Tag Archives: wild horse prints

Onaqui Wild Horses – 27 June

Posted on by

Wow! What a trip to photograph the Onaqui herd. The skies were fantastic all day long, lighting was just perfect. Even ran into an old friend (human, not horse). One of the best trips of the year. Apologies in advance for all of the images, just couldn’t thin them out any more.

The HUGE bitemark image is a photograph of Genesis.  He is part of Moondrinkers band.  In fact, Genesis is the son of Moondrinker and it was Moondrinker that bit all the way through his hide.  Moondrinker had Genesis by the hide and pushed his son for nearly 30 yards running at full steam through a small ravine!  I wish I had better images of the actual fight, but those images didn’t make the cut.  Both of them drew blood!

If you don’t see images on your cellphone, click on title.

Onaqui 18 June

Posted on by

I have several trips to the Onaqui that I have not yet posted, but finally got these done of a trip we did last week to the Onaqui. We found both the North and the South herds. I hope to get the other trips done and posted soon.

Sorry for all of the photo’s. It was a very nice trip with a lot of “keepers”.

wild mustang, Onaqui herd of wild horses

Wild Horse Photography – March 2020

Posted on by

Got back to the Onaqui herd a few weeks ago. We drove several miles on back-roads before we found this group of horses. They were North of the trough watering hole. We photographed them for a couple of hours in harsh light. I spotted the bulk of the herd South of the trough watering hole up in the cedars. We drove to them, but they seemed unusually spooked and with few roads in the area we returned to the first group and prepared for sunset light. Great timing on our part. Still waiting for the grass to green up, but we could not find ANY HORSES that were distressed in any way. We also found and photographed the Old Man! He too wasn’t as friendly as in the past be he looked great! It looks like he will be with us for a while.

photograph Onaqui of wild horses

Onaqui Herd 12 July

Posted on by

Finally got around to processing my photographs from July 12. It was very hot that day and it took a fair amount of hiking to keep up with the herd.

According to a recent instagram post https://www.instagram.com/p/B1MrhhTH_y8/?igshid=1xgr6x4xfyzw

the BLM has moved up the scheduled October Onaqui roundup to September 10-16. According to the post the BLM will gather these 200 horses from outside the HMA and then from “the mountains within the HMA where sage grouse have been re-introduced.” Again according to the post, horses within the valley will NOT be gathered…

It seems unlikely that the BLM can find 200 horses to round up without rounding up the herd that we photograph. The South herd is frequently “outside of the HMA.”  I’m glad I will be photographing in Iceland during this time. Not sure I could endure the pain and suffering.

Photographing these magnificent wild horses never gets old. I could do it every day. I only hope that they will still be there when I get back from Iceland…

 

May Visit To Photograph Onaqui Wild Horses

Posted on by

The Onaqui Wild Horses never disappoint! The mud is gone, the road from Dugway to Pony Express Road is finally complete and easy to travel. The purples are gone but green is in! Lots of fights, lots of foals (too many, where is the PZP campaign), and lighting at sunset was amazing!

Amazing Purple Flowers – Utah’s West Desert – Onaqui WIld Horses

Posted on by

In the eight years I have been photographing the Onaqui herd of wild horses in Utah’s West Desert, I have never seen the desert this colorful. The purples were AMAZING. Not sure what weed it is that produces these purple blossoms but it is breathtaking! The horses don’t eat this particular weed, but they seem to graze right at the edge of the purple blossoms.  If you are planning a trip in the near future, I hope the purple blooms are still there for your trip! We had to search all day to find the “main North” herd.  It was nice to see the “Old Man”.  Did not find “The Ghost” on this visit… If you are coming from the North, I strongly suggest you enter the HMA via the Pony Express road from Faust, rather than Dugway.  The dirt road from Dugway is still a huge mess!  Many more images to process. More to come.

“The Ghost” – Photography of Onaqui Wild Horses 2019

Posted on by

It looks like the Ghost has decided to finally become one of the Onaqui Herd of Wild Horses. This particular horse is seen about every 3rd or 4th year. He “appears”, fights with as many stallions as will fight with him, tries to breed with the best mares, and then disappears for several years. I first photographed him in 2015 (see first two photographs). He was MAGNIFICENT! Full of testosterone and incredibly majestic! At the end of a long day, he started running South and just kept running. I watched him for at least 10 miles and then he was gone.

The next time I saw him was in December 2018 (see next three photographs). He appeared out of nowhere and seemed like he was after my favorite mare (the young red mare with a blonde mane). At that time she was with the blue-eyed Palomino Stallion and his family band. The Ghost has the unusual markings of ancient Spanish horses which are “zebra stripes” on the lower legs and a dark dorsal stripe extending to the tail hairs.

Last week he was still with the Palomino family band, but the Red mare is no longer with that family band. The Ghost has become the Palomino Stallion’s 1st Lieutenant! Meaning, he appears to be teamed up with the Palomino stallion and fights off the younger bachelors that want to breed with the Palomino’s mares. The Ghost is the first line of defense, fighting off all intruders. When the time is right, the Ghost will make a play for the Palomino’s mares and there will be ha huge battle! We’ll see how soon this happens. As the BLM is planning to round up 80% of the herd in the next few months, I doubt we will have the opportunity to see how this plays out. Even if the Ghost was not one of the 400 horsed that will be rounded up and taken to pens in the mid-west, the Palomino’s family band will certainly not remain intact after the roundup. I think I am going to me sick…..

FIRST PHOTOS OF ONAQUI WILD HORSE HERD AFTER LONG WINTER!

Posted on by

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

Posted on by

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!!!