This article draws on a range of sociological literature including studies of sport, subculture, interspecies relationships and animal advocacy to understand the social processes that have contributed to the horse being defined as an athlete in equestrian sports. Using a combination of qualitative interviews and archival analysis, we identify trends in the equine industry that have provided the foundation for the emergence of a new type of equine athlete -the sport pony -in the context of late modern societies. We conclude by arguing that the popularity of the sport pony is a reflection of a general trend within the equine industry placing value on athleticism and esthetics.

Opening ParagraphThe unexpected death of a citizen in 1977 triggered a series of events in one small Ghanaian kingdom, pointing to confusion in the locally accepted criteria for Christian conversion and to contradictions in the avenues to status and power. Since the deceased was a millionaire businessman, something of a huckster, and a person who was at the centre of an unusually complex constellation of social ties, his death forced the people of his local community to re-examine the relationships between traditional religion and Christianity, and between wealth, religious adherence and the display of status and prestige. There was long and bitter hostility between the two towns to which this man was affiliated by descent. Each town competed for the glory of ; claiming him as a member, and while once he too would have desired that, logically it could not be. There was also perennial conflict between the factions within the kingdom's capital. This enhanced the drama and helped explain the urgency of the respective townspeople's attempts to resolve the underlying structural contradictions which became manifest in the events following the death to their own advantage. At the same time this is the story of a self-made man, unusual largely because of his extreme wealth, who understood conflict and ambiguity, and who manipulated the social structure in which he found himself to his own advantage. The funeral of this one man, who simultaneously entertained contradictory belief systems and juggled opposing attributes of leadership, mobilised the attention of the entire population of both towns. It did so precisely because the ritual of his funeral was used to ‘describe in advance a desired but uncertain state of affairs. It [ritual] is about power and is itself more or less political’ (MacGaffey, 1986: 11, emphasis added).

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This paper explores how young girls develop trust in their equine partners for the purposes of competitive equestrian sport. I argue that interspecies trust manifests through interactional trust and system trust. Interactional trust, as reflected in the horse-human relationship, is built through joint action and results in symbolic interaction. System trust is made possible through the equine community; it develops through communication in an effort to reduce complexity and uncertainty in society. To encourage and sustain youth participation in competitive equestrian sports both interactional trust and system trust are necessary.Cet article explore la façon dont les jeunes filles développent leur confiance en leurs partenaires équins dans le cadre du sport équestre compétitif. Je soutiens que la confiance entre espèces se manifeste à travers la confiance interactionnelle et la confiance envers le système. La confiance interactionnelle, telle que reflétée dans la relation cheval -être humain, est bâtie par l'action conjointe et résulte en une interaction symbolique. La confiance envers le système est rendue possible par l'intermédiaire de la communauté équine; elle se développe par la communication dans un effort de réduire la complexité et l'incertitude de la société. Pour encourager et soutenir la participation des jeunes dans les sports équestres compétitifs la confiance interactionnelle et la confiance envers le système sont toutes deux nécessaires.

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