Anthropology of equestrian cultures

How feedback is provided in coach-athlete interaction is vital both to the results in competitive sport and to the satisfaction of participants of recreational sport. Yet studies of coaching-in-interaction remain sparse. The proposed paper, describing how feedback is provided in interaction between rider and coach in equestrian settings, thus ought to be of interest to all researchers interested in coaching-as-interaction. During the presentation, examples from the video recorded data will be presented and used to show how diverse ways of providing feedback influence the unfolding interaction between coach and rider.

The study reported is based on 15 hrs of video recordings from the kind of everyday dressage training sessions that take up most of the time of professional equestrian coaches in Sweden. The video data is completed by interviews with all human participants (N=20). Discourse analyses of these qualitative, semi-structured, stimulated recall interviews with the participating coaches (n=5) and riders (n=15), provide a rich background for the interaction analyses, but they also give important insights into what riders and coaches respectively perceive as “high quality coaching practices”.

Typically, feedback appears as the third part of a three step sequence of “initiative-response-feedback”, where the first two steps consists of the coach first instructing the rider to perform a specific movement or exercise, to which the rider together with the horse responds by implementing the instruction. When the exercise has been carried out, the feedback can be provided (in the form of an evaluation) by the coaches themselves:

1. C: ”try lengthening his steps a bit now”
2. R:  [responds by following instruction]
3. C: “that was good, well done”

This kind of evaluation is often, regardless of whether it is negative or positive, projecting a change of subject rather than further discussions of the outcome of the exercise.

But feedback can also be invited by the coach, in the form of self-evaluation on behalf of the rider:

1. C: “and now do it to the left”
2. R: [responds by following instruction]
3. C: “what do you think of that?”

The invitation for self-reflection is often, but must not be, followed by a more elaborated stretch of interaction, where the participants together discuss the outcome of the exercise. The relation between these results and  how coaches and riders account for their preferences in interviews will, together with implications to the further education of professional coaches, will be discussed during the presentation.

The study has been funded by the Swedish National Centre for Research in Sports and The Swedish-Norwegian Foundation for Equine Research.

Horses, while not native to Australia, have survived and thrived on the continent alongside the white settlers who first brought them here, and have come to be associated with a certain image of Australianess. In particular, the rugged masculinity typified in A.B. Paterson’s 1895 poem “The Man from Snowy River”, about a nameless man who single-handedly captures a mob of wild bush horses (brumbies), has continued to influence representations of national identity. This paper investigates the dualistic role of the brumby, an animal that is simultaneously positioned as a heritage icon, and an environmental pest. Drawing on existing scholarship, including Laurajane Smith’s notion of an Authorised Heritage Discourse, I argue that the brumby functions as an avatar of belonging for white, Anglo-European settler Australians, and that the impassioned ‘brumby debate’ reveals a deep anxiey of belonging in a colonised landscape.

Based on ethnographic research in Egypt and the United States, this chapter will focus on the emergence and dynamics of transnational networks of modern Arabian horse breeding with a focus on the Straight Egyptian Arabian horse as a nationalized and trademarked modern sub-breed. Following a practice-oriented social anthropological approach and drawing on insights from both science and technology studies and human-animal studies, I argue that a central feature of the Arabian horse industry and global breeding community is genealogical talk about the Arabian horse. Ancestral knowledge about the most precious bloodlines and the ability to trace a horse’s genealogy and pedigree to its “pure” Arab Bedouin origin in the deserts of Arabia, the Levant, and Egypt’s royal stables, is a matter of ongoing debate. This chapter will discuss issues of modern breed formation and the performative employment of the Arabic concept of purity and authenticity (Arabic āṣāla/āṣīl) by modern Arabian horse breeders in relation to two case studies: the infamous but extremely popular story of the stallion Nassralla, born in 1954 in Egypt at the Egyptian state-stud al-Zahraa and accused of impurity and tainted blood; and the exclusion of desert-bred Tahawi-bloodlines from the World Arabian Horse Organization (WAHO) in 1972. Taken together, I suggest, these two instances of exclusion based on bloodlines suggest how the breeding of modern Egyptian Arabian horses implies a submerged politics of structural violence against traditional Arab society.

