It has been a very long time since I have updated my photographs of the magnificent Onaqui herd. I spent a full day with the Onaqui in early December. The herd seems to have split into two. I didn’t have time to look for the other herd but found this group high on the South side of Davis Mountain. It seems like they have changed their behavior since the roundup. The spent the entire day eating about as high as they can be. Then the headed for water very late, after sunset. The next morning they were already high on Davis Mountain again.
They did not seem spooked by me as I approached the herd, all seem to be in GREAT health! One of the special moments is to see a new member of the herd shortly after birth. I have never witnessed a birth but I have seen several foals within hours of their birth. What a rare privilege to find this beautiful new-born filly!!!! She was incredibly beautiful and very spunky and full-of-life! Running circles around mom whenever the steep terrain permitted. This birth (very late in the season), seems to bring me new hope for the Onaqui.
Several wild horse advocate groups are hoping to get Congress to pass laws preventing in-humane roundups in the future and put more effort (and millions less dollars), into alternative methods of managing herds. Let’s hope our support of these groups will bear fruit.
Finally made the time to photograph the Onaqui mustangs last week. I must say that it was one of the most “pleasant/surprising” trips we have ever made to the West Desert. The herd was not grazing in the “burn area” like it was on our previous trip. This is very surprising because that area has been fenced off for several years by the BLM after the fire there and they re-seeded the burn area. The BLM has allowed cattle to graze on this 38,000 acre burn area. One would assume that this area would be lush with vegetation. It appears that the horses prefer otherwise. They were located in the area North of Davis Mountain where they had plenty of feed.
When we first approached the herd the desert was surprisingly colorful. Lots of red/purple tumble weeds and lush new green growth. These colors made for great backgrounds. Then, it started to rain lightly. I’m not sure how/why, but the colors (or perhaps it was a change in the light) became beautifully saturated. The pastel colors were striking! We kept saying how unusual and beautiful the desert was. As I have said before, the West Desert never disappoints!
There are too many photographs in this post but I just couldn’t seem to cut them back any more. It really was unusual how striking the colors were. There are two “series” of images in this gallery. There are three close-up images of a horse grazing (images 2722-2724). The sheep/cattle ranchers claim that the wild horses destroy the foliage when they eat because they “pull the plants up by the roots”. I just happened to photograph how they really graze. You can see that the horse has cut the grasses off, not pulled the plant out by the roots. This leaves the grant to grow again, just like when we mow our lawns.
The second series of images are a young mare that was “frightened” by a tumbleweed rolling by (images 0281-0295).
I have been out to the Onaqui mustangs several times since the roundup but haven’t felt like posting images. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad we have some horses to photograph but not being able to photograph some of my favorite families has been heart-breaking… Many of the released horses are pairing up in very small groups and remaining in the mountains. They feel safe from helicopters there. Over the years when Blackhawk helicopters from Dugway were flying low over the herd they would head straight to the mountains.
The good news is that there are horses to photograph. The bad news is that very few of the “families” that were together pre-roundup were released back. I am hoping that new family bonds will start to evolve, but the horses are so spread out that it might be hard for that to occur. It is difficult to try and rationalize how/why the BLM would to this to our magnificent wild horses. The BLM continues with their “emergency roundups” throughout the West. The wild horse populations will never be the same.
Anyway, here are some images of the remaining herd. I hope to post more in the future…..
The BLM gathered the last Onaqui wild horse on Sunday morning, July 18. 435 horses were ultimately jammed into semi-trucks and transported to Delta, UT or Sutherland, UT for processing. As stated on their website “all horses appear healthy” contrary to the stated reason for the gather was because their body weight was declining (an utter lie). Their plan is to return some 100 plus horses to the 500,000 acres that the Onaqui use.
I drove out Monday afternoon to see for myself hoping to find some of the horses they “intentionally” left. The trip was sickening. The beautiful landscape that had always given me great pleasure was now dead to me. I saw no beauty there without the horses. Every previous trip to the West Desert gave me the same feeling that I get when I drive into the Lamar Valley in Yellowstone and see hundreds and hundreds of bison peacefully grazing in that beautiful valley. This trip was not that. This trip was stomach-turning for me. I vacillated between tears, and distain toward the BLM for what they did to my herd. It has taken me a few days to process what I was feeling Monday, but I have finally figured it out… I was feeling ashamed. I was ashamed for what we humans allowed to happen to those magnificent wild horses and I was ashamed that I wasn’t able to stop the roundup. We took the very symbol of the American West and said to it, “our society no longer cares about you”. A very sad day for all Americans.
The images below were taken in the three or four days prior to the roundup. All horses shown in these photo’s were rounded up and taken off to be “processed”.
