The women who paved the way

Between the 18th and 20th centuries, a group of pioneering females defied the expectations of their time by playing a central role in the world of fieldsports

- MELANIE CABLE-ALEXANDER

DID YOU know that the only Olympic sport today where men and women compete together is in equestrianism, and that riding clothes – namely for hunting – are the first and oldest specialised sporting garments? It’s an extraordinary fact that American historian of modern British and European history Dr Erica Munkwitz relays on a Zoom call from New York. She chuckles at my surprise: “It’s something that really throws my sports historian friends but where else do you see specialised sporting clothing being created as early as in horse sports? The answer is nowhere.”

This snippet of historical information isn’t just about fashion or “co-ed” sports, as Dr Munkwitz calls mixed competitive activities such as riding and hunting, but relates to the central role that women played in the arena of fieldsports, field trials and racing during that wonderful revolutionary and enterprising era when The Field was founded and when a woman – Queen Victoria – was on the throne.

It’s an area in which Dr Munkwitz is something of an expert, having specialised in gender, sports and Empire. Her latest book, published in 2021, is titled Women, Horse Sports and Liberation, and is a lively canter through equestrianism in Britain from the 18th to the 20th century. Dr Munkwitz knows her stuff.