Category: EHC Coffee Chats

horses on the riverbank

EHC Coffee Chat with Dr. David Jones

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Please join us in our next Coffee Chat.

When: Thursday, May 29, 2025, 1pmEST/12pmCST/10amPST/3pmBRT/7pmNZDT/6pmWET

Where: Zoom    https://zoom.us/j/94612468734

Who:     Dr. David Jones

Dr. David Jones is a veterinarian, zoologist, and Founding Chairman of Brooke USA, having helped to lead the organization since its inception in 2007 and more recently, driving its success since 2016 when it rebranded with a new mission and focus. Brooke USA is committed to significantly improving the welfare of working horses, donkeys, and mules and the people they serve throughout Asia, Africa, the Middle East, the Americas, and the Caribbean.

Picture of “Clever Girl” and Dr. Jones. “Clever Girl” is owned by Matt Shiflet. Picture credit Matt Shiflet.

In total, Dr. Jones has dedicated 54 years to volunteering for the Brooke nonprofit family, and has served in several leadership capacities and in many roles, including Trustee, Vice Chairman, Chairman and Honorary Vice President of Brooke International.

He is Director Emeritus of the North Carolina Zoo, having run it for 22 years. Dr. Jones was previously CEO of the Zoological Society of London and has spent his extensive career in the wildlife and zoo management field, working in more than 50 countries – mainly in Africa and the Middle East.

Dr. Jones helped pioneer the use of anesthetic drugs in large wild mammals and was one of the first to use fiber optics in animal surgery. During his time at the London Zoo, he built a sizeable zoo consultancy, focusing particularly on the Mediterranean and Arabian Gulf regions. He has consulted in more than 50 countries and has been involved in the design, development and management of over 30 zoos during his extensive career.

Dr. Jones served on the councils of both World Wildlife Fund (WWF) U.S. and U.K. and is a former chairman of Fauna and Flora International, the world’s oldest international conservation organization. Dr. Jones is a past Chairman of The Environmental Defense Fund for North Carolina and is founder Chairman of Wild Welfare, the only not for profit specializing in improving the welfare of animals in zoos and animal sanctuaries mostly in developing countries.

EHC Coffee Chat with Dr. Kathryn Renton

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When: Thursday, April 24, 2025 1pm (EDT)/10am (PDT)/7pm (CEST)

Where: Online via Zoom

Kathryn Renton (B.A. Harvard, M.A. and Ph.D, UCLA), is a historian and
communications specialist at the Getty Research Institute. In her research, she explores
the more than human early modern world, interested in the ways non-human animals
and environments have contributed to historical change. She has taught in Los Angeles
at Occidental College and UCLA where she currently teaches a course for the Food
Studies minor.


Kathryn will speak about her latest book Feral Empire: Horse and Human in the Early
Modern Iberian World (Cambridge University Press, 2024). In the first century of Spanish
colonization, horses spread dramatically throughout the Americas. While horses were
brought and bred to invade and colonize Indigenous kingdoms in the Americas, horses
also became a notable feature of American landscapes and emerging Native equestrian
practices. Relationships with equine shaped strategies of colonization and resistance,
and a focus on these human-equine relationships illuminates dynamic instability within
colonial ideals of domestication, purity, and empire. This multispecies history brings to
light key “feral” dynamics at work in the more-than-human early modern Iberian world
during a key period of global change.

Join the conversation with on at this link.

EHC Coffee Chat with Ana Lucia Camphora

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Join us for the first Equine History Collective Coffee Chat of 2025!

Who: Ana Lucia Camphora

When: Thursday January 30,2025 at 1pm EST/6pm GMT

Where: https://zoom.us/j/93147419918?pwd=TiR4M5CukIIIMculVvPK7iqsrNwVOV.1

Meeting ID: 931 4741 9918

Passcode: 533062

Ana Lucia Camphora is a Brazilian Psychologist, with a Master Degree in Psycho-sociology of Communities and Social Ecology and PhD in Social Sciences.  With a focus on inter-species studies, Ana Lucia has taught postgraduate courses in Environmental Law and Animals in Law. Since 2001, she has contributed as a senior researcher for the Center for Contemporary Equine Studies (California, USA), were she examines the contemporary history of the use of horses as raw material in antivenom production. She has also been the Associate Director of the CCES since 2004.

Join us January 30th to learn more about Ana Lucia’s research on interspecies relationships and equine welfare!

For a sneak peak, check out this video clip!

The Book: Animals and society in Brazil from the 16th to the 19th century was published in 2017 Portuguese in Brazil. In 2021, its English edition was released by The White Horse Press. This book presents a pioneering overview of how colonial relations encompass interspecies relations, based in an interface between the fields of human-animal studies, colonialism, and environmental history.

We look forward to seeing everyone on the 30th!

