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Mallory Weast Emilia Fuentes English 1101 November 9, 2013 Horseback i!ing Ethnogra"hy

# !iscourse community is a grou" o$ "eo"le %ho share common language an! goals& 'his language can be bo!y language or %ritten language& 'he language can inclu!e vocabulary, or le(is, that is s"eci$ic to the "articular grou"& # community o$ "ractice is a grou" o$ "eo"le that share common values, interests, some language, an! genres o$ communication& )War!le* 'here is little research surroun!ing ho% the community o$ horseback ri!ing involves communication& 'he research in this "a"er %ill sho% the %ays o$ communication %ithin the !iscourse community o$ %estern ri!ing& 'he hobby o$ horseback ri!ing %oul! be consi!ere! a community o$ "ractice+ ho%ever the !i$$erent styles o$ ri!ing, such as english an! %estern, %oul! be !iscourse communities& ,ocabulary can "lay an im"ortant role in the communication among this grou"& 'here$ore, in!ivi!uals not involve! in this community %ill not be as in$orme! as in!ivi!uals %ho are& -n!ivi!uals can ri!e $or various reasons an! %ith !i$$erent goals& 'he kin!s o$ things they !o an! say are relate! to the grou" they are involve! in& .ome grou"s have %ays o$ communication %ith others, such as emails or t%eets& Mush$aking is a common term use! to !escribe someone %ho is $aking belonging to that "articular grou"& .ome grou"s are com"etitive %hen it comes to getting into the grou", an! means o$ mobility %ithin the grou" can sometimes

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be challenging& 'his ethnogra"hy is going to $ocus on the hobby o$ horseback ri!ing instea! o$ the com"etitive as"ect o$ it& ecent intervie% sho%s that in!ivi!uals can be intro!uce! to the activity in various %ays& #!!itionally, those involve! can be involve! $or many reasons an! have !i$$erent goals& -n a recent stu!y by analy/ing !ata $rom Evie 'illman, it %as ma!e evi!ent the various reasons in!ivi!uals are involve!& Evie has been a member o$ the horseback ri!ing community ever since she %as born& .he is involve! because she %as born into it& Her $amily o%ns a $arm %here she teaches lessons, an! other members o$ the $amily trans"ort horses& .he is involve! because she teaches horseback ri!ing lessons& )'illman* From e("erience an! observing lessons, in!ivi!uals can also 0oin sim"ly because they en0oy the hobby& 'here$ore, getting into this grou" is not that !i$$icult& -t is rather a choice to get involve! or not& Most chil!ren that take lessons are involve! because they have a love $or horses& #s a result, this can lea! to mush$aking because some in!ivi!uals ri!e 0ust to ri!e, an! there are others that ri!e to better !evelo" their ri!ing ca"abilities& 1y observing in!ivi!uals ri!e you can tell %ho belongs to the grou" an! %ho is mush$aking& -t is very clear by %atching ri!ers, %ho has been involve! $or a %hile& Ne%er ri!ers are going to be less $amiliar %ith ri!ing+ there$ore they %ill nee! coaching an! instruction& Ho%ever, e("erience! ri!ers %ill kno% %hat to !o& i!ers in this community have various goals an! %ays that they achieve them& i!ers taking lessons have goals that they can set in!ivi!ually& 'he instructor can also set goals $or her stu!ents& -n this situation the instructor %oul! have the authority& 'hese goals can inclu!e learning ho% to tack a horse, learning the "arts o$ a horse, learning all three gates o$ a horse, an! being able to trail ri!e& )'illman* Ho%ever, com"etitive ri!ers have goals as %ell& i!ers that sho% may have goals to "lace $irst in some o$ their classes& i!ers that barrel race may have

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goals to com"lete the "attern in a less than si(teen secon!s& i!ers can achieve their goals by "racticing& 'he best %ay to get $amiliar %ith terms in the horse community is by "racticing an! "artici"ating& #ll grou"s have certain vocabulary that is use!+ the horseback ri!ing community is no e(ce"tion& ,ocabulary "ertaining to e2ui"ment, bree!s an! colors o$ horses, tack, bo!y "arts, an! communication metho!s makes it easier to converse %ithin this community& Members o$ this community learne! the vocabulary $or this grou" sim"ly by "artici"ating& 1y "artici"ating an! being involve!, in!ivi!uals %ill "ick u" o$ %hat certain %or!s mean& 'o 0ust a ty"ical s"ectator colors an! bree!s !o not mean much& #n onlooker may a!!ress the 3yello%4 horse as 0ust a 3yello%4 horse& Ho%ever, in!ivi!uals in this community kno% that the "ro"er %or! to i!enti$y this horse %oul! be "alomino& 1ree!s are another common e(am"le& 1ree!s can hel" e("lain the most common style o$ ri!ing $or a "articular horse& Warm bloo!e! horses are mostly ri!!en english& Ho%ever, 2uarter horses can be ri!!en english an! %estern& 1ree!s can also hel" !etermine the hea! set o$ a horse& 5uarter horses shoul! carry their hea!s lo%er than #rabians& #rabians have an arch in their hea! set an! 2uarter horses carry their hea!s e2uivalent to the height o$ their shoul!ers& #nother e(am"le %oul! be %hen an in!ivi!ual is tacking their horse& -$ you ask a ty"ical "erson %hat you ri!e in an! %here you "ut it, they %oul! re"ly you "ut the sa!!le on the horses back& Ho%ever, ri!ers %oul! say that you "ut the sa!!le on the horse6s %ithers& 'he %ithers are a bone at the to" o$ the horses shoul!er at the beginning o$ the neck& #!!itionally, grooming the horse also involves s"eci$ic vocabulary& -n!ivi!uals in the horse community kno% that %hen you clean the horse6s hooves you use a hoo$ "ick& -n a!!ition, there is a "lace in the mi!!le o$ the hoo$ that is calle! the $rog& When you clean the hoo$, you are su""ose! to clean the t%o grooves

