Wild horses of Roosevelt National Park

            Tolerated ignorance

While visiting Roosevelt NP this past summer, I found myself in a wildlife situation that I had not planned, nor researched. After spending 20 years in the United States Navy and 40 years of being happily married, I can honestly say I know how to keep the rules! When driving the backroads of a national park and a band of wild horses presents itself…I had no idea what the rules were.

As I exited my car and started walking towards them across the small hills of the North Dakota prairie, I kept thinking to myself about required distances for safety and to not disturb the horses. I tried to google it, but cell service wasn’t an option.

The small band of horses comprised of a beautiful black and grey stallion, two mares, a yearling and this old girl, the broodmare (pictured here) that defiantly assumed the role of protector as the others grazed. Once I obtained the best lighting angle, I began searching out my traditional, somewhat comfortable looking rock. I sat and started taking photographs at around 40 yards away, a distance that we all seemed comfortable with.

As I waited for heads to raise and desired artistic separation to occur, they ever so slightly closed the gap between us. The natural beauty of the moment overwhelmed as I realized that I was sitting in solitude on the American Great Plains at sunrise amongst wild horses…such a blessing to be there in that moment and not in my chair watching television back home!

The yearling, who was almost a carbon copy of its mother kept curiously walking my way. It may have been my Old Spice deodorant or maybe my coffee breath, but it was certainly starting to get close enough that I became concerned with its mom running over and stomping me into a big greasy spot on my somewhat comfortable looking rock! I sat quietly as the little one, now determined to be a filly, was but 10 yards away. In my mind, I started to formulate excuses should a ranger approach, my answer would be…”She came up to me, dude (or dudet if a female ranger)!” Ok, that is a lie…I would say sir or ma’am as I truly respect all who serve!

While all this was going on, I looked over to the old girl who stood like a statue atop another small knoll maybe 30 yards away. I realized that it was no accident that she had selected the perfect spot for a 360-degree view of the grasslands that surrounded us. Her eyes were most often on me, but her ears were rotating like an airport radar. I decided to graciously back out of the blessing and return to my car that was parked a hundred or so yards away. 

As I crested the last small knoll, the roof of my car came into view…then I noticed something moving. To my surprise, a young bison was rubbing itself against a post not 3 feet from my driver side door.

But that’s another story.

Photo taken on 31 August, 2024.

Taken on: August 31, 2024

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Animals

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EF100-400mm

EOS

MarkII

MotherNature

nature

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Camera: Canon EOS 7D Mark II, f/8.0, 1/1000 sec, 271mm, ISO 800 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon EOS 7D Mark II
Lens:	EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM
Aperture:	f/8.0
Exposure Time:	0.001 sec (1/1000)
Focal Length:	271mm
ISO:	800
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Manual
Exposure Mode:	Manual
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Lightroom 7.5 (Macintosh)
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