Ragged Band of Horses
One summer, I visited the Bighorn Mountains in Eastern Wyoming to photograph horses. I'd never photographed horses before, and in fact, I was a little afraid of them, because I didn't have any experience with these beautiful animals. (These are not wild horses; these horses are a part of a herd of 200 horses belonging to Eaton's Ranch in Wyoming, one of America's original dude ranches from the 1800s, whose guests included Cary Grant and Teddy Roosevelt).
I knew that the horses roamed free in the Bighorn Mountains every afternoon and through the night, so I would have the opportunity to photograph them without tack.
While this photograph might look like I am standing right in front of this pack of horses, I actually stood with my back against a tree, and leaned over to photograph them as they approached. As they went past me (all 200 horses!), they were certainly close enough to touch, but I stayed pinned up against the tree where it was safe. It was an incredible feeling, experiencing so many horses running past!
Over the course of the week, I learned to become much more comfortable around horses. My favorite experience was hiking up into a gorgeous mountain meadow in the afternoons, where wildflowers carpeted the valley, marmots perched on granite boulders, and the late afternoon lit up the red rocks that surrounded the valley on three sides. There were always dozens of horses in the meadow, and I loved just finding a beautiful spot to sit, and waiting while a few horses made their way over to me to snuffle me up and down. Those were very special afternoons!
