SOCIETY & ANIMALS 22 (2014) 135-152

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Herds and Hierarchies: Class, Nature, and the Social Construction of in Equestrian

Kendra Coulter Brock University kcoulter@brocku. ca

Abstract

This study centers on equestrian show culture in Ontario, Canada, and examines how horses are entangled symbolically and materially in socially constructed hierarchies of . After examining -show social relations and practices, the paper traces the connections among equestrian culture, class, and the social constructions of horses. Equestrian relations expose multiple hierarchical intersections of nature and culture within which both human-horse relations and horses are affected by class structures and identities. In equestrian culture, class affects relations within and across species, and how horses are conceptualized and used, as symbols and as living animal bodies.

Keywords •'- _ animals and class - animal work - equestrian culture - nature/labor - social construction of horses

Across space and time, horses have been valorized, loved, worked, exploited, and slaughtered. Given the diversity of human-horse relations, horses have, not sur- prisingly, often been associated with nobility, wealth, and rule (e.g. Ritvo, 2010; Kelenka, 2009), but also with manual work and working class people's livelihoods (Gassidy 2002, 2007; Greene, 2008; Walker, 2008; Ghamberlin, 2006). Moreover, while high-ranking social actors may use horses for sport and leisure, many of the daily interactions, including the "dirty work" (e.g., Anderson, 2000) of clean- ing up manure, are the responsibility of working-class people. Put simply, horses' lives have been interconnected in various ways with the hierarchies that exist in human societies. Today, over 300,000 horses live in Ontario, Ganada, many on farms in the rural north and west of Toronto, a region often called

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"horse country" (Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, n.d.). I have conducted two years of research on equestrian-show culture in this area and thus have observed how equestrian hierarchies are reproduced within and across species. As a result, in addition to offering an empirical case study of a horse culture that is prominent in many societies, this paper exposes the central role that class plays in contemporary human-horse relations. The influence of class on human-animal relations has been explicitly named and explored, particularly in historical contexts. Scholars have analyzed the connections among the collecting, displaying, and exploiting of animals, and the maintenance and promotion of hierarchies based on class, race, ethnicity, and gender as the upper class has sought to mark its superiority globally and locally (e.g., Austin, 2010; Skabelund, 2008; Mehos, 2006; Robbins, 2002; Witz, 1997; Murray, 2011; Ritvo, 1987). Some recent studies of human-animal relations have emphasized hierarchy through examination of the connections among status, prestige, kinship/bloodlines, commodification, and social performance (e.g.. Berry, 2008; Mullin, 2001). A handful of scholars have considered the role of class relations in contemporary human-animal contexts (Gaynor, 2007; Cassidy, 2002, 2007; Perlo, 2002), and Hribal (2003, 2007) argues for inquiry that sees and spotlights animals as part of the working class. Overall, however, despite its central socioeconomic role in aU contemporary nation-states, class has not been integrated into most recent anthrozoological and animal studies research (Shapiro & DeMello, 2010), and the animality of contemporary class relations is not wefl understood. A small but important body of literature has examined the intersections of animals and labor (e.g. Hamilton and Taylor, 2013; Miller, 2013; Porcher and Schmitt, 2012; Sanders, 2010) but more research is needed to bet- ter understand the nature/labor nexus and what I call animal work; that is, the work done with animals, by animals, and/or for animals. When examining equestrian culture, we cannot thoroughly understand the cultural constructions and material lives of horses without recognizing the influence of class. Indeed, there are multiple angles from which the class poli- tics of Canadian (and any other nation's) show jumping can be approached and analyzed. A fiiUanalysi s of the ways class affects and intersects with equestrian culture and labor is beyond the scope of this paper. I will, however, outline a cross-section of the ways class figures in equestrian culture and shapes the social constructions of horses, to contribute to what I hope will be a more expansive conversation about the class politics of human-animal relations in cross-cultural contexts. First, I oudine horse-show organization, social relations, and daily practices to explain the essential components of this equestrian culture. Then I trace the connections among class, nature, culture, and the social construc- tions of show-jumping horses. Equestrian relations expose multiple hierarchal

