Nena Alexander Images

Every year new foals start to appear across the high desert. It’s a wonderful time of year. I always end up falling in love with almost every new life!

Freya is an amazingly beautiful mare, she has changed bands a few times in the past few years. She seems very much a mare who knows who she wants to be with. After giving birth to this bundle of beauty she changed bands again and is with Pax a gorgeous east stallion who has never had a band of his own. She and her new filly seem very content with Pax and time will tell if it lasts.
Someone named her Tiger Lily and I think it fits her, she is spirited and fearless and her face markings look like a hook!

Rembrandt is a Wyoming stallion, I saw him the first time I went up to Salt Wells to see the wild ones. He is very unique in coloring. I think what i remember the most about Rembrandt is his scars. He has a huge scar on his right back rear. He has scars in other places as well, evidence of a life of battles and survival. He usually travels with a younger bachelor, mentoring him every season until he moves on. There are stories of him trying to protect an abandoned foal from other stallions.
Rembrandt always reminds me that scars do not define us, they tell a story of battles we have fought and survived, they create a canvas of vibrant hues and darkened shadows, creating a stunning work of art, just like Rembrandt.

Some moments on the range are full of awe, watching the north herd decide to run miles across the dusty desert floor, creating shadows and dancing light right before dusk,took my breath away. There is nothing I like better than dust and backlight, it’s hard to capture, but it gives a very ethereal feel to the horses. As I watched this beautiful band full of Palominos, they seemed to blend in with the dusty light, they looked like ghosts. I often wonder if the day will soon come when our wild horses will be just memories, ghosts. We cannot let that happen, we must be their voice and continue to advocate for their place in this world, we cannot let them disappear.

When the mares in the band decide enough is enough!
As much as I love photographing wild horses, I love watching behavior more, especially when it involves mares!
Warrior the young stallion on the right, had decided to go after a few of the mares from his natal band. The mares had had enough and after much chasing around the herd they did what their band stallions did not, they confronted Warrior and stopped his youthful pursuits.
I have watched mares come between a stallion and a foal, I have watched them go up against their band stallion when pursuing another mare. There is so much we do not understand about herd and band dynamics especially as it relates to mares, but we are learning! Exciting times and I could go on and on about behavior but I will just leave you with this profound insight from that day in the wild,
“Who runs the world? Girls!” -Beyonce

Warrior is the first horse I have had the privilege of watching grow up. He will be four next month and he has turned into a gorgeous stallion. I remember the first time I saw him, such a beautiful Spring afternoon ,his mom came around a rocky corner high on the mountain and there he was at her side, a mousy gray brand new c**t. I remember how I felt. I remember trying to find the perfect name for him and it took awhile. Naming a wild horse is a privilege and I take it very seriously. Names are for us, not the horses, they are wild, they don’t need names, their names are written on the desert floor, whispered in the winds, sung by the coyotes, that is the way of the wild.