Tag Archives: equine photographers

Photography of Swasey Wild Horse Herd – Near Delta, UT

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I was asked if I had any photographs of the Swasey Herd of Wild Horses near Delta, UT. Just the excuse I needed to make the two hour drive from Salt Lake. Rumor has it that the BLM will be rounding most of them up soon. Glad we were able to find them! They certainly are a different herd the Onaqui. Very spooky. They would not let us get anywhere near them, very different than the Onaqui. They also did not come together in a large herd. Only bands of 3-8 horses. Glad we had longer lenses!

Timing was also perfect to photograph the Snow Geese migration. Every spring between 10 and 20 thousand snow geese make a stop in Delta, UT on their annual migration to Canada. I have photographed them nearly every year for 5 or 6 years. This year did not disappoint.

Onaqui Wild Horse Herd – February

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As usual, the Onaqui herd never disappoints. We located several family bands just below Davis Mountain. The antelope (pronghorns) must be migrating back from their winter range because we saw a couple of herds that had nearly 50 antelope in them. Then we set out to find the rest of the “North” herd. We found them herd several miles North of Davis Mountain at the top of the foothills. We have seen the herd in this area once before. We named the valley “Dead Eagle Valley” for a dead eagle that we found there last spring. As some of the bands came into the valley we were able to position ourselves above them, and Simpson Buttes and the valley East of there is in the background. What a view! Several photographs in this post are panorama’s where I shoot 12-15 separate overlapping photographs in portrait mode and then stitch them together to form a panorama in Lightroom. Then we were able to hike to the opposite side of the valley and had the snow-covered Onaqui Mountains in the background! Wish we had lawn chairs with us, we could have spent the entire day there! We photographed them for several hours in that valley and then proceeded South and West to find the former Cremello band. We found them again near the main watering hole South and West of Simpson Springs. It looks like the black mustang has taken over the band once Ghost and the Cremello were captured, neutered and sold at auction by the BLM. No sign of the colt with one blue and one brown eye, but his mother and her two younger foals were there. I fear he was rounded up with Ghost and the Cremello. A sad thought to have as we left the herd and headed home…

Photos of Onaqui Wild Horses – Late January

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Wow, what an interesting day photographing the Onaqui herd. Started the day with light snow, clouds and frozen roads. Ended the day with mud and blue then pink skies! You have to love Utah’s West desert and this magnificent herd of wild horses. We found what appeared to be most of the North and South herds near Davis mountain. One or two miles of driving on the frozen 4 wheel drive roads and the photo shoot of this magnificent herd was on! Ended the day South if Simpson Springs and found what was the Cremello’s and Ghost’s band. The 3 year old colt with one blue and one brown eye was nowhere to be seen. I hope and pray he was not rounded up with his father the Cremello and Ghost.

Just too many photo’s. It was really hard to cull these down to a reasonable number of “keepers”.

Photography of Onaqui Wild Mustangs

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Finally found the time to get back out and photograph the Onaqui wild horse herd in winter. Finding them in winter is much more difficult than in summer. During the heat of summer, the herd needs to use the watering holes at least daily. In winter they get their water from eating snow, or drinking from small puddles. They frequently use the valley North of Davis mountain. We headed down that muddy and slick 4 wheel drive road. We finally located them on the West of Davis mountain. It was really nice to photograph them up in the steeper, rocky areas, not on the flats.

After photographing this “North” or Davis herd, we drove South to attempt to locate the South herd. I was anxious to see if I could locate the Blue-eyed family band, the band that the BLM has rounded up the Cremello stallion and The Ghost from. We did locate that small family band just at sunset. They were too far away and it was too dark to photograph them but I was grateful to see the pinto mare and her and at least see two of her three offspring.

Photographs of Onaqui Wild Horses – Nov

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We were a little worried about how muddy the roads might be when we left Salt Lake. It had rained a lot the previous few days, but luckily the roads (even the side roads) were fairly dry. We found the North (Davis Mountain) herd just East of Davis Mountain. After photographing them for a couple of yours we left to find the South herd. This might have been one of the very few trips when the South herd was not in the flats. In fact, we never did find them. Sunset was quickly approaching so we drove as fast as we dared to get back the the North herd before sunset. With only a few minutes to spare we were able to get some stunning photographs of these magnificent wild horses just at sunset. Another fantastic trip to photograph these stunning wild horses.

Fine Art Prints of Wild Horses

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Here are some additional photographs of the Onaqui Wild Horses that are more contemporary or as some might say, “fine art”. Some are just toned, some are modified in Photoshop. Comments appreciated.

photography of sand wash basin wild horse herd

Photography of Sand Wash Basin Wild Horses

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Since hearing the devastating news that the BLM “ACCIDENTALLY” captured my absolutely favorite stallion (Ghost) and the stallion that he was trying to steal some of his mares (the Cremello whose mare has born colts with blue and blue/brown eyes), I have not been able to bring myself to photograph the Onaqui’s. The BLM refuses to return these two stallions to their herd! They had promised the public that they would not be rounding up any of the Onaqui herd that was not on Dugway land. So much for trusting the BLM…

After a business trip to Grand Junction, Colorado I drove the 2 1/2 hours to see the Sand Wash Basin herd of wild horses. The herd is located about 20 minutes northwest of Maybell, Colorado.  I got to the the HMA just before sunset and miraculously found a small band to photograph just at sunset. They seemed very calm and allowed me to get quite close to photograph them.  I wish I had taken them time to grab more than just my 500mm lens but the light was fading quickly and I really didn’t think they were going to be as friendly as the Onaqui herd.

I slept in my vehicle and got up before sunrise to hopefully find another band to photograph at the “magic hour”. Again, I was very fortunate to find another small band just before sunrise. The way the images downloaded was that the gallery shows the early morning photographs at the beginning and the evening photographs from the prior night at the end of the gallery. I drove most of the HMA and found at least 10 bands of between 5 and 8 horses in each band. Most of them were not close enough to easily walk to and I needed to return home as soon as possible. This is completely unlike the Onaqui herd where you almost always find over one hundred horses together, and family bands within that larger herd. The Sand Wash Basin wild horses were all beautiful and very healthy.  I hope to be able to return and spend more time with them. I also hope to get up enough courage to photograph the Onaqui’s soon…

Photographs of Onaqui Wild Horses 8 Aug

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It was another great trip to the Onaqui with good friends and great company. Not as hot as a few weeks ago when it was 108 degrees. It was in the low 90’s today.

The North herd has moved near Simpson Springs and the South Herd is just a few miles South of them. FANTASTIC clouds and lighting, not much fighting. Great day for panorama’s. More to come from this shoot and one in late July.

Photography of Onaqui Herd – June 20

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Finally getting caught up on our latest trip to photograph the Onaqui herd. It is getting hot enough and dry enough that the herd(s) are now using the watering holes making them easier to find. A few rain showers, and a spectacular sunset to cap off another perfect day with the Onaqui mustangs, mares and foals.

Photographing Onaqui Herd – June 14 – Onaqui Wild Horses

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I had another great trip to photograph the Onaqui Herd of wild horses in Utah’s West Desert. The “North herd” was near the “trough watering hole” and the South herd was South of Simpson Springs. It’s hard to have a bad day with this herd. The rainbow that was out for a short time was a welcome addition to another perfect afternoon.