Why "ladies"?

dutchherder said:

Oh, Toni, usually you and I are on the same page, but I have to disagree: A Knight's Tale was indeed horrible.

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THAT'S IT!

first knight is a Brad Pitt movie (I've never seen it)

I agree that the movie is pretty bad.. but it's so BAD that it's amusing. and Heath Ledger did a decent job considering the material.

Bennett said:

How about horce riding? It seems to value the "elegant" style with a lot of formality (See their outfit!). Do they still call the male athletes "men" instead of "gentlemen"?

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Equestrian sports are one of the few sports that do not have different divisions for the genders. Men and women compete on equal footing in all the Olympic equestrian disciplines, e.g.. I'm sure announcers and such may casually refer as they wish to a "gentleman" or a "man" or a "lady" or a "woman," but generally there's no formal "men's division" or what have you.

Of course, there might be occasional classes at a horse show that would be for one or the other, and I'd guess they would refer to "ladies" or "gentlemen," but that would be rare, and I'm only guessing. But probably they would use "ladies" and "gentlemen."

However, if you are the Master of Foxhounds of a hunt club, you are simply "Master" at all times, be you man or woman.

rallycairn said:

Equestrian sports are one of the few sports that do not have different divisions for the genders. Men and women compete on equal footing in all the Olympic equestrian disciplines, e.g.. I'm sure announcers and such may casually refer as they wish to a "gentleman" or a "man" or a "lady" or a "woman," but generally there's no formal "men's division" or what have you.

Of course, there might be occasional classes at a horse show that would be for one or the other, and I'd guess they would refer to "ladies" or "gentlemen," but that would be rare, and I'm only guessing. But probably they would use "ladies" and "gentlemen."

However, if you are the Master of Foxhounds of a hunt club, you are simply "Master" at all times, be you man or woman.

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Thanks for your info! That's interesting!

At the Olympics, I remember female horse riders were dressing very similarly with male riders. That was interesting, too.

It's a figure skating tradition - don't mess with it.

Mathman said:

In the sports world, only race car drivers are "gentlemen," as in "gentlemen, start your engines!

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What about tennis? I seem to remember hearing the word "gentlemen" there.

Up until 1952, only cavalry officers were allowed to compete in equestrian events in the Olympics. Maybe they were called "captain."

Mathman said:

Up until 1952, only cavalry officers were allowed to compete in equestrian events in the Olympics. Maybe they were called "captain."

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I can do some research if anyone's really interested, but I'm pretty sure civilian riders were eligible to ride in the Olys in dressage as soon as dressage became an Olympic sport at Stockholm in 1912.

Cavalry officers only could compete at the Olympics until 1952 in Three Day Eventing, but there are 3 Oly disciplines: dressage, eventing, and show jumping.

I'm unsure about show jumping, as to the history of civilian and military, men and women, etc.

Might be interesting to some that polo was briefly included in the Olys but is VERY impractical to field. Many, many polo ponies are required, even though traditionally host teams provide mounts for visiting teams -- and are honor bound to provide good ponies ! Still, the number of horses required is incredible.

The western riding discipline of reining is making a play to become an Olympic sport. Reining can be roughly compared to dressage in western tack: the horses perform difficult and intricate maneuvers requiring extreme discipline and collection, but the specific moves are somewhat different and the carriage or "frame" the horses must adopt is very different. Not sure if reining riders are called men, women, gentlemen, ladies, or cowboys and cowgirls!!

Tonichelle said:

first knight is a Brad Pitt movie (I've never seen it)

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First Knight played by Sean Connery, Julia Ormond, and Richard Gere. I love that movie. I've never seen A Knight's Tale.

what movie am I thinking of then??????

oh well... aside from the Ocean's trilogy and Mr and Mrs Smith I don't really care for Pitt's films.