Amidst the Wild Ones: Day Two

Morning

Again we needed to wake up early to beat the sun. Once we arrived on the moor, we split up again into two groups. My group and I ended up watching a band in some small hills on the moor. One mare brought her foal close which gave us a chance to observe her foal up close. That foal was the inspiration for “Brave New World” and “Here I Am.” He practically danced circles around his mom. I captured quite a few moments of him  as he pranced around just being himself. During this time I also captured the reference for “Morning Stretch.” 

Soon after, we saw another band of ponies walk into the wooded area beyond where we had been for the last hour. We followed them at a distance, and found them hanging out between the trees. They grazed and scratched themselves on the trees. After a bit, they began to walk out into the open again. We followed and the trees were between us as they walked away. This is when I captured “Behind the Trees.”

It then began to rain. That wasn’t a problem though. We had come prepared and the ponies were not bothered in the slightest. The rain led to us capturing many moody and fun images of the ponies just chilling in the rain. This is when I captured “Dreary Peace.” 

Evening 

The last evening was very special. We had the most precious encounter. For the last couple of days we had heard about a foal who was only a few days old. We were lucky to see him from a distance the previous day, but this evening his mom brought him close to us. She let him check us out from at least fifteen feet away. My old camera that I brought had begun to show its age this session and I was fighting with it to take pictures. Something was up with the SD card. This moment was when it really was detrimental. I saw a beautiful shot (more beautiful than the one on the right) lined up in my view finder, but alas, my camera would not take the picture. So I put it down and recorded a short video with my phone. That’s when the foal came a little closer and putting away my phone I stood as still as I could. Holding my breath we looked at each other. That moment was so precious and I was so honored to have experienced it. 

This session was when I also captured “Over the Hill” and “Soft Assurance.”

When the session concluded, we watched the ponies run off into the misty evening air. We all sent out grateful thoughts, thanking the ponies for allowing us to be a witness to a small part of their lives. It was very emotional to see them go. Knowing the connection I felt with these ponies would last the rest of my life even if we never meet again. 

Morning: a great scratching post

Evening: a precious encounter with a newborn foal