Another glorious trip to see the Onaqui. Luckily we were able to be there when each herd came to the watering holes.
I have had several visits to the Onaqui but haven’t gotten around to posting. Here are photos from a couple of recent visits. Lighting was very different between trips, horses very hard to find.
The Mayor of Sandy City was so kind to to a brief walk-through of my photo exhibit that is displayed at Sandy City Hall (3rd floor). It can be seen M-F 8am-5pm (closed holidays), the exhibit will be up through Christmas.
Here is a link to her video. https://fb.watch/gY0pK9EzuM/
I have been out to photograph the Onaqui several times this month, just haven’t had time to post the photos yet, but I am nearly ready. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!
Onaqui Stallion at Sunset
I just got tired of processing all of my Pryor Mustang photo’s and I was missing the Onaqui. Headed out a few days ago and photographed both the South and North Herd. I haven’t photographed the Onaqui for nearly a month! Not a lot of fantastic photographs but it was nice to see all of my favorite horses!
As you can see by the blood on the mothers legs, this foal is a newborn. Probably delivered the day we photographer them, June 1, or possibly May 29. We didn’t want to get too close, but as we observed the foal it seemed to be exhausted. Thankfully mom was very protective and kept all horses away from her newborn.
Several hours later, we saw the foal with mom ON THE RUN through the thick dust! The foal looked GREAT! It might even have blue eyes! What a beautiful sight!
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.
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.
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…
Even after photographing this herd for over eight years I continue to be surprised each and every trip out to them. This time was no different. We were able to find the herds in a few different locations, and then we were blessed with a spectacular rainbow over the herd! It seemed to last forever! Then to top it off, we had a marvelous sunset with the herd in the distance. I must admit I was surprised at how many “keepers” I seemed to find. We were assured by a “BLM volunteer” that this herd will NOT be rounded up in the next few weeks. I hope she is correct. Looking forward to cooler temps next month.
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.
