I had another great trip to photograph the Onaqui Herd of wild horses in Utah’s West Desert. The “North herd” was near the “trough watering hole” and the South herd was South of Simpson Springs. It’s hard to have a bad day with this herd. The rainbow that was out for a short time was a welcome addition to another perfect afternoon.
Wow! What a sight. The entire North herd (approximately 250 horses take off on a full (single file) run after being immobilized for nearly an hour by a huge rainstorm. You could feel the earth tremble as they ran past. Then, they disappeared over the crest of the hill. We looked for nearly an hour before we spotted them coming over the crest of the nearby hill, into this beautiful valley! I could have watched them all night! (I guess we really did). Then the lightning started. I was lucky enough to catch the lightning with the horses in the foreground. And to top off the perfect evening, the “Old Man” came by for a visit. What a night….
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.
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!
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.
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…..
I have never seen such a long and wet winter for the Onaqui’s since I bagan photographing them 8 or 9 years ago! I have had at least four trips to the West desert in search of ANY HORSES and have only seen a few horses miles from any road and completely inaccessible. My luck changed a few weeks ago! Finally, I was able to brave the incredibly muddy roads and hike over a mile to be in the middle of my favorite family band!!!! The blue-eyed colts!!! Several of the horses that were with this family band have left (my favorite red mare with blonde mane). “The Ghost” is still with the band, hanging out on the outskirts. Not sure if he has a specific mare he is interested in, or if he will challenge the blue-eyed stallion for the whole band. It should be an interesting summer!!!
PLEASE NOTE IF TRAVELING TO THE ONAQUI. TOOELE COUNTY HAS THE DIRT ROAD FROM DUGWAY (LDS CHURCH) TO THE INTERSECTION WITH PONY EXPRESS ROAD COMPLETELY UN-PASSABLE! THEY WILL START ADDING GRAVEL TO THE MUDDY MESS LATER THIS MONTH BUT FOR NOW YOU MUST USE THE FIVE-MILE ACCESS.
Wow, it’s been a long time since we visited the Onaqui herd. It was a difficult day to try and find this wonderful herd of wild horses. The clouds/fog/smog prevented us from being able to use the binoculars. There was a fair amount of snow on the west desert so we were hoping to not have to travel too far from the main roads.
We came down the road from lookout pass, all the way to Simpson Springs and did not see any sign of the horses. We continued South to the Old River Bed station and still had not seen a single horse. There were several thousand sheep at the River Bed station. I was surprised to see them there that late in the season. I wonder if they have grazing rights through the winter.
It was at least another five miles on the road (getting closer to the Dugway geode beds). Finally was we were about ready to turn around we spotted a about 30 wild horses in the distance, luckily near the road. It was the Onaqui! This family band had my favorite mare (red with blond mane). We were really glad to see them.
After photographing them for a few hours they had moved about 1/2 mile off the road. We finished up with them and decided to go South a few more miles in hopes of seeing another band. No luck. We decided to go out to them when we ran into a very accomplished photographer from back east (Harry Siskind). We all walked out the the herd and had a great time together. On the way out, we happened to run into another family band. My favorite band! The one with the blue/brown eyed colt. What a TREAT!
I immediately recognized a magnificent stallion that I have not seen for at least 4 years. THE GHOST! He is known to come out of nowhere and fight with every stallion that will take him on. He really is magnificent. The most “proud” stallion I have ever seen. He “prances” and does everything he can to show off for the ladies. The light wasn’t that great but a very rare treat to experience. Maybe he will pick off a few mares and become part of the Onaqui herd. Can’t wait to see!!!
I have several trips taken earlier this year that I have not yet posted. Here are photographs taken in mid August. The wildfires in the area made for spectacular sunsets and it was a very special trip with new friends.
I had several fantastic trips to the Onaqui Wild horses in late August and early September with two great photographers and fellow horse lovers. These photographers usually photograph the Salt River Herd, but wanted to see the Onaqui herd before it was reduced by 80%. I hope they had a good time, they seemed to really enjoy the Onaqui Herd and the intimate photographs you can shoot of this herd. This post is one of the three days I spent with them. I will add the other two days in the future.
