YREKA, CA, UNITED STATES, September 7, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ — Based on a true story and actual events, Horse of Nature is set in the middle of the remote Cascade Siskiyou Mountains near the Oregon/California border, where the tiny town of 400 people called Henley Hornbrook exists.
In 2018, a deadly wind driven wildfire tore through the town, the lives of its people, and surrounding countryside.
The documentary film Horse of Nature offers a glimpse into the lives of some of the survivors of that wildfire and the local herd of cultural heritage wild horses that played a role in the battle to control what became known as the Klamathon Fire.
“Horses have been integral in building and progressing societies around the world, and so it’s been healing to explore in this film how horses can help save our modern relationship with nature and the aid in the wildfire epidemic,” said the film’s producer director Autie Carlisle.
Of great historical importance is that, in the year 1580, British officer and serving Knight Sir Francis Drake was on a military exploration mission of the west coast of what is today America, when he discovered horses living among the local indigenous peoples of the area that is today the Oregon/California border. This documented observation was included in the doctoral dissertation of Dr. Yvette ‘Running Horse’ Collin, PhD:
This is the excerpt from Dr. Collin’s doctoral dissertation:
“The Spanish conquistadors were not the only European explorers to have noticed and recorded early sightings of horses in the Americas. In 1579, the Queen of England sent Sir Francis Drake to ‘The New World.’ Drake also recorded having seen herds of horses in the Americas during his voyage off the coasts of what are now known as California and Oregon. An account given of Drake’s landing in the geographic areas now known as Northern California and Southern Oregon includes the English explorer’s description of the homes of the Native Peoples, as well as the animals that he encountered. It related his wonder at seeing so many wild horses, because he had heard that the Spaniards had found no native horses in America, save those of the Arab breed which they had introduced.”
The relevance of Drake’s discovery is that it came just 88 years after Christopher Columbus first landed on the east coast of the North American continent with just a few horses from Europe, which were critical assets and closely guarded. During the 1500s, there was no manner or method for the importation and subsequent accidental release of tens of thousands of horses that would be required for some of them to somehow reach the far northwestern opposite side of the North American continent in just 88 years. This historical fact provides evidence that splinter populations of native North American horses did in fact survive the Ice Age contrary to now obsolete science and belief that they went extinct. And some of the descendants and genetic blood lines of the Drake horses remain on the landscape in the mountains of the Oregon/California border area near Henley Hornbrook, California.
Deb Ferns, president of the all-volunteer nonprofit Wild Horse Fire Brigade (‘WHFB’) said: “We are very pleased and excited that the EQUUS Film Festival has ‘Officially Selected’ Horse of Nature to be screened at the festival. That is such an honor! Autie Carlisle has done a splendid job producing this documentary along with her team. This heartfelt documentary drama takes an honest look into some of the lives of wildfire survivors and the cultural heritage herd of horses that our organization (WHFB) is working hard to study and preserve. There is no doubt that this herd of horses should be protected under the Antiquities Act.”
About the EQUUS Film & Arts Festival (http://www.equusfilmfestival.net):
The EQUUS Film & Arts Fest is the world’s premier showcase for domestic and International Equestrian Content feature films, documentaries, shorts, music videos, commercials, training and educational materials, art, and literature, in addition to film programming, interesting guest speakers and presenters, informative panels, industry workshops, hosting exhibits, and interactive experiences with horses and trainers.
EQUUS Strives to bring a greater awareness and understanding of the unique relationship between horses and the humans who love them.
More about Autie Carlisle here: https://www.autiecarlisle.com/documentaries
Horse of Nature: The Trailer — https://vimeo.com/998882803/001b27d9c1?share=copy
Deb Ferns
Wild Horse Fire Brigade
Visit www.wildhorsefirebrigade.org for more information.
