Author Archives: ghuggins

Onaqui Herd Scheduled To Be Destroyed As We Know It

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This is a very different post for me. In fact, it is a plea for help. The Onaqui Herd is scheduled to be “gathered” by the BLM in July. What this “nice term” used by the BLM means is that the BLM will send out helicopters to stampede the herd almost to their death, (in fact based in recent roundups, two foals will likely die during the roundup and one or two adult horses will have to be euphemized).  They will then be forced into gathering pens, destroying tightly bonded families, castrate the mustangs, separate mothers from their sons and daughters, send over 400 horses to the Midwest to live the rest of their lives in pens (All this is of course at tax-payer expense.  Last year 80% of the BLM’s budget went towards feeding the 50,000 horses already in pens). The BLM will then return 100 horses to our public land. All because the BLM refuses to do their job of managing these protected horses that live on our public lands.

Don’t believe the stories that there isn’t enough feed based on the current drought. The Onaqui herd has survived much worse. In fact, they are as healthy as I have ever seen them. At times they must travel 10-20 miles a day between feed and water, but they have done so for hundreds of years and they have never been on the verge of starvation in the nearly 10 years I have photographed them. You can believe the fact that the BLM has fenced off thousands and thousands of acres of rangeland that they only allow cattle to be grazed on.

Don’t believe the stories that there isn’t enough water for the horses. The Herd Management Area (HMA) has dozens and dozens of wells that they can simply “open the spigot” to allow the water to flow. Who do you think paid for those wells… taxpayers paid for those wells.
Don’t believe the stories that say the herd is too big. At the present time the herd actively uses nearly 500,000 acres each year to feed on. If the BLM had done what it was charged to do years ago, (slow herd growth by using PZP to temporarily manage birth by mares), the herd would already be less than 500 horses and easily managed by ongoing PZP.

I believed the BLM last year when they said they would not round up the Onaqui herd. They would only round up the horses on Dugway property and a few horses that were in the surrounding mountains. You can believe that they rounded up dozens of the Onaqui herd including my favorite stallion “the Ghost”.

I am asking for your help in preventing the gathering scheduled for this July. I doubt we can stop this roundup in spite of the fact that the Onaqui herd is probably the most photographed and visited herd in the country. In just my two most recent trips to the herd I met people from Alaska, Idaho, California, Arizona, Michigan, Wyoming and of course Utah.

Our only hope to prevent the roundup is to have our voices herd. Here is a link that allows you to sign a petition to Nada Culver, the delegated director of the BLM. If you do sign, I believe it will also allow you to go on and send a message to your Senators.  Please take a few minutes in an attempt to save our Onaqui herd of wild horses…
https://secure.everyaction.com/zOtzsdqHUUKMfAs7-S65rw2#

I have included a few photographs of just the last two outings to the Onaqui. The captions discuss how these photographs will likely never occur again.

Onaqui Herd Early April – “happy Spring is here”

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What a change a few weeks make. In late March the herd was very docile, completely focused on eating. Their heads were always down, trying to get enough nutrition to get them through winter. A few weeks later in early April they were very different! Heads up, lots of running and moving, the herd seemed to be saying, “we made it through winter, and spring is on its way!” It was so great to see them so active again. They really looked like they were happy to be alive.

Onaqui Wild Horses – March 24, 2021

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It seems like it has been a long time since I have visited the Onaqui Herd. Finally made it out a few weeks ago. These mustangs must spend the entire winter eating in order to keep their weight up, and that is seen in these pictures! They ALWAYS have their heads down feeding! As you can see, the good news is that they all look GREAT! None of the horses look stressed at all, and the only one that seems a bit “skinny” is the Old Man. We were so happy to have found him! He was nowhere near either the North or the South herd. Roaming near Davis mountain by himself…

There is a red mare that has a new foal that had a syringe in her right rear leg.  She was in pain, but was eating fine.  I photographer her about 10 days later and the syringe was gone and she was just fine!

As you have probably heard, the Onaqui herd is scheduled for a “gathering” (another word for “unnecessary brutal roundup”) in late July. They are planning to round up approximately 350 of the 500 wild horses in the Onaqui herd. Few, if any will be adopted so they will be processed and sent on to pens in the midwest to live out the remainder of their lives in captivity. The Bureau of Land Management will then have to use the bulk of their budget to feed these horses. Makes great sense, right?

More images coming soon, as I have since visited the herd once since this posting.

