Wild Horse DVDs

Just a reminder that these DVDs make great gifts and were created in an effort to bring much needed awareness to people who have never seen or don’t even realize that wild horses still exist (at least for now). The DVDs are available individually or as a set with special pricing through my website:
(http://www.nickolesphotography.com/HTML/cardsdvd.htm).

“Our Wild Horses II” (my second DVD) is also available through the equestrian catalog, “Back in the Saddle.”

These DVDs portray the beauty of our magnificent wild horses in their wild homes accompanied by some very moving and powerful musical selections. The second DVD also comes with a reference booklet that provides any information known about the horses in each photo (location, name, etc).

“Our Wild Horses” is $19.95 plus $2.75 shipping (up to 2 DVDs)
“Our Wild Horses II” is $29.95 plus $2.75 shipping (up to 2 DVDs)
The set of both DVDs is $44.95 plus $2.75 shipping per set

Anyone that already has one or both of these DVDs, please feel free to share your own thoughts (in the comments section) about the DVD(s) that might help explain them more fully to the people who may be interested in knowing more. Thanks so much!

Green Mountain Stallion

Since my posting of the Red Desert Complex wild horses, I’ve continued to wonder about the striking and unusually marked black stallion with the upside down “V” or arrow point on his neck (as one reader commented it looked like) from the Green Mountain HMA. What had been his fate? The question just wouldn’t go away. I decided I needed to try to find the stallion just like I had when it was El Mariachi I was looking for after the White Mountain roundup in 2007.

I sent several photos down to Canon City, CO and to the Rock Springs, WY holding facility (I found out the only horses to go to the Riverton Honor Farm were a couple of foals). And just as before, they looked through the corrals and hundreds of horses for the specific stallion in my photos. This time though, the horse I was searching for was not at either facility so I’m left to presume that he was one of the lucky ones that had been released or never gathered. And that is what I choose to believe. Now I know I might see that handsome boy again when I’m out in that range area and hopefully, I’ll be able to post some photos and give an update on just how well he’s doing as the gloriously free stallion he was born to be.

Related story: https://nickolesphotography.wordpress.com/2009/11/28/wyomings-red-desert-wild-horses/

(Photos are for viewing purposes only. Images are copyright protected and owned solely by Pam Nickoles Photography. No reproduction permitted. Feel free to share the link, not the images.)

Wyoming’s Red Desert Wild Horses

I’m a bit behind – these images were taken on a very bright (terrible light for picture taking), sunny day in September before the roundup. Tom and I visited the Green Mountain and Stewart Creek HMAs; part of the Red Desert Complex. We entered from the Bairoil side and came upon horses almost immediately.

A handsome grey boy

These guys seemed completely undisturbed by us. Strange. They're usually very flighty.

And as we continued west on the road out of Bairoil, we found some more horses headed to a creek for a drink.

Coming out of the creek

These are bachelor stallions

This stallion called out to the grey horses so I assumed he must be a member of the small band

And he was followed by another stallion

Together again, they all took off over a hill

This family wanted nothing to do with me even though I hung back because of the youngsters

A lounging antelope buck

As we were driving down a 2-track road, I noticed something in the brush quite a ways from us.

Most likely a cow I thought, but I wanted to be sure so I started hiking

This sage grouse shot up in front of me as I was walking out - they are so well camouflaged!

It was not a cow - it was a beautiful black stallion and he hadn't been gone very long.

We looked around for any signs of trauma or shell casings. We didn’t find anything that would indicate how this boy died. I always document what I find and based on some photos I took of the teeth, I was told he was probably only around eight years old. I’m always amazed at the feet of the wild horses. They’re always in such remarkable condition.

A perfectly designed wild horse hoof

We continued on and came upon another band of bachelors

The markings of the middle horse were so unique - the upside down V on his neck and his gorgeous stockings

Such harsh lighting for such beautiful horses.

This was a large bachelor band

A parting shot of a large band of horses at Stewart Creek

I sent an e-mail to the BLM field office in charge of the Red Desert Complex about the recent roundup. Below are the answers I received (my questions in italics):

Number of horses gathered: 1232
Number of mares PZP’d (what type): 193; all mares received the primer (1 cc liquid vaccine) and the booster (slow time-released pellets).
Number of horses released: 387 (of course this number does not accurately reflect the current populations of the Herd Management Areas as all horses were not gathered)
Number of fatalities: 12, however, 5 of these were not gather-related fatalities. Five horses were humanely euthanized due to serious, pre-existing conditions.
Where were the horses taken? Most of the horses were taken to either the Rock Springs, WY or the Canon City, CO horse facilities. A few horses were taken directly to the Honor Farm in Riverton, Wyoming.

(Photos are for viewing purposes only. Images are copyright protected and owned solely by Pam Nickoles Photography. No reproduction permitted.)

Photo Of The Week – 10/28/09

Band stallion from the Green Mountain HMA near Baroil, WY

Since the roundup of the Red Desert Complex in Wyoming is supposed to take place in November, I thought I’d show off one of the many beautiful horses from that area.

My Mom loves this stallion. He’s from the Green Mountain HMA which is part of the large Red Desert Complex. I took this picture in April of 2007 as he was slowly working his way towards me for a better look. He had a beautiful pinto mare with him and a uniquely colored brown and grey yearling stud. I didn’t see this guy the last time we were out (this past September), but I saw a bachelor who looked very similiar right down to the stockings and distinctive white marking across the hindquarters.

It’s hard to comprehend that these gorgeous animals are about to be so cruelly displaced. Maybe this stallion will be one of the lucky ones that gets released or better yet, never captured. I so wish that for all of our wild horses…

There is a list of the herd areas, by state, that have pending roundups posted on my website:
http://www.nickolesphotography.com/HTML/gathers.html

Folks should be outraged by the sheer numbers to be taken, the wasted money spent to conduct these roundups and the incredibly sad fate of the horses losing their homes only to languish in long term holding or worse. Please speak up for the horses – we must inform the public and educate others about what is happening to these icons of the west (and the west is where they should stay – not removed, sterilized and relocated to private, unmonitored “sanctuaries” in the midwest per Ken Salazar’s proposal. There has to be a better solution that can be implemented).

Lots of wild horse information: http://www.nickolesphotography.com/HTML/wildhorseinformation.htm