Horses have had a singular impact on human societies. Beyond increasing interconnectivity and revolutionizing warfare, reconfigurations of human-horse relationships coincide with changes in sociopolitical formations. How this occurs is less well understood. This article proposes that relationships of equestrianism transform people and horses reciprocally, generating new possibilities for both species. Focusing here on human benefits, equestrianism affords differential and increased mobility, access, and experience for people, which translate horse power into human power. This has particular consequences for how political authority is negotiated. I use the tell societies of Bronze Age Hungary (ca. 2300/2200-1600/1500 BC) to model how horses were harnessed in resistance to centralized rule and social inequality as much as they were used to assert power. This interpretation challenges traditional grand narratives for the European Bronze Age, which see male elite warriors driving chariots, desirous of bronze, and instituting hierarchical, complex societies. Rather, ordinary women and men riding horses built these long-lived communities and were variously able to resist chiefly authority because of the power offered by horses. The theory starts disentangling mechanisms between local equestrianism and long-term historical changes.

Estudio sobre los grabados con representaciones ecuestres del Puntal del Tío Garrillas y su relación con otras representaciones ecuestres  en la Península Ibérica que permitien definir con seguridad la existencia de un arte rupestre fechado en la Edad del Hierro repartido por toda la Península Ibérica.
Study on the engravings with equestrian depictions of the strut of the uncle Garrillas and its relationship with other equestrian performances in the Iberian Peninsula to workbooks set safely the existence of a dated rock art in the age of the iron distributed throughout the Iberian Peninsula.

Human-horse relationships take the central place in this edited collection examining the horse’s perspective by asking: How are human-equine relationships communicated, enacted, understood, encouraged, and restricted? The contributors apply varied disciplinary methods as they emphasize comprehending horses not solely in terms of their functional uses, but also as impactful participants in relationships, whether more—or less—equally. By exploring the “who” of horses, The Relational Horse offers a better understanding of horses’ lived experiences and interests within the worlds they share with humans, and a way forward for human-equine studies that more equitably represents the horse in those shared worlds.

"Attitudes towards sexuality are changing and levels of cultural homophobia decreasing, yet there
remain very few openly gay men within sport. As a proving ground for heteromasculinity, sport
has traditionally been a hostile environment for gay men. This article is based on an ethnographic
study within a sporting subworld in which gay men do appear to be accepted: equestrian sport.
Drawing on inclusive masculinity theory, equestrian sport is shown to offer an unusually tolerant
environment for gay men in which heterosexual men of all ages demonstrate low levels of
homophobia. Inclusive masculinity theory is a useful framework for exploring the changing nature
of masculinities and this study demonstrates that gay men are becoming increasingly visible and
accepted within once unreceptive locales, such as sport and rural communities. However, this
more tolerant attitude is purchased at the expense of a subordinated feminine Other, perpetuating
the dominance of men within competitive sport."

The horse-human relationship is based on mutual respect and understanding, and the development of trusting partnerships may be particularly important in elite equestrian sport, where horses and humans rely on each other to tackle sporting challenges.
The increasing commercialization of equestrian sport is eroding aspects of the horse-human relationship, as the commodity value of sports horses increases and the pressure for quick results threatens the formation of deep bonds between horse and rider.
This article presents data from an ethnographic study of competitive equestrian sport in England, including interviews with 26 elite riders, to explore how the changing nature of elite equestrian sport is altering the basis of the horse-human relationship, changing the horse from a trusted partner in sporting pursuits to a commodity to be bought and sold for human commercial benefit.

Horse riding is a popular leisure activity within rural Britain. Straddling two masculinized social contexts – rural, land-based society and sport/physical recreation – horse riding is a feminized, yet mixed-sex, milieu. This article presents data from an ethnography of the social world of horse riding to consider how women within this context do and redo gender in ways that may begin to challenge ideas about what women are, and what they are capable of, within rural and sporting contexts. Women's active leisure in the countryside has been rendered largely invisible for decades, yet women's sport/physical recreation forms an important part of rural leisure worlds. This ethnographic study of women and horse riding offers examples of how feminine identities help shape the rural leisure landscape in ways that begin to redefine gender relations and gender identities within the British countryside in small, yet potentially significant, ways.

