Animal Studies Journal Volume 4 Number 2 Article 11 2015 Horses in Modern, New, and Contemporary Circus Katie Lavers Edith Cowan University,
[email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://ro.uow.edu.au/asj Part of the Philosophy Commons Recommended Citation Lavers, Katie, Horses in Modern, New, and Contemporary Circus, Animal Studies Journal, 4(2), 2015, 140-172. Available at:https://ro.uow.edu.au/asj/vol4/iss2/11 Research Online is the open access institutional repository for the University of Wollongong. For further information contact the UOW Library:
[email protected] Horses in Modern, New, and Contemporary Circus Abstract Circus is an art form that developed around horses and trick riding. Philip Astley, an excavalry man who had recently returned to London after fighting in urE ope in the Seven Years War (1756- 63), founded Modern Circus when he introduced clowns, musicians and acrobats to cover the changeover in his riding displays. Daring, acrobatic stunt riding remained the central most important element in modern circus. The strong sense of connection developed between a cavalryman and his horse through the sense of shared mortality on the battlefield was an important element informing the presentation of horses in modern circus. Running counter to the widespread exploitation of horses as beasts of burden widely used as machines, modern circus often depicted horses as creatures of passion, linked to Romantic imagery of the sublime. Astley championed a more humane way of training horses, and, in the context of its time, Astley’s circus can be seen as acting as a social force to contest pervasive cultural attitudes towards horses as machines.