For 70 years The Attingham Trust has offered an incredible selection of Summer Schools which focus on country houses and their collections. They give attendees, who come from across the globe, the opportunity to be part of a programme that includes visits to historic sites, lectures and roundtable discussions. A place on an Attingham Summer School is a privilege as there are few organisations that can offer such a comprehensive, educational and enjoyable opportunity with experiences not openly available to the general public.

In 2017 the theme of the Summer School was ‘The Horse and the County House’. As representatives of The Carriage Foundation, our Chairman Colin Henderson and myself were invited to present papers within the beautiful surroundings of The Jockey Club Rooms in Newmarket. It was an epic experience and, having spent a couple of days with other lecturers and the attendees, we had a glimpse of just how special Attingham events are.

Following the huge success of this Summer School, course director Lizzy Jamieson, set about organising a two-day conference with the same theme. On November 18^th and 19^th 90 delegates headed to Madgingly Hall, near Cambridge, to attend the event live with another 70 people joining us, from the comfort of their homes, via a live stream.

The two days were immensely interesting and moved apace, with 27 papers delivered by curators, museum directors, independent scholars and historians. This report could end up being be a dissertation in itself if every paper were mentioned, so I shall highlight those that I thought stood out or were the most enjoyable. Each day had three sections with the papers grouped according to their topic. First up we had ‘The Domesticated Horse: Horse Welfare and Care of Servants.’ Jana Schuster from the University of Cambridge spoke about the 2^nd Duke of Montagu (1709-49) and his great fondness for animals. He was deeply concerned for the welfare of his animals and recorded on many occasions the facilities he installed at his homes for their benefit. Supported with illustrations of paintings and maps, Jana highlighted the luxury stables and vast pastureland. The Duke had a particular concern for horses that were no longer required or had reached the end of their active lives so he established a retirement home, not only for his own equines, but also for those of his friends, encouraging them to send their steeds for a comfortable end of life.

Further tales of a family’s fondness for their horses came from Frances Bailey, senior curator for The National Trust, in her talk about lives of the Londonderry family’s equines. Mount Stewart in Northern Ireland houses an extensive collection of equine portraits and items connected to the family horses, such as fine portraits of racehorses Hambletonian and Hermit, which hang on the walls and there is even the preserved tail and hide of the latter.

The second section, entitled ‘Evidence of the Horse: Architectural, Visual and Textural’, brought excellent talks from all four speakers. Christopher Garibaldi gave an enlightening paper about equestrian buildings in Newmarket depicted in the paintings by Jan Siberechts and John Wootton, many of which still stand today 350 years later.

The final session, ‘Places for Horses: Old Buildings, New Life’, concentrated on stable blocks and their use and interpretation now and in the future. House managers and curators from across the globe illustrated the history of the buildings in their care, their desire to maintain a strong connection between stable yard and main house and they talked about current projects to develop old stable blocks. There was a very strong feeling in the room that every stall or stable should have a live horse in it; however, this is not possible for many properties and there was much discussion on how the spaces could be developed sensitively but also function as a money earner.

The second day brought tales from individuals, horse men and women, and in particular, horses. Starting off the ‘Horsepower: Politics, Social Mobility and Fashion’ session was Sophie Chessum from The National Trust who spoke about the Onslows of Clandon Park and their love of racing.

Being a clergy wife, for me one particular paper in the first session was more resonant: ‘Clergy and Carriages, the place of the horse in the late Georgian parsonage’. The speaker, Jon Stobart, had researched many last wills and testaments of clergymen and found records of some being wealthy enough to own travelling carriages and even a dress chariot. Today’s stipend certainly would not support such extravagance! Coming from a carriage historian point of view and comparing the types of vehicles listed and the dates they were owned, it is likely that they were predominantly purchased second hand, but it was still a considerable financial outlet to be able to afford, in some cases, six horses and employ a coachman.

Session two looked at ‘Women and the Horse: Riders, Hunters and Carriage Drivers’. An excellent talk by independent scholar Helena Esser who focused on the female rider or horse breaker in Victorian literature including Catherine ‘Skittles’ Walters, who was famed for wearing the tightest riding habit in England. Whitney White from the Pebble Hill Plantation introduced us to Elisabeth ‘Pansy’ Ireland Poe who was another talented equestrienne. She took part and competed in all disciplines and thought very highly of her horses, choosing to commission lasting memories of them to decorate her home. Each horse had its own portrait carved into the end of the rack that held its saddle and many were immortalised with bronzes and other sculptures around the estate.

‘The Commodification of the Horse: Visual Representation and Culture’ was the theme for the final session of the conference. A light-hearted talk about a painting that hangs in Waddesdon Manor of a racehorse called Swallow was just what we needed at a point when many of us were feeling rather overwhelmed with information. Timothy Cox from the British Sporting Art Trust and independent scholar Karen Hladik have carried out extensive research into the painting of Swallow, trying to pinpoint a date to when the picture was painted (circa 1670) and to locate the landscape (still a mystery). Paintings of racehorses from this date are rather rare and it seems that the two scholars have found the earliest depiction of horse racing in a work of art.

The two days were not only an opportunity to absorb the contents of the papers and expand one’s knowledge, but also valuable time spent with friends and colleagues from museums and establishments across the globe. It was very apparent just how the noble horse brings people together; everyone could strike up a conversation with one another through the subject. The event was a roaring success and there is interest and enough support for the Attingham Trust to hold another in the, hopefully, not too distant future.