I’m still one photo shoot behind in posting. This trip was early May. Found both the North and South herds. Lots of foals this year which will only give the BLM an excuse to round up. More to come.
Tag Archives: wild horses
Photography of Swasey Wild Horse Herd – Near Delta, UT
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
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
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
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.
Onaqui Wild Horses August 29 Photographs
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.
Visit to Photograph Onaqui Herd of Wild Horses May 30
I had the pleasure to visit and do some photography of the Onaqui herd last week. It wasn’t supposed to be a photography trip necessarily, but the sky and lighting conditions demanded that I seize the opportunity to photograph them. It’s funny how sometimes I don’t expect to end up with very many “keepers” but it is usually those trips that I end up with more keepers than I had ever expected. That was the case with this trip. I had three, (very enthusiastic), wild horse advocates with me. As is always the case, it was another magical trip. I hope to continue to be a support to Sonja and the Wild Horse Sanctuary. She has rescued 8 (yes eight!) wild horses that were destined for death or being penned up in corrals for the rest of their lives. My photographs can be ordered and purchased at her sanctuary in Park City and those proceeds are donated to her organization. We also plan on auctioning off trips to see/photograph the Onaqui herd that will be hosted by myself.
May Visit To Photograph Onaqui Wild Horses
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
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
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…..
