'Horse of Nature' Documentary at EQUUS

The new documentary Horse of Nature has been selected for the EQUUS Film & Arts Fest that runs from Sept. 19-22 in Aiken, South Carolina.

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, impacting the lives of its people and the surrounding countryside.

The documentary 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.

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“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.

“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 is working hard to study and preserve,” says Deb Ferns, president of the non-profit Wild Horse Fire Brigade (WHFB).

As reported in Horse-Canada in 2021, the concept is to reintroduce wild mustangs into American forest land to graze away the grass and brush that fuels much of the forest fires. Another benefit to the plan is the reduction of conflict between advocates of wild horses and ranchers, whose cattle compete with the horses for grassland.

The idea was hatched by Northern Californian and naturalist William E Simpson II, who conducted a seven-year study on the effect large herbivores would have on wildfire prevention. He found other forestry studies that demonstrated that when there is an adequate herbivore population in the landscape, you have both a reduction in the frequency and intensity of wildfires.

As well as preventing wildfires, the idea also helps preserve the mustangs by giving them a purpose.

Watch the trailer here: