Tourism as an agent of reinvention for European equestrian intangible heritages

Abstract

Europe is a melting pot of equestrian traditions, combining national characteristics with a common heritage. However, science and technical progress weakened the centuries-old use of horses in the 20th century. They survived modernity by being re-codified as a source of sport and leisure in an emerging consumer society. Faced with such changes, the question of the survival of classical riding traditions arises. Different public schools in Europe intend on maintaining these traditions. To do so, they must demonstrate their capacity to transmit ideas of classical riding to a large community, addressing both specialists and the general public. In this context, they have taken the initiative of combining the training of students and tourism activities. The objective of my study is to assess their capacity to conserve the intangible heritage of classical riding in modern society, through this double strategy of transmission, focusing especially on: the Cadre Noir de Saumur in France; the Real Escuela Andaluza del Arte Ecuestre of Jerez de la Frontera in Spain and the Escola Portuguesa de Arte Equestre of Lisbon in Portugal. In doing so I will elaborate on the construction of intangible heritage, including the (re)invention of traditions, and the role of tourism in this process. My methodology is based on a structuralist constructivism approach, combining literature review, statistical studies, qualitative observations conducted at the three sites and qualitative interviews with 48 people involved at different levels in the conservation of local equestrian heritage, conducted between February 2019 and January 2020.

Keywords

• equine heritage
• European classical riding schools
• Saumur
• Jerez
• Lisbon