Horses in Auroville

The conversation about horses in Auroville started even before the inauguration of the city, when Frederick, who was one of Auroville’s first residents, wrote to The Mother to express his interest in bringing horses from the Madras Race course. The idea took hold and even Roger Anger embraced the concept of horseback and horse-powered transport, proposing to put facilities for the horses in the north-east section of Auroville, in present-day Fertile. 

In 1970, the Madras Riding Club donated a retired racehorse named Bettershine to Auroville. Francis brought him to Forecomers, where he would ride him along the canyons and down to the beach. “A man came with the first video camera that I ever saw and made a short video of Bettershine and me to send to The Mother,” Francis recollects. “She was delighted.” 

Then around 1976, recalls Janna, Frederick’s sister, a group of early Aurovilians and children went to Tiruvannamalai during the Deepam Festival in November for the famous annual Horse and Cattle Market. The children selected two ponies and a small horse, which were brought back to Auroville on foot. 

Auroville’s spirited youth immediately took to these diminutive equines, easily adopting a natural riding style through trial and error with no equipment needed other than a length of rope.  And in such a rural landscape, the children could keep their ponies under their keet huts and let them forage for the bulk of their nourishment. A unique connection of trust and familiarity grew between the children and their ponies. The sandy soil that had proven so challenging for a bicycle was actually an ideal footing for the ponies. As interest took off, Janna was able to get a pony stallion in Pondicherry and an informal breeding programme started that created a whole line of Auroville-born ponies that still populate Auroville today. Many can trace their lineage back to Vishva, one of those original ponies from Tiruvannamalai. 

Several adults also joined in. Janna, who had developed a passion for the equestrian sport with Frederick in post-war Germany, was joined by Tine as well as Karlheinz and Clementine, and they would explore the empty landscape of Auroville on horseback. Thoroughbreds started showing up in larger numbers, often sourced through Dr Karthikeyan, the former chief veterinarian of the Madras Race course who has helped foster the equestrian spirit in Auroville throughout the years. Bernard Borg, who started the community of Sharnga, went so far as to set up a stud farm for the breeding of thoroughbreds, using his contacts at the Bangalore Racecourse. Equipped with formal stables and a sprinkler system, his green pastures and stately horses were quite a contrast to the surrounding barren red soil. 

These early years were heady with romanticism . The children rode their ponies all over Auroville and beyond, unimpeded by fences or congested roads. From the Matrimandir construction site down to the Bay of Bengal, they had free range of the Auroville terrain and could gallop down the canyons fearlessly. 

Frederick remembers riding his cycle one night when he heard the sound of hoof beats behind him, “And suddenly there was little red-haired Sukrit, going full blast in the middle of the night, letting the horse finds its way through the dark.”

A shift in structure

But concerns within the community about the welfare of the ponies, which were sometimes tethered outside the schools with limited access to food and water, as well as the departure of their riders as they grew older led to an increasing need to rethink and reorganize the care of these animals. So efforts were made to create communal facilities for the ponies and horses. 

In 1988, Achilles began to gather up the “surplus” ponies and created Pony Farm for them in Kottakarai. Though at first he tried to limit the number of ponies he took on, the number swiftly mounted to 30. With school finishing at lunchtime, those children interested could spend the entire afternoon grooming, riding, and feeding the ponies. The option of riding at Pony Farm became a part of the Auroville sports programme, but Achilles firmly maintained that his students had to pursue riding of their own volition, and not just as a required class. 

But whereas Pony Farm continued the saddle- and bridle-less approach to riding, others in the community wanted to practice classical styles of riding with the necessary equipment. Red Earth Riding School was started by Jacqueline to offer new forms of equestrian sport, with classes in dressage and show jumping taught by Eric, Catalina, and Ann. 

Lili, who had a horse in Auroville while growing up and learned at both Pony Farm and Red Earth, recalls, “Every afternoon, we had a safe place which was also a learning space. We were taking responsibility for the horses while still having immense amounts of freedom.”

