Gurian Horsemen Abroad

Abstract

At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, Guria was gripped by a desire to travel to America, driven by the prospects of financial gain and making a name for oneself. At the end of the nineteenth century, Thomas Oliver, a representative of an American international circus, arrived in Batumi. He stayed with the American Consul in Batumi, James Chambers. The purpose of his arrival was to select trick riders. At the Con­sul’s residence, Thomas Oliver met Kirile Jorbenadze, a native of Zemo Chibati, who promised to assist him. They departed for Lanchkhuti, stopping along the way in the village of Bakhvi at the household of Ivane Makharadze, who was renowned for his horsemanship. It was decided that they would assemble a troupe. In 1893, the first group of Gurian horsemen departed for America. From then on, over a span of nearly 30 years, more than 150 women and men went abroad a total of 105 times, captivating audiences with their performing mastery. The American researcher Dee Brown wrote: "Trick riding entered the rodeo from the troupe of the wild Cossacks; having become interested in the Cossacks' stunts, which were performed on galloping horses, the Western cowboys soon presented their variation to the American rodeo." Numerous studies and works have been dedicated to the foreign tours of Gurian horsemen by both Georgian and foreign histo­rians. Today, it is well known that these were not Cossacks, but Georgian-Gurian horsemen.