Life is not a pony farm - but the nursery is!
6.8.2016
Translation: machine translated
Is your daughter's room full of horse posters from Wendy magazine? Is she desperate to learn to ride and needs to have her own horse to keep her life worth living? I'll tell you why. You'll also find a few must-haves for the playroom of these very horse lovers here.
Why the horse and not the fish?
Several psychologists have written studies in which they get to the bottom of the question of why girls love horses and why they enjoy riding so much. Their theories mostly centre on relationship and bonding issues. The horse seems to serve as an important relationship figure. It is associated with tenderness, care and the desire for closeness. The horse serves as a strong friend that the girls can trust. Some authors consider the horse to be a transitional object between the dolls of childhood and their own children in adult life. Girls are therefore practising for their role as mothers. According to Silvia Hemmerling, a qualified psychologist, caring for the animal and taking responsibility for it is often more important for the girls than riding itself.
Another hypothesis relates to the topic of personality development. According to this, girls train their assertiveness when riding. They lead a living creature that is much bigger and stronger than them, and without the use of force.
In the 1990s, psychologist Harald Euler published one of the most highly regarded studies on horse-loving girls. He also came to the conclusion that it was all about the relationship with the horse. Euler also found that girls' love of horses has an expiry date: From around the age of twelve, their interest in horses declines rapidly. As fleeting as girls' passion for horses is, it is also new - historically speaking.
In the past, horses were very important to men. "If a man wanted to be successful, he had to have good horses and be able to ride well. The horse gave the man a sense of power, it was an object of prestige," describes Euler. After the Second World War, men slowly switched to cars. The pride of ownership and all the other psychological characteristics that characterised men and horses were also transferred to the car. Women took over the horse as an object.
Today, boys are primarily interested in training for competitions, if at all. They see the horse more as a piece of sports equipment than as a friend. Interestingly, riding is the only Olympic discipline in which men and women compete against each other.
For the playroom or when there's not enough money for a real pony
Whether girls or boys, we have wonderful toys that immerse children in the world of horses. This turns the children's room into a dream pony farm .
Irene Portmann
Senior Brand Communications Manager
Irene.Portmann@digitecgalaxus.chI love the strategy game “The Settlers of Catan”, the Ravensburger puzzle “Colourful Cupcakes” and the pink fluffy unicorn that sits on my desk (a birthday present from my workmates). Not only do I have a weakness for toys, I also get excited about good food and comedy TV shows.