An Afternoon To Remember...

Okay, if you've seen this on Blab or FB then you might be getting tired of it, but I can't help it.  What I experienced yesterday was truly wonderful and I can't stop talking about it.  hahahaha.

So yesterday, I had the day off so I went in search of places to take pictures of a couple of horses.  Model horses, that is.  I already knew the lakes at Papago Park weren't going to work so I went driving around the park for desert-y places and came across the backside of the Desert Lives exhibit at the Phoenix Zoo.  It was well-populated...

I'm really kicking myself for not having my bigger camera (I considered bringing it but didn't think I'd *need* it) with the zoom lens, especially with what I encountered later, but all I had was my little Kodak C182.  Mental note...whenever I have a day off and I'm wondering around the city, bring the big camera.  I was pleasantly surprised, though, by the quality I was able to get with the Kodak.  The closer-up photo has not been cropped at all...that the reach I was able to get.

After taking those photos I continued on my search for a place to take pictures.  Everything around the park, however, is brown and kind of dead, but I did find a spot...Diamondot Buccaneer was willing to model for me.

Nothing too stellar, especially compared to some of the ones I've seen on Blab, but...

Next I decided to try Saguaro Lake and headed north, but then decided the Verde River might be good...and closer.  Problem was, I couldn't figure out how to get closer to the river.  I went to the Ft McDowell Indian Reservation and found the river, but getting to the river's edge itself was difficult.  I spotted a sign for some kind of cowboy adventures place so I did a u-turn and went back, but as soon as I turned down that road I encountered 2 signs:  No trespassing and River access closed.  :(  No fair.  As I sat there, trying to figure out what to do I spotted objects moving across the road about 200 or so feet ahead of me.  My first thought was cattle, but then I quickly realized it was the wild horses that live in the area.  Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera ready and I had big trucks coming up behind me and while they had no problem going around me, I didn't want to block the road and I didn't want to get into trouble for trespassing.  Off to the right I noticed another dirt road.  Not as good as the one I was already on, but outside the area with the 'no trespassing' sign so I figured I'd be safe.  I headed off on that road and eventually came to a spot where they were passing by again.  The first three stopped and looked at me for a few moments then trotted off.  They are definitely not used to humans.  There were probably 6 adults plus a weanling and a foal that was maybe 3 months old.  They didn't stick around long for me to take pictures and this is where I really wish I'd had the zoom lens, but I was able to get a few before they crossed in front of me and out of sight.  I tried to catch up again, but I encountered a dry wash that was pretty deep and the road was already pretty dicey I decided not to go any further.  I sat on one side of the wash and waited for them to pass by again, but they must have turned "upward" and went north.  Oh well.  I need to get my mom's Jeep, which has 4 wheel drive and go looking again.  Or go stake out a spot on that road that's out of the way of the trucks and wait.  hahaha.  There's water near there so they probably visit often.  Anyway, here's the less-than-stellar pictures.  I'm glad to see that they seem to be in good shape and are getting enough to eat.  I'm guessing, though, that people on the reservation maybe put food out for them, which is nice.

weanling?

Interesting color

Pregnant mare :-)