What is Horse Human Land? Under the name Raynor Farm, I am creating a little theatre of experimentation: a theme camp, if you will, for the creation, exploration and symbiosis of the many threads that run throughout my life. Energy, art, music, and writing, vegetables, soil, sustainability and connection. Ever since I was a little girl I have been involved with horses, and for the last 2 years I've been exploring the heart of the 5000 year old relationship between these animals and humans. Why is it, that after we have removed their functional role in society, that there are more horses in contact with humans than ever in history? And why are we so mystified? Could it be that they still have something to teach us?
Horses function as strong metaphors for our own development because they pick up on things that we have internalized and buried within ourselves: things that are just on the edge of our awareness. And they embody these things as a physical mirror; as something that is outside of ourselves and yet also IS us, allowing us to bring these things into our consciousness. What's more, they also offer a physical experience of how to use this new awareness to transform and enrich our lives- moments that are capable of uniting the mind, body and soul in ways that transcend anything we can reach through human language.
What exactly does this mean? As a society, many of us are looking for a new way of being: a state that is based on connectedness, relationship and a vision of the whole rather than competition and individual survival. A circle instead of a straight line. This is the beginning of my incarnation of making these thoughts real: of having our interactions with the horses mirror our interactions with the land, and then allowing these experiences to have an impact on how we interact with each other. And to share these experiences with others through writing, workshops and collaborations.
This is the dream. And right now I am deeply embedded in the practical: building fences and gardens, bringing in layers and layers of organic material to build up the fragile blanket of living soil that lies above the bedrock here. There are rock fences that border the edges of the property, fields that will not take a fence post because of their affinity for rock. And so I am borrowing the trees' trunks as posts, and the whole thing is becoming a very organic process: instead of ripping though and clearing lines with a chainsaw, I am now trying to remove as little as possible- to let the trees and the land itself tell me where the fence should go.
Through Horse Human Land I wish to make regular updates of images and words, and to record my experience in a way that invites your comments, feedback, and support. So please consider this an invitation to jump in, share ideas, and pARTicipate. This is intended to be a collaborative project- an experimental incubator, a space to grow new thoughts and ideas. Where will these threads lead? Let's give them space and room, and follow them- noses on the ground, our hearts in the sky, our eyes on the road. Look, a ship approaches. Grab the wheel. Where will these threads lead?
