Let’s watch a horse race and witness a racing accident! This clay vase is a kylix, or wine cup, dating to 475-450 BC. Produced in a Boeotian workshop, it depicts a horse race: galloping horses with their naked riders holding the reins and cracking their whips. One horse, however, has stopped, and its rider lies face down on the ground. The incident happened at the hippodrome’s most dangerous point, the kampter, or bend, where the horses turned before continuing the course. There were two bends at either end of the hippodrome. At the bend, the horses would crowd together in the inside lane so as to travel a shorter distance, and this resulted in various mishaps, particularly in chariot races. This is where the riders’ skill and horses’ discipline shone through. In the Hippodrome at Olympia, opposite the kampter was a circular altar for the demon Taraxippus, who was believed to rile the horses and make them panic. Equestrian events were the most spectacular in both local and pan-Hellenic games, and were closely associated with the aristocracy and kings, since it was expensive to keep and train horses. Horse owners hired professional jockeys and charioteers to compete for them. However, it was the rich owner who was considered the victor, not the jockey or the charioteer. Some of the owners were women. This is why in the history of the Olympic Games there were also women victors, who could not participate themselves, only their horses. The first woman to become an Olympic champion was Kyniska, daughter of King Archidamos of Sparta, whose horses won the chariot race in the Olympic Games of 396 and 392 BC.