Book overview
Enlightened Horsemanship in 18th-Century Britain places the horse-not the rider-at the center of historical inquiry. Drawing on extensive archival research and informed by lifelong practical horsemanship, Alison Moller reconstructs how elite horses were bred, trained, housed, valued, and understood during Britain's "long" eighteenth century, from the Glorious Revolution to the death of William IV.
Rather than treating the horse as a decorative symbol of aristocratic power, this study reveals a gradual but significant shift in attitudes toward equine cognition, emotion, and welfare. By examining horsemanship manuals, veterinary treatises, estate records, architectural plans, portraiture, and satire, Moller traces how Enlightenment thinking intersected with traditional humoral medicine, inherited practices, and evolving social values. The book explores the built environments of stables and riding houses, advances in veterinary care and shoeing, and the economic and cultural forces shaping elite horse ownership.
Each major category of elite horse-the man