Onaqui Herd – Early Winter

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Headed out to photograph the Onaqui Herd hoping to get some nice storm clouds and forecasted lightning. No go for thunderstorms and lightning. I believe the North herd was in the valley North of Davis mountain. We decided to try and find the South herd. It took a lot of looking to finally find a portion of the South herd. We drove an drove, noticing a lot of stud piles but few horses. Finally, just before turning around we saw a small group miles in the distance. I had not seen the herd in this area before so it was new territory for me. We finally caught up to them about a mile due East of Slow Elk Wash. It was a remnant of the Cremello and Ghost’s family band. The Cremello’s son with one blue and one brown eye was in this band as was his younger sister with two blue eyes. We photographed them for nearly an hour perched on the hillside. There was a “watering hole” in the distance and when they started towards it we quickly drove to meet them there. Unfortunately the water was turned off. I have been told that it is the ranchers that control which watering holes get water not the BLM. The herd appeared to be waiting for us to turn the faucet on, which we could not do. We’re hoping that this weeks storms get them enough water where they are currently grazing. The closest water we saw was the watering hole South and East of Simpson Springs…

We drove back to the closest water and photographed a small family band kicking up a huge dust cloud on the way to water.

Onaqui Photographs – Utah Wild Horses – Huge Dust Clouds

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Finally getting around to posting photographs of our latest trip to the Onaqui herd of wild horses in Utah’s West Desert. The ranchers have shut off access to all watering holes on the Davis Mountain side (North herd). The North herd is sometimes feeding in the area North of Davis Mountain but they have to travel all the way to the trough watering hole to water. Not sure if they are watering both morning and evening, we have only been out there in the evening. On this trip the “North” herd was feeding just South of the trough, but after their evening drink the RAN all the way back to the area between Dugway and Davis Mountain. What a sight! It was right at sunset but the dust lingered in the valleys seemingly forever. Look closely at the panoramic images at sunset. The “white” sliver of light is the dust left as the entire herd (near 300 horses) ran through the valley on the way to where they would rest and feed the next day. It’s too bad the image size has to be significantly downsized.  The full-resolution panorama (about 12 images stitched together) is amazing.  THE ONAQUI HERD NEVER DISAPPOINTS!!!!

Onaqui Wild Horses – Extreme Dusty Mid-August

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The west desert never disappoints. Although we had spent a couple of hours with the herd in the Davis Mountain area, we decided to go South before the North herd went to water. That was a mistake. The North herd traveled all the way to the trough watering hole to water and we missed the stampede. Luckily, there were many bands behind the main herd so we were able to capture them coming through the pass! The dust was incredibly thick. Another fantastic trip to this magnificent national treasure (that the BLM wants to eliminate).

%MCEPASTEBIN%

Neowise Comet – Photographs Taken in Utah

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A friend shamed me into getting up early this morning and driving to the top of Francis Peak along the Wasatch Front. (my wife and I drove up the evening before for me to find a likely spot to see the comet). I was a little off on my prediction as to where I would actually see the comet this morning but I am very pleased I took the time.

I apologize for the fact that these are not wild horse photographs, but I wanted to get them out for friends and family to see this remarkable sight.

Black & White Toned Photographs of Onaqui Wild Horses

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Several friends have asked about purchasing some prints. Most want black and white prints with a sepia-like tone. I went through many of my favorite photographs and came up with just over 100 of my favorite. I am posting them here. Contact me for pricing if you are interested.

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Onaqui Wild Horse Photography – June 4

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It has taken me weeks to get these photographs processed. The lighting was so perfect and varied, I had a hard time getting through all of the photographs I liked. I couldn’t get the ones I wanted to post to any fewer than these. I know there are too many, but I tried…

We were about a mile South of the watering hole photographing HUNDREDS of these magnificent wild horses. I had the sense that they were going to return to the watering trough. We got in the car and drove to the water. It was just before sunset and luckily, they did as I had predicted! Hundreds of horses on a run to the water! What a sight! Unfortunately the photographs don’t do justice to the experience, but I will remember that moment for the rest of my life…

Once the sun had set we were in a perfect setting to shoot some long exposures.  Some were more like “abstract art,” but I was happy with a few.

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wild mustangs, wild horse photography, photograph of wild horses

Photographing Wild Horses in Utah’s West Desert – Late May

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I’m often asked if I ever get tired of photographing this herd of Wild Horses. The simple answer is N E V E R! Every trip is different. Different lighting, different foregrounds, different backgrounds, the horses have different attitudes. This trip was all about dark skies and rich lighting.

A few posts ago (the one with a lot of dust and wind) I felt that many of the photographs looked better in that very warm sepia tone. Another post a few weeks ago it didn’t feel like many of the photographs looked better in any form of black and white. On this trip to the Onaqui, even as I was taking some photographs, I said to myself, “this scene is meant to be in black and white”. I tried several of these scenes in the warm sepia tone but it just wasn’t what I saw in my mind’s eye. I saw dark, dramatic skies in a deep selenium tone. I hope you agree…