Horses have played such a crucial role in human history, from transportation and trade to warfare and migration, that their impact is deeply woven into the narrative of human civilization.
In the summer of 2024, I volunteered at a regional horse trial where hundreds of horses and riders gathered to compete at different levels. Ranged from beginner/novice up to advanced. My assignment over two days was to stop traffic for horse and rider crossing the road on way to the dressage and stadium jumping. During these two days, I marveled at the grooming of the horses and riders. This seemed so much a sport of a white privileged class. The next thought was the competitive nature of the event, where competition could be between riders within levels, or with your personal best. A competition in which the experience of a rider combined with the experience of a horse mattered. A competition where a rider could spend months (career) in preparation, days in driving and set up for an approximate 8 minutes of competition in three events. The next impression is the physical size and confirmation of the horse. The feeling was combined beauty and strength. As I directed car traffic to stop to allow the horse and rider to cross, I also felt the vulnerability of the horse in the proximity of vehicular traffic.
This all prompted me to pause and reflect, what is the place of this most wondrous animal on the planet, where once the horse played an essential role in transporting people and possessions — in agriculture, timbering, lifting and hauling, military combat and pleasure? How have humans evolved on the backs (literally) of horses? As each horse clip-clopped crossing the paved road (yes, horses wear shoes), I reflected on how far humans have evolved in modern times, where horsepower measures machines and horses have become sporting animals, showpieces or companions.
To acknowledge the history and legacy of the horse is to understand that how we see and interpret horses today may be vastly different from the way we have engaged with horses historically. None of what I am writing is intended to diminish the value of horses; it is more to remind us that beyond the advanced competitions and select breeding is an animal that evolved over millions of years from the wild, roaming in herds across vast grasslands before joining forces with humans to advance their purposes to what they are today.
With the advent of machines, the horse’s role in the modern world changed from one of transportation and work to one of leisure and sport. Generally speaking, people who have horses today (with the small exception of those who use horses for labor) have them for pleasure or to participate in sporting events that test the strength and agility of the horse and riders. Eventing is part of a long tradition whose origins reaches back to exercise to test and demonstrate the agility and strength of the animal in the military. The horse trial is part of this legacy, precisely what it says: a difficult situation that tests both the horse and rider’s strength, resilience, agility and determination. Today, horsing events mostly imply privilege because of the expense of owning a horse or horses. And the more advanced the competition, the greater expense associated with breeding, training and caring for the equine beasts.
So here I stand alongside the road today, stopping automobiles and trucks. Each time I flagged the vehicle to slow down and stop, it gave me great pleasure to honor the horse by giving them right-of-way today. And to honor them for all of the influence they had in our recent history.