Wikipedia
Hippodrama
Hippodrama, or horse drama, is a genre of theatrical show blending circus horsemanship display with popular melodrama theatre. Evolving from earlier equestrian circus, pioneered by Philip Astley in the 1760s, it relied on drama plays written specifically for the genre; trained horses were considered actors along with humans and were even awarded leading roles. Anthony Hippisley-Coxe described hippodrama as "a bastard entertainment born of a misalliance between the circus and the theatre ... that actually inhibited the development of the circus".