#EHC Coffee Chat with David Ramey

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When: Thursday February 22, 2024 17.00GMT/12.00EST/09.00PST

Where: online via Zoom:

https://zoom.us/j/97726768280?pwd=SThOTmJlTkpEQkFnRXFJSlhBby9ZQT09

Meeting ID: 977 2676 8280
Passcode: 461420

About the Coffee Chat:

David Ramey D.V.M. is a graduate of the Colorado State University School of Veterinary Medicine. His veterinary practice is in southern California. Since graduation, Dr Ramey has not only built up a reputation for compassionate, science-based therapies for the sports and leisure horses of his clients, but also a dedicated following on social media. Through blogs, publications, and webinars, Dr. Ramey shares his down-to-earth and clear commentaries on all matters relating to health in equines. For several years he has also been working on an exciting project with an international group of scholars: bringing the content of a book on Japanese Horse Medicine dating from 1236 CE to a wider audience, through translation and publication of the text. The EHC officers are delighted that David will be joining us for a coffee chat to talk about this fascinating work – and perhaps a few practical horse care tips too.

The event is free for the current EHC members. Non-members are kindly asked to donate $3,50 to the society as the entry fee: https://equinehistory.org/donate/. Or, indeed, join the society to access this and other events for free: https://equinehistory.org/become-a-member/.
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#EHC Coffee Chat- No Coal: No Thoroughbred

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#EHC Coffee Chat- Life Underground: Pit Ponies and Colliery Stables

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The EHC officers are pleased to invite you to our next Coffee Chat where we will be discussing the history of pit ponies and their role, care, and management.

When: Monday September 4, 2023, 18.00 BST/13.00 ET/10.00 PT

Where: Online via Zoom

https://univienna.zoom.us/j/67598668524?pwd=UFR0NTRqNVI4K0UxdVdxbk5NQ0I5QT09

Meeting ID: 675 9866 8524

Passcode: 599063

About the event

Of all the working equids that have performed tasks for humans, those working in collieries have often received the greatest scrutiny.  They have been pitied, admired, and mythologised. They have been viewed as victims, co-workers, working-class heroes, and exploited innocents. To gain a comprehensive view of the lives and treatment of the equids in mining, it is important to study the treatment of human miners and their families, and to understand the unique culture of colliery village life.

To talk about this interesting and important topic, we have invited three experts. Dr David Amos is a former miner who now works as a heritage specialist for a not-for-profit educational project, Mine2Minds. Janine Buckley MA has studied both elite and colliery stables in Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire, and is Historic Environment Officer (Buildings) for Nottinghamshire County Council. Lisa Walker, whose ancestors worked as colliery horsemasters, is owner of Mini Pony Hire. Her ponies enjoy life as engagers at various historic sites in northeast England, including Beamish Museum’s own colliery village. Lisa’s Shetland pony Smurf, a rescue pony, won the Horse and Hound Pony of the year Award in 2019.

Lisa Walker with Marley the Shetland Pony in pit pony gear

We do hope that you can enjoy us for a chat that will be very informative, and perhaps expose a few myths about pit ponies and their treatment.

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#EHC Coffee Chat: Happy Horsidays!!!

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When: Tuesday December 20th 9am PST/noon EST/17:00 GMT

Where: Online via Zoom.  Register for the link here.

Join us on Tuesday December 20th for our very festive Happy Horsidays Coffee Chat! Let’s close out the year together with fun, festivities, and of course, some equid related learning.

Trivent Publishing has two fascinating new volumes in their Rewriting Equestrian History series.  Anastasija Ropa will tell us about one of these books: Historical Practices in Horsemanship and Equestrian Sports which she edited with Timothy Dawson, which is now available for pre-order through Trivent. 

Miriam Bibby will talk about the other forthcoming volume, which she edited: Saints and Sinners on Horseback.

We will also be revealing the details for an exciting new EHC members initiative: our very own online magazine, Hippocampus! We can’t wait to tell you all about it and to have members get involved with our very first issue.

Princess Anne letting us know that she is a jousting horse, not a festive reindeer. Photo: Society of Tilt and Lance Cavalry

Speaking of Hippocampus and member submissions, you can get a head start by joining in our festive critters photo shoot as part of this Coffee Chat. Submit your favourite critter-related holiday photos to president@equinehistory.org by Sunday December 18th and we will include them in our festive critters slideshow. Humans can be included in the photos, but they must be accompanied by a non-human critter. The owner of the winning photo will receive a copy of Trivent’s Historical Practices in Horsemanship and Equestrian Sports, and all member entries have the option of being included in the photo gallery section of the first issue of Hippocampus.

Finally, what is a holiday get together without some wonderful festive storytelling? Our EHC VP, Miriam, will regale us with a ghostly tale for the season that includes horses and archaeology, and we hope that some of you will have some festive-esque equid or other critter stories/folktales/myths etc. to share as well!

