Tag Archives: wild horses

Sulphur & Onaqui Wild Horses

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I have always wanted to photograph the Sulphur Wild Horses Northwest of Milford, UT because many of these wild horses draw their bloodlines from the Colonial Spanish horse. (the first horses brought to America by Spanish explorers in the 1500’s according to the BLM website). These characteristics are the very characteristics that “the Ghost” had which are zebra stripes on the rear of the legs and a dark dorsal stripe down their back. I have always felt that Ghost was originally part of this herd and migrated up every few years to have his way with the Onaqui mares.

Well, just like many other herds, I found the Sulphur herd to be nearly impossible to photograph because they are so afraid of humans. I spotted about 25-30 horses from route 21 near the Pots-Sum-Pa turnoff. I took the turnoff and before I could even come to a stop the herd was on the run. (see the third photograph in this gallery)

Had a great sunset that evening and got up early the next day to try and find some less spooky horses.  Basically the same result.  Even with my 500mm lens I couldn’t get any decent photographs, (fourth and fifth photograph in this gallery).  Given the fact that the winds that night must have been near 35mph and not very pleasant in my little tent trailer, I packed up and moved to spend a few days with the Onaqui.

Between very warm temps, drifted snow, melting snow and a lot of mud, getting within 4 or 5 miles of the Onaqui didn’t seem likely.  I found the majority of the herd very high on Davis Mountain again, but it was impossible to get across the gully to get to the roads that were still miles from the horses.

I did find a small group of Onaqui on the East of Davis Mountain that was within a mile or two of the the main road.  I spent the morning with them and returned that afternoon.

On two separate occasions the herd became very frightened and stampeded for the mountains.  One, when a large, loud military airplane suddenly appeared over Davis Mountain, and that afternoon when a large cattle trailer drove down the Pony Express Road.  It was the same type of trailer that the Onaqui were put into when they were rounded up and driven to Delta, UT.  I have seen this happen when Blackhawk helicopters fly close by, but never with a large transport jet and never with a cattle trailer.  I wonder if/when the herd will ever get back to normal….

Onaqui Wild Horses – March 24, 2021

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It seems like it has been a long time since I have visited the Onaqui Herd. Finally made it out a few weeks ago. These mustangs must spend the entire winter eating in order to keep their weight up, and that is seen in these pictures! They ALWAYS have their heads down feeding! As you can see, the good news is that they all look GREAT! None of the horses look stressed at all, and the only one that seems a bit “skinny” is the Old Man. We were so happy to have found him! He was nowhere near either the North or the South herd. Roaming near Davis mountain by himself…

There is a red mare that has a new foal that had a syringe in her right rear leg.  She was in pain, but was eating fine.  I photographer her about 10 days later and the syringe was gone and she was just fine!

As you have probably heard, the Onaqui herd is scheduled for a “gathering” (another word for “unnecessary brutal roundup”) in late July. They are planning to round up approximately 350 of the 500 wild horses in the Onaqui herd. Few, if any will be adopted so they will be processed and sent on to pens in the midwest to live out the remainder of their lives in captivity. The Bureau of Land Management will then have to use the bulk of their budget to feed these horses. Makes great sense, right?

More images coming soon, as I have since visited the herd once since this posting.

Onaqui Photographs – Utah Wild Horses – Huge Dust Clouds

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Finally getting around to posting photographs of our latest trip to the Onaqui herd of wild horses in Utah’s West Desert. The ranchers have shut off access to all watering holes on the Davis Mountain side (North herd). The North herd is sometimes feeding in the area North of Davis Mountain but they have to travel all the way to the trough watering hole to water. Not sure if they are watering both morning and evening, we have only been out there in the evening. On this trip the “North” herd was feeding just South of the trough, but after their evening drink the RAN all the way back to the area between Dugway and Davis Mountain. What a sight! It was right at sunset but the dust lingered in the valleys seemingly forever. Look closely at the panoramic images at sunset. The “white” sliver of light is the dust left as the entire herd (near 300 horses) ran through the valley on the way to where they would rest and feed the next day. It’s too bad the image size has to be significantly downsized.  The full-resolution panorama (about 12 images stitched together) is amazing.  THE ONAQUI HERD NEVER DISAPPOINTS!!!!

Onaqui Wild Horses – Extreme Dusty Mid-August

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The west desert never disappoints. Although we had spent a couple of hours with the herd in the Davis Mountain area, we decided to go South before the North herd went to water. That was a mistake. The North herd traveled all the way to the trough watering hole to water and we missed the stampede. Luckily, there were many bands behind the main herd so we were able to capture them coming through the pass! The dust was incredibly thick. Another fantastic trip to this magnificent national treasure (that the BLM wants to eliminate).

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Onaqui Wild Horse Photography – June 4

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It has taken me weeks to get these photographs processed. The lighting was so perfect and varied, I had a hard time getting through all of the photographs I liked. I couldn’t get the ones I wanted to post to any fewer than these. I know there are too many, but I tried…

We were about a mile South of the watering hole photographing HUNDREDS of these magnificent wild horses. I had the sense that they were going to return to the watering trough. We got in the car and drove to the water. It was just before sunset and luckily, they did as I had predicted! Hundreds of horses on a run to the water! What a sight! Unfortunately the photographs don’t do justice to the experience, but I will remember that moment for the rest of my life…

Once the sun had set we were in a perfect setting to shoot some long exposures.  Some were more like “abstract art,” but I was happy with a few.

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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.

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.