The current landscape

In recent years, the opportunities for riding in Auroville have become concentrated in three equestrian centres, which offer distinct experiences based upon their respective philosophies. (Dehashakti Sportsground also had a small horse programme run by Priam, but this has been closed down.)

Baraka was started in Fertile Windmill ten years ago when Achilles shifted the ponies there from Pony Farm. He has been joined in the endeavour by Mahi, who learned to ride as a child in Pony Farm and now does the bulk of the teaching. Whether riding in the ring or out on the forest trails of Auroville, students continue to ride bareback with halters. Fifteen horses currently live there, enabling 40 students to have weekly classes, though many more apply than can be accepted. On certain days of the week, therapeutic sessions are offered for disabled children. Members from the larger community can witness the close relationship between horses and riders during the annual Baraka Fair, a day-long event filled with horsemanship and riding demonstrations. 

Evergreen was first started in 1998 by Sara and Bettina, and later developed into a natural horsemanship school. The focus has been on the Parelli method of natural horsemanship, which employs a series of games based on equine psychology to establish clear communication between horse and human [See Auroville Today Issue No: 322, May 2016]. This year, the natural horsemanship school has shifted to Gaia, where it is closer to the schools and other sports activities. It has been renamed Ashwangandha, meaning ‘essence of horse’, and has already grown to 4 horses, 4 ponies, and 8 team members. Resolutely not a riding school, it aims to offer classes in natural horsemanship and equine-assisted learning and therapy to children and young adults in Auroville.  

Red Earth Riding School greatly expanded after its move from Kottakarai to Brihaspathi Farm in 2002. Continuing to focus on classical riding, it also opened the door to more contacts with the equestrian community in India, particularly through the hosting of annual riding competitions where riders from all over South India participate. Today the riding school has 30 horses and ponies. It welcomes a mix of Auroville students and outside clients who learn from Red Earth’s home-grown trainers like Kali and Cameron, with higher level dressage classes taught by Jacqueline.

Several Aurovilians have also continued to keep their horses at home, and each demonstrate their own distinct philosophy on horsemanship and riding. The stud farm in Sharnga no longer exists, but Bernard’s daughter Mirrabelle continues the tradition of horses there. Tine has three horses in Aurogreen and over the years has trained two of the babies born to her mares, relying on classical German horse training manuals for guidance. Janna, now in her 80s, has consistently kept horses since her arrival in Auroville, and has developed a small dressage arena so that she doesn’t have to ride out into the increasingly busy roads around Akashwa. And until recently, Edzard kept horses in Discipline, which he would ride bareback around Auroville.

A major undertaking

But the development of Auroville and its surroundings has brought new challenges. The consistent knowledgeable care that horses need can pose an obstacle when more Aurovilians are travelling outside the community.  In Red Earth and some of the at-home horse facilities, this has required the employment of hired workers. Horse feed, particularly oats, has increased in price along with everything else and Achilles calculates that for the amount he spent for 30 ponies in the past, he probably wouldn’t be able to keep 10 today. However, now he is able to ask for a monthly contribution from all his riders, making the financial situation far less chaotic than it used to be. Ashwagandha takes the approach of dividing horse care responsibilities between its team members. Red Earth has offered free and subsidized lessons for Auroville riders, while charging riders from outside the community. 

Safety has also presented a challenge. With many of the horses coming from the racecourse, Frederick notes they may exhibit either psychological or physical damage, and this must be skillfully and sensitively handled. Increasing traffic on the roads of Auroville has also made it more difficult for riders to safely ride around Auroville.

With the looming issue of water scarcity in Auroville, the water consumption of horses – both for drinking and for bathing – must be carefully addressed, particularly in the hot summer months. A widespread move toward pastures equipped with ponds and wastewater recycling for horse showers is needed. 

A sustaining joy

But in spite of the mounting challenges associated with keeping horses, their numbers do not seem to be diminishing. 

“You need energy for Auroville,” explains Janna. “And horse riding gives me strength in the morning. It’s very calming with good energy. I am always in a good mood around horses.”

And, in the words of Achilles, horses are a means to “inner and outer balance.”