen year old, that's just another issue on top of that.

Along with that, there is the most infamous comment and that is "Oh you ride horses? You must be good at doing other things then?" Wink. I get it. People make crude jokes, I've received that comment so many times that I just know when someone who I meet is going to say it. That's not why I ride horses. Not to get good at that other thing. I also don't ride horses to get "a nice ass."

People seem to have this vision where equestrians have to look this certain way. Women who ride should look like these goddesses and men should look like cowboys from those romance novels. Here's a reality check: you couldn't have been more wrong. Equestrians can be anybody you see in the grocery store, on campus, anywhere. Want to know how to spot us? You're likely to see us in riding clothes, dirt on our faces, circles under our eyes, or random bruises. We're not a pretty picture. We don't want to be your pretty picture or your erotic fantasy. We are athletes. We have a job and a passion. That is the ideal vision of an equestrian.