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Univerzita Palackého V Olomouci Filozofická

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Univerzita Palackého V Olomouci Filozofická UNIVERZITA PALACKÉHO V OLOMOUCI FILOZOFICKÁ FAKULTA Katedra anglistiky a amerikanistiky Equestrianism in Great Britain as a Cultural Phenomenon Bakalářská práce Autor práce: Eliška Doleželová Vedoucí práce: Mgr. Pavlína Flajšarová, Ph.D. Olomouc 2015 Prohlašuji, že jsem bakalářskou práci na téma “Equestrianism in Great Britain as a Cultural Phenomenon” vypracovala samostatně pod odborným dohledem vedoucího práce a uvedla jsem v ní předepsaným způsobem všechny použité podklady a literaturu. V Olomouci dne …………………….. Podpis ……………………… I would like to express my gratitude to Mgr. Pavlína Flajšarová, Ph.D. for her guidance, valuable advice and support throughout the process of writing the thesis. Content 1 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 6 2 History of Equestrianism...................................................................................... 7 2.1 The Horse Evolution and Horse-Breeding Origin ......................................... 7 2.2 The History of Equestrianism in Great Britain............................................ 10 2.3 Horse Breeding System in Great Britain ..................................................... 13 2.3.1 Ponies ................................................................................................... 13 2.3.2 Middle-weight Half Bred Horses ......................................................... 15 2.3.3 Heavy-weight Draught Horses ............................................................. 15 2.4 Equestrianism and the Royal Family ........................................................... 16 3 Equestrianism as a Leisure Time Activity ......................................................... 17 3.1 Sport ............................................................................................................ 17 3.1.1 National Identities ................................................................................ 18 3.1.2 Equestrian Sport in Olympics .............................................................. 19 3.2 Equestrianism in Great Britain (institutions) ............................................... 19 3.2.1 Horse Riding Establishments ............................................................... 22 3.2.2 Overview of Disciplines ....................................................................... 22 3.3 The Horse and Man – the Relationship ....................................................... 23 3.4 Statistics ....................................................................................................... 24 3.5 Publicizing Equestrianism ........................................................................... 25 3.5.1 Equestrianism in Press ......................................................................... 26 3.5.2 Equestrianism on TV............................................................................ 27 4 Horse Racing as a part of British Culture .......................................................... 28 4.1 The History of Horse Racing ....................................................................... 28 4.2 English Thoroughbred ................................................................................. 29 4.2.1 Jockey Club .......................................................................................... 31 4.3 Steeplechasing ............................................................................................. 31 4.4 Famous Horses, Jockeys and Races ............................................................ 32 4.5 The Royal Patrons ....................................................................................... 33 4.5.1 The Royal Ascot ................................................................................... 34 5 Foxhunting ......................................................................................................... 36 5.1 The History of Foxhunting in Great Britain ................................................ 36 5.2 Controversy ................................................................................................. 36 5.3 Current Status .............................................................................................. 38 6 Polo .................................................................................................................... 39 6.1 The History of Polo in Great Britain ........................................................... 39 6.2 Rules and Equipment ................................................................................... 40 6.3 Polo and the Royal Family .......................................................................... 41 7 Conclusion ......................................................................................................... 43 Resumé ....................................................................................................................... 46 Works Cited ............................................................................................................... 49 Anotace ...................................................................................................................... 52 Abstract ...................................................................................................................... 52 5 No hour of life is wasted that is spent in the saddle. Winston Churchill 1 Introduction From time immemorial Great Britain1 is considered as a cradle of equestrianism, equestrian sport and several equestrian disciplines for their origin and their long tradition in British history. Since my childhood, I have been personally very interested in horse riding. So I have chosen to focus on this cultural phenomenon in British society and I will deal with their attitude towards this typical British leisure time and sport activity. This thesis is divided into five chapters. In the first two parts of my thesis I will outline the importance of equestrianism and horse breeding system in British history. Then I will investigate the close relation between the Royal Family and equestrian sport and how much the equestrian sport was influenced by the support from the British monarchs. Furthermore, I will provide an overview of the most popular equestrian activities substantiated by statistical data and I will present the most influential British equestrian organizations and their main aims and visions to the future of horse riding in Great Britain. In the following three chapters of my thesis I will introduce each of the most significant equestrian disciplines in Great Britain, such as horse racing, fox hunting and polo. The purpose is to define their value and meaning in British lifestyle and culture. Each of these chapters will include brief view of the history. The aim of my thesis is to make an attempt to bear out the claim which states that equestrianism has an important role in British culture, using a detailed study of particular factors concerning and defining equestrian sport in Great Britain. I would like to prove and then emphasize the close relation between British nation, horse breeding and equestrianism. 1 Under the term Great Britain I understand the whole United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. 6 2 History of Equestrianism 2.1 The Horse Evolution and Horse-Breeding Origin The history of existence of horses in our planet goes back to the era of the Tertiary, approximately 60 million years ago, long before the existence of human beings. However, contrary to current form of slim, long-legged and high-grade modern horse body, their historic ancestor called Eohippus was the size of fox. Eohippus, also called as dawn horse, was found in the North America continent in the Early Eocene stage, adapted to life in forest and on the soft ground by having four fingers on forelimbs and three toes on the legs. Many scientists argued that there was hardly a similarity between these two species. They rather assimilated them with beast of prey, because of the jaw full of sharp teeth and the shape of their back giving the impression to be alert to attack immediately. Nevertheless, the horses have ever been herbivore animals. After a time, by Mesohippus and Merychippus were the premolars replaced by molars, the number of fingers reduced to three and it became equal, the horseback became straighten up and also the height of horse increased. Although the evolutionary process was quite slow, a major climate change in Miocene environment caused the extinction of primeval forests and formation of steppes and plains (Draper 10). The horse which was the most similar to the forerunner of modern horse in this taxonomic family called Equidae was named Pliohippus, being the last connection between the progressions from Eohippus to Equus. His resemblance to Equus was visible while looking at his limbs – long legged horse, one finger on each limb protected by horny hoof. Also the skeletal system of a modern horse differs from his ancestors a lot. Finally, the evolution of homo habilis started in the end of Pliocene era. The horse evolution progress terminated after more than 50 million years. The human beings as primitive tribes met this wild animal for the first time approximately 2 million years ago. In this very long period, the domestication and first relationships between horses and men were slowly created. Humans began to domesticate horses around 4000 BC and the widespread of domestication has been by 3000BC (Draper 11). According to Mahler, the horse positively participated
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