Wild Horses, Teddy Roosevelt Park

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This is a fun entry that could have been a disastor but in the end it made for a memorable event.

We spent much of the day touring Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Along the way we saw lots of Bison but Tracy wanted to see some wild horses because the ranger at the visitor's center said some were in the area.

I've seen wild horses around home in Idaho, Utah and Nevada and I told Tracy that I had never been able to get within a mile of one before they would run off over the nearest ridge. So when we came across 3 horses above the road I had to assume they belonged to someone but decided to stop and hike up to them for a closer look. I took the camera but had the 12-24mm wide angle lens, a great lens but you have to get close to your subject.

At the top of the ridge I noticed a dark colored horse off to the right that we had not seen from the road. I worked up the ridge to the group of three and got within 40 feet of them. I noted they were not at all groomed and they exhibited wild behavior but I still refused to believe they were wild. One horse rolled over on her back and I was not able to see any shoes on her hooves.

Tracy called out from the road that a bison was just above us and at this point I saw Ian making a beeline up the hill toward me. I worked up the ridge to meet him and the 3 horses I had been watching trotted down to the lone horse I had seen earlier. As the horses regrouped I saw very definite wild behavior as the lone horse was the alpha male of this group. About the time Ian met up with me the lone horse and another had started working up the ridge toward us. I turned Ian around and got him walking down the hill while I lagged back putting myself between him and the horses. A few seconds later the horses broke into a gallop toward us and I told (loudly but not yelled) at Ian to RUN to the Jeep. He thought I was joking. I ran to him, gathered him up and headed for the Jeep as the two horses ran behind us before breaking off and running just behind the Jeep and to the field below the road. A minute later the 2 remaining horses came down the hill but veered around the front of the Jeep as I moved to take some photos of them.

Well... that was fun! While I was unable to take the picture of the lead horse bearing down on us just feet from the edge of the road, it is vividly planted into my memory!