Horse Power and Magic

Horse Power and Magic records the working lives and traditions of East Anglian horsemen through memories gathered from older agricultural workers. George Ewart Evans describes how heavy horses were managed, trained and used on farms, including places where horse-drawn work continued after mechanisation had taken hold.

The book also considers the beliefs surrounding exceptional horsemen, whose practical skills could appear almost magical to fellow workers. Accounts include horse-taming methods, secret oils, charms and other remedies associated with controlling or protecting animals. Grounded in rural oral history, Evans’s study brings together farming knowledge, customary practice and folk belief from the changing countryside of East Anglia.