Skywatch Friday Grace, Beauty, Sprit, and Freedom
We made a late afternoon trip to the Salt River yesterday in hopes of spotting some of the Salt River wild horses.
We were not disappointed!
There were horses everywhere and more kept arriving and making their way into the water.
The temps have been in the mid 80s this week which is quite warm for this Colorado girl. Everyone was taking a nice long drink and cooling down.
There were multiple bands of horses scattered up and down the river. For the most part they were all getting along and were calm and cool even with all the people viewing them from across the river.
Some chose to stand along the rocky river bank.
There were a couple disagreements that arose. I love it when the camera is set and focused in the right direction at just the right time. I love how this guys has his mouth open and is ready for battle. Luckily, the tussle only went on for a few seconds.
And they just kept coming.
A shot down the river.
Lots of red (sorrel horses) in the herds...
...along with some red roans.
It was also nap time for some on the warm sandy bank.
Some of them were having fun splashing.
One thing we didn't see were any foals. I read that the herd size in controlled by darting the mares with birth control. At one point the herd was in danger of being destroyed, but the group who manages them asked for a chance to prove they could manage the herd size. In 2019 one hundred foals were born and in 2020 only sixteen foals were born so their efforts are working. By managing the herd size visitors will be able to continue viewing scenes like this that are straight out of the American West.
This group were all watching the youngsters making all kinds of noise further downstream.
This outing made my heart happy.
After some time many of them starting leaving and heading back into the desert. That's the time we decided to head out also so we wouldn't be in the way of those who wanted to cross the river to graze on the other side.
On the hike out I had to stop and take a shot of at least one saguaro. This one is growing right in the middle of the tree.
Oops...sometimes even a park ranger treads where they're not supposed to be.
"The essential joy of being with horses is that it brings us in contact with the rare elements of grace, beauty, spirit, and freedom"
-Sharon Ralls Lemon
Comments
A fellow blogger has taken photos of saguaros and trees together. She calls the trees nursery trees because they shade the cactus when it is small. I didn't know a cactus needed shade.