Interpreting Human–Horse Communication and Equine Agency in Relational Networks of Cohabitance and Care

In the everyday practice of interspecies care, human–animal narration and verbalisation can play a central role in interpreting the agencies of horses and communicating them to other humans. In this chapter, we explore the ways in which interspecies care is enacted, interpreted, and mediated within horse–human relational networks through the use of narrative techniques such as giving voice to animals. The study draws on interviews with livery yard managers in the UK, analysed as performative narratives. We investigate how human–animal narration and verbalisation, supported by tacit knowledge of the yard manager, are used to communicate interpretations of equine agency to horse owners, thus enhancing the construction of professional human–animal expertise. We pay attention to situated becomings within horse–human relationships and the ways of understanding practices of horse care as ethical actions.