SOCIETY & ANIMALS 22 (2014) 135-152 HERDS AND HIERARCHIES 137 intersections of nature and culture within which human-horse relations and horses are affected by class structures and identities. I argue that within eques- trian culture, class affects relations within and across species, and how horses are conceptualized and used, as symbols and as living animal bodies. I do not intend, however, to contribute to debates about the precise defini- tion of class or the differences among wealth, status, and class. Rather, I explore a combination of social, economic, and cultural factors that produce and repro- duce lived hierarchy, and how these processes are interwoven with equestrian action. I understand class to be an economic location and a set of social rela- tions, or, both categorical and relational. Class is more than social actors' objec- tive positioning in relation to the production process, and by incorporating the realm of the experiential, I recognize that class involves identity and culture, and their performance as well (e.g., Bettie, 2003; Dunk, 2003). Wealth and economic power are key material foundations of class, but through symbols—including those involving animals—various markers are enlisted to communicate and demarcate class status, to include and exclude, and to shape social experiences and lives. Horses are also "classed" through social constructions, practices, and hierarchies produced within equestrian culture.

Illuminating Horse-Show Culture

The socioeconomic terrain of equestrian culture is referred to as both a sport and an industry by its participants. This dual identification recognizes that for many people horse shows are an athletic leisure pursuit, for some they are a place of work, and for others, sport and income earning are combined. "Gold rated" or "A" circuit horse shows are held in Ontario between May and November, with, on average, two to three shows per month and many hun- dreds of horses entered into competition. This paper is an example of "multi-species ethnography" (Kirksey & Helmreich, 2010; Hamilton & Taylor, 2012). I engaged in participant-observa- tion data collection at horse shows, in show stables, and at other equestrian sites such as tack stores (where equipment and apparel are sold). Observed and/or interviewed professional and grand-prix riders and trainers, barn own- ers and managers, horse owners, amateur riders and their families, grooms, horse-show staff, salespeople and retail workers, veterinarians, and farriers (blacksmiths). The identities of research subjects are disguised in this paper, unless explicit consent was obtained to use someone's name. While there are many adults working and showing, there is a high proportion of youth involved, especially as competitors. Women and girls numerically dominate

SOCIETY & ANIMALS 22 (2014) 135-152 138 COULTER the shows, although at the highest professional levels, men constitute a major- ity of competitors, a gendered and classed dynamic I have explored elsewhere (Coulter, 2013). Participants in equestrian culture are largely white, with Latin Americans constituting a small minority of laborers and professional riders. Class is a factor affecting participation in the sport at the outset, as the costs associated are high. Horses are bought, sold, and leased as private property. Horses and ponies competing on the "A" circuit cost tens or hundreds of thou- sands of dollars to purchase, and some of those capable of competing at the very top grand-prix levels will be priced in the millions. Competition horses can also he leased for a show season, starting at about $10,000 and increas- ing from there. Horses to he used for one week of competition can be leased for about $1,000 (or more). For the year-end finals, a week-long lease can cost upward of $5,000. Amateur horse riders and/or owners usually choose to keep their horse(s) with a specific trainer/coach, whom they pay for horse boarding, instruction, training, and horse-care management, both at the home stable and at horse shows. Horse-show life is nomadic, with many stables shipping into competition grounds and then staying for the two to three weeks of the show, stabling the horses on site. For well-regarded stables and trainers, amateur owners and rid- ers will generally pay 1,000 Canadian dollars per month per horse for care and training, at hare minimum (for top trainers, the starting costs will he higher), and up to multiple thousands of dollars once show costs and fees are included. Trainers (the term most often used for the professional riders and coaches) make their living from horse boarding, training, riding, showing, buying and selling horses, teaching students, and sponsorships. Consequently, they must obtain, sustain, and manage a broad range of social relations and engage in physical, social, emotional, and aesthetic labor (Coulter, 2013). Much of the daily labor of caring for the horses is performed by waged work- ers employed by the trainer. Some of the grooms and/or assistants are tempo- rarily working in these capacities while studying, but for others it is a career. These people work very long hours, often starting at six or seven in the morn- ing, and frequently earn little ahove the minimum wage. In contrast to the racing-yard staff in the United Kingdom (Miller, 2010; Cassidy, 2007), Canadian Stahle workers have never been unionized. Daily tasks include feeding, water- ing, and grooming the horses; cleaning stalls and the stable; tacking up horses to be ridden and shown (putting on all the necessary equipment); removing equipment postride and then bathing and/or bandaging horses; turning horses in and out of the pastures; and administering medications or other veterinary treatments, among others. The tangible and perceived relations and connec-

