Wild Horses of North America

I first photographed wild horses on Pryor Mountain in Wyoming. The white palomino wild stallion Cloud, born in 1995, brought significant interest to the historic horses. Cloud’s PBS’ Nature series of three documentaries was the only continuous documentation of a wild animal from birth in the Northern Hemisphere.

I remember first arriving on the mountain top to see bands of wild horses running free. I was awestruck by their unrestrained power. They were majestic in their presence and exuded a sense of freedom. Since that moment, I have been intrigued by America’s wild horses.

While there were horses in North America millions of years ago, by 10,000 years ago they were locally extinct. In the 1500’s, Spanish conquistadors reintroduced horses with the same genetic lineage as the original North American horse. When some of those horses escaped, they were captured by Native Americans and spread across the continent.

As these feral horses escaped to run wild, in the 1900s there were two million mustangs running free. By 1971, when Congress gave them federal protection, there were only 17,000 wild feral horses still roaming. They lived year-round in small bands of three to 10 individuals including a dominant stallion, subordinate adult males and females, and offspring. Feral wild horse "herds" are made up of several separate, small "bands" sharing a territory.

In 2015, I was able to photo wild Colonial Spanish Mustangs on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Brought by Spanish explorers in 1520, they now roam the beach of Corolla and along the Outer Banks. 

It is where I learned a valuable wildlife photography lesson. While photographing a band of eight, they were backlit along the ocean. I wanted to get on the ocean side for better lighting, yet knew on the open beach there would be no protection between me and the wild horses. Still, my inexperience and enthusiasm got the best of my good sense.

I left the jeep and those around me, walking down the beach away from the massive animals allowing myself space. As I photographed, my eyes focused in the viewfinder, the stallion moved up the beach. When I lowered my camera, I realized I was between the mustang and his band including the wild mares.

That is when, from way up on the sand dunes, a second stallion came galloping toward the stallion. It was only minutes before the two mustangs were face to face, then rising up on their hind quarters, battling hoof to hoof, biting each other as they fought for the mares.

I knew I had made a horrible mistake, and began walking back toward the Jeep and groups of people. Halfway to them, I turned photographing the stallions in battle. In that instant, they both turned running and in five strides, they were on me. As I dove out of the way, I hoped that a hoof would not crush my ankle. Landing in the sand, I could feel the vibration of the thundering hooves as they stormed past my ankles. 

Someone at the Jeep video taped the entire incident, and within days the video exceeded a million views online. I later saw the video dubbed by a knowledgeable horse person describing the horse’s behavior. He kept describing me as “the stupid human.” Sadly, he was correct in his assessment.