Georgian horsemen in Wild West Shows

Georgian horsemen were notable participants of the Wild West Shows in the 1890s. Billed as Russian Cossacks, the riders from Georgia featured in circuses and shows well into the first half of the 20th century. Their performances, featuring trick riding and folk dance, were extremely popular and exerted significant influence on cowboys in the United States.

The history of Georgian horsemen in the Wild West shows began in 1892, when they first joined the Buffalo Bill’s Wild West in England. There were ten of them, ranging in age from 18 to 25, under the leadership of a man called Prince Ivan Makharadze. In 1893 the Gurians went to the United States, where for more than 30 years they performed under the name of Russian Cossacks in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West as well as other circuses and shows. The Gurian riders were called Cossacks for different reasons, including that Georgia was part of the Russian Empire at that time (Georgia was annexed by Czar’s Russia in 1801 and by Soviet Russia in 1921) and that the Cossacks had a colorful reputation. There is no doubt no that those so called “Cossacks” were Georgians, because almost in every case the surnames of this horsemen ended with suffixes “-dze”, “-shvili”, “-ia” and “-iani”. These endings of Georgian surnames indicate which area of the country they originated from.

The usual performance of Georgians began with the riders, all dressed in national outfit (chokha in Georgian), taking the stage while carrying their weapons and singing. First they marched around the arena, then stopped and dismounted on mid-stage, broke into a new song and started to perform one of Georgian native dances to the accompaniment of handclaps. Sometimes this dance was executed upon a wooden platform. This act usually followed by stunt riding. The riders performed a series of manoeuvres (they were standing on their heads up, standing straight in the saddle, riding three horses simultaneously, jumping to the ground and then back, picking up small objects from the ground; one of the tricks that was very popular with the spectators was, the rider at full gallop standing on horseback and shooting) including the most risky tricks, carried out only by a chosen few. One of these tricks was when a rider removed his saddle and dismounted while riding at a full gallop and then remounted again fixing the saddle back on a horse. This trick riding style was called Dzhigitovka (a Turkic word taken to mean skilful and courageous rider).

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