I’m just finishing up Jack Pierce’s Spring semester story and will publish it shortly after Something Fishy is done.
When I started this, I did it to practice writing dialog but it has morphed. First of all, I didn’t expect a lot of people to like it and am surprised I even wrote Summertime, let alone Fishy. A bit of reminiscing and nostalgia have sort of taken over. I’ve listened to a lot of music I hadn’t heard in years. I’ve also been to the batting cage and done a lot more swimming than I had. A five-mile ocean swim is a lot farther than it used to be, so I only swam two. I’m not as fast as I used to be and a sports massage isn’t just nice, it’s necessary at my age.
I’ve done more riding than Jack Pierce does but I have the opportunity so, why not? Years ago, on my first trip to Africa, I was outnumbered by women riders ten to one. I hadn’t really thought about it before, and the numbers haven’t changed over the years. I recently went into a tack shop on Daniel Island – Bits and Pieces. I asked the proprietor what percentage of their customers were men. She asked if I was going to buy something for myself. I said ‘no’ and she said it’s pretty close to 100% women, then, but if I bought something I’d dramatically change that. Why is that? Why are there a lot more women equestrians than men? There are plenty of men that ride in places like Texas or Montana, but they’re working cowboys and that’s not what I mean. I’m talking about recreational riders.
I did some research and the answer is surprising and fascinating.
I’ll give you a chance to guess before I post the answer. The change started about 100 years ago. Send me an email if you think you know.