This is a very different post for me. In fact, it is a plea for help. The Onaqui Herd is scheduled to be “gathered” by the BLM in July. What this “nice term” used by the BLM means is that the BLM will send out helicopters to stampede the herd almost to their death, (in fact based in recent roundups, two foals will likely die during the roundup and one or two adult horses will have to be euphemized). They will then be forced into gathering pens, destroying tightly bonded families, castrate the mustangs, separate mothers from their sons and daughters, send over 400 horses to the Midwest to live the rest of their lives in pens (All this is of course at tax-payer expense. Last year 80% of the BLM’s budget went towards feeding the 50,000 horses already in pens). The BLM will then return 100 horses to our public land. All because the BLM refuses to do their job of managing these protected horses that live on our public lands.
Don’t believe the stories that there isn’t enough feed based on the current drought. The Onaqui herd has survived much worse. In fact, they are as healthy as I have ever seen them. At times they must travel 10-20 miles a day between feed and water, but they have done so for hundreds of years and they have never been on the verge of starvation in the nearly 10 years I have photographed them. You can believe the fact that the BLM has fenced off thousands and thousands of acres of rangeland that they only allow cattle to be grazed on.
Don’t believe the stories that there isn’t enough water for the horses. The Herd Management Area (HMA) has dozens and dozens of wells that they can simply “open the spigot” to allow the water to flow. Who do you think paid for those wells… taxpayers paid for those wells.
Don’t believe the stories that say the herd is too big. At the present time the herd actively uses nearly 500,000 acres each year to feed on. If the BLM had done what it was charged to do years ago, (slow herd growth by using PZP to temporarily manage birth by mares), the herd would already be less than 500 horses and easily managed by ongoing PZP.
I believed the BLM last year when they said they would not round up the Onaqui herd. They would only round up the horses on Dugway property and a few horses that were in the surrounding mountains. You can believe that they rounded up dozens of the Onaqui herd including my favorite stallion “the Ghost”.
I am asking for your help in preventing the gathering scheduled for this July. I doubt we can stop this roundup in spite of the fact that the Onaqui herd is probably the most photographed and visited herd in the country. In just my two most recent trips to the herd I met people from Alaska, Idaho, California, Arizona, Michigan, Wyoming and of course Utah.
Our only hope to prevent the roundup is to have our voices herd. Here is a link that allows you to sign a petition to Nada Culver, the delegated director of the BLM. If you do sign, I believe it will also allow you to go on and send a message to your Senators. Please take a few minutes in an attempt to save our Onaqui herd of wild horses… https://secure.everyaction.com/zOtzsdqHUUKMfAs7-S65rw2#
I have included a few photographs of just the last two outings to the Onaqui. The captions discuss how these photographs will likely never occur again.
This photograph shows three distinct family bands. The few horses that will be returned will be traumatized for years because of the loss of their family band.
Newborn foal enjoying life. He was running circles around his family band and trying to pick a fight with older foals. I doubt his behavior will be the same once he is in a pen for the remainder of his life.
These two foals spent a lot of time together the day I photographed them. These two would likely stay close as they grow up together. Once the roundup occurs I doubt they will ever see each other again.
I was thinking as I photographed this colt on the left, that based on how his actions that day, he was going to grow up to be a furious and beautiful stallion. I was looking forward to watching him in the upcoming years. Then I realized that after July I will likely never see him again.
Fights like this one are disputes over control of a cherished family band. With less than 100 horses remaining the behaviors that we now are privileged to see will likely never occur again.
What a change a few weeks make. In late March the herd was very docile, completely focused on eating. Their heads were always down, trying to get enough nutrition to get them through winter. A few weeks later in early April they were very different! Heads up, lots of running and moving, the herd seemed to be saying, “we made it through winter, and spring is on its way!” It was so great to see them so active again. They really looked like they were happy to be alive.
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.
Headed out to photograph the Onaqui Herd hoping to get some nice storm clouds and forecasted lightning. No go for thunderstorms and lightning. I believe the North herd was in the valley North of Davis mountain. We decided to try and find the South herd. It took a lot of looking to finally find a portion of the South herd. We drove an drove, noticing a lot of stud piles but few horses. Finally, just before turning around we saw a small group miles in the distance. I had not seen the herd in this area before so it was new territory for me. We finally caught up to them about a mile due East of Slow Elk Wash. It was a remnant of the Cremello and Ghost’s family band. The Cremello’s son with one blue and one brown eye was in this band as was his younger sister with two blue eyes. We photographed them for nearly an hour perched on the hillside. There was a “watering hole” in the distance and when they started towards it we quickly drove to meet them there. Unfortunately the water was turned off. I have been told that it is the ranchers that control which watering holes get water not the BLM. The herd appeared to be waiting for us to turn the faucet on, which we could not do. We’re hoping that this weeks storms get them enough water where they are currently grazing. The closest water we saw was the watering hole South and East of Simpson Springs…
We drove back to the closest water and photographed a small family band kicking up a huge dust cloud on the way to water.
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!!!!
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).
