Wild Horses in a Desert Forest

We have a week and a half between shows right now, so decided to come back to the salt river area. We got incredibly lucky and found a place to camp, we didn’t have a plan B the day we drove here, so it’s a good thing we were able to stay. A really good thing.

If you follow along on Facebook and Instagram you’ve been seeing some photos, and videos of the wild horses. We’ve been going to the river every evening, and a couple of mornings. The evening in my opinion is the best. Sure it’s fun to get them in the desert, in the mornings they are usually feisty and running around. But I came here for the river shots, because I can’t get that anywhere else but here. I will write another post with river shots, because I’ve got some great stuff, but today I am going to share a different perspective.

Wild Horses in a desert forest.

I know that seems like an unlikely scenario, and I was shocked when we were first came to this area last year. But the area along the length of the river is amazingly diverse. It’s classic desert, cactus, creosote bushes, mesquite and palo verde trees. But when you get to the banks of the river, it turns into a thick and dense mesquite tree forest. Mostly mesquite anyway, there are definitely other plants and bushes around. Understandably the horses like the shade when the weather warms up, and they have to pass through the trees to get to the river.

I shot all these images last night because I wanted to give a different perspective to these horses. It’s tight quarters once you get into the trees, and you have to be aware of the horses and give them space. I took all these with my 150-600 Tamron lens, and most of these images have not been edited. I cropped a couple, but I wanted to keep the feel of the place with the horses.

Shooting like this made me look for different angles, images, and compositions.

This big burly stallion was something to watch. He seemed to think he was the self appointed guardian of the river.

These big animals know exactly how to maneuver through the low trees. Some are so low I have to duck.

One of the younger horses, having a little rest.

This fuzzy little one is so dang cute.

Shadows, and lines. One thing that makes it so amazing.

Profile of strength, and serenity.

It’s amazing how fast they can move through this dense stuff.

Even sparring in the trees seems challenging, but doable.

Cute little one. This is their world, and they learn from a very early age how to navigate it.

We have to leave here on Wednesday and head to Tucson. As usual, I’ll be sad to leave these beautiful horses. Not to mention the bald eagles, otters, egrets, and other assorted animals.

I’ll close this post with my favorite John Muir quote…And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul.