 |
|
| |
Things We Did at The Voice of the Horse
|
|
| |
What happens when you gather the bits and pieces of how humans and horses have related over the centuries, in different cultures and places, and lay them side-by-side? And when you compare them with the experiences of contemporary people, what kinds of meaning emerge? The Voice of the Horse Gathering gave us a chance to find out.
Below are links to descriptions of the events we held at The Voice of the Horse 2007 Gathering.
Presentations.
We were lucky to have extraordinary presenters such as Jane Savoie, Marj Kittredge, and Ginger Kathrens share stories of their own experiences with the horse-human relationship -- how Jane's great competition dressage horses came into her life and what happened when they did; how Marj came to start equine therapy and what happened between horses and the disabled that ignited a major movement in therapy; and how it was that Ginger came to film wild Mustangs to begin with, and then how she met Cloud and has remained a part of his life for so long.
We also got to hear prolific and popular equine artist Kim McElroy explain how her art expresses the horse-human relationship, as Pulitzer-nominated Chickasaw author Linda Hogan told stories of Indian ponies and women warriors, and Phillip Whiteman, Jr. (Northern Cheyenne) demonstrated his Medicine Wheel Model to Natural Horsemanship with his paint stallion, Sioux Boy. Lakota teenager Kyla Two Bulls presented the research on diabetes in horses and how it relates to the horse-human relationship that won a National Science Fair award when she was only 14 years old. Medeival Times Head Horse Trainer Mario Contreras shared his view of the horse-human relationship in his classical dressage experience, and innovative riding instructor Carmon Deyo brought us all to tears with stories of the horse herd that has adopted her as one of their own.
Horsepeople had never heard or seen these presenters as they heard and saw them in the innovative environment that was The Voice of the Horse 2007. They were inspired, moved, and delighted all at once.
Art Exhibit.
Our art exhibit showed horses in ancient stories and the world's religions, on cave walls and on battlefields alike. One exhibit depicted the horse-human relationship in a number of cultures throughout history, and a second consisted of work by contemporary artists who granted special permission for their pieces to be included in this show. The following is a list of the contemporary artists whose works were showcased:
| Nancy Dunlop Cawdry |
Jenesse Cortez |
Rance Hood (Comanche) |
| Linda Carter Holman |
Kim McElroy |
Joelle Smith |
| Indra Singh |
Lesley Humphrey |
Kevin Red Star (Crow) |
| Sheri Greves Neilson |
Rachel Waller |
Robert Duncan |
| Riley Charters (Salish) |
Victoria Wilson-Schultz |
Kathi Peters |
| Joe Cajero (Jemez Pueblo) |
Stephanie Come-Ryker |
Ivetta Harte |
| Jo Belasco |
Veryl Goodnight |
Fay Bohlayer |
| Elaine Hurst |
Major T.N.Mouat, MBE, RLC |
Cha' Tullis (Blackfeet) |
| |
Bernie Granados, Jr. (Apache/Zatec) |
|
Concert.
Michael Martin Murphey performed "Horse Legends" music -- including his most famous song, "Wildfire" -- in a solo acoustic concert performed exclusively for The Voice of the Horse Gathering 2007.
Ceremony.
Meskwaki Elder Preston Duncan, the Meskwaki Travelers Drum and Singers, and Mr. Phillip Whiteman, Jr. created and maintained a sacred space within which we gathered to learn and share our understandings about the horse-human relationship.
Story Forum for All Participants.
Particpants shared their own stories of the horse-human relationship and read the stories others told. Each story will become part of a major research project and contribute to a new community-based understanding of horses and humans. This part of The Voice of the Horse experience was one of the most important, because so many people experience the horse on a daily basis and have no way to share their encounters with each other and the larger community. So there are important questions without answers right now, that this forum began to address: Is it rare or common for people to feel that a horse initiates a specific kind of interaction with them? What are such experiences like? How do they compare to each other? Are the experiences different for men and women? Who has such experiences?
Horse-Human Relationship Research Results.
Tapestry surveyed over 1200 horsemen and horsewomen between January and March of 2007 as part of the first-ever major research project on the horse-human relationship. A summary of the basic results -- how many people pretended they were a horse when they were children? who are our mentors and how do they impact our relationships with horses? -- was presented as a written report in the official Voice of the Horse Gathering Program. You can read that report online. A preliminary analysis of more complex research using these data was also explained in a presentation session.
|
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
