Coming in Hot

There is quite honestly nothing more exciting than wild horses running. When they thunder across the landscape, you can just FEEL that in your heart, and in your bones. The ground reverberates, and you are instantly connected to them, and mother earth in the most basic, primal way.

Coming in Hot

There are many advantages to lugging around a super telephoto lens, but being able to get shots like these is certainly at the top of that list.

The horses on average will go to water in the morning, and again in the evening. And if it’s hot, more during the day. It’s an interesting thing to watch. They can be just hanging out, napping, munching on some grass, when all of a sudden, Boom, off they go to the water hole. If your lucky enough to be able to get them running into water, it’s a beautiful site to see.

This was shot with the sun directly behind them, never an ideal way to photograph. But I liked the idea of this photo just the same.

Sometimes I think they run simply because they can, and just for the sheer joy of it all.

Spring time is generally a very active time for the horses. The mares have had their babies, and within a couple weeks will go into foal heat. This of course gets the stallions all riled up. Their are challenges to take mares away from a rival stallion, and often the lieutenant in a band might decide he wants to be the lead stallion now. There is a lot of chasing others off, and protecting what is theirs. I’ve talked before how important family is to these horses, and this is just one way that plays out.

Being Wild

There is a Place

Challengers

These two were pretty damn serious about it all. It’s incredible how tough, resilient, and athletic these horses are.

And, as they live their lives, and fight to protect what’s theirs, the fight continues to protect them! Momentum is growing to protect our wild horses from cruel roundups, but there are still so many people who don’t know what’s happening. Many people don’t even know there are wild horses in the west. This is were you come in. If you will share information, photos, or even blog posts like this, it gets the word out beyond the wild horse world. We can talk to each other all day long, but informing people beyond the wild horse realm is really what we need.

The silence out of Washington regarding the wild horses and burros is deafening. Horse advocates are working and trying, and there are things you can do too. This post has a lot of information. What You Can do To Save our Wild Horses. And this post explains what we are up against. The Definition of Insanity.

So many of us are focused on this particular herd right now too, the Onaqui in Utah. This herd is adored and followed by people all over the world. People come from all over the country, Canada, and beyond to see them and photograph them. They are without a doubt the most visited wild horse herd in America. Robert Hammer put it perfectly when he spoke at the Save Onaqui online rally that AWHC did. He said the Onaqui is like a gateway herd. Easy to find, easy to see, the terrain can be anything from mild to challenging, but if you drive out there you will no doubt find horses. And this gets you hooked, and pretty soon you’re off to other places, to find other horses. Yep, I’m raising my hand here. 6 year non recovering horse addict.

And yet, they are scheduled for a roundup in July that will remove the majority of these horses. These guys are my heart horses, and have been for many years. This year has been difficult visiting them. I want to absorb all they have to offer, I stare at their faces and remember when they were tiny foals, or I see how they’ve grown into mature and powerful stallions. But again, it’s all falling on deaf ears. Nobody listens, nobody cares.

But I will never stop being their voice, and being the voice for all the wild horses and burros in the west. Please join me in speaking for them.

It’s Going to be OK

 

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