Just to follow on from gender segregation in sports and equestrian sports not doing that.
*if* ( and it's a big if) gender was so important in sport and fairness etc why aren't horses segregated by gender? There's a difference between mares and even geldings and stallions, if gender was such a big immutable thing, then separate them out surely, otherwise you are just admitting it's a social construct
Ha, yeah. They sort of are in racing - colts run faster than fillies for the most part, though there are plenty of fillies who run fast enough to compete in mixed races; so even there, actually, there's not full segregation. There are fillies-only races and mixed races. Not male Vs female.
But eventing is a whole other ballgame. On average, riders find geldings are better at dressage (fewer hormones means they listen more to cues), but mares are better at show jumping (shorter limbs and muscles mean higher agility). This then evens out in cross country, because the long stretches between groups of jumps favour a gelding or stallion for their faster speed, but the groups of jumps favour a mare for her agility. And, of course, those are averages as ever; plenty of mares excel at dressage, plenty of geldings excel at jumping
But yeah. You are right
