Wild Horses in Oregon’s South Steens-Part 2
Wild Horses in Oregon’s South Steens-Part 2
One thing that has always endeared me to the wild horses is the way they value family. It is obvious that they care for each other, and that family is extremely important to them. This is one of the main reasons that roundups are so incredibly devastating. Foals are taken from their moms, mares are taken from each other and their stallions, the whole family band is broken into tragic pieces.
Watching and observing the horses gives you a definite sense of how much they care. This story is just one of many examples.
This water hole was extremely muddy around the edges. So much so, that adult horses would sink almost to the knee and you could tell it was a little bit of a struggle to get away from the waters edge and back to dry land. This gorgeous mare had left her young foal on dry ground while she got a drink. But she definitely kept her eye on the foal.
She would drink, then look behind to make sure she was ok. The foal just waited patiently in the flowers, keeping an eye on mom too.
Soon, mom noticed a stallion getting too close to the foal, and she was out of the muddy waterhole in a shot!
It took about 2 seconds for dad to figure out what was happening, and he was there immediately.
He ran off the stallion, and got mom and the foal to a better spot.
The darker pinto in this image was with this family band too. I’m not sure if it was last years foal, or another mare. But, crisis averted they all went about grazing again.
This was another small family band, and they were just cute. Especially that young gray on the left. He has the craziest hair!
This is their stallion, and what a good looking guy he is. Very patient and loving too.
He has the most gorgeous hazel eyes.
I had to crop this image down to focus on this amazing eye.
The rest of these images are just some I really liked. I hope you enjoy them too.
Palomino Dreams
Family Love
Thinking about how important family is to the horses, I decided to make a video with images I have taken the last several years from different states showing the bond they have.
Enjoy!
All photos from Mary Hone Photography were you can find beautiful images of these, and other wild horses to purchase.
What wonderful memories you have from this trip! And that video is the best! I hope AWHC asks to use that for their awareness of the mustang’s precarious position in regards to the BLM. Is that stallion with the two wind knots the that Al was sketching? Those knots are perfect! Thanks so much…