Steens Mountain Wild Horses

We visited the Steens Mountain area of eastern Oregon last July (2011).

The Internet info indicated the access roads to the area were still blocked with snow, so as we reached the first entrance, we flagged a pick-up truck to ask about conditions.

It turned out that the folks inside had just been photographing a band of wild horses ranging nearby, and they directed us to their location.

We spotted the horses a mile or so off the road - away in the distance, and we would never have tried to approach them, except the people we'd met told us we could drive out across the range.

Sure enough, there was a bit of a trail that our 4x4 Pilot navigated well.

We would never have dared try approaching the horses on foot, either, but the folks we met said this band of horses was quite tolerant of human foot traffic, so we drove as far as we could, then we started hiking through the hip high grass and sagebrush.

As we approached, they watched us calmly.

There were a couple of stallions that seemed intent on keeping their mares gathered up and they moved around a bit as we got closer. It was great seeing them move as a group.

I got a lot of great photos of these wild horses and I will be posting my pictures over the next few Tuesdays.