Travels!

Well it has certainly been way too long since my last newsletter but that is because I have been busy traveling and shooting and that is a good thing!

The season started off with my annual trip to Colorado for the Sombrero Ranch Workshop and Great American Horse Drive. As always there were hundreds of horses and plenty of action, and even after attending this event for 6 years it is still the highlight of the year for me. Sharing it with fellow photographers and horse lovers makes it extra special. I also made a trip out to the SandWash to photograph the wild horses there. Plans are underway for the 2013 Workshop and Horse Drive, stay tuned for details!

In early June I photographed the PAHA Arabian show in Hughesville, Pa and then continued south stopping at Deep Creek Fjords and Quietude Morgan Stud. These farms are both located in West Virginia and the countryside could not have been more lush and beautiful! My visit with my daughter in Boone, NC found a farmer making hay with his team of Suffolk Punches as well as a very enjoyable day spent with the Cowboy Church Wagon Train. On my way back home I photographed some hot shoeing at Tudane Farm in Virginia.

In August I met up with a wonderful group of photographer friends at the Powderhorn Ranch in Wyoming for a women's retreat. I can not say enough how inspiring and energizing this was for me and my work. As creatives we often work alone and face many obstacles on a day to day basis in a profession that is becoming more and more challenging. To set aside some time to laugh and shoot and just enjoy the moment truly helps one put life back into perspective. In addition, the location and our hosts could have not been more kind and gracious with so many opportunities for us to document the kind of lifestyle many of us think no longer exists. We all left feeling spoiled and blessed! After our retreat two friends and I took a road trip and visited the Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary, The Windcross Conservancy, toured the Black Hills of South Dakota and had a fun photo session with a wonderful group of cowgirls in Colorado.

 

As much as I enjoy traveling and visiting new places I know that I am lucky to live in such an image rich area with many great opportunities always just around the corner! I had a lovely summer evening visit with a herd of foundation Quarter Horses at Frog Alley Farm in Margaretville, New York and I also traveled to Saratoga to photograph the early morning training session. On my way back home I caught some shots of the Amish country which is growing here in upstate, New York. This gallery also includes photos from Pennsylvania's Big Valley, one of the most beautiful areas I have ever had the honor to see. This seems to be a well kept secret when it comes to Amish areas as everyone always thinks of Lancaster, so please don't tell anyone about my discovery!

I spent some time at the Brookfield Trail System photographing the NY 50/30 mile Competitive Trail Ride in July as well as the Fall Walking Horse Pleasure Trail Ride in September. In August I officiated at the Stamford Stampede Competitive Trail Ride. Exploring trails and woods and photographing trail riders is one of the favorite parts of my job!

Since I had to sit out last fall with a broken ankle I have made up for lost time and stayed very busy! In September I officiated at the New England Dressage Festival in Saugerties, NY and also the Winley Farm Holsteiner inspection. In addition I have had the pleasure to shoot some truly fun and lovely portrait sessions with KC Claffee and her boys, the Appaloosas and ponies of Windswept Acres, two ladies dressed up in medieval dress in the woods and Jenn and her boy Solomon at the Great Gully Waterfall. Yes, I have the best job in the world!

 

Finally, In October we had a small portraiture workshop with the great Betty Cooper in the Catskills at the Frost Valley YMCA. Betty continues to inspire me to work on my portraiture skills!
 

Now the days are dark and short, the leaves are off the trees and snow is in the air. I will be making a trip to the west coast soon, and am looking forward to exploring some new places. In December I plan to spend some time in Chincoteague to photograph the ponies and the snow goose migration, something I will never tire of experiencing.

 

 

2013 Colorado Cowboys and Horses Calendar!

 

The 2013 Colorado Cowboys and Horses Calendar is available!
This is always such a huge job to whittle down many thousands of images to come up with a good variety and representation of this event, and I truly appreciate everyone that supports this project!

August ImagEquine Gallery a Day!

For the month of August I am going to share a photo gallery a day, some old work, some new work, some favorite work...please go to ImagEquine on facebook and see each day's link posted there...from mustangs to mules to horse shows, from rodeos and cowboys to dressage and carriage horses...every day a new gallery for you to browse and enjoy. Of course if you see an image that interests you your inquiries are welcome! As always, please do not download or copy photos without my permission.

Yesterday I posted a gallery from my 2008 visit to the Wild Mustang Sanctuary in Hot Springs, South Dakota. One of the best things those of us concerned about the wild horses can do is to support the sanctuaries, I just wish there were more of them. I am looking forward to visiting this sanctuary again later this month.

Today I shared a gallery of images taken at Horse Progress Days in 2011. The Lancaster, Pennsylvania area has the largest concentration of farmers still farming with horses and this event has some incredible horse powered equipment on display and of course the horse power to run it! Check out the horse powered treadmill for example.

