In July 2023, Emily Claire Russell was under the blazing Spanish sun, walking alongside a sick horse. One month later, the 21-year-old was walking the halls of the University of King’s College.
This November, at the Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival, Russell is premiering her newest documentary which recounts her 1,100-kilometre horseback journey from Spain to France.
Nomad and Mare is Russell’s second short film, written, directed and produced by herself. It documents her long-riding journey from Catalunya, Spain to the south of France, with a pony named Belle, during the summer of 2023.
Planning the trip of a lifetime
Russell grew up on a farm in Ontario until it was sold when she was 16. She then began working with horses as a wrangler, but after spending time on farms in British Columbia and Europe, she became disillusioned with the work.
“It was about training horses and producing them for sale. I felt this disconnected me from the horse and how I started on the farm,” said Russell.
Once Russell decided to move forward with her trip, the next step was to find the perfect partner to share the journey. Instead, she found Belle.
“Belle was such a basket case when we started,” said Russell. “She was not trained. She bucked people off, and there was no hope for her. She was never gonna be a show pony. And then over the course of the journey she became this incredible creature, my spiritual, emotional guide.”
Russell said she ran into problems from the get-go.
“We spent six weeks preparing, but everything went wrong,” she said. “The horse nearly died of colic, and I couldn’t find any tack, so all of my preparation dissolved immediately.”
“I decided that I would just try it. I would give it one day.”
Russell faced challenges along the way
When Russell reached the 1,100 km point, she had to make the decision to stop for the sake of Belle’s health, and her own. This was despite the fact that she believes a “long ride” is not considered valid amongst seasoned riders unless it breaks the 1,500 km threshold.
“I was unbelievably miserable. I was distraught over the fact that I had to leave without that sense of completion because I hadn’t come to the point yet of creating the journey itself,” she said.
Despite the disappointment, the journey was not without purpose.
“Being out there was so immediate, and so it was reduced to such essentials,” said Russell. “It was food, it was water, it was a place to sleep. And there was a fantastic easy simplicity in that and such a control that I had over my own world and my immediate experience of life. It’s led to a complete transformation in myself. I’m not the same, certainly not the same person.”
Russell is excited to share her journey at the Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival, an event she’s been attending since she was 11. She says she knew this festival was the place to share her documentary with the world.
“I wanted to go to Banff, and it’s one of the only festivals I applied to. When I found out that I got into the festival… I stood up, started hyperventilating, sobbing, crying. It was a visceral reaction.”
Russell added the excitement comes with the fear of sharing her journey with the world.
“There’s no take backs,” she said. “This exercise in vulnerability is now going to be shown to thousands of people, all of the people that I have ever been connected with that care to keep up with my life.”
After parting ways with Russell at the end of the summer, Belle retired to a farm near Paris, France. They will be reunited when Russell visits France this spring.
“She’s very fat and plump, in a field. She’s lovely,” said Russell.
Nomad and Mare will premiere at Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival, both in-person and online, on Nov. 3. It will be available to watch here.
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