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The Long Riders Guild Academic Foundation |
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Equestrian Wisdom & History Books
Website designed by Basha O'Reilly
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Thanks to exclusive research material provided by The Long Riders' Guild Academic Foundation, the world's leading equestrian investigative journalist, Tom Moates, has written a stunning exposé, "Vatican versus the Vikings," describing how the American cultural taboo against eating horse-meat is based on a forgotten edict issued by Pope Gregory III in the year 732. When the Catholic Church found itself locked in religious combat with the Pagan Vikings, who ate horse-meat during their religious ceremonies, the Vatican created a prohibition which not only affected Christian history but is unwittingly still being obeyed by Americans today. It was 1947 the nation of China was busy looking at what appeared to be a rosy future. Japan had been defeated and America was a grateful ally. That’s why a delegation of high-ranking Chinese military officers came to the United States. They were determined to purchase the finest horses money could buy for a new Chinese remount program. Many of America’s finest Morgan stallions were picked, then shipped to the Orient. That’s when history took a nasty turn. The Communists conquered China and all trace of the magnificent Morgans disappeared. Though a rumour arose that an American POW had seen a Chinese Communist officer riding one of the missing Morgans during the Korean conflict, all evidence of the horses was lost – until The Mystery of the China Morgans was solved by LRGAF researcher Judi Daly. In terms of physical size, the late Joseph Allen was a diminutive man. He was, however, a giant in the book world. Owner of London’s famous “The Horseman’s Bookshop” and publisher of J.A. Allen equestrian books, Allen quietly influenced the English speaking equestrian world for much of the 20th century. Then, almost overnight, the tiny man with the big heart, as well as legendary bookshop, were gone without a trace. Here, in a moving story entitled, Portal to the Horse World, Allen’s wit, his wisdom and his magnificent literary legacy are described by Caroline Baldock, a close friend who knew him well. J. A. Allen himself wrote a short but enlightening article about his life and retirement. Chariots discovered in Bulgaria reveal Ancient Secrets: Thrilling discoveries in Bulgaria have disclosed two well-preserved chariots, as well as clues about the horses that drew them into battle. The noted Bulgarian archaeologist, Veselin Ignatov, first shared news of his findings with The Guild’s friends at Archaeology magazine. That well-written article led to The Guild making direct contact with Professor Ignatov, who in turn asked the LRGAF to broadcast news regarding his country’s urgent need to protect these priceless equestrian treasures from looters. Gill Suttle writes about a fascinating Travellers' Conference at University of Kent. Kent University’s new Centre for Studies in the Long Eighteenth Century enjoyed a twenty-first century baptism over the 25th - 26th May 2007, when more than sixty people from all walks of life assembled to celebrate their varying interests in the Middle East and Arab Horses. Judith Turner writes an interesting article about a British woman who has invented a harness to help solo horse-people to load difficult horses, and who is currently working on a quick-release buckle head-collar. Though he was a wealthy, sophisticated author and philanthropist, Edward Tinker was also a passionate horseman. In 1954 he delivered a moving speech before an international academic audience wherein he explained that despite the difference in their country of origin, he believed Horsemen are Brothers. A Study of Equine Influenza Epidemics Past and Present. Imagine an equestrian health disaster that crippled all of America, halted the government in Washington DC, stopped the ships in New York, burned Boston to the ground and forced the cavalry to fight Geronimo on foot. It was an equine tragedy so deadly that one wave of the infection swept south like a Biblical plague from its origin in Toronto, Canada, down the Atlantic Seaboard to Havana, Cuba, leaving everything in its path in ruins in weeks, while another branch simultaneously raced west to the Pacific. Judi Daly has written a fascinating article about recovering stolen horses, from the formation of The Anti-Horse Theft Association (AHTA) in 1853 to Stolen Horse International (SHI) which was started in 1996 and continues today. Much is written concerning the origin of the thoroughbred horse and most of it is conjecture. Jeremy James sets the record straight by revealing how the legendary war horses of the Ottoman Empire have been misunderstood, and overlooked, by a horse world obsessed instead with a equestrian thoroughbred mythology addicted to an exclusive Arabian equine origin. In this modern era of countless endurance races, it is easy to forget that the first great American endurance ride, that hard-riding granddaddy of them all, the Great American Cowboy Race, started as a joke. Before it was over the 1,000 mile free-for-all had pitted Eastern sentimentalists against Western realists, introduced the concept of veterinarian inspections into horse racing, got Buffalo Bill Cody shaking his bearded head over a legal headache and given news-hungry Europeans plenty of stories about daring cowboy racers like Rattlesnake Pete riding half-wild broncos called Poison and Geronimo. Jeremy James writes about "All the Pretty Horsebreakers" - how in the 1860s the hearts of English high-society gentlemen, including Wilfred Blunt, were conquered by the "pretty horsebreakers," a daring new breed of beautiful prostitutes whose riding abilities, in the saddle and the bed, shattered the British horse world. Explorers Web - the largest website in the world devoted to exploration - reports "Equine Snow-Shoes could have saved Captain Robert Scott" - Part 1 and Part 2. The Tragedy of Scott, Oates and the equine snow shoes, by Tom Moates, the noted equestrian investigative journalist. Could the use of equine snow-shoes have averted the famous Antarctic tragedy? This study of Antarctic equestrian exploration is based on groundbreaking research undertaken by The Long Riders' Guild Academic Foundation. It was first published in July 2007 in British Horse, the magazine of our equestrian colleagues the British Horse Society, and is republished here with their kind permission. Britain's Daily Telegraph reports on the Antarctic snow-shoe investigation. Basha O'Reilly is interviewed about the snow-shoes on Radio New Zealand. The Great August Horse Fair
(in Horncastle, Lincolnshire), by David N. Robinson. When Horses Really Walked on Water, by Sid Perkins The Indian Blanket Act. |
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