moments with wild horses #56
spring creek basin

ACRYLIC • 8x8" • $300

STATUS: AVAILABLE

MWWH #56 is a sweet 8x8 of Duke.  I painted him and many of his friends in the Bachelor Band after our September 2010 research field trip into Spring Creek Basin.   It was one of the best photography opportunities I’ve had in my 23 years with the wild mustangs. The approach is all important.  We saw a Bachelor Band up on a hill.  The usual approach ensued:  stay in the car a while with windows open, chat so the mustangs hear voices. Slowly get out of the car.  Slowly approach, stopping periodically.  The Pryor Mountains mustangs were my first encounter with wild horses.  Learning about their habits, their instincts especially, is important.  I was hiding at a waterhole behind brush to watch the mustangs drink at the watering hole.  They didn’t see me then, because they kept on taking turns drinking. However, when I went up the hill and hid behind more brush to photograph them, they detected me and went around me.  Mountain lions use cover to hide in, waiting to ambush their prey. Lesson learned. Back to Spring Creek Basin:   while photographing the Bachelor Band, they suddenly ran towards us, stopping a short distance away to watch us click away. Then they wrestled and played, vying for the alpha position. Who’s the strongest?  All of this was preparation for when they’d try one day to beat out a lead stallion and take over his family. My September 2010 three-ring research notebook is filled with memorable closeup photos of Duke, Twister, Cuatro, Mouse and Sundance.