Tidbits of the Month - Equestrian Federation of Jamaica March - April 2014 | Page 7

MARCH - APRIL 2014

OF THE MONTH

‘GIDDY’

UP!
FOREVER CARVED IN STONE!
THE WESTBURY WHITE HORSE IN BRATTON DOWNS,
ENGLAND IS NAMED FOR THE HORSE CARVED INTO
THE HILLSIDE, EXPOSING CHALK, GIVING THE ITS
WHITE APPEARNCE. IT WAS CUT INTO THE HILLSIDE IN
1778, REPLACING AN OLDER HORSE CARVING. THE
ORIGIN OF THIS MONUMENT IS AS OBSCURE AS ITS
ORIGINAL DESIGN. IT MAY HAVE ORIGINALLY BEEN
CARVED TO COMMEMORATE KING ALFRED’S NEARBY
VICTORY OVER THE VIKINGS AT THE BATTLE OF

EÔANDUN (EDINGTON ) IN THE YEAR 878. DURING
TH
THE 18 CENTURY THE WESTBURY WHITE HORSE
BECAME A HERALDIC SYMBOL OF THE NEW ROYAL
FAMILY, THE HOUSE OF HANOVER. IN RECENT YEARS ,
THE WESTBURY WHITE HORSE HAS BEEN CLEANED,
RESTORED AND CAST IN CEMENT TO PROTECT THE
MONUMENT FROM WEATHERING.

NINE HORSE MURAL HILL IN GUILIN, CHINA IS NAMED
FOR THE NINE NATURALLY OCCURING HORSE SHAPED
IMAGES ON THE CLIFF SIDE. IT IS SAID THAT IF YOU CAN
IDENTIFY THE NINE HORSES YOU WILL BE THE NUMBER

ONE SCHOLAR (CONSIDERED A HIGH HONOUR IN THE
CONFUCIAN ERA ). LEGEND STATES THAT THE MONKEY
KING WAS APPOINTED AS PROTECTOR OF THE HORSES IN
HEAVEN, AND BEING THAT HE WAS NOT STRICT, NINE OF
THE HORSES WONDERED OFF AND WENT TO THE

LIJIANG RIVER TO DRINK AND AN ARTIST, SEEING HOW
BEAUTIFUL THEY WERE, WENT CLOSER TO SEE AND
DRAW THEM. WHEN THEY SAW HIM , IT FRIGHTENED
THEM AND THEY RAN INTO THE CLIFF AND NEVER CAME
OUT AGAIN. THIS MOUNTAIN HAS INSPIRED ARTISTS
AND POETS FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS. SEE IF YOU ARE
A ‘NUMBER O NE SCHOLAR”, CAN YOU FIND THE NINE
HORSES? IT IS SAID THAT BILL CLINTON FOUND THEM
WHEN HE VISITED THE W ORLD HERITAGE SITE.

By: Maëlle Johnston

7