I have wanted to photograph the Pryor Mountain Wild Horses for a long time. The lead stallion was called “Cloud” and Ginger Kathrens, (founder of The Cloud Foundation) has produced many movies and written several books on these horses and Cloud in particular. Cloud has since passed, but these horses are magnificent and live in a spectacular area in Montana. In the winter they live in the red-rock lower areas. In the spring, they migrate to the beautiful wild-flower covered meadows surrounded by pine trees.
I was probably 3-4 weeks too early. The very rough 4-wheel drive road (Burnt Timber Road) was very rugged. I nearly made it to the upper meadows but unfortunately snow made the road impassable on this day. I don’t believe the horses had migrated up this far either, but I could be wrong. The horses I did find were in good shape if not a bit skinny. They are smaller than the Onaqui mustangs.
Anyway, I was able to find and photograph over 20 horses in very different conditions than the Onaqui. I hope to return soon to get to the upper meadows and continue my interaction with these beautiful wild horses. I even found a few bighorn sheep as an added bonus!
