Non-horsey other halves: this is your moment.
Anyone looking for a (very) last-minute Christmas present, whether that’s a rider looking for some help or a beloved hoping to provide it, this could be the answer.
An entrepreneurial trainer and rider in the US has launched “Horse Husbands” – a crash course for partners of equestrians, stating “horsewomen everywhere rejoice as menfolk are groomed”.
The tongue-in-cheek online training, which comprises videos and written lessons, is the brainchild of Cori Nichols, who told H&H she rode and competed as a child and teenager, till “I took some time off for college and ‘another life’”.
“Click to 1999 when my husband and I were living in New York City and decided to cut ties and head to the countryside,” she said. “In 2000 we bought a dilapidated farm in Hudson Valley and put our hands to work.
“There I resumed my riding career and began a small teaching business that quickly blossomed into a fully fledged program with 25 horses and a full roster of riding students. I was also bringing along a few young sport pony prospects and competing on the weekends.”
Cori said one morning, she woke up with flu and realised she had become solely responsible for all the horses.
“That day I looked at my husband, willing but clueless, and grew uneasy!” she said “He was a writer, musician and marathon runner, and I had never properly ‘groomed’ him for the job of standing in or helping out.”
Cori set about teaching her husband so he would be safe around the horses, and help out of needed. Then, when Covid hit, she discovered e-learning, and Horse Husbands arrived.
Other halves can work their way through lessons including “parts of the horse: front, back and beyond”, “holding and leading the horse, and not getting yelled at” and “show and event etiquette: a guide to being cool”. There are also sessions on “loose horse: s**t happens”, and haynet mastery – for an extra credit.
“It’s been a ton of fun!” Cori said. “2024 will host a horse husband of the year award and maybe an added surprise here or there.”
You might also be interested in:
First Christmas with a horsey partner? Here are 8 things you really need to know…
7 secrets all horsey people keep from their other halves
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