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FIRST PHOTOS OF ONAQUI WILD HORSE HERD AFTER LONG WINTER!

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I have never seen such a long and wet winter for the Onaqui’s since I bagan photographing them 8 or 9 years ago! I have had at least four trips to the West desert in search of ANY HORSES and have only seen a few horses miles from any road and completely inaccessible. My luck changed a few weeks ago! Finally, I was able to brave the incredibly muddy roads and hike over a mile to be in the middle of my favorite family band!!!! The blue-eyed colts!!! Several of the horses that were with this family band have left (my favorite red mare with blonde mane). “The Ghost” is still with the band, hanging out on the outskirts. Not sure if he has a specific mare he is interested in, or if he will challenge the blue-eyed stallion for the whole band. It should be an interesting summer!!!

PLEASE NOTE IF TRAVELING TO THE ONAQUI. TOOELE COUNTY HAS THE DIRT ROAD FROM DUGWAY (LDS CHURCH) TO THE INTERSECTION WITH PONY EXPRESS ROAD COMPLETELY UN-PASSABLE! THEY WILL START ADDING GRAVEL TO THE MUDDY MESS LATER THIS MONTH BUT FOR NOW YOU MUST USE THE FIVE-MILE ACCESS.

Onaqui Wild Horses in Snow

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Wow, it’s been a long time since we visited the Onaqui herd. It was a difficult day to try and find this wonderful herd of wild horses. The clouds/fog/smog prevented us from being able to use the binoculars. There was a fair amount of snow on the west desert so we were hoping to not have to travel too far from the main roads.

We came down the road from lookout pass, all the way to Simpson Springs and did not see any sign of the horses. We continued South to the Old River Bed station and still had not seen a single horse. There were several thousand sheep at the River Bed station. I was surprised to see them there that late in the season. I wonder if they have grazing rights through the winter.

It was at least another five miles on the road (getting closer to the Dugway geode beds). Finally was we were about ready to turn around we spotted a about 30 wild horses in the distance, luckily near the road. It was the Onaqui! This family band had my favorite mare (red with blond mane). We were really glad to see them.

After photographing them for a few hours they had moved about 1/2 mile off the road. We finished up with them and decided to go South a few more miles in hopes of seeing another band. No luck. We decided to go out to them when we ran into a very accomplished photographer from back east (Harry Siskind). We all walked out the the herd and had a great time together. On the way out, we happened to run into another family band. My favorite band! The one with the blue/brown eyed colt. What a TREAT!

I immediately recognized a magnificent stallion that I have not seen for at least 4 years. THE GHOST! He is known to come out of nowhere and fight with every stallion that will take him on. He really is magnificent. The most “proud” stallion I have ever seen. He “prances” and does everything he can to show off for the ladies. The light wasn’t that great but a very rare treat to experience. Maybe he will pick off a few mares and become part of the Onaqui herd. Can’t wait to see!!!

Wild Horse Photographs – Onaqui Herd – September

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I had several fantastic trips to the Onaqui Wild horses in late August and early September with two great photographers and fellow horse lovers. These photographers usually photograph the Salt River Herd, but wanted to see the Onaqui herd before it was reduced by 80%. I hope they had a good time, they seemed to really enjoy the Onaqui Herd and the intimate photographs you can shoot of this herd. This post is one of the three days I spent with them. I will add the other two days in the future.

Onaqui Herd 27 Sept – ROUNDUP DELAYED!

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It looks like the BLM is delaying the roundup of the Onaqui Herd till 2019. I hope it gives us enough time to convince the BLM that rounding up 80% of the herd and putting them in pens for the rest of their lives is not the answer!

Here are images from my last visit to the herd. All horses were healthy, well-fed and well-watered. The vast majority of the the herd was on the North range (close to Dugway). There is only one active watering hole in this area and it was a wonderful site to see over 300 horses coming into the water. Not the greatest lighting, but a wonderful sight. As you can see, plenty of photographers visiting the herd as well. We went to the South range and were able to get a few pictures but returned to the North herd for sunset. Another magnificent visit to this magnificent herd.

My Ebook of Onaqui Wild Horses is Finally Available!

