Gallery 7: The West

As Wyoming was homesteaded, the settlers took the best river bottom lands. BLM Horse Management Areas aren't in the prime zones. Instead, most of the land is barren and dry, often shared with herds of antelope. Water is at a premium all year and the horses make a daily pilgrimage to get it. Summers are hot—often windy. Winters on the high plateau can be brutal. Somehow, they endure both extremes.

Colts and phillies are born each year to replace the old and injured. Bands of horses start showing the colors of the current stallion. His legacy is carried forward for generations. Some bands consist of a single stallion and single mare—or maybe a mare and colt, while others have the dominant stallion, a few juvenile males, and numerous mares and foals. Younger stallions meander together off the herd, practicing their fighting skills, and look for any opportunity to further their genes by stealing a mare of their own.