Gallery 5 Wild Stallions and Mare:

The final day was very special. I met an old friend. We crossed paths with the incredible wild stallion that I had come face to face with a couple of years ago (see Wild Stallion Gallery). We had been looking for the stallion for a few days, when like magic, three horses came over the hill and ran across the road into an open space on the other side. If we had been minutes earlier or later we would have missed them entirely. My equine friend was with another stallion and a mare, both with a white flash down their face. The older stallion appeared to be the dominant stallion but that was at risk with my friend, who wasn’t to be run off this time. He had gained weight and bulk from the last time we had seen him. After a dust-up with the other stallion he approached us to check us out but this time was not quite as close or agitated as he had the earlier encounter. Perhaps he remembered us as we did him, or at least that is how the story will be told. Since we are now friends, I have to give him a name. I think Thunderbolt would be fitting given the burnt meadow, ghostly appearances, spunky nature and powerful stallion that he represents.

Thunderbolt approached us a again, closer this time, and stood for a while, snorting, tossing his head and absorbed the situation. Once satisfied, he quickly turned and with all the spunk and snorting, he did a couple of years ago, he pranced away. This time he gathered up his herd and off they went with the occasional pause to look back. I wondered if this was the last time I would seem him, or if he would become one of the victims of the wild horse round-up. I hope not.