"We Owe Our Equestrian People for Our Circuses"

My favorite living history friend is Carol Jarboe. 

A retired English teacher from Kentucky, we share not only a love of history, but of teaching, horses, and more.

She has several historical personas that she appears as, but her most beloved by the crowds is Maggie, an indentured Irish woman with a sharp wit and tongue. 

Sometimes she is so believable that people offer to help her. A man once drew her aside, said he was a dentist, and offered to fix her teeth. He was quite surprised when she shared that she actually had all her teeth and was wearing a retainer that made it look as though they were in bad shape!

Proof! Carol, me, Carol's husband John, and Lisa at last year's Feast set-up.

Carol is doing research for a new presentation on how 18th century folks entertained themselves when their work was done. And she told me a remarkable story, one that is equestrian related, about how the circus came to the United States. 

You know me, a horsey girl all the way (plus one who collects circus horses), so I asked if I could record what she had to say. Carol was agreeable but said she was still doing some fact checking on a name or two. She will let me know if she got one wrong.

Here's what she shared:

Pretty interesting, isn't it? I had never thought about the angle of the horse's body as a rider jumped on and how important the size of the ring was to facilitate that.

Carol is planning on doing this new presentation at this year's Feast. I hope I can get away for it and hear what she has to say.