Taking Control w/REPOST

Gallery: WildlifePosted August 12, 2014853 views5 comments

Wild Horses, Sand Wash Basin, Colorado

The Sand Wash herd management area is about 157,730 acres and is home to about 400 horses, who are predominately descended from Spanish horses. I found one of their waterholes not far from one of the dirt roads going through the area. When I arrived there were a couple males there doing some light sparring, but soon I could see several bands coming into the waterhole from all directions. At the peak there were about 50 horses.

At the waterhole only one band (usually 4-6 horses) would drink at one time even though the waterhole was large enough for several. As one band was walking away from the water these two bands approached but one band leader (at center) chased the other band off while his group took their turn. The band on the left was chased off a few times before they got their turn. I was hoping for some serious sparring among the band leaders as this was near their mating period but most of the fights were pretty mild and short-lived. I ended up spending about 3 hours watching the interactions of the horses until they all headed out back into the surrounding hills.

Any critiques would be greatly appreciated! Please see the Large Version!

Comments

5 comments

Comment posted by Lon Sharp on August 14, 2014 at 7:13 PM

An action shot with this many individuals is pretty tough to pull off and I think you found action poses that work fine. I wonder why you chose to show this without color, as surely this collection had plenty of rich color to show in a desert landscape. I think this would have been much stronger (but naturally different) if you had a lower perspective to not be looking down on the subjects.

Registered on December 9, 2007, 258 Posts, 9892 Comments

Comment posted by Scott Fricke on August 14, 2014 at 9:50 PM

Thanks for the critique Lon. This was shot around 3:00 PM in full sun and didn't have a lot of good color so I decided to try monochrome. Here is a repost in color, what do you think?. Unfortunately the waterhole was the low point in the area, there were banks on three sides with the area in the photo background the only flat expanse near the waterhole and most of the bands were coming and going from there and the stallions were doing most of the sparring there as well so in order not to interfere with their natural travel paths I didn't go down there.

Registered on January 19, 2007, 133 Posts, 1448 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Sharp on August 14, 2014 at 10:03 PM

I must say I like the color best. The hint of reflections is more eye pulling in a positive way, and it makes me wonder if you managed some compositions with the herd closer to the water, using the reflections more?

Registered on December 9, 2007, 258 Posts, 9892 Comments

Comment posted by Scott Fricke on August 14, 2014 at 10:52 PM

Thanks Lon, after stepping back and relooking at it after your comment I'm also liking the color a bit more as well. I did get compositions with them closer to the water but invariably once they got to the water they were in it, stomping hooves and rolling around in it getting a good coat of mud on them so this was the best reflection I got. The water would get pretty muddy as well as the bottom was stirred up.

Registered on January 19, 2007, 133 Posts, 1448 Comments

Comment posted by William Bickle on August 16, 2014 at 6:30 PM

Hello Scott

I prefer the coloured version too!

Bill

Registered on June 13, 2011, 183 Posts, 1702 Comments