ABSTRACT

This chapter focuses on the ownership of horses by non-professionals or 'amateurs'; that is by those individuals who engage in horse ownership solely as a form of leisure practice, to be undertaken entirely in their free time. The human-horse relationship has always been based on individual encounters and communication between the two, and in contemporary equestrian culture, the affective aspect of the relationship is emphasized and the horse is increasingly perceived as a companion. Understanding the construction of any individual human-animal relationship as never 'fixed', always in the becoming, the chapter focuses on the construction of a mutually rewarding human-horse relationship, leading to what is often termed as 'responsible horse ownership' by animal welfare organisations and educational institutions. The rise of amateur equestrianism and leisure horse keeping in recent decades can be understood as part of the new sensibilities towards animals, leading to increased pet keeping and other animal-related activities.