The Beings Project is a nonprofit dedicated to advancing compassion, justice, and protection for sentient beings and ecosystems throughout our shared world.
Through practical initiatives, education, and the arts, it seeks to protect animals, uphold human dignity, and promote environmental stewardship.
The New York Horse Sanctuary and Cultural Center
A sanctuary for horses—and, in its own way, a sanctuary for people.
Proposed as a permanent retirement home for New York City’s carriage horses.
Updated and Expanded Edition · October 13, 2026
The New York Horse Sanctuary and Cultural Center is envisioned as a state-of-the-art retirement campus where New York City’s carriage horses can live with space, choice, expert care, and the companionship of familiar social groups. Designed around the horses’ physical and emotional well-being, it would offer a new model for how aging horses can live once their working lives are over.
The Cultural Center and surrounding grounds would create a distinctive public destination and venue for exhibitions, films, lectures, music, seasonal gatherings, healing retreats, and educational programs.
Visitors could learn, create, reflect, enjoy meaningful, supervised encounters with horses, or simply spend time in a beautiful setting. Together, these experiences would give people reasons to return throughout the year.
Envisioning the Sanctuary & Cultural Center
A glimpse of what life at The New York Horse Sanctuary and Cultural Center could become—a home for horses and a welcoming place for people, education, and the arts.
These concept illustrations imagine possible spaces and activities. Tap any image to view it larger.
Herd Hall
A shared home designed around how horses naturally live—with freedom to move, rest, and spend time among familiar companions. Open communal spaces would bring herd life into view while allowing attentive care for each individual horse.
Veterinary Care
Dedicated care would support the horses’ lifelong health and comfort, with opportunities for university partnerships and hands-on learning for veterinary students and interns.
Time with Horses
Guided encounters would invite visitors to form heartfelt, meaningful connections with horses.
The Cultural Center
A unique and welcoming destination for art, learning, and gatherings, with horses at its heart.
Exhibitions
Photography, films, art, and individual horse stories would bring the relationship between horses and people into focus. Permanent and changing exhibitions would explore history, culture, animal welfare, and the lives unfolding at the sanctuary.
Hearts & Hooves
Children could explore the world of horses through art, observation, and learning. Creative activities would invite curiosity, compassion, and an appreciation of horses as individuals.
Films & Lectures
Screenings, talks, and discussions would bring together voices from veterinary medicine, history, the arts, animal welfare, and beyond. A place for shared discovery and thoughtful conversation about horses and the lives connected to theirs.
The Quiet Room
An inviting place to sit, read, write, work quietly, or simply enjoy a cup of tea, with horses just beyond the windows.
Art Programs
Painting, drawing, and photography classes would invite creative exploration inspired by horses. Outdoor opportunities would include plein air painting and photography workshops in the sanctuary’s landscape.
Summer Concerts
Chamber, classical, and acoustic performances would bring people together for summer evenings in the landscape. Music, open skies, and horses nearby would create a memorable setting for shared enjoyment.
Memorial Garden and Apple Orchard
A memorial garden would offer a quiet landscape for remembrance, reflection, and simply being still. Trees, native plantings, pathways, and wooden benches would invite visitors to linger rather than pass through. The adjoining apple orchard, flowering in spring and bearing fruit later in the year, would connect remembrance with renewal and the ongoing life of the sanctuary.
Winter at the Sanctuary
Festive seasonal gatherings would bring people together, creating a sense of community and connection with the horses throughout the winter.
The Sanctuary Shop
A thoughtfully curated selection of books, art, and gifts would offer visitors a lasting connection to the sanctuary. The shop would also feature hats, T-shirts, sweatshirts, and hoodies with original graphics created by artists. Purchases would help support the horses’ care and the institution’s cultural and educational programs.
Connections Across the World
A newly forged special friendship with a horse met during a visit to the sanctuary could continue from afar long afterwards. Live cameras would let friends of the sanctuary look in from time to time, keeping that connection alive—even from halfway around the world.
Updated and Expanded Edition · October 13, 2026
About Larkin Nyad
Larkin Nyad is a creative professional with a lifelong connection to horses and a deep love for all animals. Her commitment to animal protection spans more than four decades.
A native New Yorker and former competitive show jumper, Larkin studied documentary filmmaking at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Her background combines firsthand equestrian experience with a grounding in visual storytelling.
Larkin’s advocacy for New York City’s carriage horses dates back to the mid-1980s, when she served on the steering committee of Trans-Species Unlimited’s New York City branch. She engaged with the public through tabling and leafleting, speaking directly with New Yorkers on the street about the plight of the carriage horses, and participated in demonstrations on Central Park South across from the Plaza Hotel.
The Beings Project was created to unite animal protection, education, and the arts.
The proposal for The New York Horse Sanctuary and Cultural Center envisions retirement for the city’s carriage horses together in one dedicated home—a destination where New Yorkers can continue their relationship with these horses and deepen their understanding of horses more broadly. Education and the arts through the Cultural Center would enrich that continuing relationship, both on the sanctuary’s grounds and through online programming.
info@thebeingsproject.org
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