Sarah V. Barnes

Critically acclaimed, award-winning novelist Sarah V. Barnes is both a historian and a horsewoman. Her first novel, She Who Rides Horses: A Saga of the Ancient Steppe, received the 2022 Best Indie Book Award for Historical Fiction, among other prizes. A Clan Chief’s Daughter represents the second installment in the She Who Rides Horses trilogy. When not writing stories, Sarah practices and teaches riding as a meditative art. She also offers equine-facilitated coaching and wellness workshops. Sarah holds a Ph.D. in history from Northwestern University and spent many years as a college professor before turning full-time to riding and writing. She has two grown daughters and lives with her husband, her dogs, and her horses near Boulder, CO.

Connection to Creation:
In your novel, Naya seeks a relationship with horses that transcends survival. Do you see her journey as a reflection of humanity’s deeper yearning to live in harmony with the natural world rather than to dominate it?

Yes, this is a primary theme of the She Who Rides Horses trilogy which becomes increasingly central over the course of the three books. While humans had domesticated other animals including cattle, sheep and goats prior to beginning the process of domesticating horses, the period over which the process of horse domestication occurred coincided with the emergence of new assumptions about hierarchy and dominance among steppe nomads that would completely reshape cosmology, social relations and attitudes toward the natural world for their descendants throughout Eurasia and beyond. Horses were at the center of this seismic shift.

The Sacred Bond:
Horses in your story seem to embody more than strength and speed—they hold mystery, freedom, and spirit. How do you interpret the horse as a spiritual symbol, both in ancient times and for readers today?

As we enter the Chinese Year of the Fire Horse, the symbolism of freedom, mystery and spirit associated with horses is everywhere in popular culture. Likewise, for many animist peoples throughout time, the Wind Horse represents the means by which shamans journey to other dimensions of consciousness in order to seek wisdom and healing for their people. The myths of ancient Greece gave Pegasus the power to transport humans to the divine realm of the gods. Cave paintings from 30,000 years ago still hold echoes of paleolithic humans’ belief in the mystical power of the horse. Clearly, humans have recognized horses as spiritual beings for millennia.

The Outsider’s Gift:
Naya is marked as different because of her appearance. In spiritual traditions, those who are “set apart” often carry a hidden gift. How does Naya’s outsider status prepare her for this groundbreaking bond with horses?

In Book One, Naya is mostly insulated from external pressures to be someone she is not -- both by her grandmother, and later by the circumstances that lead to her spending the winter isolated from the rest of her clan. As a result, she is able to follow her heart’s desire to connect with the red filly. The situation changes dramatically in Book Two, when she returns to the clan’s settlement and encounters stringent expectations about who she is supposed to be. As happens with many young women making the transition to adulthood, in a mistaken effort to conform, she loses touch with her unique gifts and has to navigate finding her way back to herself and her own power.  

The Power of Dreams:
Naya dreams of another way of life with horses. Do you see dreams in your story as divine whispers, ancestral guidance, or as the seed of human innovation?

All of the above. What is innovation, if not inspiration coming through from another realm of consciousness? Likewise dreams and ancestral guidance. As Naya comes to understand through the course of the trilogy, all of these sources of wisdom are available to her if only she can learn to see with the eyes of her heart and listen to what is beyond words. In Book One, she experiences her dreams and nightmares as well as her ability to journey to the Other World as a gift she doesn’t quite understand or know how to manage. In Book Two, she rejects her ability outright, with terrible consequences. By the end of Book Three she will have fully claimed the power of her visions.

Crossing Thresholds:
Naya is at the edge of adulthood, facing expectations and traditions. What spiritual significance do you see in her decision to step outside of those boundaries and risk a new path?

In stories that follow the arc of the traditional Hero’s Journey, the protagonist’s willingness to risk a new path – to cross the threshold into the unknown – is what initiates the quest. Feminist critiques of the hero’s story arc note, however, that for heroines, the challenge is not necessarily ‘out there’ but rather at home. Thus for Naya, the easy part is accepting the task that the red filly initially asks of her while they are ‘away from home’ (so to speak): to learn to see with the eyes of her heart, create ties without the use of a rope, and discover what it is that the young horse desires. Book One is about the relatively uncomplicated joy of exploring life outside traditional boundaries. It’s only when she crosses the threshold back into the known and familiar, in Book Two, that she encounters the true challenges that await her – thus turning the Hero’s Journey on its head.

Sacred Partnership:
The bond between Naya and the chestnut filly feels destined. Do you see this as a story of mutual domestication—or mutual liberation?

Ultimately, the fate of Naya and the filly are linked, as have been the destinies of women and horses throughout six thousand years under patriarchy. Both have endured the loss of freedom that comes with domestication, as well as the potential for mutual liberation through the nurturing of a sacred bond. 

The Feminine Way:
Many spiritual traditions honor the feminine as the keeper of intuition and connection with the unseen. How does Naya embody a sacred feminine archetype as she reshapes her people’s relationship with horses?

This is another theme that stretches over all three books. Naya’s gift is her connection with the unseen realm – she is the Visionary – called to ‘see with the eyes of her heart.’ Unfortunately, not all that she envisions regarding humans’ relationship with horses is uplifting, and she must grapple with the consequences.  

Echoes Across Time:
Your story unfolds 6,000 years ago, yet its themes feel timeless. Do you believe that the yearning for freedom, belonging, and kinship with animals is part of the eternal human spirit?

Yes, although for many of those living a modern, urban lifestyle, the ability to recognize that yearning, let alone fulfill it, has grown difficult. So much of our epidemic of loneliness and disconnection, our sense of dislocation, our experience of dis-ease – both physical and spiritual – stems from our separation, real and imagined, from the natural world. Naya’s story takes place when that misconception – that we are somehow separate from and superior to the rest of the natural world – was just beginning to take root. If we can understand how and why that shift in consciousness occurred, perhaps we can evolve beyond its consequences.

Transformation Through Relationship:
In many spiritual teachings, true change comes not from power but from relationship. How do you see the relationship between Naya and her filly transforming not just them, but the destiny of humankind?

Naya and the red filly are called to create a relationship of power with, rather than power over.  Their bond is based on trust and mutual understanding. Their relationship empowers both of them. Unfortunately, as we’ll see as their story progresses, the relationship between humans and horses almost immediately deviates from that model. The original covenant is broken – not by the horses but by people. Still, over the millennia, horses have stuck with us, arguably contributing more than any other domesticated species to the transformation of human civilization. All along the way, individual horses continued to offer individual humans the possibility of creating a power-with partnership. They are still offering to teach us their secrets, and thereby transform our relationships with each other and the natural world. The story isn’t over.

Legacy of Spirit:
If horses represent freedom, power, and partnership, what do you hope modern readers carry in their hearts after traveling with Naya across the ancient steppe?

I’ll defer to the wisdom of Antoine de St.-Exupéry, author of The Little Prince: ‘It is only with the heart that one can see rightly. What is essential is invisible to the eye… People have forgotten this truth… but you mustn’t forget it. You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed.”

---

Website: https://sarahvbarnes.com/​
Instagram: @sarahvbarnes
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shewhorideshorses/​

Purchase the book here: 
https://www.amazon.com/She-Who-Rides-Horses-Ancient/dp/1736967339​