It is almost time for our 2022 EHC conference. Join us from April 22-24 for a wonderful lineup of panels and sessions exploring a diverse range of topics within the theme of ‘All Creatures Great and Small.’

The full conference program can be found here

Conference registration is open until Wednesday April 20

EHC members can register at a discounted rate. Find out more about becoming a member here.

Below is an overview of our panels and sessions

Note: All times are in Pacific Daylight Time

Friday April 22

8:15am–9:15am Keynote Speaker: Susan Nance The Mule in the Coal Mine: Equines and Other Vulnerable Beings in the History of Human-Made Crises

9:30am-11:00am Session 1: What Makes a Horse? Comparing to Other Animals in the Pre-Modern World                                                                                                                                                            Ancient Egyptian Horses: What Makes a Horse a Horse? Lonneke Delpeut (University of Vienna); Poseidon’s Horses and Hephaestus’ Mules: Equids and Social Attitudes in the Classical World Carolyn Willekes (Mount Royal University);  Horses Mules, and Other Fauna in Medieval Arthurian Romance Cynthia L. Jeney (Professor Emerita) 

11:15am–12:15pm Overview of Equine Archives and Libraries                                                                This session will provide attendees with overviews of archives and libraries around the U.S. that focus on stewarding equine collection, including: Katie Richardson (Cal Poly Pomona), Emily Lozon (International Museum of the Horse), Claudia Pfeiffer (National Sporting Library & Museum), Becky Ryder (Keeneland Library), Janet Terhune (Harness Racing Museum & Hall of Fame)

1:30pm–3:00pm Session 2: Hunting as a Mode of Interaction.                                                              Horse, Hound, Game The Horse and the Dog: Froissart’s Perspective Anastasija Ropa (Latvian Academy of Sport Education); The Horse, the Fox, and the Hound: Fox-Hunting and the Evolution of Interspecies Sport Erica Munkwitz (American University); Marsh Tackey: The Preferred South Carolina Wild Game Hunting Horse Jacquelyn McFadden (Dacus Library, Winthrop University) and Patricia Stafford (Independent Scholar)

3:15pm–4:15pm Virtual Tour of Purdue                                                                                                            Colleen Brady, Professor/Extension Specialist

Saturday April 23

8:00am–8:30am: “Morning” Coffee Introduce Your Animals!

8:30am–9:30am Seminar 1: Equine Archeology Project                                                                            A roundtable/lightning round style session with several of the contributors to the project

9:45am–11:15am Session 3: Plantation, Stable, and Ranch Companion Animals/Afterlives.      “Take a Mole That Has Just Surfaced from the Ground”: Sacrificing Small Animals for the Benefit of Italian Renaissance Horses  Sarah G. Duncan (Independent Scholar); To the Dog Kennel: Horse Disposal Practices on the 18th – 19th-Century Plantation Elizabeth McCague (University of Maryland, College Park); “Cattle, Mules, and Horses Are the Nerves of a Sugar Plantation”: Equine and Bovine Labour in the 18th Century Atlantic World  Charlotte Carrington-Farmer (Roger Williams University)

11:30am–12:30pm: Equine History Collective Business Meeting

1:30pm–3:00pm Session 4: Equines and Local Ecologies                                                                    Humans, and Housing in New Deal Lexington, KY Piotr Wojcik (University of Kentucky); Conservation in the Land of Enchantment: Arabian Horse Breeding and the Adaptive Reuse Use of the Davey and Pritzlaff Ranches Tobi Lopez Taylor (Independent Scholar); Hancocks & Hounds: Purity and Performance in Pedigree Registries Katrin Boniface (University of California, Riverside)

