All right, first thing that comes to mind: I can see centaurs being WAY popular in the gay male BDSM subculture. Damn, talk about the parties, and the new kinds of sex that'd result. Sort of similar to one queer guy I know telling me he loved amputees, because... well, you get it. I imagine centaur drag shows, wow, the theater that would be created, Trannyshack style. And TV shows, fashion shows, Centaur Eye for the Straight Guy. And they'd be really good mechanics. Some would be rowdy, some would be upstanding citizens. Centaur literary events, centaur spoken word, centaur restaurants, centaur literature. And the Olympics might never be the same. Oh, centaur tractor pulls!
This is wonderful! I guess I'm the more traditional thinking person because I had always imagined that they'd be gentle creatures (part horse) but a little shy by nature, love nature and exploring new places (they'd make great geographers) as well as bibliophilic. I'd imagine that they were a community group, but don't mind sitting (kneeling?) down alone on top of a wind carved crag to meditate their place in the world. They'd be braniacs with a spot of temper in them, and they would never say neigh (nay) to a good bushel of apples.
In Xena, most plot/story lines have centaurs in conflict with Amazons, or Xena's thug pals back when she was evil, and they're hearty, awkward warriors. A sub theme involves them being killed, their lands encroached upon, and so forth. Portrayed mostly in browns and greys, living in dusty environments and rickety wooden fences. I think in an ideal world Xena-story centaurs just want to be left alone. If you ever get the chance, there's an episode of Xena where Gabrielle is producing a play in a popular city, and a rather pretentious centaur auditions, and it's hilarious. edit: Found the episode. The centaur character's scene starts at approx 12:35, and he's in another small scene starting approx 18:20--