The horse and its heritage
In order to highlight the wealth of heritage linked to equestrian cultures and respond to the growing public interest in horseback riding, the Ministry of Culture and Communication is putting online a website dedicated to the horse and its heritage.
Multiple assets
A tool of prestige, a working animal, a faithful ally of man on the battlefield, the horse has a history intimately linked to that of many societies. The site The horse and its heritage raises the question of the relationship between man and animal and their evolution over the centuries and evokes the different roles played by the horse from its domestication, to its current status as a leisure companion, and the renewal of certain practices such as the use of the draft horse and the traditional team.
Natural heritage, tangible heritage, intangible heritage: the many heritages built around equestrian cultures in France are presented in a course that is divided into several parts: The man and the horse / The horse in action / Cars and carriages / Horse riding in the French tradition / The architecture / Medical heritage / Resources
Horse riding in the French tradition
Horseback riding in the French tradition is one of the most prestigious parts of these heritage: this practice has been included in the UNESCO list of intangible cultural heritage since 2011. Developed since the Renaissance, this art is perpetuated through communities of which the best known is the National Riding School - Cadre Noir de Saumur.
A multiannual work programme
The Ministry of Culture and Communication launched in 2011 a work programme on the theme «The horse and its heritage» which mobilizes the best specialists and professionals. Continuing the recent work of historians and ethnologists on this animal, this program is intended to promote a heritage policy and to sensitize the general public to the heritage testifying to the history of the horse in France. The website is one of the achievements of this program.
The online offer
horse.culture.fr has about twenty contributors and federates sixty institutions. It has benefited from the partnerships of the French Institute of Horse and Horse Riding (Cadre Noir de Saumur), the Republican Guard, as well as the National Veterinary School of Alfort (Fragonard Museum).
The multimedia includes 500 visuals, 40 video and film extracts, 20 sound extracts, educational tools (demonstrations of equestrian figures, animated and commented documents). This documentation gives an overview of the richness and diversity of the collections and know-how around the horse.
horse.culture.fr is part of the offer of digital cultural resources implemented as part of the digitization and technological innovation policies led by the Ministry of Culture and Communication.
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