- The fight beguins
It was roughly 7:00 pm Sunday night when we came across a large herd of horses at the bottom of a hill on a dirt road. They were curious about us and cautiously watched us for a while as we photograhed them. Suddenly they took off as three stallions came charging down the hill. It is rutting season for the wild horses and the studs were duking it out. They were a black stallion, a dark bay and a sorrel colored horse and it was a battle of the fittest. The black and the bay were particulary well matched in size and strength and going at it the hardest. They disappeared into the forest but you could hear their roars and squeals reverberating off the hills and trees.
We drove to the top of the hill from which they descended, and as my camera was smaller and easier to photograph at close range it was decided that I would climb the hill and wait for their return. I had just found a spot to crouch down on that clear cut hill when the stallions came bursting out of the trees, across the road and up the hill. I had both camcorder and camera in hand. I used the still camera first and starting snapping off pictures, annoyed at my camera’s slow speed. However, before I could blink, the horses were battling right beside me, no more than ten feet away. I might have swore a bit at the predicament I got myself in, but took one last picture before standing up to show them that I was there. This picture turned out to be the belly of the stallion as he raced by me. YEE GADS, they were almost on top of me. The boys were so engrossed in their battle, that while they did move away from me, they continued their fight, not too far off.
Belly of Stud, Too close for comfort
The fight continues
- Squaring Off, Round Three
I was slightly overwhelmed by all the excitement but managed to get a few good pictures and a lot of blurry ones. It could have been that my whole body was shaking in one big wave, my eyes were round as saucers and my lips were trembling. I was quite the sight, according to Bob. He had raced up the hill when he realized that maybe the horses were a bit too close to me. The horses at the sight of the two of us then bolted down the hill and back into the trees, again with alot of roaring and squealing resounding through the wilderness. As they ran, I then grabbed my camcorder and recorded them, one stallion in hot pursuit of the other.
Thinking that they would come back, Bob and I crouched down again, and I tried to hide behind one of a few trees left standing and we waited. Within a couple of minutes the trio had looped around and ran back through the trees and up onto the road. They were going to come back up the hill but spotted my bright white shirt and took off. This time for good, their sounds of battle started to fade as they put some distance between us.
We decided to leave them in peace and drove away, and I was thankful to be alive. Not that I would do anything differently really, I got some pretty good action shots and one heck of an experience to tell you about.