SOCIETY & ANIMALS 22 (2014) 135-152 HERDS AND HIERARCHIES 139 tions between horses and grooms is an area worthy of further study that would provide another angle into the class politics of horse culture and the nature/ labor nexus. Some riders will participate in, or be responsible for, certain tasks (such as tacking up their horse and/or taking their horse for a hand walk or to graze at shows), M^hile others will simply dress themselves in the appropriate eques- trian fashion for the day and then mount the horse once a groom has gotten her or him ready. The trainers vary in their degree of participation in the inter- active stable labor, with some concentrating predominantly on riding and on social relations with clients, sponsors, and so on, and some taking a more direct, hands-on approach to daily work. Competition is usually from Wednesday to Sunday. The horse shows gener- ally start at eight o'clock and last most of the day, with multiple competition rings running concurrently. There are hunter (judged) and jumper (scored based on time and jumping penalties only) divisions, which are further subdi- vided according to the professional or amateur status of the riders, the age of the amateur riders, the height of jumps, and the height of the equines (small, medium, and large ponies, as well as horses). Most equines are tasked with com- peting in at least one division per week, which usually includes three jumping classes. Divisions for the professionals are organized for weekdays, but high- profile events like the top-level grand-prix classes are often on the weekend in order to attract spectators. Most amateur divisions are held on the weekends, but Fridays are almost exclusively "pony day," which means that youth and children who are riding the shorter equines and are not being home schooled or attending a correspondence-based private school (as some do) must miss a day of classes during the spring and fall shows if they wish to compete. Daily life at the shows involves a continuum of mundane to highly exciting social action. Horse-show grounds are usually abuzz with horse, dog, golf cart, bicycle, dirt bike, car, truck, tractor, water truck, and trailer traffic throughout the day as people and animals are moved among stables, show and warm-up rings, horse bathing areas, food facilities, and so on. For trainers and grooms, most of the day is spent working. For amateurs, while actual competition is characterized by excitement, more of the time is spent waiting, and long stretches of time often pass before and between classes. This time is gener- ally spent socializing with other competitors and/or watching competition. The action inside and outside the competition rings must be understood as spatially and temporally separate but conceptually interwoven. The experi- ential dimensions of horse-show culture are interconnected, with hierarchies reflected in, and reproduced through, equestrian social relations.

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Class and Equestrian Gulture

Bourdieu (1984) employs the term "distinction" to encapsulate the social meanings associated with class stratification and to indicate how hierarchi- cally ranked lifestyles, tastes, and preferences are constructed, consumed, circulated, and embodied, including within the realm of sport (Bourdieu, 1978). Equestrian competition is widely considered a bourgeois pursuit and is associated with the upper class in the popular imagination. Buying and keeping show horses and participating in gold-rated competitions requires economic capital. As outlined above, the expenses associated with the sport are great, and the funds necessary are cost-prohibitive for the vast majority of Canadians. There are lower-ranked horse-show circuits, and, of course, less expensive ways to ride horses. However, the gold-rated "A" circuit shows are, by their very existence, a clear marker of difference, accessible only to those with the necessary capital. Many of those competing are members of the capitalist class; they or their families own and/or run major for-profit steel, construction, food, auto parts, oil, banking, hotel/resort, software, and media companies. Those who could be called middle- or upper-middle-class, such as lawyers, successful small or midsize business owners, midlevel corporate workers, doctors, accountants, and so on, are also represented among the ranks of show competitors, as are a few teachers and professors. The working class is present in the role of groom and mane/tail braiders, and as maintenance, food service, office, jump crew, or other such waged workers on the show grounds. Among stable staff, hier- archies are established for daily operations, and a select number of grooms will also work as riding assistants, tasked with riding horses but usually not with showing them. The trainers are in complex and somewhat blurry social positions, because, while the amateur is paying for services, the professional is a high-status expert who provides symbolic value and associative status to those with whom she or he works. At the same time, an amateur can easily move on to another trainer, so the professionals strive to keep clients satisfied. This dynamic is especially significant if the amateur and her/his family are also providing top-level horses for the trainer to ride in competition. Overall, equestrian culture is numerically dominated by the rich, but it is not exclusively the domain of the upper class. This is true both when considering the riders and the broader set of social actors involved. Horse shows are situated in a broader equestrian, for-profit economic network, and paid and unpaid work is constantly being done at and away from horse shows to produce and repro- duce equestrian athletes—human and horse—and jumping competitions. Distinction is evident not only in the differentiation of participants from the

SOCIETY & ANIMALS 22 (2014) 135-152 HERDS AND HIERARCHIES 141 outsiders who cannot participate in gold-rated competitions, but among the participants within equestrian culture. Class and economic capital affect how people experience and navigate equestrian culture in a broad range of ways. For example, many of the middle-class participants speak frankly—but only when asked—about the financial sacrifices they make in other aspects of their lives in order to make show jumping possible. "We are the blue collar equiva- lent around here," one mother said of her dual-income, middle-management- level family, neglecting to note the grooms' presence, but also evoking a rela- tional understanding of broader, societal class relations within which she would normally be considered among the higher echelons of income earners. Some participants, such as this woman, had saved and budgeted for short-term participation on the circuit, while others were relying on credit. Avoiding bill payments to farriers, veterinarians, and/or trainers v^fas a strategy enlisted by the occasional rider determined to participate despite a lack of capital. Many divisions commence competition at seven thirty or eight in the morning, and riders need to be on their horses, warmed up and ready to go into the ring, well before the start time. To minimize travel time and ensuing sleep deprivation, some competitors will stay in their own campers on the show grounds, while others stay in nearby hotels. For those competitors who are already stretched financially, additional expenditures of thousands of doflars for a camper/RV or hundreds of dollars for a hotel room are often impossible, and they will consequently stay in their homes and drive to and from the show grounds. For some this means half an hour on the road; for others this means an hour or two. While this may seem relatively insignificant, in a chaflenging sport involving a thousand-pound equine partner, riders' reflexes and alertness affect not only success or failure, but degrees of safety. Class positions also affect leisure time. Many upper-class riders have the privilege of summer showing, as well as winter trips to warmer U.S. states for year-round competition. Both the relational and performative aspects that are evident in equestrian culture expose how class power and privilege are enacted and mobilized as active social processes. The class politics of equestrian culture manifest in the creation of a symbolic economy within which class-rooted badges are worn. Horses are a key part of this symbolic economy in a range of ways. First and foremost, the sheer number of horses someone possesses is a way for that indi- vidual to demonstrate her or his wealth and class standing. Owning multiple horses is seen as ideal by participants because it allows the rider to compete in multiple divisions. While having one horse is an undeniable demonstrator of privflege, in the internal logic of most riders in equestrian culture, having a horse becomes unexceptional because horses are seemingly ubiquitous. They are the baseline

SOCIETY & ANIMALS 22 (2014) 135-152 142 COULTER requirement for entering this world. I have not heard riders comparing them- selves to the women and girls, as well as the boys and men, who would love to be able to afford riding lessons, let alone a horse. Perhaps their acknowledgment of their differentiation from most people is reserved for more private spaces, or else it is normalized through both their participation in the sport and their broader socioeconomic status. Horse riding is but one component of a life of luxury (including cottages, holidays, expensive clothing, and vehicles), although it is often an important part of these participants' identities, lifestyles, and social lives. Participants in show jumping actively compare themselves to those within their equestrian culture with whom they interact regularly, or whom they at least see. For example, in a discussion with a young woman about the immense wealth of one of her closest friends, with whom she attended a private high school, I pointed out that if she were at a public school, other students would find it amazing that she had a horse and that she quite likely would be the only horse owner among her peer group. She replied, "I guess" but then adamantly argued for the humility of her upper-class friend, seeming to suggest that he deserved many horses. However, in many other instances, this young woman expressed frustration and jealousy of peers who had more horses than she. These relational assessments are widespread among riders of various class positions. They represent a kind of class envy, but among and within the privi- leged classes, and one in which horses are the expressions of rank. Despite expe- riencing economic privilege reserved for a very small minority of the wealthiest people in the world, many riders nevertheless regularly compare themselves to those who have even more than they do. The "more" is horses—and the sta- tus that horses provide by allowing riders to compete more often and at higher levels. This relational pattern is evident across the range of participants, from young amateurs to professionals, with some trainers not only enviously com- paring their wealth and opportunities for horse ownership to those of other trainers, but also to those of their upper-class clients. In this context, horses represent and reflect privilege, and they are celebrated as they are simultaneously normalized. This is demonstrated well by a young woman who, in a discussion with her friends about her latest horse, said with a laugh, "I just sf em to keep acquiring them." She constructs the acquisition of horses as passive and uneventful, performing and perhaps genuinely reflecting a sense of normalcy regarding these multi-hundred-thousand-dollar expen- ditures and her own personal expanding horse herd. Yet she promptly begins showing them off at competitions and on social media sites, so she is also aware of their symbolic value in the equestrian hierarchy. Moreover, in this instance, the horses are subsumed into a broader collection of possessions or commodi- ties. The horses are worthy of praise, certainly, but the identical adjectives used

