Horses for courses: Human Horse Races
Horsin' around: An Oral History of the Human Horse Races
Ingrid Anderson talks to Paul Oswell
Thanksgiving Day is when many people traditionally dress up in their holiday finest and head to the racetrack. But for the last few years, there's an alternative event that has attracted more and more attendees every year - a family-friendly festival called Human Horse Races. We caught up with creator Ingrid Anderson to get the full story.
OAD: How did you come up with the idea of Human Horse Races, and why?
Ingrid Anderson: So in 2014, I was one of the artists that went to the fairgrounds for Thanksgiving. There's a decent sized group that goes there who are artists, and assorted eccentric people. It's their time to mingle, be seen, and get all fancy in their costume and their big hats. It's like a showcase. That year, for my own reasons, I decided to wear a horse head to the Fairgrounds. I think it was my way of asking, “What if the horses wanted to have a good time too?”
That seems like a fair question to ask.
Yeah, I think that's when the seed got planted, really. There's really a lot of people that go to the track that don't care about the horse racing at all, and it's literally just for them to hang out at a social event. My son was very young at the time. I didn't have the means at that moment to get an alternative event started. Then I started befriending folks who were in the vegan and vegetarian community and one close friend at the time was refusing to go the Fairgrounds, as it was against their morals.
So there were a few factors that helped spark the idea?
Yes, those things really made a mark for me, and then years later, I sat down with that friend and proposed the idea, and they loved it and wanted to help me make it happen. So I started formulating a team from my circle of friends and the inaugural Human Horse Races took place in 2019.
What do you remember about that first event?
I didn't know what to expect <laughs>! I was expecting maybe 50 to 75 people to come but around 300 people showed up. Just from word of mouth. And it was a hoot! It was obvious I definitely hit a nerve with the community. We had no budget. We were operating on blind faith and just throwing together cardboard gates for people to run out of.
Tell us a little bit more about the process of setting up that first one.
I lived in Mid City for a long time and there is this beautiful park, Easton Park. All of my friends and people who were helping also lived right around there. So I got them involved, and also my friends in The Dapper Dandies to play live music. It was pretty guerrilla, but it was still spectacular. People had such a fun time.
How did you get the runners and riders involved?
So we tried a couple of ways. That first year we tried to have a sign up on our website but that got messy so now you sign up on the day-of.
I understand you create fictional stables and characters?
There's so many convoluted details! We're a bunch of artists and entertainers, so we create this fantasy world and then invite people into it. There are five stables, so five racing lanes. The stables all have personality traits and then there’s the horse characters, which we create and change every year. We give them a total backstory and their persona fits their stable personality. There’s even theatrical horse drama between them, it's just really funny.
So how many people were involved the first year as compared to now? How has the event evolved?
How the races work definitely has changed because the first year we had very little rules. We were still figuring things out. Like a lot of parents raced with their kids, so now we have a dedicated kids’ track. It's a lot more freeform and we just kind of let the kids do whatever. Then from noon to three, it's going to be eight races total, including a family race because parents do want to race with their kids. We're also going to end with an exotic animal race for the first time. Last year, we found that a lot of people wanted to enter, but their costumes did not allow them to put the horse head on.
Do people make costumes especially for the event?
Yeah! We encourage it! We have three different costume contests, and it’s impressive, the participation that it inspires in everyone. And I think that's one of the magical things about this city, it's what's so fun about going to Mardi Gras parties, just to see what everyone else is wearing.
In terms of attendance, has it grown a lot since the first year?
Yes! It's been doubling every year. In 2020, we had to break for Covid, and so 2021 was our second annual event, and that was around 600 people. Last year was the third one and we were around 900 people. This year we expect over a thousand people. We’ll have food trucks and vendors and porta potties. Many of them <laughs>! Art Camp 504 is our fiscal sponsor this year, they're a beautiful, non-profit, kids’ art camp, which will also have a crafts table up at the event.
