Wild Horses in Winds of Change Q&A with Film Maker

This movie is half-hour film that has just won two TULLY awards.

Background: Film maker Mara LeGrand, is an award winning film director, screenwriter, videographer, and photo-journalist. Mara’s PhD degree is in public and holistic health field. She started Skydancer Productions in 2006 with a goal to make films that  focuses on the health of the planet and its inhabitants. “Wild Horses in Winds of Change” is her third film where she produced, directed, wrote to mention a few of her tasks. To view her website on the film, please Click Here

Valentina: How would you describe your latest film to the equestrian community, Wild Horses in Winds of Change?

Mara LeGrand:
If people love horses they will be moved by this film, even if it challenges some of their belief systems.  I hope it inspires more people to love horses and become part of  a return of a horse culture.  I’m not part of the equestrian community now, but both my Granddad’s were true grit cowboys who claimed the best days of their lives were on the back of broncs. —  so a love for wild horses seems to be in my DNA.

Valentina: Is there a particular reason why you decided to do this film?

Mara LeGrand:
The film began following mustang adoption stories.  As I began researching the issue, I knew I wouldn’t be able to turn my back on the wild horse cause.

Valentina: What surprised you about completing this film?

Mara LeGrand:
I wasn’t sure I would make this documentary because I couldn’t wrap around any great solutions.  I like happy endings, not tragedies.  So, while I was researching and filming I was posting little youtube videos about adoptions, round ups, mustang trainings and so on. Two years into the project  I  put together a rough cut of about 20 minutes of the interviews and footage in an attempt to find funding.  About one month later, at a truly low point for me, I received an invitation for my film to have a world premiere at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood via ARTIVIST Film Festival.  They said they received the film by mysterious circumstances and had to google me to find my contact information.  An anonymous person sent them one of the rough cut screener copies circulating.  Since I’m a person who looks for signs of what direction I’m supposed to go next, I took this invitation as an important one since  ARTIVIST Film Festival honors films dedicated to art and activism.  They had screened my film as a “short” because it was only a 20 min cut at that point.  So when I asked how long my film was, they told me the max it could be for their programming was thirty minutes.  I had 300 hours of footage and interviews  that I imagined making a series with but since this offer was in front of me, I decided it was destined to be.

Valentina: Many individuals think that the thought of rounding up horses is a great idea, what are your thoughts?

Mara LeGrand:
Round ups by helicopter are brutal and inhumane. When I began the film I was under the impression that the BLM knew their  wild horses and hired horse specialists to manage them and cull the weak and injured.  Although my research and interviews were indicating otherwise – I needed to attend a round up, interview BLM employees and witness the look of fear and betrayal in the eyes of the horses as everything they knew and loved   were callously ripped from them.

What does it say about us as humans if we can’t protect these noble creature and honor their time-tested ability to survive?   The BLM  has  fenced these nomadic creatures into less and less land that is also allocated for high impact cattle grazing and because all natural  resources are tapped by multi-use extractive enterprises  and ranchers have rid the range of  natural predators, specifically the wolf, over – population can become a problem.  Ecologists who study the wild horses indicate that the horses breed more when they are stressed and manipulated.  This makes sense since these are wild animals of prey breed for the species to survive.  However, no matter how much land we give them and how much we leave them alone, eventually their will be too many to flourish on some ranges.  It would save a lot  of  suffering and money  if the BLM  actually cared enough to set up non-biased, long term studies, range by range to gather data.   University students and so many NGO’s would love to get involved but the BLM rejects offers that don’t fit their antiquated management directive.  Helicopter drives should be out-lawed, and a new paradigm for managing wild life, including wild horses in their natural habitat developed.

Valentina: Do you mind when others think that your movies are controversial such as your first move about local sustainable agriculture?

Mara LeGrand:
My first film Heart & Soil, about local agriculture isn’t in my opinion anywhere as controversial as the wild horse film.  Of course there is a lot wrong with the industrial food system but I chose to stay mostly on the sunny side of the fence and highlight the farmers dedicated to local agriculture.  Heart & Soil is a family film that is over-all upbeat.  Since I’ve been a vegetarian all my life I wondered why I was making a film that included animal husbandry – but as journalist I felt like the story unfolded as the animals were raised in optimally good circumstances and all were given a fast and painless death.  Most people will always choose to eat meat, so at the very least I wanted to raise awareness about the ethical responsibility meat eaters  should have toward the lives they raise for food and profit.