SOCIETY & ANIMALS 22 (2014) 135-152 HERDS AND HIERARCHIES 143 to compliment new designer handbags are applied to new horses—namely "so cute." This term refers in part to the appearance of the horse, but primarily to his or her jumping form, since correct technique in the air over the jumps (knees high under the chin and even, lower legs neatly folded, neck and hack rounded, hind legs tight) is essential to victory in the judged hunter classes and is more likely to lead to clear rounds in the scored jumper classes. What the horse can provide for the owner/rider through physical presenta- tion and performance is privileged—another form of distinction within the equestrian culture differentiating participants from each other. The quantity of horses matters, but so does the quality. Notable here is that horses suited to hunter competition are highly valued, even though the prize money in such divisions is not great hy equestrian standards. In most hunter divisions, a first- place finish in a jumping class will yield $150. As a matter of comparison, the entry fee for the division is often $180, the show stall leased for the week of com- petition is another $160, while additional fees are charged for administrative costs, warm-up classes, bedding and feed while the horse is stabled on compe- tition grounds, and so forth. This is all on top of fees to the trainer for board- ing, training, shipping, etc. Put simply, hunter classes and even most amateur jumper divisions are not money-earners. They are about status, distinction, and a symbolic competition inside and outside the ring. Horses who win are, with- out a douht, the most symbolically valued; thus monetary price tags are affixed accordingly, as a material reflection of horses' socially constructed value.

Class and Nature Entanglements and Hierarchies

There is an active trans-Atlantic trade in show-jumping equines, and an expanding global interest in equestrian competitions, particularly among those with newly acquired wealth and leisure time in countries like China (Daley, 2011). Horses who are imported from provide a high degree of symbolic capital, as European are considered of top quality. This is because of the results European horses have yielded in international show jumping over many decades, as well as a perception among North Americans that Europeans, particularly the Dutch, Germans, and Belgians, have honed valuable knowledge and built excellent bloodlines, shaping nature through cultural intervention.' Some horses are conceived through the importing of

1 The culturai politics of , and particulariy the influence of people's gendered ideas, are well analyzed by Cassidy (2007) and Hum (2008) in their studies of Thoroughbreds and Welsh Cobs, respectively.

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European semen for the impregnation of a Canadian mare, creating a kind of transnational equine. Kinship and/or the stable of origin are often culturally coded onto the horse through his or her name, particularly through a two- or three-letter acronym as a prefix or suffix. Trainers will go to European countries to look for horses for themselves and their clients. Taking a trip to Europe to look at horses is a ritual of great value within equestrian culture, and another marker of internal distinction. It is a reflection of having the money not only to afford European equines and their costs (purchase price, vet inspection and tests, flight, quarantine, and transport costs within North America) but to make a trans-Atlantic horse-shopping expedition. North American-bred horses can be culturally valued as well, particu- larly if they are capable of winning and/or jumping in the highest levels. An American groom temporarily in Canada spoke to me about her United States-based trainer's recent sale of a jumper for a junior rider (under 18 years of age), for one million dollars. I replied, "One million dollars for a horse for a teenager?" to which she replied, "Yeah, but for a high junior jumper." She was highlighting that the horse would be used for the classes with the higher heights of jumps and suggesting that this made the price tag reason- able, even in the eyes of someone making minimum wage. It is not only the highest jumpers who will garner high price tags, however, and the smallest ponies will often sell for $100,000 or more because parents will pay for their children's "safety and success." Safety and success are pursued through the active linking of nature and cul- ture. A horse with a good physical foundation—that is, the correct conforma- tion, movement, and look (a more subjective form of attractiveness involving color, markings, facial expression, etc.)—for the intended discipline is key, and such horses (and ponies) are pursued through selective breeding programs in Canada and particularly in Europe, although breeding is far from a precise sci- ence. Moreover, sheer physical capabilities are not sufficient, and any equine is trained extensively to promote the desired behaviors and responses, and fos- ter familiarity with expectations. These horses may be domesticated nature, but they are further tamed for human purposes (Lawrence, 1985). Human interventions into the horse's physical existence also extend beyond training and include the management of feed, supplements, medications, veterinary treatments, daily patterns (e.g., pasture turnout or hand walking only), shoe- ing, equipment, and so forth. These elements are modified to try to improve the horse's temperament, health, and comfort in order to enhance his or her performance. Strategies are enlisted based on people's assessments, whether they draw on formal equine research or knowledge accrued through experi- ence and practice, which may even contradict expert advice.

