Das Pferd und seine besondere Rolle in Großbritannien und Hannover

In Donna Landry’s words, “Eastern horses transformed English culture”. A deliberate simplification, of course, but by the eighteenth century, Britain began to lead not just in terms of trade and industrialization, but also in the exploits and pursuits of its ‘leisure class’, namely on horseback. The article explores if and how the British brand of horsemanship, in the context of the Hanoverian succession, transferred to the Continent . It demonstrates how the Hanoverian Kings reformed horse breeding and propagated veterinary medicine in their German dominions, partly influenced by and partly ahead of, the British development. It also investigates how the concept of the horse as an ideal image of outer and inner beauty developed, placing British animal painting and British eighteenth-century literature at the core of the argument. And, using popular culture and caricature, it shows how the political imagery of the ‘Hanoverian Horse’ (as a representation of the royal family) developed in this context. The article was commissioned for the volume of essays accompanying the major exhibition, held at several venues across Hanover, in celebration of the anniversary of the Hanoverian succession.