Finally made the time to photograph the Onaqui mustangs last week. I must say that it was one of the most “pleasant/surprising” trips we have ever made to the West Desert. The herd was not grazing in the “burn area” like it was on our previous trip. This is very surprising because that area has been fenced off for several years by the BLM after the fire there and they re-seeded the burn area. The BLM has allowed cattle to graze on this 38,000 acre burn area. One would assume that this area would be lush with vegetation. It appears that the horses prefer otherwise. They were located in the area North of Davis Mountain where they had plenty of feed.
When we first approached the herd the desert was surprisingly colorful. Lots of red/purple tumble weeds and lush new green growth. These colors made for great backgrounds. Then, it started to rain lightly. I’m not sure how/why, but the colors (or perhaps it was a change in the light) became beautifully saturated. The pastel colors were striking! We kept saying how unusual and beautiful the desert was. As I have said before, the West Desert never disappoints!
There are too many photographs in this post but I just couldn’t seem to cut them back any more. It really was unusual how striking the colors were. There are two “series” of images in this gallery. There are three close-up images of a horse grazing (images 2722-2724). The sheep/cattle ranchers claim that the wild horses destroy the foliage when they eat because they “pull the plants up by the roots”. I just happened to photograph how they really graze. You can see that the horse has cut the grasses off, not pulled the plant out by the roots. This leaves the grant to grow again, just like when we mow our lawns.
The second series of images are a young mare that was “frightened” by a tumbleweed rolling by (images 0281-0295).
Sorry again for all of the images…
Beautiful images! There can never be too many. Your love of the land and the horses is, of course, evident in these wonderful photos. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks again for your kind words!