Wild Horses

On Saturday, March 30, JC, his wife Guylaine, Lori and I took one more trip to the Salt River to shoot the wild horses and with some luck an eagles nest.  The eagles nest proved to be about a mile from the river so no pictures however we did get to peak through a wildlife officers spotter telescope.  They were charting the eagles nesting habits and were kind enough to give us a brief history of this pair and let us spy on the nest with their 3000mm telescope.   We did see the adult pair circling over the river however they were out of range for me. 

Our previous trips to shoot the horses netted us a half dozen horses standing in the river doing nothing too exciting.  Our second attempt netted us no horses.  This time out we hit the jackpot.  We have been told that there are 300 plus horses in the area and we saw 40-50 of them on this day.  And action.  You bet.  We had plenty of that.  

We made out way down to the river and left the girls sitting in their camp chairs beside the river while JC and I wandered further down stream.  It wasn't too long before we came upon a group of about 20 horses grazing on the banks and drinking from the river.  We picked a comfortable spot, settled in and began shooting.  The action started off slow and easy but soon picked up to a frantic pace.  

Here we go.  

Grazing nice and peaceful like.  

Then the competition began

Milling about, sorting certain horses from the herd.  

Expressions of dominance.
Don't think the grey yearling could figure out what the stallion
was trying to do to his mommy.  

Lots of butt bumping.

Now were getting down to business. 

Thought I was in an old wild west movie

No one got hurt but they sure looked serious. 

Such beautiful powerful animals

The winner of round 1.  So proud of himself. 

We just went from wild west to a porno flick. 

Time for a break.

We heard a commotion behind us and low and behold
we were the ones being watched.
They were about 20 feet away.   

They figured we were no threat and moseyed down for a drink. 

Sometimes when two herds come together everything is peaceful.
Later I would learn that isn't always the case. 

No words needed. 

We were told the foal was only a few days old.
Notice the kayakers coming into frame. 

They would glance at us every once in a while.
They are obviously used to being observed.
As long as you give them some space they just carry on. 

When you have an itch in that hard to reach place
it's good to have a friend. 

There seems to be an extra appendage.

Lunch time. 

I was less than 10 feet from him.
 He kept an eye on me but I stayed still and we were all having a good time

Then he heard something.  Then I heard something.
For some reason another group of horses came barrelling along the path.
Everything went crazy for a few seconds.
I hid behind this bush and luckily they went around me.
I could have reached out and touched them as they ran by.
I didn't. 

On our way back to the river to pick up the girls
we found they had attracted some attention.
This mare approached, stopped to assess the danger.
Then unexpectedly kept advancing.

The girls stood up slowly and the mares decided
to wander off in the other direction. 

It was a great day and will put it on our list of places for a return visit.