Das Rennpferd

Historische Perspektiven auf Zucht und Führung seit dem 18. Jahrhundert

Abstract

English abstract: This article examines the continuing close relationship between racehorse and man since the eighteenth century and thus sets a counterpoint to the theory of the horse age coming to an end. There are two bodily practices that are characteristic of this special human-animal relationship: breeding and leadership. Both practices illustrate the fundamental significance of the racehorse for human beings and the interaction between them. Racehorses were a field of experimentation and a resource for deriving concepts of purity and refinement, communication and leadership. They remained a prestige object and were a means of acquiring certain qualities that set “horse people” apart from others.