I watched a documentary recently by Scotsman Gordon Buchanan. Gordon is a wildlife cameraman and documentary maker. But he's more than either of those. He doesn't sit on the periphery to click the camera to get the best shot in order to get paid for his work. He immerses himself in the environment where he finds himself which is usually the natural habitat of the wildlife that he's filming. Or that's how I perceive his work anyhow.
I first came across Gordon's work in 2011 when he did a documentary on bears. He lived with the bears in the American wilderness of Minnesota through the different seasons. He got to know them. Became very close to them to the extent that they felt like family to him. The documentary series was thus called The Bear Family and Me. Did I mention that these bears were black bears weighing in with their ferocious reputation?
His work didn't stop there. He continues documenting wild animals, mainly in their natural habitat including Polar Bears, Snow Wolves, Reindeer, Leopards, Jaguars....the list is long.
Last week I happened upon a new documentary by Gordon that was airing on TV. This time he was immersing himself in the life of horses. Wild horses of the Canadian Rockies. Off he goes, alone, into the wilderness on his horse in search of seemingly elusive herds of horses. Armed with his tent, food, his camera gear and a whole load of open curiosity. He eventually encounters the large herds of horses roaming the Rockies and slowly observes and gets closer to them to the extent that he identifies a smaller herd, a family of 2 Stallions, red and black; 2 black Mares and 2 black foals. They are beyond beautiful!
The horse family accept his presence surprisingly quickly, first at the periphery and then right IN their herd. He is not a threat. His energy is grounded, gentle and open. He intuits their behaviour, leaning in and backing off when necessary.
The scenery of the Canadian Rockies is majestic, rugged, raw and stunning. The wild horses are even more stunning, profoundly beautiful, strong and captivating. They are at one with their environment. They belong. They roam from green open pasture to graze to thick forested areas, on to the mountainous areas and down to rivers to drink. No fences. No barriers. Predators, yes, and free to roam as they wish. Moving as and when is necessary, as nature intends....Gordon armed with camera in quiet pursuit!
What struck me most when watching this documentary is that yes, these horses are wild in that they have not been captured, broken in, saddled, harnessed, removed from their herd family and tamed by humans.
They are also FREE.
Free to be a horse in their natural habitat.
Free from interference of humans.
Free to know their true nature.
Free to experience the richness of what life gifts them, the wildness, the harshness, the beauty, the tranquillity.
The wild horse family that Gordon documents are not the crazy, unruly, dangerous, anarchic kind of wild.
They are at peace with who they are.
They know themselves.
They are existing within this kind of free.
This is a profound wild freedom that is their birth right.
That most recent documentary is called Wild Horses, The Rockies and Me and aired on BBC Scotland.
As the new year of 2026 welcomes us, hopefully with open abundant arms, we step into the numerology of a 1 year of new beginnings and the Chinese Zodiac it's the year of the Horse.
Perhaps this is the message for all of us now.
A message gifted from the horses of the Canadian Rockies:
To embrace WILD in the most natural, earthed and instinctive way, beyond the limitations of what humanity perceives WILD to be...
To be FREE to roam beyond borders, beyond limitations, beyond stories, beyond conditioning, beyond patterns, beyond distortions, beyond perceptions of who you think you are...
This is a new kind of profound wild freedom that is deliciously OUR birth right too.
The Irish Wisdom School is offering in-person opportunities in 2026 for you to step beyond your own limitations into your wild freedom as follows:
1) Scotland March 2026: The Queen Code Wealth Temple Immersion. ~ A foundationally immersive transmission for women who have been in service, but not in wealth ~ Click here to find out more.
2) Ireland April 2026: Illuminating Ireland's Gold. Retreat to Ireland's Ancient East. ~ Journey to the magical island of Ireland and walk the sacred land with Eimear to illuminate the wise mystical frequency of gold within you. ~ Click here to find out more.
3) Scotland September 2026: Unlocking the Light Codes of Earth, Sea, and Stone. ~ An Epic Mystical Journey In the Wild North of Scotland in collaboration with Jocelyn Star Feather of Sacred Planet~ Click here to find out more.
Happy New Year of the Horse.
2026 welcomes you into your wild freedom!
Thank you wild horses of the Canadian Rockies for being my teacher. Thank you Gordon Buchanan for bringing these horses closer to me.
Le grá / with love,
Eimear x