Roadside Findings

One of the things I like most about traveling is the unexpected things I find along the way. Sometimes the most wonderful surprises are just around the corner...I am still questioning the most amazing turkey I came across recently...as a believer in animals being messengers I wonder what this meant after a week of many challenges. Regardless, I enjoyed this little impromptu photo session that I had with this turkey thoroughly! I later found out that he is a Royal Palm turkey, something I never knew existed before. I have to admit that some of my favorite images I have taken over the years have been those taken along the road, and this is the reason that when I travel I like to take my time, explore and take the back roads! No highway travel for me if I can avoid it, you just never know what you may find!

Happy Summer Solstice!

This photo was taken this past Wednesday during the last light of the summer solstice. I have been fascinated with reflection photos for some time, a new perspective is always good for the soul. The summer solstice project is a good motivator to get out and shoot even if it may be so hot you almost don't do it!
I have been doing a lot of traveling and gotten to see some amazing horses and places but it is always nice to be home too. As long as the days are time seems especially short this time of year!

I made the trip to visit my daughter in North Carolina and made some stops along the way at Deep Creek Farm Fjords, Quietude Morgans and Tudane Farm. In addition I spent some time photographing in some of the most amazing Amish country in Pennsylvania and New York. Also make sure you visit my earlier travel galleries from the Desert Southwest, Florida and Colorado.

Great American Horse Drive

I have posted my photos from the recent Great American Horse Drive and Sombrero Ranch Photo Workshop. There are lots of them so grab a drink, sit back and enjoy the images. Please drop me a line if you have any questions. I have also reduced the price on the Colorado Cowboys and Horses Calendars, there is still plenty of time to enjoy the photos, and check out the 6 year collector's edition!

Sand Wash Wild Horses

I was lucky enough to get out to the Sand Wash Herd Management Area in northwest Colorado three times during my trip west recently. In the spring there is always a lot of activity like young colts play fighting like these two to older stallions fighting for mares to new foals being born. It is a treat and a privelege to be able to observe and photograph wild horses like this! I wish that all people could spend some time in these places but since many never get the chance I hope that photos can help tell the story. See all the images from my trips there here, and also galleries from 2011 and 2010.

Southwest and Florida Travels

I was lucky enough to get away for a few weeks to the beautiful desert southwest for some sun, horses and photo ops in early March. It was great to meet up with Bev Pettit and share her world for a few days. She was kind enough to share her home and horses and even got me back on a horse on the very kind and patient (and handsome) Skeeter. That is Skeeter the gray guy in some of the photos! The weather and light could not have been more perfect for our fun and games! In the Phoenix area I attended the Casa Grande Ranch Rodeo, the Scottsdale Arabian Show and Mounted Shooting at the Winter Range. I also met up with my friend Scott Trees and Sombrero friend Johnny Garcia showed us some team sorting. Scott even got to try his hand on the game little mare “Oprah”!

In New Mexico I met up with Lynne Pomeranz and got the whirlwind tour of wild horses and sanctuaries, caught a gallery and talked horses and photography. We visited the Monero Mustang Sanctuary in Northern New Mexico run by Sandy Claypool as well as the Cimarron Sky Dog Sanctuary in Watrous run by Jackie Fleming. These women are on the front lines of the continuing wild horse issues. After my trip to Nevada (see below) I saw very clearly the challenges we who love the horses are facing. Jackie explores the issue in depth, please take the time to read her blog for a better understanding.

I landed in a snowy, wintry Reno and spent a few days traveling in that area. The Palomino Valley BLM Wild Horse and Burro Holding Facility, just 12 miles north of Reno, had 1800 horses and burros in its pens the day I was there. The people in the office were open to answering my questions and letting me take photographs. While the handling of the wild horses by the BLM is a controversial issue, it also reminded me of the fact that approximately 45,000 mustangs and burros are currently in short and long term holding facilities in the US. Like it or not if we love these wonderful creatures we need to stop bickering and fighting amongst ourselves and complaining about the BLM and make an effort to work together to do what is best for the horses. A good place to start is considering adoption and promoting adoption events when they are in your area. I will have room in my barn for a burro or two the next time there is an adoption event in my region!
I also explored the Virginia Range and Damonte Ranch areas. These horses are not on BLM lands and not managed unless they stray into populated areas and create a nuisance. In addition, people have started feeding these horses so now as many as 100 horses stand close to housing developments waiting for handouts every morning. Some of the older pregnant mares are in extremely poor condition and it worries me that the horses are bound to lose in this situation.Read more about my visits to this area and my thoughts on the wild horse "problem" in my blog and view all my Southwest Galleries.


I was home for a week and then off again for Florida where I organized two photo workshops for German Equine Photographer Gabriele Boiselle. The weather was perfect and we were treated to some of the best and brightest horses and riders in the Wellington area. This is THE place for horse people to be during the winter months. From dressage to polo to Iberian horses and portraits I came home with many thousands of images to edit! View all the galleries from my Florida trip here

The Wild Horse "Problem"

I have to admit that before my trip to Nevada I was not aware of the scope and scale of the wild horse "problem". I had seen the horses on some of the ranges in Colorado and Wyoming and these vast ranges and the good health of the horses there lead me to believe that the ranges could support them without human intervention. While this may be true on some of the ranges what I saw in Nevada has changed my thinking. We hear so much about the wild horses on BLM lands that are rounded up and in the holding pens waiting for adoption (45,000-50,000 horses are in long and short term holding facilities at this moment with only a fraction of that number finding homes.)