The relationship between a horse and rider is one of reciprocal dependence, collaboration and mutual becoming . These multispecies relations are commonly described as ‘partnerships’ and understood as dyadic, involving two beings – horse and rider. However, horse riding is a complex activity involving interspecies communication and a variety of athletic skills and competencies, and thus both horse and rider need to learn how to ride and how to perform together. Learning to ride is not a simple process, and takes a lifetime to master. All riders, regardless of their level of experience and expertise, benefit from training sessions with a knowledgeable instructor who can help them develop their skills, improve communication with the horse and boost performance. Such training sessions, referred to as ‘riding lessons’ throughout this chapter, expand the human-horse relationship beyond the dyad of horse and rider. The presence of the instructor, positioned in this relationship as an ‘expert’ in horse-human partnerships, expands these interspecies collaborations and draws attention to the complexity of learning, communicating and performing across species, temporal, spatial and sensorial boundaries. This chapter is based on a combination of ethnographic methods that include my own embodied experiences, observations of other people’s riding lessons, interviews with riders and instructors, and analysis of equestrian training texts. I use these sources to develop my ideas and arguments about the complexities of interspecies communication that are manifest within the horse riding lesson.

This book provides an in-depth understanding of
human–horse relationships, interactions and the embodied
nature of equestrian sport and leisure practices. Encounters
between humans and horses are revealing about the ways
that human society is structured through intersection with
nonhuman others. Caring for, training and riding horses
are visceral, sensual experiences that require immersion of
body and mind. This results in the formation of a unique
embodied way of knowing and being in the world that
characterizes equestrian sport and leisure. This book
explores the individual and collective identities that are
performed through involvement in the horse world.

Equestrian sport is often praised for its ability to integrate different types of people, at least at the
amateur level. Women and men of all ages, with different levels of physical ability and often from different social
backgrounds, may find a place for themselves within this sector, which includes a wide range of modes of practice.
In Brazil, for example, more well-off members of urban middle classes make up the bulk of those who take part
in dressage and show jumping, while popular equestrian traditions engage people from across the social spectrum
in activities that range from casual leisure riding to rodeo competition. One way or another, the “feminization” of
equestrian sports that has been noted the world over seems to be at least partially applicable to Brazil, with high
and growing female participation observed in many different situations and easily perceived by researchers and
observers. Furthermore, the ideas that are so often expressed in popular international literature, claiming women’s
special connection to horses, or women’s “empowerment through horses” are also disseminated in Brazil. In this
text, we focus on women and leisure riding activities. Taking off from our own previous research within three
different Brazilian equestrian milieux, this article develops new strands of argument, considerations based on five
interviews with five amateur horsewomen between ages 29 and 54, residents of the city of Curitiba and neighboring
municipalities. Varying in terms of social (class) origin, educational level, the type of riding they engage in and
other factors that will be pointed out the pages that follow, we will look at what horses represent in their lives, as
linked to issues of gender and leisure.

The horse has a twofold nature, docile and at the same time wild, which has always attracted but also frightened man. Not surprisingly, a large part of one of the first treatises dedicated to horseback riding, the Livro da Ensinança de Bem Cavalgar Toda Sela - written by King Edward I of Portugal, known as Dom Duarte, around the mid-fifteenth century - is dedicated just to the management of the fear that the horse inspires in his rider. From this point of view, learning the equestrian art presupposes above all an inner discipline which, if properly cultivated, can become a genuine spiritual experience.

The horse is indisputably an important entity throughout human history. Its relations to people have often had many impacts on the development of culture, economics, and many other aspects of society.  This essay attempts a brief examination of the human-equestrian relationship through the high middle ages, and the network of these ties in relation to technology and society as a whole.

Marquis puis ducs de Ferrare, Modène et Reggio, Niccolò III, Borso et Ercole I d’Este firent l’objet d’une ou de plusieurs effigies équestres. Synthèse inédite sur la problématique du portrait équestre Estense entre le milieu du XVe siècle et le début du XVIe, l’article met en exergue les traits distinctifs partagés par ces princes-condottières autant que leurs différences et leurs singularités via leurs effigies équestres. Celles-ci sont analysées en tant que productions socio-culturelles, à l’aune de leurs contextes de conception, de réalisation et de réception et de la prégnance de la culture équine à Ferrare, un des trois grands centres d’élevage équin et d’efflorescence de l’art équestre, en sus de la Naples aragonaise et de la Mantoue gonzague. Véritable outil de communication politique, instrument de légitimation voire de propagande, l’effigie équestre joue de répétitions et d’effets de démultiplication, redondants des liens filiaux et fraternels ayant rattaché ces princes. Où l’on démontre le type particulier de portrait officiel que constitue l’effigie équestre, de l’ex-voto de Niccolò III d’Este de la Santissima Annunziata de Florence (1435), au projet de monument équestre d’Ercole I d’Este pour la Piazza Nova de Ferrare abandonné en 1503, en passant par la statue équestre de Niccolò III de Niccolò Baroncelli et Antonio di Cristoforo installée à Cortevecchia en 1451 – première statue équestre fondue en bronze et installée au cœur de l’espace public depuis l’Antiquité tardive.