Compassion for animals is also a running theme in Wild Horses In Winds of Change but I did choose to delve into more controversial issues, because we are all responsible for America’s wild horses and I believe  if we collectively pressure the current cart before the horse attitude – we could save a lot of horses from brutal round ups and long term warehousing.  My goal is to attract more interest and advocacy, from the horse camp and non-horse camp.   Informing people  has the potential to lead to more sustainable solutions for the wild horses and for healthy range land ecology.   Library Journal describes my film  as beautifully rendered and very persuasive.  I consider that a great endorsement because my goal was to capture the beauty of the horses and persuade people to care and get involved.  There’s lots of reason to be angry and I have been, but anger isn’t beautiful, creative, compassionate, enlightened or conscious shifting and those are the qualities I believe we all need to solve the wild horse and for that matter the unwanted horse and rampant animal abuse issues.

Valentina: Describe this past year since filming Wild Horses in Winds of Change, have you been more involved with the mustangs?

Mara LeGrand:
I  am mystified by horses.  I love smelling them and feeling the warmth of their chi and heart beat.  I visit the mustangs whose adopter got me into the film.  I’ can send  a couple pics of them with me if you’re interested.  The buck skin colt was adopted first by Claude Steelman a well – known wild life photographer. (wildshots.com) , We then searched together for a companion for his colt.  He decided on a gelding  that was rescued from the Three Strikes ranch in Nebraska because he thought he would be a good riding horse and of course he liked his color and confirmation.  Cisco has suffered too much abuse and betrayal and likely has PTSD.  He easily spooks when he’s ridden but is a real sweetie as a companion.   I saw so many mustangs who didn’t live up to their naive owners expectations.  They’re passed, like juvenile delinquents  from one owner to another until eventually they end up on skid roe/ sale barn bound for slaughter.  Mustangs need to be trained by skillful, caring and experienced trainers and I didn’t want to make a film that inspired any joe to empty their piggy bank to adopt one.

Valentina: Do you love animals more than people?

Mara LeGrand:
It’s probably easier to love animals because they’re far less complicated and demanding than humans. I learn many lessons  from animals that I  try to  transfer to my relationships and acceptance of people.

Valentina: Do you have any philosophies that you live by?

Mara LeGrand:
I have many philosophies that guide me forward.  Making this film fell into one about not turning away a beggar at my door.  I grew up living in Turkey where beggars were common.  If a beggar, a stray animal or anyone in need asked for help from my parents, they were never turned away.  My siblings are also altruistic, each with our own sensibilities of what’s important to contribute to.

Valentina: You write lots of poetry, if you can wrote a poem about your life, what would you call it?

Mara LeGrand:
“No one needs a poet, but I , who without nature’s beauty could not breathe.”

Horse, Cow Art, and More

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Every once in a while, I come across someone unique on Twitter. I’m positive you will find this lady fascinating as well. Dr. Kathy Swift is a Dairy Veterinarian, a jewelry artist, owner of Cow Art and More, and a mother of three young boys. She was kind enough to donate a pendant of her newest horse-related collection to my blog. Her charms concentrate more in the dairy and the agriculture industry. Her website also has a hand-picked selection of other artist’s work that specialize in agricultural art. To view her distinct selection of jewelry and charms, art gallery website, or know more about her story, please visit her website. Click Here. To follow her on Facebook Click Here. To follow her on Twitter Click Here.

The Facebook Marketing Guide. Straight From the Horse’s Mouth

I had to borrow this from HubSpot’s tweet:

“The Facebook Marketing Guide. Straight From the Horse’s Mouth: http://bit.ly/mPgx5i (Please ReTweet)”

If you know me well, I post only horse & newsworthy stuff on my blog. I have been completing their (16 hr) online certification for inbound marketing. Topics include: Blogging, Advanced SEO Tactics, CTA’s, Email marketing, FB, Twitter, etc. So when they posted something about online marketing & horses, I had to post it on my blog! Enjoy!

Horse with Valentina