My local wild horses will remain on Native American Pueblo land for a few more months, while fencing is being repaired on the BLM land. This means I can't always get to them, as there is no trespassing on the Pueblo lands (in addition to they don't allow photography without special permits). But the other day they were along the fence to the frontage road, so I could get a few shots of them. The Pueblo wants them off their land by September, so our local wild horse group is raising money to fix the fences (est. $15,000-$20,000). There are two new addtions to this particular pack. The first one was about a day old, and still had trouble standing on her wobbly legs. This one is about a week to ten days old, a male. Last year all the babies were female, so it's nice to have a new young soon-to-be stud. That's his mom with him. So Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there!!! As a bonus, I got to watch two stallions have a little tussle, that lasted about 15 seconds. They were far, far away, so this image is highly cropped.
Hi David Nice post. Can you elaborate a little on the horses plight and the Pueblo's? I would think that they would be wild horse friendly? Our local wild horses are supposedly decendants of shipwrecks. www.bsvirginian.smugmug.com
You are very fortunate to be ablee to photograph these horses. I love the last picture. We were in Namibia about 14 years ago and I saw wild horses for the first time. Of course I did not have the right camera to take pictures so I look forward to going back there someday to take some pictures. Just hope that they are all still there.
David -- I compliment you on your wild horses effort -- a great thing to do. The shot of the two stallions is awesome. That palomino is really cut! PaulC
These pictures really show the physical differences between wild horses and kept ones. They are so lean and hardy! And I agree with Bob, I'd like to learn more about them. :smile:
Thanks Gale. I hope you had a great day. Thanks Bob. Some of our horses are decendants of the horses brought over by the Spanish, such as Coronado and others. Others are thought to be escapees from the Pueblos, or a couple of hippy communes from the 1960s. A couple of years ago, during a dry period, several local residents would drop hay over the fence for the horses when the horses were on Pueblo land. In my opinion, the horses didn't need extra food, but could use some water help every now and then. Anyway, the Pueblo is very protective of their land and did not like people dropping hay over their fences onto their land, and tried to put a stop to it. One thing led to another, and soon the residents were picketing the Pueblo's Casino (their cash cow). Again, in my opinion, that was another really bad move, as it pissed off the Pueblo Government and caused them to look negatively on the horses. Those residents actually ended up endangering the horses more with their actions. As they are wild horses, they roam between Pueblo land, BLM land, and a local park space. When they are on the Pueblo land, the Pueblo Government has every right to claim ownership, corral them, and send them off for adoption. So it's not a good idea to piss off the Pueblo Government. Because of the negative publicity the picketing generated, they do not want the horse on Pueblo land. Thanks much Yvette. I hope you get back there and get some photographs of them. Thanks Dave! Much appreciated Paul. Thanks! They are fine looking animals, even when they are covered with mud and cockleburrs. Much appreciated Scott! Thanks Jen. You can also read more about them in some posts I've made on them over the last year.
