Running Room
Location: Pryor, MT (Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range)
A group of wild mustangs fly through the open plains of the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range near the Bighorn Canyon Recreation area and the Crow Nation Reservation.
The Pryor Mountain wild horse herd is one of the few wild horse herds of the Spanish descendants remaining in the US today. I had been cruising around the area all day, sitting and watching 3 separate herds trying to find the right angle to get a shot with the Bighorn in the background. Later in the afternoon, this group allowed me to get about 200 yards to them and get a few close ups with the big lenses. While sitting in the hot red dirt surrounded by sagebrush, something spooked them from behind and they came stampeding right at me! I quickly changed lenses and stood my ground, hoping to get the shot and not get trampled. My heart was racing, I could not believe it, they were passing right in front of exactly where I had wanted to get the shot! I fumbled a bit on the exposure settings, and hoped for the best. After shooting fast as I could (moving objects in a stitched panoramic are not easy) I slowly caught by breath and stood up to watch them pass by. The lead mare had stopped about 25 yards and was staring at me, trying to get a smell of what I was about. I said thank you. She gave a slight nod (or at least it seemed like a nod) and she was off to join the others in the rising dust over the plains.......May 20th, 2006
