I'll Meet You There
Return To Freedom Wild Horse Sanctuary - photo by Jane Johansson
Among 100 Wild Horses
The land was bathed in a rose–gold glow. A stillness had settled over the herd, broken only by the rhythmic sound of horses munching. I stood motionless, soaking up the wonder of it all. My camera hung dormant around my neck — the time for taking photos had passed. Soon I would be leaving this special place, this vast 2,000-acre landscape where I had spent weeks walking amongst more than 100 wild horses and burros.
What happened next took my breath away.
I still struggle to find the right words — but words I must find, because what unfolded was one of the most extraordinary encounters of my life. A wild horse came to find me. To understand the magic of what came next, I need to step back nearly a year to the place where it all started.
Horses snoozing in the sunshine at Return To Freedom - photo by Jane Johansson
The Message
Last winter, I was exhibiting my paintings at The Horsemanship Showcase, an annual event featuring demonstrations from leading trainers and practitioners. Among the stands was animal communicator Rachael Beesley, speaking about her Equisentient Coaching Cards. She invited us to draw a card and either read the accompanying message - communications from the horses - or notice what message we felt simply from the photograph.
All of the horses featured on the cards live at Return to Freedom — the sanctuary I was quietly dreaming of visiting. I had already reached out to them with early conversations forming, but at that stage it was still just a hopeful possibility.
I drew my card.
The moment I turned it over, something inside me cracked open. The image showed a chestnut mare with a white blaze, standing peacefully in a meadow — the mirror image of my beloved mare Evy.
Photo by David Harris from The Equisentient Coaching Cards
Instantly, the message came through, loud and clear.
“I’ll meet you there.”
I burst into tears, the weight of it overwhelming. It was as if she were speaking straight into my heart.
In that single, profound moment, I knew with absolute certainty — I had to make this journey had to happen.
And I did.
Return to Freedom
Fast-forward to nearly a year later, and I was living at Return to Freedom Wild Horse Sanctuary as Artist in Residence, immersed in the daily rhythm of the herd. With 444 horses on the land, each day was spent rolling in the dust drawing them, filming their wild antics, feeling their raw energy on a visceral level , sitting with their powerful stillness, and learning what it truly means to rescue and care for wild horses.
Rolling around in the dirt!
I often wondered whether I would ever recognise the chestnut horse from the card — but with so many horses and so much beauty to absorb, the thought eventually drifted away.
Until the final afternoon…
The Encounter
I was back out with the wild herd at San Luis Obispo. This time with equine photographer Lori Sortino who was taking clients out on a photo safari. We were standing on top of the hills as the sun made its slow golden descent towards the horizon, transforming the landscape into a glowing pink heaven. Horses roaming freely shimmered like molten metal — copper, bronze, and silver against the fading light.
And then, through the hush of dusk, a chestnut mare stepped quietly toward me.
She approached with absolute softness.
Walked right up to me.
Gently rested her jaw on my left shoulder.
We stood cheek to cheek.
Eye to eye.
Breath to breath
Photo by Lori Sortino
My heart burst open.
Tears rolled silently down my face.
We stayed like that — locked in stillness for ten, maybe fifteen minutes —
the world falling away until only our shared breath existed,
held in a space so deep that time seemed to dissolve around us.
For a wild horse to approach at all is rare.
Yet here she was, choosing to stand with me,
breath to breath, cheek to cheek.
Utterly extraordinary.
“I’ll meet you there”
Out of a herd of 100 wild horses, she came to find me.
The same horse from the card deck that I had drawn
“I’ll meet you there,” she had said — and she did.
In that moment, every cell in my body knew:
I was meant to be here.
I am meant to tell the stories of these wild horses.
The sun caught her mane, igniting it into a burnished copper light. Her golden eye reflected mine — an exact mirror image of the final moment I shared with Evy on the day I had to say goodbye. That December morning, when the sun had broken through the winter gloom and wrapped us in the same amber glow as I cradled her head before she slipped peacefully from this world.
And here she was again — through this wild mare — showing me that she is still with me.
Photo by Lori Sortino
Today
I write this on the fifth anniversary of Evy’s passing.
My heart still cracked open with love and loss for my golden girl — the horse who changed the course of my life, and who continues to guide me.
She is in every blade of grass out in the fields, in the rustling of the oak leaves.
She finds her way into so many of my paintings,
and now, she runs freely with the wild herd across the sunlit Californian hills.
Life is so much more expansive, mysterious, and magical than we allow ourselves to believe.
All we have to do is listen.
Evy - photo by Jo Thorne
“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing,
there is a field.
I’ll meet you there”
This story is part of my ongoing project documenting the lives of the wild horses at Return to Freedom, where I spent a month as Artist in Residence.
I am working on a new collection of artworks, film and stories to support wild horse conservation and share the profound wisdom these horses hold.
If you’d like to hear more about my time with the mustangs and see the new collection when its finished, please join my mailing list.
The wild herds at Return To Freedom - photo by Jane Johansson
To book a Photo Safari with Lori Sortino at Return To Freedom click here: https://returntofreedom.org/visit/
Find out more about Rachael Beesley and the Equisentient Coaching cards here: https://equisentientcoaching.com/coaching-cards