Horses: Alvord Desert, Oregon

Posted on Saturday, May 5, 2012

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Southeast Oregon is home to more animals than people including large herds of wild Mustangs, descended from the horses first brought over to the New World by the Spanish in the 1600s. Most of them make their home on large tracts of BLM land, including the Kiger Mustangs that live on the other side of Steens Mountain from here. (Some argue that these are better referred to as feral since they are descended from domesticated horses.) Regardless of what you call them, it’s pretty cool to see groups of them roaming around the desert unfettered by fences.

This group of three horses, a few miles away from the playa that draws many people to the Alvord Desert, was also roaming around unfettered by fences—free but, in this case, not wild. They eventually crossed the road in front of us and galloped off toward the mountains to the west.

[Click on a thumbnail to view the entire image.]

©2012 Timothy Linn. All Rights Reserved.