So it's like a small family festival now?
Yeah. It's getting to be that. The week leading up to it, Art Camp 504 is opening up some workshops, and then the people who sign up for those workshops have the opportunity to strut down our track to do a little fashion show at half time. We're trying to figure out all the different ways to really get the community involved. A lot of festivals that I've gone to don't really include the kids all that much, but we really love it.
Do people buy tickets or is it free?
I'm trying to figure out how to make it sustainable. As of now, it's a suggested donation to enter. I want a minimum-to-zero barrier to be able to be a part of it. We get some sponsorships and a tourism grant, but it’s hard work. It's really hard. We try to give as many proceeds from the day to a horse sanctuary. We want to actually give back to these beautiful beasts, make some horses’ lives better. This year we’ll donate to Greeno Equine Sanctuary in LeBlanc, Louisiana. They have a lot of horses at their farm and they do good work.
Can you gamble on the races?
You can, but in a safe way. Essentially it's a raffle, so you pay money to get the raffle tickets, and then you drop tickets into cups that signify each horse in each race. The winning cup from each race gets picked and we draw from that to choose our 8 prize winners. Our gift baskets are really good this year, NOAC gave us a three month membership, we have tickets to the Audubon Zoo and some products from other small businesses. So it gives it a sense of excitement, but no one's going to lose a bunch of money.
Do you think you could get any bigger?
I…<laughs> I would love to. I would love to rent out a stadium. My dream is Tad Gormley Stadium, but there’s a lot going on this time of year for City Park. If we hit a critical mass of people, then maybe it will be possible in the future. But it’s so much work. I'm waking up at like 4am just to get everything set up. I have to make a living as well and then there’s child care and my whole life outside of human horse racing.
But it must be worth it in the end?
Yes. It’s something that fills me with so much joy, creating uplifting experiences. I just love it. I mean maybe that's why I’m here, to bring a community together and share these amazing artistic, interactive experiences. I love it.
Find out more about the Human Horse Races
Ingrid Anderson talks to Paul Oswell
Thanksgiving Day is when many people traditionally dress up in their holiday finest and head to the racetrack. But for the last few years, there's an alternative event that has attracted more and more attendees every year - a family-friendly festival called Human Horse Races. We caught up with creator Ingrid Anderson to get the full story.
OAD: How did you come up with the idea of Human Horse Races, and why?
Ingrid Anderson: So in 2014, I was one of the artists that went to the fairgrounds for Thanksgiving. There's a decent sized group that goes there who are artists, and assorted eccentric people. It's their time to mingle, be seen, and get all fancy in their costume and their big hats. It's like a showcase. That year, for my own reasons, I decided to wear a horse head to the Fairgrounds. I think it was my way of asking, “What if the horses wanted to have a good time too?”
That seems like a fair question to ask.
Yeah, I think that's when the seed got planted, really. There's really a lot of people that go to the track that don't care about the horse racing at all, and it's literally just for them to hang out at a social event. My son was very young at the time. I didn't have the means at that moment to get an alternative event started. Then I started befriending folks who were in the vegan and vegetarian community and one close friend at the time was refusing to go the Fairgrounds, as it was against their morals.
So there were a few factors that helped spark the idea?
Yes, those things really made a mark for me, and then years later, I sat down with that friend and proposed the idea, and they loved it and wanted to help me make it happen. So I started formulating a team from my circle of friends and the inaugural Human Horse Races took place in 2019.
What do you remember about that first event?
I didn't know what to expect <laughs>! I was expecting maybe 50 to 75 people to come but around 300 people showed up. Just from word of mouth. And it was a hoot! It was obvious I definitely hit a nerve with the community. We had no budget. We were operating on blind faith and just throwing together cardboard gates for people to run out of.
Tell us a little bit more about the process of setting up that first one.
