SUBCULTURE
What if horse girls are just theater kids?
After noticing a small pattern in the horse names, I dug a little deeper. I learned both worlds are driven by the same performative energy.
After noticing a small pattern in the horse names, I dug a little deeper. I learned both worlds are driven by the same performative energy.
Horse names that kept pointing back to Broadway.
Not once or twice but over and over again, across different contexts, barns, rider/rodeo/competition types. The pattern was too consistent to ignore.
Horse culture has deep roots in sport, agriculture, tradition... money. So why were so many names pulling from musical theater?
At Level Green Riding School, I was able to speak with 10 students and their parents. Where I heard comments like:
Speaking with them further, I learned that there is a difference in the types of musical by generation.
The Gen Alpha horse girls mentioned titles like:
Their Gen X moms were fans of more classic broadway musicals:
I was able to get access to the United States Equestrian Federation database, where members:
Looking up just 20 musical theater themed names.
There are a few high school stereotypes that are pretty recognizable:
Same energy, just a different stage.
