Cross Breeds

Asian, Black, Hispanic etc. Contributions to Horses?

I just read a resolved question from someone asking if it was weird to be Asian and like horses?!? Ack! ANYBODY can ride and love horses! I thought it would be cool to go around the world and through history and talk about contributions and famous riders of different backgrounds. I know that many early cowboys in North America were black/african descent There is a great book called "A Pony in the Picture" that has vintage photos of kids on ponies, most of them are white, but there ARE asian, hispanic, and black kids in there too! From a "Pony in the Picture" Boys and Girls of all races loved Westerns and played at being cowboys and girls. The few African-American film producers of the time made a handful of movies that featured black cowboy characters, but sadly these films received meager distribution as most theater owners of the day were white. Historically, however America as a proud tradition of black cowboys including Nat Love, Bronco Sam, CONT. Bronco Sam, Singing Cowboy Charley Wilis, and Bulldoggin' Bill Pickett, who is credited with the sport of bull dogging and was honored with a commemorative postage stamp in 1994." Can anyone name some top Asian and Black competitors and their discipline? Africa gave us the Arabian and Barb horse, as well as influencing Spanish horsemanship. Asia, I think of the native ponies of Japan, Samurai, Mongolian war ponies... Can anyone help broaden my horizons? I am almost positive there is info out there somewhere on Asian cowboys back in the day too. If anyone comes across any, e-mail it to me! No, it's not a rant. :P I'm asking if people know more about the contributions made by ALL sorts of riders. Most people assume that rich, white people are the only people who have ever done anything with horses, or sadly, there are some who think that's the way it should be. Wow, I thought there were some really enlightened people on here who were history and culture buffs, but apparently I was wrong. And actually yeah there are some ignorant, racist folks who have weird ideas about the industry, so perhaps you should do a little self-education yourself.

Public Comments

1. There is a Chinese girl at the barn I ride at and she shows.... dont really get your question. Is it like a rant or something?
2. Mexicans are the best riders.
3. I thought that this question was interesting until I read this "Most people assume that rich, white people are the only people who have ever done anything with horses, or sadly, there are some who think that's the way it should be." Where do you get your info., Please pick up some books and educate yourself No offence, I don't mean to be rude
4. Interesting question - good on you for asking it. The earliest writer on equestrianism was Greek cavalry commander Xenophon - writing 2400 years ago. Sumerians, Hittites, Tartars, Mongols, Syrians, Persians, Egyptians, Romans, Greeks, Chinese, Indians etc .... all had strong horse cultures; the Japanese and Native Americans developed strong equestrian traditions later in history. Modern equestrian traditions derive broadly from a military/hunting model or a work related one. The use of horses in battle was often confined to the aristocracy / officers (the ordinary folk walked); hunting was the province of the aristocracy and the rich; racing was the sport of kings; dressage is derived from military training; eventing from both military training and hunting; western events are derived from the skills needed to herd animals. Old World countries with strong traditions of herding on horse back eg Southern France, Spain, Portugal and their ex-colonies in South America have equestrian sporting events which reflect that herding tradition - most controversially bull fighting. US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand etc all have strong western-style equestrian traditions which to varying degrees were influenced by the Spanish/Portugese style - as well as the military / hunting tradition that dominated in England and Northern Europe. There's a strong class dimension to horse ownership; the phenomenon of riding as a popular and broad based leisure pursuit is a relatively modern one. And it's interesting that, numerically, it's dominated by women - although historically it was a male pursuit and in terms of where the control and money lies, it still is. Prior to the end of the second world war few people had the money and/or the time to engage in riding as a sporting or pleasure activity. Keeping horses purely for sport / pleasure was something only the rich and leisured classes could afford to do. People who made their living on the land and owned working horses may have ridden for pleasure - although if you spend all day working on horseback I'd guess it loses its appeal as a way to spend your leisure time. I don't know very much about the role of black Americans historically - and there seems to be very little documentation. I think the fact that so few people have responded to your question speaks volumes about why that might be.