Riding Instructors, Gender, Militarism, and Stable Culture in Sweden: Continuity and Change in the Twentieth Century

The compounding feminization of animal cruelty investigation work and its multispecies implications

“…Agricultural work, for example, is widely socially constructed as masculine yet is experienced unevenly by women and men, particularly because of the emotional work involved in turning live animals into commodities to be consumed by people (Ellis, , ; Ellis & Irvine, ; Halley, ; Porcher, ; Wilkie, ). Work in sporting industries that involve animals often reflect and reproduce predictable patterns of inequity through the division of labour and gendered performances (Butler, ; Butler & Charles, ; Larsen, ), although national contexts and political projects also shape local specifics to varying degrees (Coulter, ; Hedenborg, , ; Hedenborg & White, ; Thorell & Hedenborg, ). Moreover, the daily labour processes, including the care and dirty work requirements, as well as the racialization of certain occupations like stable staff/groom in a number of locales, reinforce the need for an intersectional and context‐specific lens which illuminates commonalities and differences (Cassidy, ; Castañeda, Kline, & Dickey, 2013; Coulter, ; Miller, ).…”

Riders’ Perceptions of Equestrian Communication in Sports Dressage

“…However, as more modern views on learning, teaching, and understanding interspecies communication are making their way into the curriculum of riding instructors and trainers, this may change. But until very recently, teaching riding in Europe in general and in Sweden in particular, was still influenced by the military tradition and focused on riding technique rather than on equestrian feel (Zetterqvist, 2000;Lundesjö Kvart, 2013;Thorell & Hedenborg, 2015).…”

“…The FEI rules state that dressage is about making the horse "calm, supple, loose and flexible but also confident, attentive and keen thus achieving perfect understanding with the athlete [the rider]" (FEI, 2014). For the first part of the twentieth century, Olympic equestrian competitions were limited to military riders, originating as it does from a mix of military tradition and discipline (Dashper, 2014;Thorell & Hedenborg, 2015).…”

”Bussig häst, men… Hoppas det ordnar sig.”

“…Den tidigare forskningen om bedömning i ridsportsammanhang är typiskt fokuserad antingen på enskilda bedömningsvariabler (Stachurska & Bartyzel 2011;Thompson m.fl. 2015) eller på hur det pedagogiska förhållande som kan sägas råda mellan tränare och ryttare har utvecklats över tid (Thorell & Hedenborg 2015). Vår undersökning tar istället fasta på dressyrtävlingen som praktik och på dressyrprotokollet som central text för denna praktiks starka fokus på bedömning -i både objektiv och subjektiv bemärkelse.…”