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Sometimes human desires and the socially constructed value and purpose of the horse are given absolute primacy, and steps are taken that contradict inherent elements of horses' herd-animal nature. The most obvious example of this is when horses are not allowed any pasture turnout for fear that they may be injured. Similarly, most "A" circuit horses, if turned out, would be in solitary pastures, able to see but not touch other horses. Of course, riding and jumping pose risks to horses' health, but since these are equines tasked with jumping work, that risk is deemed acceptable. Certain trainers will incorporate controversial training methods in private that actively inflict pain, such as hav- ing human assistants lift the top rail of the jump as the horse is going over it to "bump" the leg, in order to cause the horses to jump even higher. The goal of successful competition and the accompanying wealth and status is considered appropriate justification for such methods by those who use them. Many amateur-owned and ridden horses will continue to be ridden by pro- fessionals, at least part of the time, throughout the equine's entire show career, in order to promote good behavior and responsiveness. On the "A" circuit, some trainers call this "putting the deposit back in the bank" (e.g., Robinson, 2011, p. 46). The horse is conceptualized as a bank account into which invest- ment is placed through training. When the amateur owner rides, 'money is withdrawn' because the amateur makes mistakes and/or applies aids incor- rectly. The trainers then ride the horse to "redeposit" training. This metaphor further frames horses not as living creatures but as financial capital. The com- modification of horses is a recurring pattern in some elements of equestrian culture, and for some participants, if human methods cannot create an animal who will achieve the desired results, the horse is simply disposed of (sold) and another acquired. In these cases, horses are a means to an end. Overall, real estate is the most accurate comparator for how many horses are circulated. Buying and selling horses is the main way money is made within equestrian culture. Equines are acquired and then attempts are made to improve their performance and increase their value through competition so that the horse can be sold at a higher price. Trainers earn commissions on every acquisition or sale. Owners seek a return on their investment in an equine body and the services rendered to it. Certain owners interested in forg- ing a strong bond will keep one or more horses for many years, but many will buy and sell horses seasonally, or even multiple times a year. This is particu- larly true for ponies who are outgrown. Some horses are considered not only well trained but also aware of the correct sorts of behaviors needed to "take care" of amateur riders, especially younger or newer participants in the sport. Particularly at the lower levels, trainers watching their students compete from the side of the show ring can