Tailored jackets, long boots and white gloves are clothes not normally associated with sport, yet they make up required competition dress within equestrianism. The modern equestrian sports of dressage and showjumping have their origins in the military and on the hunting field, and this highly formal, masculine style persists in contemporary equestrian circles. Perceived by many non-participants as archaic, comical and distinctly unsporty, equestrian competition dress requirements have remained relatively unchanged for a century and are one factor (amongst many others) that visibly marks equestrianism as different to most other sporting practices. This paper draws on an ethnographic study of equestrian sport in Britain in order to consider how participants today relate to and experience formal competition dress in the course of regular sporting activities. Formal competition dress is an important aspect of individual sporting identity for contemporary riders and is understood by participants to represent the unusual ethos of equestrian sport.

The origins of riding have been an elusive and contentious subject for archaeologists. Recent research in archaeology and ancient DNA (aDNA) have begun to clarify early riding and the genetic make-up of the first domesticated horses. In this paper, I pull together evidence from horse bones, human remains, the first bits, and aDNA of people and horses to explore what riding may have been like around 2000 BC. The function of early bits, bit-wear, horse size and conformation are examined with reference to archaeological finds and experimental study to produce a picture of what an early riding horse may been like and, along with human remains, how riding may have been practiced. This is augmented by aDNA information regarding coat color and what early people may have been selectively breeding for in horses. The form and function of the earliest bits will be familiar to most equestrians, as will the osteological changes in people and horses that occur from riding. I draw parallels to modern bits and bitting traditions to elucidate how basic practices of horsemanship have great antiquity. I conclude with a discussion about how the language between people and horses through horse training may have been part of the domestication process itself.

The article describes dental and postcranial remains of ancient domestic horses of various individual ages from the archaeological monuments of Belozerla Culture Novosiolovca-1 and Olanesti (Southern Moldova). Upper cheek teeth of the horses under study are characterized by relatively long and variable in shape protocone. Single preserved metacarpal and metatarsal bones from Novosiolovca-1 are quite elongated and slender, showing a close resemblance to the mean measurement values of horse remains from Late Bronze age and Early Iron Age from Southeast Europe. Phalanxes of the horses from Novosiolovca-1 and Olanesti are comparatively slender and elongated. Generally, the postcranial measurements of the horses under study correspond to the semi-thin legged type with " average height " in withers (144-136 cm). One of horse individuals from Novosiolovca-1 shows a specific wear of second upper molar caused by a snaffle bit.

Just like cattle, sheep and pigs, horses were part of the still agrarian influenced late medieval townscapes. Written and iconographic sources as well as archaeological evidence give proof of the extensive presence of horses inside and outside the city walls and their indispensability for urban and interurban communication and mobility.
Since the thriving of European cities in the High Middle Ages, there was an increasing demand for faster and more reliable exchange services comparable with those in the Roman Empire: after the decline of the well-developed and regularly maintained Roman road network, circulation of people, goods and services had become less effective, particularly given that carriage traffic was virtually impossible on deteriorated roads. Consequently, equestrian traffic gained more importance in the medieval period, as much in long-distance travels as in shorter day’s journeys. In order to facilitate urban mobility and communication between cities, traffic policies were developed, which consisted of road works, institutionally controlled mounted courier services and provision of courier horses, as well as travel allowances and travel horses for hire. In addition, the authorities adopted decrees which regulated animal waste disposal and corpse removal to guarantee a hygienic living environment for both humans and animals. At the same time specialized systems and structures for urban horse husbandry arose, e. g. stables for mounts of the city authorities and distinguished guests; on the other side, horse rental stations for the middle class emerged in the late 15th century.
The paper displays the characteristics, capacities and limitations of urban equestrian traffic and horse husbandry in the Late Middle Ages and presents the importance and impact of the human-horse relationship in the urban environment. Pragmatic documents such as (travel) account books and legal texts were used as primary source base alongside municipal chronicles; they were analyzed using a comparative and quantitative methodology. In addition, reflections of the urban horse in material culture are also considered in order to emphasize a more dynamic dimension of the phenomenon. To conclude, the value of the urban horse either as a daily companion or as a mere commodity in medieval townscapes is discussed.