3:15pm–4:45pm Session 5: Microbes and Horses                                                                                      For the Health and Safety of Montana’s Horses: Horses, Diseases, and Veterinarians in Late 19th- and Early 20th-Century Montana Kerri Keller Clement (University of Idaho); The Army Veterinary Corps’ “Self-Constituted Ally”: Mange Mite, Horses, and Veterinary Authority in the First World War Islay Shelbourne (University of St. Andrews) ; “The Horse’s Worst Enemy”: The 1894 Glanders Outbreak in Territorial Arizona Frank Whitehead (University of Arizona)

Sunday April 24

8:00am–8:30am: “Morning” Coffee Meet the Editors                                                                              Miriam Bibby (University of Glasgow) and Anastasija Ropa (Latvian Academy of Sports Education)

8:30am–10:00am Seminar 2: Thoroughbreds Roundtable                                                                      Nancy Henry (University of Tennessee, Knoxville), Cynthia Kurtz (National Sporting Library & Museum), Donna Landry (Professor Emerita), Richard Nash (Indiana University), Emily Reeb (National Sporting Library & Museum)

10:15am–11:15am: Virtual Tour of the National Sporting Library and Museum                              Cynthia Kurtz and Emily Reeb

12:15pm–1:45pm Session 6: Emotion and Affect between Horse and Human                                  A Labour of Love”: The Metamorphosis of the Horse from Companion to Lover Present in YA Horse Stories for Girls Alannah Mewes (University of the Sunshine Coast); The Horse Is in the Mail: The Equine Art of H. Goodwine Teresa Rogers (Independent Scholar); Desperate Souls and Equine Saviors: Horses in Contemporary Therapeutic Culture Miriam Adelman (Federal University of Paraná)

2:00pm–3:30pm Session 7: Multi-Species Methodologies                                                                      Let There Be Livingstock: Determining the Relationship of Horses to Livestock from Archaeological Sites Kate Kanne (Northwestern University); Multispecies Ethnography and Wild Horses Christine Reed (University of Nebraska at Omaha); Horses and the Critter “Gene”: Reflections on the Phenomenon PSSM2 Christian Gundermann (Mount Holyoke College)

You can also visit the EHC Bonfire shop to check out our range of EHC-themed merchandise, including items with our lovely conference logo designed by EHC’s own Christian Krueger.

Our 2022 EHC Conference “All Creatures Great and Small” is fast approaching. Join us from April 22-24 as we explore the many inter-relationships between equines and other species ranging from humans to microorganisms, acknowledging the anthropogenic world animals cope with, while also de-centering people in animal history.

The keynote speaker for the conference is Dr. Susan Nance, and she will be speaking on “The Mule in the Coal Mine: Equines and Other Vulnerable Beings in the History of Human-Made Crises.” This talk focuses on the story of a network of mules, children, mice, rats, and adults in the coal mines of early 20th century Pennsylvania, and asks how and why, when people see animals in crisis, they may still fail to change course.

The keynote takes place from 8:15-9:15am (PDT) on Friday April 22, and it is open to the public! To attend, please register here and you will be sent the Zoom link.

Dr. Nance is Professor in the Department of History at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada, and she is also an affiliated faculty member with U of G’s Campbell Centre for the Study of Animal Welfare. She is the author of various books and articles including Rodeo: An Animal History (University of Oklahoma Press, 2020), Entertaining Elephants: Animal Agency and the Business of the American Circus (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2013), and she is the editor of the latest volume in the Broadview Sources Series: Ranching and the American West (Broadview, 2022). Susan is currently working on a new project, Animals of the Las Vegas Strip, a study of the nature and scope of the wild and exotic animal trade in the United States. The project is funded by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Insight Grant and brings together the fields of animal, environmental, consumer, and entertainment history. It asks: What it was like to be a trafficked wild animal in the 20th century?  To find out more about Dr. Nance and her work, you can check out her website.

The conference program is now available to download. Registration for the full conference is available through this link.  EHC members can register for a discounted price: you can find out more about EHC membership here.

If you need some more equid themed clothing in your life, check out our EHC merchandise, including the official merch for our 2022 conference!