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besi!e the $rog& 'o in!ivi!uals not $amiliar %ith this, they may think the $rog is mu! built u" on the bottom o$ the hoo$& Furthermore, horses are measure! in han!s an! a han! is $our inches& For a horse to be consi!ere! a horse they must be 17&3 han!s& -$ they are 17&2 han!s an! un!er they are consi!ere! a "ony& Not only is certain vocabulary use! %hile on the groun! %ith horses, vocabulary is use! %hile ri!ers are in the sa!!le as %ell& From observations it is clear that there are gui!elines that ri!ers shoul! go by to make the ri!e success$ul& -nstructors tell their ri!ers that they nee! to kee" their toes u" an! heels !o%n, this allo%s them to sit in the sa!!le "ro"erly& #lso, instructors noti$y their stu!ents to kee" their han!s in $ront o$ the sa!!le horn& )'illman* 'his allo%s the horse to have his hea! an! neck $or balance& -$ a ri!er ri!es %ith their han!s behin! the sa!!le horn they are going to be sto""ing their horse& #!!itionally, the three gates o$ a horse are also vocabulary& 'he three gates o$ a horse are %alk, trot, an! canter& # %alk is a $our beat gate, %hich means one hoo$ hits the groun! at a time& # trot is a t%o beat gate, %hich means the $ront le$t leg an! the rear right leg hits the groun! at the same time& # canter is a three beat gate, %hich means three legs hit the groun! at a time& #long %ith vocabulary, there is also %ays o$ communication %ithin this community& Most o$ the communication involving horseback ri!ing involves communication %ith the horse& Ho%ever, ri!ers must also be able to communicate %ith their instructor an! un!erstan! %hat the instructor is asking& 8ommunicating %ith your horse involves verbal an! "hysical comman!s& Most in!ivi!uals think the %ay to get a horse moving is by sim"ly kicking& 'his is true+ ho%ever there are other %ays as %ell& 'o get your horse to %alk, ri!ers shoul! say %alk, an! s2uee/e %ith their legs& 'o get the horse to trot, ri!ers shoul! also s2uee/e %ith their legs an! say trot& -$ this

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!oes not get the horse moving $or%ar! ri!ers shoul! then kick %ith their legs& 'o get the horse to canter, ri!ers shoul! s2uee/e %ith their leg that is the closest to the rail& For e(am"le, i$ a ri!er s2uee/es %ith their right leg this lets the horse kno% that they are asking $or the le$t lea!& -$ the ri!er s2uee/es %ith their le$t leg this lets the horse kno% that they nee! to "ick u" the right lea!& -$ a ri!er %ants to sto" their horse they must "ull back on the reins an! say %hoa& #long %ith "hysical communication, verbal communication is 0ust as im"ortant& -$ a ri!er is ri!ing a horse that is e(cite! or very alert, they can say sim"le comman!s such as slo% an! easy to kee" the horses attention on the ri!er& Members o$ this community communicate %ith other members as %ell& 'his !oes not al%ays inclu!e verbal communication& From e("erience on trail ri!es, i$ you %ere to ri!e u" on another grou" you %oul! kno% to kee" your s"ace $rom the other horses& 'his is a %ay o$ res"ect to the other ri!ers& #long %ith vocabulary an! communication metho!s, there are various actions that members o$ this community consi!er %hen being aroun! horses& For instance, ri!ers kno% that they shoul! not %alk u" behin! their horse& 'here are t%o %ays to maneuver aroun! a horse& 9ou can either %alk really %i!e aroun! behin! them, or you can touch them on the shoul!er an! take one big ste" un!er their neck& #!!itionally, ri!ers kno% to kee" their !istance %hen they are ri!ing %ith a grou"& 'he saying is to kee" a horse6s !istance bet%een you an! the horse in $ront o$ you& .ome horses like to have their o%n s"ace, so this allo%s there to be "lenty o$ s"ace bet%een the t%o horses& Furthermore, ri!ers kno% to al%ays enter the ring an! go to the right& 'his is not that im"ortant $or ri!ers that ri!e $or $un+ ho%ever at horsesho%s this can "revent horses $rom running into each other& Ho%ever, i$ t%o ri!ers are ri!ing in the o""osite !irection, they shoul! kno% to "ass each other le$t han! to le$t han!& #ll these actions re"resent %ays to communicate %ith others in the horse community&

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:ltimately, the horseback ri!ing !iscourse community is no !i$$erent than any other !iscourse community& 'hey have their o%n goals, vocabulary, an! communication metho!s that make them uni2ue&

Works 8ite! 'illman, Evie .& 'ele"hone intervie%& ; Nov& 2013&

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War!le, Eli/abeth, an! <oug <o%ns& Writing About Writing& 1oston, M#= 1e!$or!>.t&Martin, 2011& ?rint&