Tag Archives: beautiful wild horse photography

New Photographs July Onaqui Herd of Wild Horses

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We had a GREAT visit to the herd in July.  It was so hot the herd didn’t graze much.  Spent most of the day at the watering hole.  That gave us some unusual opportunities to photograph them.  Lots of fights (some real and some just “jousting”).  It allowed us to have a lot of horses in the background that sometimes helps simplify any distractions.

There was a fierce fight near/in the watering hole.  The brown stallion was fighting with the gray all day long.  Both stallions were on their hind legs just seconds earlier.  Then the brown stallion decided to run to get away from the gray.  They were on the edge of the watering hole surrounded by other wild horses so that meant they ran through the water.  Great opportunity that I was glad I was able to witness and get a few photographs of…

So many photographs to process but here are a few of what I have processed thus far…

 

Latest Photographs of Onaqui Herd – Wild Horses

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Another great trip to Utah’s West desert to photograph this wonderful herd of wild horses.  I worry every trip out that the herd has been rounded up.  With so many foals this year they are really multiplying quickly.  I have herd rumors that the BLM will be using PZP on this herd rather than rounding them up and taking them off to holding pens.

I am no expert on any of this, but PZP seems like a better alternative than simply rounding them up and shipping them to massive holding pens for the rest of their lives (or until they are slaughtered).

The main watering trough that this herd uses regularly was dry!  I did find them nearby, but they were moving to an area that I have never seen them in throughout the 7 years I have been photographing them.  I hope to get back to them in a few weeks to see what has happened.  I will keep you posted.

Wild Horse Photography – Fight

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In this post of my wild horse photography you will see a series of photographs I shot a few weeks ago in Utah’s west desert.  In this series a roan stallion spots a black stallion that is “courting” his mare.  The chase is on.  When the roan finally catches the black stallion he almost takes the black stallion to the ground.  Then the black stallion gets his moment when he is able to pull off a solid kick to the throat of the roan.  This herd of wild horses along the old Pony Express trail near Dugway, Utah is such a treasure.  My biggest concern is how quickly they are growing in number.  I don’t believe the BLM has had a roundup of this herd for several years.  There must be near twenty new foals from this year!  I hope they can find an alternative to rounding up many of the herd and carting them off to huge pens in the mid-west.  I have seen the effects on those left behind and it is not a pretty thing.  Stallions that lost their mares and family band are never the same.  The BLM is certainly facing a difficult management task and I hope reasonable compromises can be found.

 

 

 

Sheep in Onaqui HMA – Wild Horses in Utah

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Herd of sheep grazing on BLM range in Utah’s west desert.

This is a photograph I took of a herd of sheep in April 2017.  The Onaqui herd of wild horses are frequently seen in this spot and in the hills just above the sheep.  I still did not capture all of the sheep that were in this valley.  Two huge white sheepdogs were at my car door and I was unable to get out of the car to photograph all of the sheep.  By comparison, I would guess the total number of horses in the Onaqui Herd Management Area (HMA) is less than 180 right now.

If you click on the photograph it will take you to a larger panoramic video to get a better appreciation of how many sheep are in the photograph.

 

Onaqui Herd – Wild Horses – December

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Every time to get out to photograph this herd of wild horses I am inspired by them.  I wish I had the time to photograph these magnificent creatures every day.

On this trip it was as cold as I have seen it in Utah’s West Desert.  It was 13 degrees just after sunset.  The lighting was amazing!  We were lucky enough to spot the herd (it was HUGE) many miles from the main road.  The lighting was good when we got there but became better and better the later it got.  Another amazing opportunity to spend time with them….

Colorful Utah Desert – Onaqui Herd – Wild Horses of Utah

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Here are some photographs I took this spring when the Utah Desert was as colorful as I have ever seen it.  The Onaqui herd seemed to be in great shape, with foals just starting to be born.  To see the desert now, you would never believe it was this colorful.  The plant that is such a brilliant orange is called Globe Mallow or desert mallow.  It is native to Utah.

Newest Photography of Wild Horses in Utah

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I recently put together a photography book of over 50 images of this wonderful herd of wild horses in Utah.  It turned out AWESOME.  If anyone is interested in purchasing one, let me know.

These are some of the images in the book.  Enjoy…