About

I've been horse-crazy ever since I was a small child and my dream, like so many horse-crazy little girls, was to have my own horse (preferably a wild mustang that I only could tame and that I would be able to ride without any saddle or bridle).

I started riding aged 10, at a riding school. I tried several different disciplines, from jumping to dressage, fell off quite a lot, discovered side-saddle, was taught to think that the epitome of good riding was to be able to use a curb bit, had a vague ambition of competing one day.

I rode many different horses and ponies, while still dreaming that I would one day have my own. And then there was the one. A grumpy little French Trotter called Québec who could not stand having a bit in his mouth, who was always angry, who hated both people and horses. We bonded. And when the riding school decided to sell him, I bought him.

I had already started to ride him bitless then. This horse made me question what I had learnt. And go back to my childhood dreams of riding without constraint, without force. With trust. My journey as an equestrian has taken another route, as I question more and more what seemed "normal" to me before. And this is why I have created this blog. To question, to interrogate. To share my opinion, in the hope that it will prompt discussion. To share what I have learnt, even though I still have a long way to go.

I had to say goodbye to my wonderful Québec much to early, after a long illness and a tragic accident. His legacy lives on, though, through two young ponies I adopted and that he "raised" in many ways. He changed the way I saw horses and made me, I hope, a better horsewoman. He also inspired me, in so many ways.

Horses are not only my hobby. They were the focuss of the research I did while studying at the Sorbonne University in Paris, for my Master's degree in Medieval History, on the subject of the relationship between horses and men in the 11th to 15th century. I carried on with this research with a PhD at the University of Exeter. My thesis was on "The Education of a Noble Beast: The Breaking-in and Training of Horses in Medieval France (1250-1550)."

Because I believe that the medieval way of seeing, caring for, riding, healing, training horses can interest the equestrian community in general, and not just historians, I will also share my research on this blog.

Academic publications

Vo Van Qui, Camille. « Good Mothers or Lascivious Females. The Perception of Mares in the Context of Equine Husbandry and Breeding in Medieval France (1200-1500).” Cheiron: the International Journal of Equine and Equestrian History, Vol. x, No. x (2023).

Ameen, C., H. Benkert , T. Fraser, R. Gordon, M. Holmes, W. Johnson, M. Lauritsen, M. Maltby, K. Rapp, T. Townend, G. P. Baker, L. M. Jones, C. Vo Van Qui, R. Webley, R. Liddiard, N. Sykes, O. H. Creighton, R. Thomas, and A. K. Outram. “In search of the ‘great horse’: A zooarchaeological assessment of horses from England (AD 300–1650).” International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 31, 6 (2021):1247– 1257. https://doi.org/10.1002/oa.3038.

Ameen, Carly, Gary Baker, Helene Benkert, Camille Vo Van Qui, Robert Webley, Robert Liddiard, Alan K. Outram, and Oliver H. Creighton. “Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Medieval Warhorse.” Cheiron: the International Journal of Equine and Equestrian History, Vol. 1, No. 1 (2021): 84-103. https://doi.org/10.22618/TP.Cheiron.20211.1.233005.