A research methods symposium for interpretive / qualitative researchers in sport. Present and share your research, plant the seeds of success. Consider the analogies below for active, qualitative field research born from notions of agriculture. It is likely you will have been at these points at least once on your journey.
Preparing the ground – ploughing in, first impressions?
Planting seeds – looking at the terrain ahead, landscape of engagement?
Crop management – looking after your investment, revisit and keep in good order?
Quality in yield – tend to your harvest with care, what have you produced?
Valuable commodities - moving from raw to refined products

Navigating the terrain...
Participant Observation
Covert vs overt
Field notes
Interviews
Focus groups
Questionnaires

Tracks in the landscape...
Transcripts and analysis
Narratives and storytelling
Illustrated or photo novella
Evidence and appendices
Thesis and reporting
Publication and conference

Sex segregation is a core organising principle of most modem sports and is a key
element in the marginahsation and subordination of girls and women in sport and
beyond. In this article I explore the only Olympic-level sport which is not
organised around sex segregation - equestrian sport - in order to consider the
implications of sex integration for female participants. I draw on a study
conducted on elite riders that found that although sex integration in equestrian
sport does not lead to female participants being excluded from high-level
competition, men continue to perform disproportionately well. This suggests
that although sex integration may be an important step towards breaking down
gender hierarchies in sport, without accompanying wider changes in gender
norms and expectations, sex integration alone will not be enough to achieve
greater gender equality in equestrian sport.

U tekstu se predlaže teza da je bavljenje konjičkim sportom u razvijenim zemljama Zapada postalo novom frontom rodnog (feminističkog) dokazivanja. Unatoč maskulinosti obilježava sferu rada (i zarađivanja) s konjima, nekoliko povijesnih fenomena ilustrira da su žene u istoj domeni pokušavale konkurirati muškarcima. Jesu li prve emancipirane žene (preteča feministkinjama) bile upravo - konjarke i jahačice?

This paper explores the embodied, gendered experiences of disabled
horse-riders. Drawing on data from five in-depth interviews with paradressage
riders, the ways in which their involvement in elite disability sport
impacts upon their sense of identity and confidence are explored, as well as
the considerable health and social benefits that this involvement brings. Social
models of disability are employed and the shortcomings of such models, when
applied to disability sport, are highlighted. The data presented here demonstrates
the necessity of seeing disability sport as an embodied experience and
acknowledging the importance of impairment to the experiences of disabled
athletes. Living within an impaired body is also a gendered experience and the
implications of this when applied to elite disability sport are considered.

How popular were equids at Karkemish during the Iron Age period? Did their presence leave us any trace? This paper aims at demonstrating the widespread use of equids at Karkemish. Neo-Assyrian royal annals inform us on tributes from Syro-Hittite Kingdoms, in which horses, donkeys and mules are a constant. This paper integrates those written sources with the
new material evidence from the Turco-Italian expedition of the University of Bologna. Indeed, on the basis of the osteological evidence, equids are the third most represented animal group in the local faunal assemblage, almost as abundant as bovids, while sheep/goats are by far the most significant taxon. Domestic equids include mainly horses (Equus caballus), followed by donkeys (Equus asinus) and possibly mules, while the presence of wild equids (Equus hemionus) is rare. Considering the age at death and the scarcity of butchering traces, equids were not primarily exploited for food, but were mainly used as beasts of burden
and, in the case of horses, also as status symbols and in warfare activities. In fact, equids were killed mainly as adults, when their contribution as workforce began to become unprofitable. The importance of equids is also testified through the artistic repertoire, both in official and minor arts. On the one hand, horses are one of the most attested subjects in the Syro-Hittite relief sculpture as testified, for instance, in the chariots slabs from the Long Wall of Sculpture of Karkemish. On the other hand, between the mid-8th and full 7th century BC, we assist in the rise of a new massive coroplastic production. The majority of these figurines were harnessed horses, known as Handmade Syrian Horses and Riders (HSHR’s). It is currently believed that those terracottas were a lively expression of socio-political changes that occurred in the Middle Euphrates valley under the Assyrian hegemony.

