I recently took the opportunity to make the three-hour drive from my home to the Carson City, Nevada area in search of my dreams: Mustangs of the Wild West. Little did I know that this would become a disturbing topic in my mind just a week or so later, thanks to President Trump.
It's a hot button issue for many. And like most, if not all, of the issues that the American people are fighting over lately, it is not as cut and dry as EITHER side - Right or Left - makes it sound. So as to avoid a lot of the crazy Left- and/or Right-wing influence that is running rampant on every issue, I would recommend the following article from the Washington Post.
For me, I'm going to say that, as a moderate, of course I take a moderate approach, which I'm probably not going to get into in this post. I'll save that for my next one.
For now, I just want to share my experiences with these magnificent animals.
I've always been horse-crazy. I wanted nothing more from my life than to be a spy and retire to a beautiful ranch filled with horses. Yes, you read that right. The ranch part might still happen, but I've given up on my Mission Impossible.
I decided to drive up Highway 50 and see if I could spy some of these beautiful creatures that still roam free on the rangeland of the Western United States (as well as a few other places).
It was a crazy beautiful day with minor storms in the Sierras but sun and warmth in both California and Carson City. I had to stop on the downslope of Echo Summit to take a photo of the storm over Tahoe and the snow in the mountains.
I was a little worried about the weather after seeing this! And with some reason, since there was snow falling on the Eastern slopes of the Sierra! But nothing was sticking to the ground, so I breathed a sigh of relief as I headed down into the Carson Valley.
The first horse I saw, just outside of Mound House, Nevada, was a beautiful, pitch-black horse. He was covered in dirt and literally standing on the side of Highway 50 munching on some grass. Luckily I was going slow!! I might have crashed otherwise as I know I did a double take!
I kept driving, my mind awhirl with thoughts such as "that wasn't really a wild horse, was it?" and "Holy shit! That must have been a wild horse!!". I kept going down the road as the caution signs (yes, they really have horse caution signs) promised 12 more miles of horses.
The next horses I saw (well, other than one in a pen) were on the opposite side of Highway 50, but again, just off the road. There looked to be about 6-8 in this small herd and I was quite excited as there was a turnout right beside them. I really wasn't sure if one can just pull over and park on the side of Highway 50.
I went up until the end of the 12 miles (passed Dayton, Nevada) and then turned around hoping and praying that the little herd I saw would still be there. While turning about, I couldn't resist taking a photo of the road through Wild Horse Country! This is the view looking back towards Tahoe.
And then, happy happy joy joy!! The horses were still there! They were a little further off the freeway, so I pulled my car well into the turn out and got out to try to creep up on them.
They ran.
This is a shot of horse manure on the highway to prove that they were there! They're Wild Horses ya'll! And the sky was amazing.
I was able to get a decent shot of them with my 300mm lens. There is a Tovero!! And a baby!!!
This was exceeding my wildest dreams, even at that point!
So I noticed a road running a short way down past the buildings in the photo above. I thought there might be a chance that I could see the horses better using the buildings for shelter, so off I went. It was somewhat successful and there was a little dirt track that lead off the back parking lot of the building into the range that the horses were on. I tried it, but they really didn't like my car and kept moving away from me no matter how slow I drove.
One thing that was really interesting to me was that each band/herd that I found had really distinctive coloration. The first two had a lot of Bay and Sorrel, but also a lot of Paint/Pinto coloring. There were no Roans in the first two.
The second herd I actually saw in the same area (so I'm willing to concede that they could have been part of the same herd as the horses above) but they were farther back towards the foothills. They were probably separated by about a mile of rangeland with a few buildings here and there.
I found a pretty decent dirt road where the paved road ended, so I headed down that, praying that I wasn't trespassing on anyone's land. There were no fences, but I didn't know if that meant anything. I took a couple different dirt roads to get closer to the second herd, going pretty slowly both for my car's sake and for the horses' sake. lol
As usual, I stopped to take photos every little bit in case they decided to vacate the premises. But although they definitely noticed me (as you can tell by the fellow in the picture above), they didn't move away from me. This group had two more babies!
Okay now. I don't know much about horse behavior, especially Wild Horse behavior. But that little guy on the left? The Chestnut/Sorrel? He was trying to hump or fight everything in sight! lol I took some video which I still have to edit and he was sooo funny! And also very determined!
She doesn't look too pleased with him! But he just kept trying when she moved away.
She eventually gave him a few soft kicks!
He tried one more time...
...And then ran off to bug someone else.
In the meantime, there was one beauty that I just fell in love with. Perhaps because he(?) was a loner, like me! He was off to the side of the herd and, whenever they would wander near, he would move a little farther away. I feel you.
He was so majestic!
Meanwhile, lets check in on our randy youngster. I thought this might be his mama even though she has another baby following her.
But nope...just another MILF in his eyes.
Come on little dude!
But she wasn't having it either, so he was back to his first love. LOL! So persistent!
After getting kicked again, he and the other baby decided to play.
There was another mama and baby in this group, but they were just minding their own business.
And getting back to my lonesome Beauty, he was just chillin...eating flowers.
The next three are actually of the same horse, from the same picture. It's slightly blurry, but he is just so handsome that I wanted to try to find the best way to use the photo! I absolutely adore his hooked ears and gorgeous mane! I wish I would have got a clear shot of him.
Converted to black and white.
And turned into a sketch.
It was almost time to quick stalking these beautiful creatures and head down the road towards home. I was hopeful that I might find more horses near where I had seen the first Black Beauty.
But in the meantime, my memory card was full (d'oh! I forgot to clear it before I left) so I pulled over when I saw the sign for the Dayton Cemetery (cause you know I can't pass up a pioneer cemetery!) and deleted about 25 photos.
Good thing because I rounded a corner in the road and saw this noisy beauty!
Just look at those colors!
And then the cemetery was closed. lol But it was a fun drive up Boot Hill anyway and I got some cool photos.
Including this guy who was still waiting right beside the road when I came down!
And off I headed towards Mound House in search of more mustangs. And just to keep our eyes on the prize, I'll leave you with this gorgeous mare from the 2nd herd that I named Diamond. She was the mother of the darker of the two "fighting" foals.
And the baby has a little diamond too! There were so many awesome photo ops! It's hard for me to believe that more were just down the road!
Stay tuned!
xoxox
