Dr. JuliAnna Ávila often refers to herself as a horse person. I first met JuliAnna about fifteen years ago when she was interviewing for a position in English education at UNC Charlotte. Since I was on the search committee, we had several conversations about the possibility of her coming to Charlotte. Even then, she wanted to know if it would be possible for her to find a place outside of the city where she could keep a horse. She joined the English Department in 2010, and a few years later she acquired a horse named Angel.
Over the years, JuliAnna and I often talked about her horse. During these conversations, she mentioned her interest in Vaquero horsemanship, which is a traditional approach to training and caring for horses that emphasizes the importance of developing a bond between the rider and the horse. JuliAnna expressed a desire to write a book on this topic, and I encouraged her to pursue this idea. Well, I am pleased to report that she wrote the book and Purdue University Press just published it under the title Fine Horses and Fair-Minded Riders: Modern Vaquero Horsemanship as part of its New Directions in Human-Animal Bond series. For more information about the book, see here.
I recently contacted JuliAnna and asked her about how she came to write Fine Horses and Fair-Minded Riders. Here is what she sent to me:
In 2012, I found the horse who started me on the journey to researching Vaquero Horsemanship on a small farm about 30 miles southeast of Charlotte. I arrived at UNC Charlotte in 2010, and that was the first time that I really started venturing outside of the city. As soon as I started looking for a boarding barn for Angel, I learned quickly that you don’t need to travel far outside of Charlotte to find semi-rural and rural horse country (Waxhaw is probably the closest example of this but certainly not the only one). I grew up in Los Angeles and having horses there means that they are very often squeezed into human-sized spaces since land is so expensive and, overall, it is just terribly crowded—clearly far less than ideal for horses. Owning a horse while living in Charlotte meant that, a relatively short drive away, there were places where horses could live more like horses—outside 24/7 with grass and friends and some space to move around. I thought that that was a wonderful aspect of life in the Charlotte area–that there were so many beautiful farms and agricultural areas around it.
And the study that led to this book started in the Charlotte area since I began by talking to the horsepeople I knew; they then recommended others to talk to in expanding geographical circles that began in North and South Carolina and then the southeast and then the western U.S., as the final stage of my project included the teachers and mentors of my original group of study participants. After several years of interviewing and collecting the stories of riders who study and practice Vaquero Horsemanship, I’ve written this book; this all began with driving out to see a sweet, spirited, red mare on a lovely, ordinary spring day.
I congratulate JuliAnna on the publicationof Fine Horses and Fair-Minded Riders: Modern Vaquero Horsemanship. Although it is published by a university press, it is not a book that is intended exclusively for academics. As JuliAnna stated in a recent interview, “Even though I am an academic, I tried to write it for a general audience who are interested in horses and horsemanship.” In my opinion, JuliAnna’s book should appeal to anyone in Storied Charlotte who has an interest in the special relationship between horses and humans.