A look back at America's ancestral horses and what their presence across the centuries has meant to modern times is the subject of the Lemon Grove Historical Society's "History Alive" event tonight.
Kathleen Hayden, president of the Coyote Canyon Caballos d'Anza, will speak at 7 p.m. in the H. Lee House Cultural Center, 3205 Olive. Robert and Kathleen Hayden founded the nonprofit Coyote Canyon organization in 2004.
The organization, headquartered in Santa Ysabel, is restoring San Diego's only Heritage Herd of wild horses to their historic habitat. Dr. Gus Cothran of the Equine Genetics Lab at Texas A&M University is advising the complex genetic project, which is conducted in partnership with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.
No other herd in the West is as well documented from 1769 as the Coyote Canyon herd from its prehistoric roots through its evolution under Spanish, Mexican, Native American and Western settlements.
Hayden's group also works to maintain the 1945 California Riding and Hiking trail system in the region as part of the cultural landscape of the Heritage Herd.
Questions and answers and refreshments will follow the presentation. "History Alive" is free and suitable for ages 13 and over. For more information, call 619-460-4353.
Videotaping of "History Alive" lectures is made possible in part by a grant from EDCO Disposal Corporation, Lemon Grove.
--Lemon Grove Historical Society
