A journey to freedom guided by horses
Leila Pages
Nomadic adventurer
Specialist of the human-horse relationship
Photographer & Director
Interview
Equus Film Festival, New York (2016)
A quest for freedom
Having grown up in the French countryside, I have been around horses and riding schools since my early childhood. This passion grew and as a teenager, I discovered the approach of the American "whisperers", these cowboys who seemed to share an extraordinary connection with horses. I dreamed of feeling this freedom and going to meet these horsemen in the wide open spaces of the American West and to deepen my connection with horses.
Having grown up in the French countryside, I have been around horses and riding schools since my early childhood. This passion grew and as a teenager, I discovered the approach of the American "whisperers", these cowboys who seemed to share an extraordinary connection with horses. I dreamed of feeling this freedom and going to meet these horsemen in the wide open spaces of the American West and to deepen my connection with horses.
Leïla in Montana, 2021
But as I grew up, the world of the riding school revealed to me an atmosphere that was more and more strict, competitive and disconnected from the horses that were finally used as "mechanical" tools that had to be pulled, pushed and not trusted. I searched for a long time how to dedicate my professional future to horses, but it was difficult for me to consider a profession that would allow me to live a harmonious relationship with the horse. So I opted for a more "classical" way and I turned professionally to the audiovisual field.
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After graduating from college and spending several years in Paris working as a video editor for television networks, my childhood dreams of being free and living near horses seemed lost.
I was suffocating in the capital with an infernal work rhythm, so I decided to follow my dreams of the great outdoors and leave for a sabbatical year in Canada. I didn't know it yet, but I was off to find the horses I missed so much. I also went to meet myself, and this journey never ended. |
I spent several years in Quebec as a natural horsemanship instructor and then traveled around the world for several years to meet horse specialists who have found new ways to communicate with horses, in harmony and freeing them from their constraints. My travels took me to Patagonia, Belgium, Arizona, Costa Rica and Montana. I was able to guide many horses and humans and immerse myself in different cultures. The professionals and all the horses I met were my greatest teachers during these (trans)formative years.
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Having filmed this multi-year journey, I decided to share this story in my 2017 New York award-winning documentary film Freedom Tracks.
After many years of training with professionals and training horses using gentle methods based on Natural Horsemanship, I have experimented with many approaches to horsemanship and personal development.
Enriched by these years of learning and teaching, I now travel around the world to screen the film Freedom Tracks and lead conferences, workshops and trainings in Europe, Canada and Costa Rica to help horses and humans understand each other better, in complete freedom.
I also offer online training programs for filmmakers as well as for people who want to develop their communication tools with horses.
