Wild Horses and a Salt River Sunset

Bonnie Sanders January 21, 2021

I recently made a trip to the Salt River in my native state of Arizona to view and photograph the wild horses of the Salt River.

I accompanied my friend Cindy who has a talent for taking beautiful photographs. Cindy also knows where the horses frequent, and I was grateful for her willingness to show me “the ropes”.

We arrived in an area generally between the Stuart Mountain Dam and Coons Bluff around 1pm on a beautiful, partly cloudy, January afternoon and hiked down to where the horses were spending a lazy afternoon. The adults were laying in the sun or standing under the shade of mesquites with a back leg cocked while some of the yearling colts were sparring with one another and kicking up a good deal of dust. They exhibited a beautiful array of eye pleasing colors; deep chestnut to greyed-out white mares and many shades of bay, grey and buckskin.

As we snapped a few photos the horses mostly ignored us giving the impression of having been the object of many an excursion to these parts. So, we headed down to the river to see if we could find more bands of horses along the cool, shallow banks of the Salt.

The river was running extremely low this time of year and we were able to perch among the varied colors of the river rock and contemplate the location and watering habits of more horses. The afternoon wore on and we helped ourselves to more photos of the beauty surrounding us. Directly across the river from our location were towering slabs of cemented dirt with the oddly placed bush sprouting along the steep, vertical wall and a sprinkling of large rocks poking out from walls like hidden gems teasing the next rain to come and wash them away.

As we talked, snacked, soaked up the rays and listened to the gentle flow of the river I realized this was the kind of relaxing experience the human spirit craves. Awash in God’s creation and waiting for wild horses coming in for refreshments: priceless.

Realizing the horses were not going to accommodate us by coming to us, we left around 5:30 and returned to our earlier rendezvous location with the first band we had seen. We caught them trailing towards the river farther upstream and we quickly circled around to follow arriving moments behind as the last mare stepped into the river. The site that met our eyes provided a feast of color and texture to the visual senses and made our afternoon wait completely worthwhile. The sun was setting in the west and throwing a brilliant rusty, gold reflection off the walls of the opposing canyon walls onto the foliage and reflecting into the glassy-still water of the river. The pictures on this page are my attempt to show the beauty of an Arizona, liquid sunset bathing the river and surroundings in glorious color. The horses, the river, the lighting all combined to create a surreal moment that made us feel completely blessed to be in this place at this moment in time.

The horses did not feel the magic of our presence and cut their drink short, providing only a minute or two to snap our photos before the Boss Mare signaled the band that it was time to exit our company.

Short lived yes, but so grand a moment that I will be back again to wait hours for another liquid sunset and the Wild Horses of the Salt River.

Are you looking a me?

Fading light

Salt River Sorrel

Reflections of late afternoon colors.