From Working to Winning: The Shifting Symbolic Value of Connemara Ponies in the West of Ireland

Abstract

In the town of Clifden, County Galway, located on the west coast of Ireland, the local lives of Connemara ponies and their owners intersect with global processes of commodification, globalization and modernization. Connemara ponies are symbolic markers and active agents of change over time in processes of status negotiation and economic power in the lives of their owners. Similar to other forms of cultural performance in Ireland, Connemara ponies and their competitions are “symbols and rituals which transcend differences among people in a society, serving to integrate disparate classes, occupations, ethnic groups, regions and religions” (Donnan and Wilson 1999, 67). Creating a “symbolic vocabulary” (Cohen 1985, 28) for the Connemara pony does not imply a disregard for the agentic qualities of the animal, as the ponies themselves act as catalysts for social interactions amongst diverse populations. “Animal ‘objects’ can also become active subjects with the capacity to impact the relationships between the humans involved” (Hurn 2012, 125). In light of these complexities in evaluating the animal as a symbol, thisresearch considers the Connemara pony as a functioning symbolic agent in representing the history and heritage of the Connemara region while simultaneously heralding modernity and progress in its marketing and sales. This analysis articulates the ways in which the Connemara pony itself is a social, political and economic symbol that is recognized at local, regional, and national levels. By treating Connemara ponies as simultaneously “parts of human society,” as well as “symbols of it,” this work bridges a symbolic and agentic perspective of human-animal relations (Knight 2005, 1). The symbolic power of individual equines translates into an even stronger material function of horse and pony breeds in constructing national identity. Horses and ponies often physically embody culturally valued traits such as strength, stamina and adaptability to the landscape, and have been interpreted as markers of national identity in Australia (Peace 2009), the Sakha Republic (Maj 2009), Spain (Thompson 2011), Ireland (Latimer and Birke 2009), Wales (Hurn 2008a,b), England (Cassidy 2002a, 2002b, 2003, 2005), Kyrgyzstan (Cassidy 2009), and Iron Age Pazyryk (Argent 2010). As these works illustrate, considering horses as symbols does not reduce their agency; rather, the strong material value attributed to these animals allows them to significantlyimpact the lives of their owners. This chapter argues that the changing morphology and commodification of the Connemara pony acts as a material culture vehicle that is the means for ideology, people, and local identities to move across multiple borders at home in Ireland and more globally (Wilk 2004).