Rose English is best known for her contributions to the development of performance art in Britain. Emerging from the conceptual art, dance and feminist scenes of the 1970s, English has developed an extensive interdisciplinary practice over the past 40 years, honing a unique artistic vocabulary that has consistently analysed and commentated on aesthetics, politics and philosophy, including aspects of British pop culture, from showgirls and show horses to magic acts and pantomime. Her work challenges conventional understandings of both feminism and femininity through the combination of forms with which she engages, including theatre, circus, poetry and fine art, producing acclaimed performances but also works in other media such as film and installation. Majesty and play extend into English’s choreographed equestrian performances. The stateliness of horses, with the pomp and ceremony of horse shows and the power of female camaraderie, take centre stage in her seminal performance art piece, Quadrille (1975). A comment on the class system in the U.K., horses also stand-in for the breeding lines of females. The presence of the same small ceramic horses in the newly released photo edition of Tessa Pregnant with Joseph (1974/2021) demonstrates a tender interspecies side to English’s work with horses, in which gestation and maternal care come to the fore.