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I have been working on this photographic ebook for some time.  I finally think I have all of the bugs worked out and it is ready for purchase.  It contains over 50 pages and 70 high-resolution images of this magnificent herd of wild horses located it Utah’s West Desert.  I have attached previews of some of the pages.  The ebook comes in PDF format and can be viewed on computers, tablets smartphones etc.  THE COST OF THE EBOOK IS $9.99  Buy Now

You will be directed to the download page immediately after purchase.  If you have any problems with the download etc, please email me.  All payments are done securely through PayPal.  I do not have access to any credit card information.  You do NOT need a PayPal account to purchase this ebook.  Just click on “Guest Payment” once you are on PayPal’s secure site.

If you purchase the ebook and are unhappy with it for any reason, I will refund your payment.  Please report any bugs or suggestions.

 

THIS IS A PREVIEW (LOW-RESOLUTION) OF A FEW OF THE 50 PAGES OF THIS EBOOK ON THE ONAQUI WILD HORSES

 

 

Entire Onaqui Herd Of Wild Horses On The Run

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Taking this photograph was one of the most amazing experiences I have had while photographing.  It was a sight I will never forget.  The entire Onaqui herd came together at the Simpson Springs watering hole.  I refer to this as the “North” herd.  There is another group of horses (about the same in number), that is a few miles South of this location.  The two herds rarely come together.

After they had all watered, they were just meandering west of the water grazing.  I followed them for a while, but they were getting a long way away from the car, so I headed back.  A few minutes later I noticed the ENTIRE HERD on the run!  They weren’t on their way to water, they weren’t frightened, THEY WERE SIMPLY ON THE RUN BECAUSE THEY COULD.  THEY CLEARLY ENJOYED IT!  A sight I will likely never see again.  Hundreds of wild horses on the run just because they wanted to run!!!  It really was a special moment.  Few people could really appreciate this moment, but I was truly blessed to have been there.  By next month most of them will be rounded up and sent off to pens to die…  SHAME ON THE BLM.  As they round up thousands of horses this year a sight like this one will likely never again be repeated.  I wish I had thought to capture this moment on video, but I was so caught up in the moment it did not occur to me.  What a shame…

This is a panorama of four images stitched together.  The full-resolution image is much too big to email or post on the web.  Email me if you would like access to the full-resolution image.

Cedar Mountain Wild Horses

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I had the privilege of visiting the Cedar Mountain herd of wild horses in Skull Valley.  The Cedar Mountain herd has been rounded up much more regularly than the Onaqui Herd and they are VERY SPOOKY when it comes to interacting with humans.  We found them at one of their watering holes.  The BLM has water trucked into this location, there are little if any natural springs in the area (unlike the Onaqui Herd Management Area).  We slowly came around a bend in the road and spotted the herd watering about 1/4 mile from our location.  Even at that distance we could see that they had spotted us and were “on edge”.  The herd is apparently even more spooked by vehicles so we got out and started to walk slowly to get closer.  We were watched constantly by the herd.  We would stop and photograph them for several minutes hoping that they would become a little more accustomed to our presence.  We didn’t want to get too close too soon if all of the horses had not watered.  We were about 200 yards from them when they decided they didn’t want us any closer.  The entire herd moved slowly up away, into a draw.  We did spot another group several miles from this herd, but terrain didn’t allow us to get any closer than a mile.  Notice the beautiful markings on several of the pinto’s.  You will also notice that the mares carry a different BLM brand than the Onaqui herd.

Final Push To Prevent Onaqui Herd Roundup By BLM

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Thanks to the American Wild Horse Campaign for sending this easy way to send comments to the BLM.  The BLM is within weeks of rounding up 90% of the Onaqui Herd and removing nearly 400 of these beautiful horses to spend the rest of their lives in a pen somewhere in the Mid-West.  We are so lucky to have this herd within an hour drive from Salt Lake.

The BLM doesn’t seem concerned about reducing the 2,500 head of sheep and the 2,000 head of cows it grazes in the Onaqui Herd Management Area.  According to the BLM only the 500 head of Wild Horses need to be reduced.  Please follow the link below to submit your comments to the BLM.

Thanks!!!

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Greig,

Earlier this week, we wrote you about the urgent need to speak up for the wild horses in the Onaqui HMA in Utah. Many of you had trouble with the BLM site that was accepting public comments, so now we have secured an easier and more reliable way to submit comments.

Please take action today to stop the removal of 379 cherished Onaqui horses from their homes on our public lands.

Thanks,

The AWHC Team

American Wild Horse Campaign
P.O. Box 1733
Davis, CA 95617
United States

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