SOCIETY & ANIMALS 22 (2014) 135-152 COULTER be heard referring to horses as "saints" if something unexpected or undesirable occurs on course, and the horse responds admirably Examples of this include the horse not spooking at a bird flying up from under a jump or something blowing across the ring; continuing calmly around the course when a pro- tective boot has come loose and is flopping against his or her leg; stopping and standing still when a rider has fallen off; or taking measures not to step on a rider when a fall is in process. Similarly, trainers can regularly be heard explaining to amateur riders after their round that the horse "saved their butt" at one or more points in the course if a riding error was made, but the horse nevertheless proceeded in a correct manner. In such instances, obedience to the rider is not sought; rather, the hope is that the earlier cultural interventions of training have equipped the horse with a knowledge of desirable actions, but also that the individual animal wfll express a form of agency and respond in the safest possible way in any given situation. Show horses are exposed by professionals to the range of tasks and envi- ronments needed for successful competition as part of their training. Grooms interact vdth horses the most; thus, they recognize the horses' performance in the ring as most valued within the equestrian culture but personally celebrate those who are the safest and easiest to work with on the ground. Among train- ers, the term "rideability" is used to capture the idea of an obedient, responsive, and supple horse, and these qualities are always desired. However, particu- larly for the grand-prix horses tasked with elite level competition involving jumps of 1.50 meters and higher, power and a perceived conscious desire to clear obstacles is also celebrated. For example, in speaking of Hickstead, the Canadian-owned horse widely considered the world's top show jumper, rider and part-owner Eric Lamaze says, "He is not perfect in the , and often gets strong on course, but his carefulness and desire to do it is beyond any other horse that I have ever ridden" (Stafford-Pooley, 2011, p. 36). Similarly, Equine Canada head Akaash Maharaj said of Hickstead, "I think he understood that... certain situations really matter to Eric" (Peritz, 2011, p. Aio). In other words, a degree of wildness is acceptable if the horse can be suffi- ciently harnessed and managed for successful participation in competitions and, most significantly, if the horse is perceived to understand her or his role in the competition and has a desire to perform. Hickstead died suddenly in the fall of 2011 in a competition ring, and the dual themes of comprehension and care were again highlighted, very emotionally, by Lamaze: "He made sure I was OK and just kind of fell beside me... 1 think he collapsed in a way that he made sure he did not injure me in the process" (Lankhof, 2011, p. D7). In these sorts of instances, horses are constructed as intelligent, emotional beings who deliberately affect the human-horse interaction and demonstrate agency.

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For professional riders who earn their living through horses, their livelihood necessitates that many horses be bought and sold regularly. Yet many profes- sional trainers will still speak about their love for the horses, individually and collectively. One professional put it this way:

A: I've never really been motivated by the make a living of it. I was excited that I could go out and work with horses, train horses. Q: So you really love the animals? A: Yeah. A: So what it is about them that motivates you? Q: That's a really good question. I enjoy their personalities. I enjoy the challenge of trying to communicate with something that's nonverbal. It's a very clean way of communicating. Tbey can never lie to you, everything they tell you is true, and you just have to try and figure out what they mean. To me it's very intriguing and challenging. You really learn to read what their language is. I love it.

Another said: .' .

I like working with horses, and recognizing their individual personalities and characteristics... I want to get to know them if I'm going to be work- ing with them for a while and am asked to make them perform their best. But I ride for a living, and I ride so many horses, so if I rode your horse once a year ago, I likely won't remember its name, but I will very likely remember how it felt.

Grand-prix rider and trainer Beth Underhill, who has been a prominent mem- ber of equestrian culture for more than two decades, says she keeps doing the work and competing because she loves horses, first and foremost, and has a passion for the sport secondarily. Monopoly, a horse with whom she partnered for years, lived at her stable in retirement until his death at the age of 32 in the fall of 2011. Underhill could have boarded a client's horse or one who was in active competition and thus possessed income-earning potential in the stall where Monopoly lived, but she opted instead to provide a restful home for her early equine partner. This practice is not common, as older grand-prix horses wifl regularly be bought for junior riders; however, other professionals have been known to keep certain cherished horses until their deaths. Similarly, not every amateur owner or rider sefls challenging horses who do not win or subsumes individual animals into a broader collection of luxury possessions. Some participants unabashedly love horses. One cannot observe

SOCIETY & ANIMALS 22 (2014) 135-152 148 COULTER equestrian culture without recognizing that at least part of the motivation for participants, and the primary catalyst for some, is the love of horses. How love for horses is understood and expressed varies across and within horse (Birke, 2008; Cassidy, 2005). This is true among participants in the show-jumping world as well and demonstrates that equestrian culture is not monolithic or entirely wrapped up in competition or business motivations. There are many sporting and leisure activities available to those with eco- nomic and , so for them participation in equestrian sport is a conscious choice. At the same time, some people are so keen to compete on the "A" circuit, and/or be part of elite equestrian culture, that they take on extra work or debt, or sacrifice in other aspects of their lives. The circuit features girls who have grown up with the privilege of showing at the highest level alongside mature women for whom participation is a lifelong goal only financially within reach later in life. Some participants will ride for a while and then move on or lose interest. Some riders have left the "A" circuit to pursue competitions that are less expensive, or simply to ride for pleasure and leisure. Those who show on the "A" circuit are heterogeneous in various ways, and the social construc- tions and lives of horses are not fully uniform.

