Module Identifier RS31810  
Module Title EQUINE AND EQUESTRIAN HISTORY  
Academic Year 2002/2003  
Co-ordinator Professor Richard J Moore-Colyer  
Semester Semester 2  
Course delivery Lecture   11 Hours 11 x 1 hour lectures  
Assessment Semester Exam   2 Hours   100%  
  Supplementary Exam   2 Hours   100%  

Learning outcomes

On completion of this module, students will be able to:

1.   Understand the role and significance of the horse in all aspects of the pre-combustion engine economy;

2.   Recognise the contribution of the horse to the social and cultural evolution of Britain;

3.   Understand the history of the horse as a sporting animal and the relationship between historical development
   and contemporary equestrian sports.

Content

The Horse and the defence of the realm, 1066 - 1666; The rise of equestrianism and the evolution of the English Thoroughbred; The myths of pedigree; The horse-drawn society in Victorian Britain; Horses, the Government and the Army; The agricultural horse and its delayed decline; The horse in European pre-history.

Aims

To provide an understanding of the role of the horse in the economic, cultural, social and military history of Britain and to develop an awareness of the relationship between the history of the horse-drawn economy and the evolution of the contemporary horse industry.

Transferable skills

.1 Independent project work
Students will be expected to study a wide range of literature for this module. Specific reading lists will be given for each group of lectures.

.2 IT and information handling
Students will use library information services to access appropriate literature.

.7 Self-management
Students will need to organise their time expeditiously in order to undertake the necessary reading.

Reading Lists

Books
Russell N. (1986) Like engend'ring like: Heredity and Animal Breeding in Early Modern England. CUP
Thompson F M L (ed). (1983) Horses in Europe : a preliminary canter. British Agricultural History Society 1983

Articles
Moore-Colyer R J. (1995) Horse breeding and horses in Victorian Britain. Agricultural History Review 43 (1)
Moore-Colyer R J. (1995) The horse in pre-history: some speculations. Archaeological Journal, 151
Moore-Colyer R J. (2000) Aspects of the trade in British pedigree draught horses with the United States and Canada, c1850 - 1920. Agricultural History Review 48 (1)