Equus Doc: Story of the horse Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/equusdoc/

We’re surrounded by facebook posts, insta-stories & tweets, giving us, which seems like weekly, teasers of how the world is making innovations in human transportation. With tap ready headlines like “Canada falling behind in the race to build Elon Musk’s hyperloop.” Always driving us to look for the next best way to get to point B. But did we ever stop to wonder, and look back, before the world of trains and Teslas, how humans transformed the world of around us with horse power.

?What is it that makes humans and horses so perfect for each other. And how have we transformed the wild horse we tamed 6,000 years ago into over 400 specialized breeds today.

To answer these questions, Canadian celebrity anthropologist-turned-filmmaker Niobe Thompson, part of David Suzuki’s team at Nature of Things. Takes viewers on an epic journey across eleven countries on three continents and back in time to the mysterious beginnings of the horse-human relationship. Over three spectacular hours of cutting-edge science and gripping adventure, split up into a three part series launching Sunday, September 23, 2018 at 8PM (8:30 NT), with episodes 2 and 3 airing on subsequent Sundays. Thompson explores the evolution of horsepower, discovers how our ancestors tamed the horse and learns fascinating new insights into the body and mind of this unique animal.

Tickets for Advance Screening at the Winspear Centre on September 17th @ 6PM
https://www.winspearcentre.com/tickets/events/other/2018/equus-story-of-the-horse/

Thompson goes a global adventure of discovery, living and riding with horse nomads in Arabia, Siberia and Mongolia, travelling into the field with archeologists, geneticists, and horse psychologists, and above all, getting friendly with horses everywhere he goes.

In Episode 1, Origins, Thompson takes us 45 million years back in time to meet Dawn Horse, a creature that led to all horses today. Tiny, forest roaming, vulnerable to predators, and a fruit eater, Dawn Horse’s fossil remains are brought to life by evolutionary biologist Martin Fischer and Thompson’s team of 3D animators.

How do these huge animals practically fly?  Thompson visits some of the fastest, and most valuable, horses on Earth, and learns how elastic energy and a bizarre ability to breath-hold make these some of the fast land-runners in nature.

Why are horses so willing to please? Through some fascinating experiments, English horse psychologist Karen McComb discovers that horses use 17 different facial expressions to communicate. (That’s one more than dogs and three more than chimpanzees!)

Thompson spends a day in the Canadian Rockies with “extreme cowboy” Jimmy Anderson, a horse whisperer who has left the old idea of “breaking horses” behind. Anderson doesn’t break horses – he starts them. We get to learn his secrets, as he starts an “unbroke” colt.

Excerpts from https://www.cbc.ca/natureofthings/episodes/equus-the-story-of-the-horse