Conclusion

Horses' blurred positioning as part of domesticated nature; as interconnected with, and affected by, human culture(s); and as infused with socially con- structed meaning is evident across very different social and historical contexts ranging from indigenous communities to Western ranches to racing tracks to law enforcement practices (e.g., Cassidy, 2002,2007; Borneman, 1988; Lawrence, 1985). This complex socionatural location is evident in the horses who are part of Ontario's equestrian culture, but so too is the central role of class in shaping the nature-culture nexus, and the nature-lahor linkages therein. Since the domestication of equines between six and ten thousand years ago, humans have harnessed the cooperativeness, strength, and speed of horses. Horses have moved people and goods; provided integral horse power for the development of agriculture, manufacturing, and infrastructure; and been enlisted for warfare, conquest, sport, and leisure (Birke, Hockenhull, & Creighton, 2010; Kelenka, 2009; Birke, 2008; Walker, 2008; Chamberlin, 2006; Horse Capture & Her Many Horses, 2006; Lewis, 1994; Lawrence, 1985). The history and contemporary state of human-horse interactions are underscored by two main related factors: horses do work of various kinds for people, and people garner material, social and/or personal gain from that work. Similarly,

SOCIETY & ANIMALS 22 (2014) 135-152 HERDS AND HIERARCHIES I49 people work both with and through horses. Horses are a form of "animal capi- tal" (Shukin, 2009), and cultural and political ideas affect how people assess and articulate their relations with, and representations of, horses (Hum, 2008; Cassidy, 2007; Ritvo, 1987). At the same time, social constructions affect real human-horse relations and horses' lives and work. Put another way, the mate- rial and the conceptual realms are interconnected, in contradictory and rein- forcing ways. Moreover, the social, economic, environmental, historical, and cultural con- texts within which people interact with other people shape the ways nature and animals are understood and used. Expanding on Haraway's (1991) assertion that people "polish an animal mirror" (p. 21) to look for human identity, Mullin (1999) proposes that human-animal relations not only provide mirrors but windows that allow for greater understanding of identities and differences. This can apply cross-culturally as well as within cultures, particularly given the range of intrahuman and interspecies inequities that characterize most contemporary societies. Mullin (1999) suggests there is value in "continuing to consider humans' relationships with other species in relation to specific cul- tural and historical contexts and the ways in which such relationships are influ- enced by humans' relationships with other humans" (p. 219). in other words, scholarly analysis can foster relational understandings that take seriously the anthropogenic and usually anthropocentric social structures and relations that affect people's and animals' cultural representations and material lives. This paper contributes to the larger project of beginning to understand how human-animal relations are interwoven with class structures, relations, and identities today. , • Horses do work, and their lives are organized to suit human purposes, which are often economic. But the horses in equestrian culture are not considered working-class. They are conceptualized in different ways, in entanglements of nature and culture, which are nevertheless inextricably linked to class rela- tions and identities. In equestrian culture, horses are socially constructed as a form of capital that reflects relative wealth and status, and, as such, are used to demarcate distinctions among human participants. Horses' symbolic and material values are determined by their performance and results, but also by their bloodlines and national origin. Horses who win are likely physically equipped with the correct conformation and movement stemming from selec- tive breeding. But horses are also produced, trained, and managed through extensive human intervention in equine lives. The animal bodies deemed best are culturally inscribed with high monetary value. The top training to further shape those animals into obedient and effective performers is expensive as well. Consequently, upper-class people with the economic capital to obtain

SOCIETY & ANIMALS 22 (2014) 135-152 150 COULTER both elements have heightened chances of success in the show ring and the most opportunities for higher status in the symbolic competitions. At the same time, horses are still individuals with bodies and minds who act and react in a range of ways, shaping the outcome of the human-horse interaction, within the parameters established by people. The realities and dynamics of class influence which people participate in the elite equestrian culture, how it is experienced, and how hierarchies are established and reproduced therein using horses. For some owners and riders, horses are an expression of their class identity, disposable when/if undesir- able, and/or an investment to be sold at a strategic time. For others, horses are appealing individuals offering the opportunity to communicate and bond across species and compete in tandem. Horses are given multiple, often con- tradictory meanings, simultaneously constructed as vehicles for capital acqui- sition, accessories denoting wealth and privilege, partners in sport, and loyal friends. Horses have been blanketed in the cultural politics of class, in eques- trian show culture and beyond.

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