NEWHD’s Take 5: The Year of the Horse
Healing in New York, Wild Freedom on Sable Island, and a Global Tribute in Venice
In this powerful episode of NEWHD’s Take5, Zach Martin brings together two men united by a shared reverence for the horse: Saul Reicher of Gallop NYC and Roberto Dutesco of IAMWILD.
It is the Year of the Horse — specifically the rare Fire Horse, which comes only once every sixty years. The conversation becomes more than an interview. It becomes a reflection on healing, protection, gratitude, and the profound kinship between humans and horses.
Gallop NYC: A Gift to New York City
Gallop NYC, founded in 2005, operates within the five boroughs of New York City, offering therapeutic horseback riding to children, adults, veterans, and individuals with disabilities.
At its Sunrise Stables facility in Queens — six and a half acres near Kennedy Airport — Gallop NYC houses approximately twenty horses and delivers about 500 lessons per week.
The organization covers roughly 80 percent of riding costs and 100 percent for families who cannot afford even ten dollars.
But the numbers only tell part of the story.
Saul shares the deeply personal reason behind his mission. His daughter was born with cerebral palsy and had no trunk control. At just three and a half years old, she was lifted onto a horse for the first time. When placed on the horse’s back, her legs opened naturally — something she had never been able to do before.
That thirty minutes of gentle rocking motion became the single largest therapeutic breakthrough of her young life.
That moment changed everything.
Gallop’s horses are trained not only physically, but emotionally. According to Saul, horses read human body language instantly. They recognize returning riders and remember emotional states. They help calm veterans with PTSD. They comfort children on the autism spectrum. They instinctively determine whether a rider is ready to trot.
“Our horses understand they are taking care of the person on their back,” Saul explains.
At Gallop NYC, riders do not simply complete a short session and move on. “Once you’re in Gallop, you’re in Gallop,” Saul says. Many riders stay for years.
The waiting list now exceeds one thousand individuals.
Gallop NYC is, in Saul’s words, “a gift to the City of New York.”
Roberto Dutesco and the Wild Horses of Sable Island
Roberto Dutesco has spent decades documenting the wild horses of Sable Island, a remote stretch of land off the coast of Nova Scotia.
Sable Island is isolated and raw — twice the length of Manhattan and roughly the width of Central Park. There are approximately five hundred wild horses and almost nothing else. No trees. No shelter. No human ownership.
The horses have lived there for centuries.
Roberto’s mission has been to protect them. His advocacy contributed to Sable Island becoming a national park. Through photography, film, and exhibitions, he has helped raise millions of dollars for foundations and conservation efforts.
He speaks about contemplation — about slowing down long enough to truly see.
“Maybe if we give it a bit more time,” he says, “maybe we can fall in love with it. And if we fall in love with what is in front of us, maybe we can imagine protecting it.”
He recounts a remarkable moment during filming for his documentary Chasing Wild Horses. On his third trip to the island, a red horse with a blonde mane galloped toward him, stopped, and gently tapped his camera bag with her hoof — as if asking what he had brought her.
The horses remember him.
If he pays too much attention to one, others become jealous. They nudge him. They nibble his hair. They stand close.
“They are full of joy, curiosity, and love,” Roberto says.
His work reminds us that the wild is not distant. It is relational.
Venice Biennale 2026: A Global Homage
During the episode, Roberto announces that the Wild Horses of Sable Island exhibition will travel to Venice during the 2026 Biennale season.
The exhibition will run from April 15 through July 5, 2026, at La Stanza della Fotografia on the island of San Giorgio Maggiore, directly across from Piazza San Marco.
For Roberto, this exhibition is more than an art show.
“Horses have done more for society than we give them credit for,” he says.
We measure engines in horsepower. We place horses on the hoods of Ferraris and Porsches. Yet we rarely pause to honor the living animal.
The Fire Horse year invites that reflection.
How to Approach a Horse
One of the most meaningful segments of the episode centers on how to approach a horse respectfully.
Saul explains that you should approach at the shoulder, not head-on. Stand facing the same direction as the horse. Lean slightly away rather than into the animal. Let the horse smell you first. Breathe out gently.
Horses are extraordinarily sensitive — even a mosquito landing on their body can be felt.
Roberto adds a philosophical perspective.
Instead of imposing your timeline onto the horse, allow the horse’s timeline to guide the encounter.
In a world that moves too fast, the horse slows us down.
Art, Therapy, and Protection
Though their work differs in setting — one grounded in therapeutic riding in Queens, the other rooted in wild dunes off Nova Scotia — Saul and Roberto share the same heart.
Saul heals through contact.
Roberto heals through contemplation and art.
Roberto dreams of twelve-foot images of wild horses placed in schools, hospitals, prisons, and institutions — not because something is wrong, but because beauty creates wellness.
Both believe horses transform society.
The Fire Horse
The Year of the Horse comes every twelve years.
The Year of the Fire Horse comes only once every sixty.
Roberto offers a simple call to action:
Take a deep breath. Exhale. Drop your shoulders. Close your eyes. Feel that closeness to the animal we call horse.
Something will happen.
Because horses help humanity become better.