 

#EHC Coffee Chat: Echoing Hooves

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Join us on November 17, 2022 to learn more about the newly released book Echoing Hooves: Studies on Horses and Their Effects on Medieval Societies, volume 22 in Brill’s Explorations in Medieval Culture series, edited by Anastasija Ropa and Timothy Dawson.
Where: Online- register through this link.
When: 9:00am-12:00pm PST/12:00pm-3:00pm EST/6:00pm-9:00 pm CET
Saying that horses shaped the medieval world – and the way we see it today – is hardly an exaggeration. Why else do we imagine a medieval knight – or a nomadic warrior – on horseback? Why do we use such metaphors as “unbridled” or “bearing a yoke” in our daily language? Studies of medieval horses and horsemanship are increasingly popular, but they often focus on a single aspect of equestrianism or a single culture. In this book, you will find information about both elite and humble working equines, about the ideology and practicalities of medieval horsemanship across different countries, from Iceland to China.
In this coffee chat the editors and several of the chapter authors will talk about their research and this book as we look at how and why the horse was so important to medieval society.
Anastasija Ropa is senior researcher at the Latvian Academy of Sport Education. She has published extensively on aspects of medieval horse history and horsemanship, including the monograph Practical Horsemanship in Medieval Arthurian Romance (Trivent Medieval, 2019).
Timothy Dawson is a UK-based independent scholar and founder of Levantia. He has authored numerous academic publications on medieval Byzantium, the history of horsemanship and cavalry and various aspects of daily life in Europe and the Near East. Timothy will introduce the book project.
Gavina Cherchi is Associate Professor in Aesthetics at the University of Sassari. She is co-founder of the Association Warburg Italia (Siena 1999) and a member of the SIE (Società Italiana di Estetica). Her interdisciplinary scientific research investigates history of ideas, iconology and philosophy (images and words, the iconosphere and the logosphere) in their mutual and osmotic relationship.
John C. Ford  is a maître de conférences (senior lecturer/associate professor) at the National University Institute Champollion, member of the Université Fédérale de Toulouse in Albi, France. Former head of the Department of Languages and Literature and current head of the department’s English section, he has published several articles relating to medieval English and Anglo-Norman language and literature, focusing particularly on the Middle English verse romances.
Jürg Gassmann is an independent researcher in mediaval military history, with several peer-reviewed publications on the subject, including articles in the Acta Periodica Duellatorum.
Alexia-Foteini Stamouli is affiliated to the University of Patras, Greece. Her main interests include Byzantine Hagiography (Middle and Late Byzantine period), Byzantine History (Late Byzantine period), Rhetoric (descriptions and praises). She is a collaborator of the National Hellenic Research Foundation, Institute of Historical Research.

#EHC Coffee Chat Honoring John Schiewe: Arabian studies in the 21st century

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When: Tuesday October 25, 10:30am PDT/12:30pm EDT/17:30GMT
Where: Online, Register here
John Schiewe (1950–2021) was a valued member of the international equine history research community. He was well respected for his encyclopedic knowledge of Arabian horse pedigrees, breeders, and breeding programs, particularly those associated with Polish Arabians. He also bred fine Arabians and delighted in mentoring younger breeders. A resident of West Linn, Oregon, he was a contributor to Arabian Horse World, Arabian Horse Life, and Arabian Finish Line magazines. John was also a participant at the 2019 EHC conference, held that year at Cal Poly Pomona University, where he presented a well-received paper titled “Pioneering American Breeders of Pure Polish Arabians, 1961–1985: An Examination of Best Practices.” At the time of his death, he was working on a book about American breeders of Polish Arabians.

John Schiewe (1950-2021)

On October 25, we’d like to honor John by inviting three of his friends and colleagues to speak about him and his work. Tobi Lopez Taylor will talk about her friendship with John as well as his research, including his unfinished manuscript Polish Arabians in the US. Dr. Margaret Derry will give an overview of literature and research of Arabian horse studies, and Dr. Van Dusenbery will talk about John’s background, personality, and mental functioning as a way to help understand how John came to be such an expert on Polish Arabians despite his lack of academic training.
We will also kick off our fundraising campaign for the John Schiewe Memorial Travel Fund which will aim to provide travel grants for researchers to access and use the Cal Poly Pomona Special Collections and Archives for onsite research.

#EHC Coffee Chat: Meet and Greet!

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When: Friday September 23, 2022

Where: Online

Time: 9am PDT/noon EDT/6:00pm (18:00) CEST

Join us on September 23rd for our first Coffee Chat of the season: an EHC Meet and Greet! This informal event is a chance to meet your existing officers, Carolyn Willekes (president), Christian Krueger (treasurer) and Lonneke Delpeut (Secretary), as well as our newly appointed member Miriam Bibby (Vice President), as well as other members of the EHC.

This is also a great opportunity to learn more about the EHC, EHC membership,  and some of the events and initiatives we have scheduled for the 2022/2023 academic year, including our annual conference.

There will also be plenty of conversation around all things equine, and we would love to get some suggestions and feedback from attendees about topics and ideas they are interested in exploring through EHC events and workshops.

You can register for our Meet and Greet here 

We look forward to seeing you on Friday!