But, there are horses other than the BLM wild horses in the west. There are Indian ponies that run on federal and state lands and could be classified as wild, and these days there are a growing number of horses that are being turned loose by owners no longer able to care for them and are left to fend for themselves. In addition, in Nevada there are what are termed the "estray" horses. These horses are not on BLM federal lands, but on state lands, and as many as 2,000 range in an area within 20 miles of the population center of Reno, with many other areas of Nevada also being home to wild horses on both state and federal lands. These horses are only "managed" when they start to become termed a nuisance and wander into territory that may have been theirs at one time but is now being developed by human beings. They may then be trapped and taken off the range, but there is no planned round up of these horses to keep their numbers so that the existing range can support them. While the BLM has never sent a horse to a sale where they may end up as meat on a hook, the horses on the state land do not enjoy this protection and when they are trapped out they could very possibly end up at a "killer" sale. While slaughter of horses no longer exists in the USA, horses are regularly shipped acorss the border to kill plants in Mexico and Canada.

The Nevada estray horses have a vast range but the factors of drought, loss of habitat and encroaching human development is taking it's toll. In addition local people have taken it upon themselves to feed these horses (which I believe is ILLEGAL) and now a group of as many as 100 horses wait on the edge of this development for their moring handout. While some of the younger horses in this group looked healthy I saw many many older mares (mostly pregnant) that looked extremely thin (starving). I have been disturbed by what I saw and I can say with confidence that this is going to get worse as the horses continue to grow in numbers while having less and less to eat. In my opinion, these horses do need to be managed. Is it more humane for a small group to thrive and be productive and healthy or for a large and growing group to slowly starve to death?

Look, I was only a visitor there for a few days, and I know there are groups to help the horses and I am not going to get into the BLM or slaughter debate with anyone. I don't claim to have all the facts, I am sharing what I saw and hope that for those of you that live far away from these ranges will learn from what I saw. Working for solutions rather than fanning the flames of controversy and propaganda against the BLM and the roundups is counter productive when we should be doing all we can to try to come up with viable solutions to help the horses. One thing you can do is support some of the great wild horse sanctuaries that take some of the horses from the holding facilities. With our support they can help more horses. I am sharing a list of reputable sanctuaries below. Get out to an adoption event and make room in your barn for a mustang or burro.

I have been thinking about this situation since my visit to Nevada and the horses in the holding pens will be something I will carry in my soul for the rest of my life. I hope that the BLM will work with the wild horse advocates and implement a policy of returning sterilized older horses to "zeroed" out Herd Management areas that can support these horses for the rest of their lives, and I also hope they will consider more humane methods to rounding up the horses. And I hope that the estray horses can be managed in such a way that the range can support their numbers, however I fear that their future looks bleak as long as people continue to encroach on their habitat and their numbers continue to grow.

My final wish is that as human beings we can do what is right for the horses.

Cimarron Sky Dog Sanctuary
Return to Freedom
Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary
Monero Mustangs

Palomino Valley: 1800 Horses

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated”~ Ghandi

I was completely captivated by a pen of burros when I visited the Palomino Valley BLM Wild Horse and Burro Holding Facility north of Reno, Nevada last week. While the handling of the wild horses by the BLM is a controversial one it also reminded me of the fact that approximately 45,000 mustangs and burros are currently in short and long term holding facilities in the US. Like it or not if we love these wonderful creatures we need to stop bickering and fighting amongst ourselves and complaining about the BLM and make an effort to work together to do what is best for the horses. A good place to start is considering adoption. I will have room in my barn for a burro or two the next time there is an adoption event in my region! View more of my images from my visit to this facility here.
I will be sharing more photos from various wild horse ranges as well as sanctuaries shortly, please check back.

“I am a drinker of the wind
I am the one who never tires
I love my freedom more than all these things.
The Conquistador, Comanche and the cowboy
I carried them to glory
I am La Primera, Spanish mustang
hear my story”
~ Ian Tyson

Happy New Year and Early Spring Cleaning Special Offers

Special discount prices are now available on some of my favorite horse drive prints ready to be framed your way! Quantities are limited, first come, first served!
The 2012 Colorado Cowboys and Horses Calendar has been selling like hotcakes but there is still time to get your copy while they last. Check out the six calendar special edition with Horse Drive Calendars from 2006-2012 with many great photos from each year!
Bookmarks! I love seeing the world as a panorama and bookmarks are the perfect format for that. Now you can order some for your own enjoyment!

For my artist friends!
I get many requests from artists in need of good reference photos for their work. I have compiled an artists reference disk of 130 horse images specifically for this purpose. This is a royalty free, non exclusive disk of images for artists to use to as reference. On this disk you will find a great variety of sharp, clear images of horses from all angles: detail shots of ears, eyes, heads, noses, necks, legs, backs, manes, etc. You will also find horses in different gaits and poses: trotting, cantering, rolling, rearing, interacting and just standing or grazing. Click on the link above to view a slide show of all the images available on this disk.