This essay is based on ongoing ethnographic research on southern Brazilian equestrian cultures.  With certain characteristics that enable us to refer to it as 'multi-sited ethnography'  - its interconnected research sites include rodeos and organized rides, as well as the spaces of daily work and leisure in the cabanha -  most of what we discuss here is the result of participant observation that over a four year period has been carried out in the rural and semi-rural region of Paraná outlying the state's capital city, Curitiba. The issues we highlight here include issues of gender relations as they change and develop within the milieu, as well as our own notions of equestrian culture and 'capital', built in the interface between rural and urban and the movement between popular and professional forms of activity.

The original text was written in Portuguese and translated into Spanish by Nashyelli Salazar Flores.

Welfare issues in horse training, particularly sports dressage training, are the object of heated discussions. Most studies of equine welfare are highly technical, but this paper takes the novel approach of investigating how riders and trainers orient towards equine welfare in everyday training situations in the riding hall.
The study is based on multi-modal interaction analysis of 15 hours of video recorded trainings in sports dressage. It departs from a dialogical perspective on communication and rests on the assumption that horses are active participants in the communication during trainings; they contribute to the interaction e.g. by showing resistance against demands from the rider. However, they are dependent on the humans to interpret their behaviour. The results show that trainers and riders discuss the actions of the horses by tying them to the horses’ cognitive, emotional and physiological needs. Cognitive needs (e.g. the need for well-timed and correct aids), as well as emotional needs (e.g. motivation and confidence), are made relevant by both riders and trainers, whereas the physiological needs (e.g. rest and muscle strengthening work), are typically made relevant by the trainer. The needs of the horses are used as resources both to explain problems and argue for specific solutions to them.
The participating trainers (n=5) are all well-established, professional trainers. The recorded trainings are part of their weekly training schedule and were not arranged for the benefit of the researchers. The riders (n=15) are experienced dressage riders, riding their own horses or horses they have a long-term relation with. The horses (n=15) are Swedish warm-bloods.  The data covers everyday dressage trainings with trainers with different educational backgrounds, leisure riders as well competitive riders, and both younger horses and horses educated to the international level.

Este ensayo versa sobre una investigación etnográfica en curso, sobre culturas ecuestres del sur de Brasil.  Con ciertas características que nos permitan considerarla como "multi-situada" (abordando diversos momentos y espacios, desde los rodeos y cabalgatas, hasta el cotidiano de participantes y practicantes del mundo ecuestre en sus casas o en lugares denominados 'cabanhas'  donde se  hospedan caballos), la mayor parte de lo que aquí se relata es resultado de la observación participante en municipios próximos a Curitiba, capital del estado del Paraná.  Cuestiones aquí subrayadas incluyen las relaciones de género que emergen en el medio, así como el propio concepto de cultura y capital ecuestres, que se construyen entre lo rural y lo urbano y en los tránsitos entre lo popular y el mundo de las profesiones y de la ciencia, este último universo arraigado en instituciones  urbanas históricamente vinculadas a las clases medias urbanas.
Palabras claves
Cultura ecuestre, relaciones de género, saber popular, rodeo, caballos.
Abstract
This essay is based on ongoing ethnographic research on southern Brazilian equestrian cultures.  With certain characteristics that enable us to refer to it as 'multi-sited ethnography'  - its interconnected research sites include rodeos and organized rides, as well as the spaces of daily work and leisure in the cabanha -  most of what we discuss here is the result of participant observation that over a four year period has been carried out in the rural and semi-rural region of Paraná outlying the state's capital city, Curitiba. The issues we highlight here include issues of gender relations as they change and develop within the milieu, as well as our own notions of equestrian culture and 'capital', built in the interface between rural and urban and the movement between popular and professional forms of activity.

This paper is somewhat dated, based on only the first few months of my fieldwork in 2013, and no longer representative of my current work and thinking.

Chapter Abstract: 'This chapter is a long overdue update to the ethnographic record of Native American horse culture. Based on extended fieldwork with three North-western tribes, the chapter illustrates the continued relevance of the horse as a ‘cultural keystone species’ (Garibaldi and Turner 2004). Three examples of contemporary expressions of horse culture on the reservations are presented: the creation of the Nez Perce horse breed; horse parading and ceremonial rides; and the recent formal creation of the sport of Indian Relay Racing. The chapter concludes with a reflection on the contested fate of feral horses on three neighbouring reservations.'