Horses and riding is a sport and recreation activity, which in Sweden engage about half a million equestrians, 85 % are women. Many of them are found at various riding schools. A teenager in the "stable-gang" spend many hours every week in the surrounding of the horse, which means the stable. The purpose of this project is to study the construction of identity and gender in young women at the setting of the equestrian culture. The focus is directed on how values, norms and ethical positions are developed in the specific milieu of the equestrian culture.

A starting point for the study is modern theory of gender and gender identity. In addition to this a microethical analysis for the purpose of studying young women's construction of identity in a dominant female setting are introduced. The theoretical point of departure is to examine the relation between gender theory and applied ethics as an instrument of understanding construction of identity. The empirical material consists of observations at two equestrian centres and interviews with teenagers in the stable. In the main study young girls are interviewed, but since it is obvious that there are a broader context than the young girls experiences, another two studies are planned. The first one is on boys in the dominant female equestrian culture. The other study is on women who return to horse riding at a mature age.