The Legend of the Great Horse trilogy (second volume to be published in the summer of 2010) incorporates the idea of such “great” horses in history, for the horse is an athlete and–like human athletes–special equine champions actually exist.

One such horse is Snowman, a horse that was saved from slaughter by beloved horseman Harry de Leyer–and went on to become one of America’s top international jumpers. The horse’s story reads like a fairy tale, so it is welcome news that a new book is coming out about Snowman appropriately titled, “The Cinderella Horse.”

The World Cup is an extensive series of indoor qualifiers across the globe, leading to the Finals in April.

It is an interesting odd fact that horse jumping is a  young sport: the ability of horses to jump with a rider was not discovered until the 1700’s. This intriguing competition continues to grow in popularity worldwide. The Show Jumping World Cup series was only begun in 1978, and today the series is contested in 14 leagues on every continent.

In essence, Show Jumping’s World Cup is the sport’s annual international indoor championship. Since the 1950’s, Show Jumping has evolved into a year-round sport, and the tight, colorful, electric atmosphere of indoor jumping is very different than the galloping expanses of outdoor courses. Some horses go better indoors, some prefer outside–this difference in challenge makes for interesting jumping competition year-round.

Festivals and horses are an ancient tradition. Milling crowds, vendor booths and concessions, programs and barkers–the moving color and pageantry of our favorite public events trace a lineage through mounted cavalry exhibitions and roaring chariot racing “circuses” of antiquity.

Not so much has changed: clay tablets were once sold to eager audiences by shouting ushers of Roman times. Triumphal “parades” of horses drawing chariots marked victory in ancient ceremonies, and horseback entourages of through Medieval towns were an occasion of spectator celebration that continues in the parades of today.

Equestrian exhibitions of dressage in Renaissance Europe were the predecessors of the three-ringed Circuses of Barnum & Bailey and others:

Since its foundation more than two hundred years ago it has remained in the hands of one and the same family – the Knies – whose youngest and oldest members alike take an active part in circus life … The show remains focused, however, on the two fundamental elements in western circus tradition:  the dressage [of the horse] and the clown.

Even the modern Fair owes its beginning to harvest festivities with horse-racing and other competitive spectacles orbited by farmers’ stands and open-air markets.

Today equestrian sport has reinvented itself to keep pace with the modern world, and the ancients would have been amazed at the level of partnership seen in our modern horses and riders.  Today’s international equestrian sports place the welfare of the horse at the core, and the “thrill” of older sports like chariot racing and jousting have been replaced by new thrills in highly competitive, colorful and technical sports that demand the utmost partnership with the animal.

It is amazing–and heartening–to see the reinvention of horsemanship in our modern age. The crowds have changed, the sports have changed, but the atmosphere and tradition of the festival continues in echoes of what has gone before.

A century ago we seemed to be at the end of our ancient partnership with the horse, since the animal’s use in transportation was made obsolete by the invention of the internal combustion engine. Today there are more horses than ever, largely due to equestrian sport and recreation … and one of the big drivers of that growth is the international sport of Show Jumping.

So it is great news to hear of the sport’s continuing success as a spectator attraction, as was seen last week at the Canadian jumping hot-spot of Spruce Meadows in Calgary. A record crowd of over 70,000 spectators attended the closing Masters competition, sitting in lawnchairs at 6:00am to secure the best seats. Congrats to Spruce Meadows for showing again that well-presented and promoted Show Jumping is a sport for the future.

Additional links:

Chronicle of the Horse (by Tricia Booker)

Ward & Sapphire win $1,000,000 CN International Grand Prix (Meghan Chevrette-McIvor via Hunter Jumper News)

The book passage mentioning Incitatus comes during a visit to the strange library of Mrs. Bridgestone, an eccentric woman who has made a collection of evidence about the “Legend of the Great Horse.”

Meagan was stopped before a crumbling box mounted on a low pedestal. The object was corroded and gray from age.

“It doesn’t look it, I know, but that is said to be the remains of the manger of the Roman Emperor Caligula’s favorite race horse, Incitatus. Caligula had a stable of marble and gold built for the stallion, complete with furnishings and servants. Though horses are strict vegetarians, Incitatus was fed mice dipped in butter and marinated squid.” Mrs. Bridgestone added more quietly, “Of course, the man was considered dangerously insane.” [pg 48, Eclipsed by Shadow (pbk)]

Incitatus was said to have never lost a race, and was showered with gifts and honors by the Supreme Leader of Rome. The stallion was given a stable of marble and a manger of ivory, and is said to have been been fed an extreme diet of delicacies (though he reputedly ate only from his bowl of barley mixed with gold flakes.) Dignitaries were “invited” to dine with Incitatus, whose palatial home was furnished with fine art.

Troops were stationed in the neighborhood of Incitatus‘ marble stables before a race to ensure the stallion’s rest, and the Emperor was said to have conducted a long household debate as to whether to marry the horse to secure his dynasty.  In a final insult to the Senate, Caligula planned to make Incitatus a consul of Rome.

After Caligula’s timely death from assassination, Incitatus was reportedly down-graded to a stall in a regular stable without complaint (and probably much relief). Unfortunately Caligula’s corruption was an omen. Rome was able to rid itself of the megalomaniac leader, but never could return to the citizen government of the Republic and escape the insanity of absolute rule.

Naufragia was ultimate disaster, an end not only to hopes of victory but to lives, careers, destiny. A favorite champion could be undone in an instant—every moment of a chariot race was fraught with potential disaster. The extremes of emotion provoked by collisions and near disasters shocked spectators into wild states of euphoria and despair.

A crash was the ultimate calamity for a chariot, but with the growth of the spectator sport Rome twisted the calamity into attraction. The shock of destruction that punctuated the spectacle drove spectators into frenzy, and became a catharsis for the tensions surrounding the race. Spectators grew addicted to the emotional drama of the Circus, filling their increasingly empty lives with it’s loud distraction as their society declined.

Fate was capricious and all of life was subject to naufragia! Honor, duty, love, courage, all one’s hopes, all effort, all resources—naufragia!—gone in an instant.

Naufragia was the point of distraction. As the lives of ordinary citizens were drained of promise by their darkening Empire—they cheered for naufragia! Deprived of property and rights, they cheered—naufragia! And in the end, distracted, frenzied, caught in its own social dysfunction and spectating madness, Rome itself became the grand metaphor of its own distraction—naufragia!