Was this group of horse husbands representative of horse husbands as a whole? Definitely not. We’ve all heard grumblings in the barn aisles and know husbands who’d rather die than attend a horse show.
When it came to recruiting for our focus group, the less supportive horse husbands bowed out. They were adamant that, “The last thing I want to do is talk about horses.”
The challenge will be to motivate less than happy campers to participate. I thought the unhappy horse husbands would want to be heard. I was wrong.
To do this story justice, I want to continue this focus group series to include a younger set of men (20 to 30 year olds and 30 to 40 year olds) to look for similarities and differences in the perspectives of our January group of 40 to 50 year olds. Even more fun? How about a group of ex-horse husbands?
If you have a horse husband—or an ex—who would like to speak up (without getting violent) about the down side of horse ownership, I’d love to hear from him. While it’s fun to joke about the grumpy guys in our lives, understanding their perspective is one of the neglected aspects of horse ownership—which I look forward to pursuing.
Send inquiries and general comments to: lauren@flyingchanges.com or Flying Changes Magazine, 19502 NE 134th Place, Battle Ground, WA 98604.