Editing Equestrianism (section)

===Riding astride===
[[File:Ridderstedt couple on horseback.jpg|thumb|By the 1930s and 1940s most horse riding had become occasional and leisurely or competitive rather than being the common method of transportation it had been for centuries before]]
The idea that riding a horse astride could injure a woman's sex organs is a historic, but sometimes popular even today, misunderstanding or misconception, particularly that riding astride can damage the [[hymen]].<ref name="pmid12346860">{{cite journal
| author = Dhall A
| title = Adolescence: myths and misconceptions
| journal = Health Millions
| volume = 21
| issue = 3
| pages = 35–38
| year = 1995
| pmid = 12346860
}}</ref> Evidence of injury to any female sex organs is scant. In female high-level athletes, trauma to the [[perineum]] is rare and is associated with certain sports (see [[Pelvic floor#Clinical significance]]).<!-- see details w source on other page --> The type of trauma associated with [[equestrian sports]] has been termed "horse riders' perineum".<ref name="pmid17450681">{{cite journal
|vauthors=Crepin G, Biserte J, Cosson M, Duchene F | title = [The female urogenital system and high level sports]
| language = fr
| journal = Bull. Acad. Natl. Med.
| volume = 190
| issue = 7
| pages = 1479–91; discussion 1491–93
|date=October 2006
| pmid = 17450681
}}</ref> A [[case series]] of 4 female mountain bike riders and 2 female horse riders found both patient-reported perineal pain and evidence of [[sub-clinical]] changes in the [[clitoris]];<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Battaglia|first1=C|last2=Nappi|first2=RE|last3=Mancini|first3=F|last4=Cianciosi|first4=A|last5=Persico|first5=N|last6=Busacchi|first6=P|title=Ultrasonographic and Doppler findings of subclinical clitoral microtraumatisms in mountain bikers and horseback riders|journal=The Journal of Sexual Medicine|date=February 2009|volume=6|issue=2|pages=464–68|doi=10.1111/j.1743-6109.2008.01124.x|pmid=19138367}}</ref> the relevance of these findings to horse riding is unknown.

In men, sports-related injuries are among the major causes of testicular trauma. In a small [[scientific control|controlled]] but [[Blind experiment|unblinded]] study of 52 men, [[varicocele]] was significantly more common in equestrians than in non-equestrians.<ref name="pmid15972705">{{cite journal
|vauthors=Turgut AT, Kosar U, Kosar P, Karabulut A | title = Scrotal sonographic findings in equestrians
| journal = Journal of Ultrasound in Medicine
| volume = 24
| issue = 7
| pages = 911–17; quiz 919
|date=July 2005
| pmid = 15972705
| doi = 10.7863/jum.2005.24.7.911
| s2cid = 44339283
}}</ref> The difference between these two groups was small, however, compared to differences reported between extreme [[mountain bike]] riders and non-riders,<ref name="pmid11323467">{{cite journal
|vauthors=Frauscher F, Klauser A, Stenzl A, Helweg G, Amort B, zur Nedden D | title = US findings in the scrotum of extreme mountain bikers
| journal = Radiology
| volume = 219
| issue = 2
| pages = 427–31
|date=May 2001
| pmid = 11323467
| doi = 10.1148/radiology.219.2.r01ma42427
}}</ref> and also between mountain bike riders and on-road bicycle riders.<ref name="pmid18185039">{{cite journal
|vauthors=Mitterberger M, Pinggera GM, Neuwirt H, Colleselli D, Pelzer A, Bartsch G, Strasser H, Gradl J, Pallwein L, Frauscher F | title = Do mountain bikers have a higher risk of scrotal disorders than on-road cyclists?
| journal = Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine
| volume = 18
| issue = 1
| pages = 49–54
|date=January 2008
| pmid = 18185039
| doi = 10.1097/JSM.0b013e31815c042f
| s2cid = 29581763
}}</ref> Horse-riding injuries to the [[scrotum]] ([[contusion]]s) and [[testes]] ([[blunt trauma]]) were well known to surgeons in the 19th century and early 20th century.<ref name="KeenDaCosta1908">{{cite book
|title=Surgery, Its Principles and Practice
|editor1=William Williams Keen |editor2=John Chalmers Da Costa |publisher=W. B. Saunders Company
|year=1908
|location=Philadelphia and London
|volume=4
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QnYwAAAAIAAJ
}} pp. 598, 615</ref> Injuries from collision with the pommel of a saddle are mentioned specifically.<ref name="KeenDaCosta1908"/>