Women, Horse Sports, and Liberation
This book is the first full-length scholarly examination of British womens involvement in equestrianism from the eighteenth through the twentieth centuries, as well as the corresponding transformations of gender, class, sport, and national identity in Britain and its Empire.
It argues that womens participation in horse sports transcended limitations of class and gender in Britain and highlights the democratic ethos that allowed anyone skilled enough to ride and hunt from chimney-sweep to courtesan. Furthermore, womens involvement in equestrianism reshaped ideals of race and reinforced imperial ideology at the zenith of the British Empire. Here, British women abandoned the sidesaddle which they had been riding in for almost half a millennium to ride astride like men, thus gaining complete equality on horseback. Yet female equestrians did not seek further emancipation in the form of political rights. This paradox of achieving equality through sport but not through politics shows how liberating sport was for women into the twentieth century. It also brings into question what emancipation meant in practice to women in Britain from the eighteenth through twentieth centuries.
This is fascinating reading for scholars of sports history, womens history, British history, and imperial history, as well as those interested in the broader social, gendered, and political histories of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and for all equestrian enthusiasts.
Erica Munkwitz is Professorial Lecturer in Modern British and European history at American University in Washington, D.C., U.S.A. Her research focuses on gender, sport, and empire in modern Britain, and specifically on womens involvement in equestrianism. In 2016, she received the Junior/Early Career Scholar Award from the European Committee for Sports History, and, in 2018, she received the Solidarity Prize for Excellence in Early Career Equine Research.
Routledge Research in Sports History
The Routledge Research in Sports History series presents leading research in the development and historical significance of modern sport through a collection of historiographical, regional, and thematic studies that span a variety of periods, sports, and geographical areas. Showcasing ground-breaking, cross-disciplinary work from established and emerging sport historians, the series provides a crucial contribution to the wider study of sport and society.
Available in this series:
A History of Chinese Martial Arts
Edited by Fan Hong and Fuhua Huang
The Early Development of Football
Contemporary Debates
Edited by Graham Curry
Sport, War, and the British
1850 to the Present
Peter Donaldson
The Emergence of Football
Sport, Culture, and Society in the Nineteenth Century
Peter Swain
Britains Olympic Women
A History
Jean Williams
Women, Horse Sports, and Liberation
Equestrianism and Britain from the 18th to the 20th Centuries
Erica Munkwitz
For more information about this series, please visit: www.routledge.com/sport/series/RRSH
Women, Horse Sports, and Liberation
Equestrianism and Britain from the 18th to the 20th Centuries
Erica Munkwitz
First published 2021
by Routledge
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and by Routledge
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2021 Erica Munkwitz
The right of Erica Munkwitz to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
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British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Munkwitz, Erica, author.
Title: Women, horse sports and liberation : equestrianism and Britain from the 18th to the 20th centuries / Erica Munkwitz.
Description: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2021. | Series: Routledge research in sports history | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Identifiers: LCCN 2020051427 | ISBN 9780367209506 (hardback) | ISBN 9780429264351 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Women in horse sportsGreat BritainHistory18th century. | Women in horse sportsGreat BritainHistory19th century. | Women in horse sportsGreat BritainHistory20th century.
Classification: LCC SF294.27.G7 M86 2021 | DDC 798.20820941dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020051427
ISBN: 978-0-367-20950-6 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-367-76957-4 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-0-429-26435-1 (ebk)
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For my family for everything.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction: The Development of Horsemanship, Gender Construction, and National Identity in Britain
Ladies, Hunting, and the Sporting Revolution in Britain, 17721825
Horseback Riding as Exercise and Female Accomplishment, 18051857
Fox Hunting and Sporting Emancipation for Women, 18571913
Horse Sports, Imperial Ideology, and Gender Construction in British India, 18501913
Femininity, Sporting Equality, and Riding Astride in Britain Before and After the First World War, 18941932
Conclusion: Equestrianism, Feminism, and the Olympic Games, 19321956
Index
This book encompasses over 13 years of sustained academic research as well as a lifetime of practical experience and equestrian expertise. Because of this, I fear that I have inadvertently forgotten many of the people and institutions who have so graciously supported me along the way. In fact, there are so many to thank that it might be easier to list those places I havent been, and scholars and practitioners I havent met. The complete list would extend into multiple volumes. So, please know that you yes, you reading this are thanked.
First, thank you to Routledge, editor Simon Whitmore, and editorial assistant Rebecca Connor for publishing this book as part of the Routledge Research in Sports History list. I am grateful for their advice, assistance, and especially patience.
I also owe many thanks to American University and A.U.s History Department, as well as American Universitys Library especially the Inter-Library Loan Department (Shane and Andrea). Many of the details in this book would not have been included without their assistance. I also thank the National Sporting Library and Museum, the Alfred Munnings Museum, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, and the British Library, particularly the lovely staff in the Rare Books & Music Reading Room.
I also thank those wonderful friends who have given so freely of their time and expertise to make this project a reality. Heartfelt appreciation to Sally Goodsir, Mike Huggins, Sally Mitchell, and Lindsay Smith. Furthermore, words do not exist to thank two incredible mentors April Shelford and Sara Helmer for their confidence, optimism, and continual encouragement.