I lived in Mid City for a long time and there is this beautiful park, Easton Park. All of my friends and people who were helping also lived right around there. So I got them involved, and also my friends in The Dapper Dandies to play live music. It was pretty guerrilla, but it was still spectacular. People had such a fun time.
How did you get the runners and riders involved?
So we tried a couple of ways. That first year we tried to have a sign up on our website but that got messy so now you sign up on the day-of.
I understand you create fictional stables and characters?
There's so many convoluted details! We're a bunch of artists and entertainers, so we create this fantasy world and then invite people into it. There are five stables, so five racing lanes. The stables all have personality traits and then there’s the horse characters, which we create and change every year. We give them a total backstory and their persona fits their stable personality. There’s even theatrical horse drama between them, it's just really funny.
So how many people were involved the first year as compared to now? How has the event evolved?
How the races work definitely has changed because the first year we had very little rules. We were still figuring things out. Like a lot of parents raced with their kids, so now we have a dedicated kids’ track. It's a lot more freeform and we just kind of let the kids do whatever. Then from noon to three, it's going to be eight races total, including a family race because parents do want to race with their kids. We're also going to end with an exotic animal race for the first time. Last year, we found that a lot of people wanted to enter, but their costumes did not allow them to put the horse head on.
Do people make costumes especially for the event?
Yeah! We encourage it! We have three different costume contests, and it’s impressive, the participation that it inspires in everyone. And I think that's one of the magical things about this city, it's what's so fun about going to Mardi Gras parties, just to see what everyone else is wearing.
In terms of attendance, has it grown a lot since the first year?
Yes! It's been doubling every year. In 2020, we had to break for Covid, and so 2021 was our second annual event, and that was around 600 people. Last year was the third one and we were around 900 people. This year we expect over a thousand people. We’ll have food trucks and vendors and porta potties. Many of them <laughs>! Art Camp 504 is our fiscal sponsor this year, they're a beautiful, non-profit, kids’ art camp, which will also have a crafts table up at the event.
So it's like a small family festival now?
Yeah. It's getting to be that. The week leading up to it, Art Camp 504 is opening up some workshops, and then the people who sign up for those workshops have the opportunity to strut down our track to do a little fashion show at half time. We're trying to figure out all the different ways to really get the community involved. A lot of festivals that I've gone to don't really include the kids all that much, but we really love it.
Do people buy tickets or is it free?
I'm trying to figure out how to make it sustainable. As of now, it's a suggested donation to enter. I want a minimum-to-zero barrier to be able to be a part of it. We get some sponsorships and a tourism grant, but it’s hard work. It's really hard. We try to give as many proceeds from the day to a horse sanctuary. We want to actually give back to these beautiful beasts, make some horses’ lives better. This year we’ll donate to Greeno Equine Sanctuary in LeBlanc, Louisiana. They have a lot of horses at their farm and they do good work.
Can you gamble on the races?
You can, but in a safe way. Essentially it's a raffle, so you pay money to get the raffle tickets, and then you drop tickets into cups that signify each horse in each race. The winning cup from each race gets picked and we draw from that to choose our 8 prize winners. Our gift baskets are really good this year, NOAC gave us a three month membership, we have tickets to the Audubon Zoo and some products from other small businesses. So it gives it a sense of excitement, but no one's going to lose a bunch of money.
Do you think you could get any bigger?
I…<laughs> I would love to. I would love to rent out a stadium. My dream is Tad Gormley Stadium, but there’s a lot going on this time of year for City Park. If we hit a critical mass of people, then maybe it will be possible in the future. But it’s so much work. I'm waking up at like 4am just to get everything set up. I have to make a living as well and then there’s child care and my whole life outside of human horse racing.
But it must be worth it in the end?
Yes. It’s something that fills me with so much joy, creating uplifting experiences. I just love it. I mean maybe that's why I’m here, to bring a community together and share these amazing artistic, interactive experiences. I love it.
Find out more about the Human Horse Races