Global Equestrian Trends in Local Context: Where Are All the Women in Doma Vaquera Competitions in Southern Spain?

Abstract

There is a recognized global trend towards increasing female participation in equestrian sports. However, it is important to understand the different ways in which global trends can impact or be challenged by equestrian cultures at their location of origin. For example, whilst women in Southern Spain are frequent competitors in the global ‘Olympic’ equestrian disciplines of showjumping, eventing and dressage, they are few and far between in doma vaquera competitions, based on local Andalusian riding activitites and aesthetics. This chapter reports the experiences of four capable women doma vaquera riders, supplemented by my own autoethnographic experience as an Australian woman in a Spanish stable yard. Each woman gives a different explanation for the absence of women from doma vaquera competitions. The narratives suggest that even when traditional equestrian pursuits associated with rural spaces and masculinity are translated into competitions and transferred to urban areas, they may still be subject to local norms about which bodies can compete with and against which other bodies, in what ways and in which kinds of spaces. Whist the idea of women and men being able to compete against one another in equestrian sport is admirable; it may not always occur ‘on equal terms’. In fact, depending on the local culture, it could be inherently unequal.