Event 3

 






Today I attended the Hox Zodiac event honoring the horse. The Hox Zodiac dinner parties are a conceptual framework intended to honor various animals and celebrate them based on their Zodiac positioning. Created by Victoria Vesna and Siddarth Ramakrishnan, the event intends to "allow an exploration and identification of the diverse world of the animals around us". (Hox Zodiac)







Through a genetic perspective, in the article "METAMORPHOSIS OF THE HUMAN ANIMAL: HOX ZODIAC", Vesna and Ramakrishnan identify the hox gene as a gene capable of expressing and determining the limbs and other body parts of all living things. The authors conceptualize it into a sort of glue shared by all living things that result in their physical manifestation. 



During the event, Professor Vesna’s daughter celebrated the Horse by recounting an experience she had where she rode on horseback in order to herd over three hundred cattle. She related how horses are extremely sensitive and collaborative animals who are extremely responsive.  (Lecture) 





Another speaker shared an event she experienced where she attended a Native American reservation as a child and was able to ride a horse bareback, a practice which has been going on since at least the Chinese rode bareback in 4000 BC (Colin Dangaard). The horse ran over to a river and proceeded to do a full flip underwater, which shocked everyone around. However, she recounts the experience as ecstatic. 


A last speaker spoke on a breed of horse called the Royal Nisean Horse of Persia. This horse was actually a royal breed of horses intended for royal use, and the speaker expressed how they are a symbol of her cultural pride in Iran (Roman Times). 






Works Cited: 


Hox Zodiac. “About”. https://hoxzodiac.com/blog/about/


Vesna et al. “METAMORPHOSIS OF THE HUMAN ANIMAL: HOX ZODIAC”. http://hoxzodiac.com/home/Consc_HOX_Victoria_Vesna.pdf


Dangaard, Colin. “A History Of Riding Bareback”.   https://www.colindangaard.com/a-history-of-riding-bareback


Ancient Times. “The Royal Nisean Horse of Ancient Persia”. https://ancientimes.blogspot.com/2020/04/the-royal-nisean-horse-of-ancient-persia.html


Hox Zodiac. “EVENT: HOX ZODIAC honoring the HORSE”. June 5 2022. 


Images Cited: 


Cowgirl Magazine. "Benefits of Bareback". https://cowgirlmagazine.com/benefits-bareback-riding/

Brittanica. "Zodiac Chart". https://www.britannica.com/topic/zodiac

Alchetron. "Royal Nisean Horse of Persia". https://ancientimes.blogspot.com/2020/04/the-royal-nisean-horse-of-ancient-persia.html





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