People loved the big horses so much at our Open House, one good friend cried all the way home, he was so touched by them. We were having some poetry readings when I saw people gasp and point up to the hill. Brian from Blue Star had hopped on to Piper and taken her for a ride on one of the meadows across the road and down from us. It was a striking image, I caught my breath. At first, I wanted to move out and cut the wires out of the photo, but then I realized that my favorite photos are authentic and de-constructionist, not posed or predictable. I think of my approach to photography as emotional realism, not cliche. In some way, the wires highlighted the beauty of the scene and the inevitable contrast between history and modernity.

it was an unexpected sight, in the context of a beautiful work horse, and it was honest – this is what I saw – thus the right photo for me.

Once upon a time, Brian would have ridden this horse through the pastoral woods and meadows, not this recently mowed hay field is bounded by electric, cable and telephone wires, soon to be obsolete themselves.

I understand why my friend cried. He doesn’t cry when he sees a car or truck or new condo going up. He cries because these animals are part of all of our pasts, and we need them and they need us, if we are to be whole.

This magnificent animals – we had a Shire and  Percheron at the farm this weekend – are being pushed out of our world by development and by the animal rights hysteria, which is currently threatening more  horses than any slaughterhouse could. Blue Star Equiculture is fighting for what my friend was crying about – we need to honor these animals, and fight to keep them in our world and everyday lives, not push them to the edges of oblivion in the false name of helping them.

This weekend, they were in the everyday life of our farm, and I have rarely seen people so moved, touched and affected. That’s why Blue Star is important.