Wild Horses

10/12/2026

Sand Wash Basin HMA wild horses by contributor Patrick Brennan, 2015. 

10/12/2026

Oregon Steens legend Shaman. Photo by WH contributor, Gingers Harter.

Beautiful Shaman....
Out West Originals :)

09/14/2026

Colorado mustangs by Pam Nickoles.

The gray stallion is my favorite boy in the Piceance Creek/East Douglas HMA in Colorado. I've been photographing "Handsome" since 2006 and each year, he gets lighter and lighter. He's probably in the 13-16 year old range just based (a guesstimate) on the first time I saw him with his little family. He's no longer a band stallion, but hangs out with some other bachelor boys for company. It's always so good to see him. Here is a link to a story I wrote about him a few years ago. You can see the image of the first time I ever saw him and how dark he used to be. http://nickolesphotography.wordpress.com/2011/09/02/losing-his-family/

Feel free to share (I appreciate your support!), but please respect my copyright. Photos are for viewing purposes only (most are available online at: http://www.NickolesPhotography.com/). Images by Pam Nickoles Photography are copyright protected and owned solely by Pam Nickoles Photography. Photos may not be used, downloaded or reproduced in any form without express written permission from Pam Nickoles Photography.Thank you!

09/14/2026

Sand Wash Basin mustangs by Patrick Brennan.

09/14/2026

Growing Up Wild

We first met when he was still young and innocent in December 2022.... it was snowy, the snows blanketing the landscape in a way that was not normal even for that time of year - and they would only become deeper as the months wore on, he would be the only surviving member of his family band by spring of 2023.

I found him with other stallions in late spring 2023, miles from where we had first met, other surviving bachelor stallions his company and comfort in this landscape that was suddenly empty of mustangs that had wandered here before - he was no longer innocent or naive, he had found a way to survive against the odds when many did not.

As the summer months marched into fall he gained weight, his body recovered from the near starvation, and his confidence began to grow as he and the other bachelors joined into a band of 12 wild stallions.

And he roamed miles and miles across his desert hills... never in the same place did we meet over the next few years! Always was our meetings random and usually brief as he and his single bachelor friends had places to go and mares to seek.... slowly the band grew smaller as the older and more determined of the boys pursued the ladies - love is almost always a constant desire in the wild!

Valere is now 4yrs old and one of the most magnificent stallions you may be lucky enough to meet in the wild.... he is a wild horse that has known Arapaho Creek as his home - a place that is now and has always been wild horse country - no matter what the current BLM staff try to tell us.... even their historical records show them to be wrong!!

Valere is one of the many wild horses I stand fighting for when I fight for Arapaho Creek to be a recognized wild horse land.... a fight I have been in since 2020 when few knew or cared, and few kept the fight with me in the bitter years after the roundup, a fight I will never give up on.

Arapaho Creek
Red Desert of Wyoming

**Images and video clips are from the years 2022 thru 2026**

09/11/2026

Lionheart, Wyoming stallion by Images by Ottilia.

LionHeart ~

09/10/2026

A famous Oregon stallion, by contributor Terry W Smith.

The ever famous "Shaman"

09/06/2026

Photo by contributer Alice McCammon.

That is some wind knot, looks almost like a messy french braid.
Pony's Wild West Images

09/06/2026

A Wyoming stallion.
-Images by Ottilia

09/06/2026

FYI

FYI: Oregon BLM Emergency Gathers:
Sheepshead/Heath Creek and Riddle Mountain due to water and forage concerns, (complicated by previous wildfires).

More HMA gather info:

Sheepshead/Heathcreek
https://www.blm.gov/programs/wild-horse-and-burro/herd-management/gathers-and-removals/oregon-washington/2026-sheepshead

RiddleMt (Kigers)
https://www.blm.gov/programs/wild-horse-and-burro/herd-management/gathers-and-removals/oregon-washington/2026-riddle

Oregon Gathers by region and year:
https://www.blm.gov/programs/wild-horse-and-burro/herd-management/gathers-and-removals/oregon-washington