(Ebook) A Geography of Horse-Riding: The Spacing of Affect, Emotion and (Dis)Ability Identity Through Horse-Human Encounters by Cheryl Nosworthy ISBN 9781443843355, 1443843350

(Ebook) A Geography of Horse-Riding: The Spacing of Affect, Emotion and (Dis)Ability Identity Through Horse-Human Encounters by Cheryl Nosworthy ISBN 9781443843355, 1443843350

This book presents an in-depth, qualitative exploration of the practice of horse-riding by disabled and non-disabled riders and their horses. Situated as part of an affective turn within human geography, creative and original use is made of poststructuralist theory to bring together animal studies and disability studies in order to decentre the human as we think about the social. Eighteen months of multi-sited, performance ethnography on the hoof was conducted with riders recruited from local riding schools, an internet forum and three riding for the disabled association (RDA) groups. Methods included diary-keeping, participant observation and video-recording of riding activities to capture moments of horse-human relating. Through these methods the embodied expressions of horses are taken seriously as demonstrative of their individual thoughts and intentions. Addressing the workings of inter-bodily/inter-species affect between horse and rider, it is suggested that power, empathy, generosity and respect are not simply human experiences. This focus upon affective encounters also allows alternative stories of disability to be heard that do not rely on the medical or social model. Riding is put forward as an empowering practice that can enable the transgression of bodily boundaries. This book will be of interest to scholars within animal studies, disability studies, geographies of emotion and affect and of ethnographical research methods. Written in an accessible style using empirical examples to explain complex theoretical ideas, the book will appeal to all levels of academic readership.