Paper short abstract:

This paper explores the embodied skill of 'holding intent' within British horsemanship. It shows that 'becoming with' (Haraway 2008) is not only a way of describing co-constitutive relatedness, it is also a particular locally held ideal, and one that may be shared by insider equine ethnographers.

Paper long abstract:

This paper calls for care in the way 'becoming-with' (Haraway 2008) is used within multi-species literature and particularly within equine ethnography. While most authors explicitly describe the term as the inherent co-shaping of beings through entangled relationships, the language of 'becoming with' lends itself readily to representing the achievement of particular closeness between human and non-human animals. Through ethnographic explorations of a particular embodied horsemanship skill within British horsemanship called 'holding intent', I demonstrate an example of interspecies intra-action which is transformative for both humans and equines involved. However, I also advise care to be taken in analysing this relatedness as horse and human becoming closer, and show that the concept of 'withness' features as part of political, social, emotional discourse for the horse-people I studied. Since many equine ethnographers may share with their interlocuters a desire to be closer to the horse, we must be careful not to conflate 'becoming with' - the process of co-constitution, with becoming 'with' - a human, subjective interpretation of relationship.