Wild Horses of Salt River- Arizona

We pulled up to a nearly empty parking lot at Coon Bluff in Tonto National Forest. We changed out of our everyday footwear and put on our hiking boots, grabbed our camera equipment, and set out in hopes of crossing paths with the wild horses of Salt River.

We walked to the river's edge and looked down at an empty bank, just us, the views, and pipers pecking at the shoreline. We followed the path that wound along the river's bank through the mesquite trees for a while, stopping to take some pics of an egret. We continued on and stopped at a spot where the pipers were feeding and were taking more photos when, like from the scene in Field of Dreams where ghosts of ball players came out of the cornfields, horses one by one appeared from the tree line until the river filled with wild mustangs. The sun danced off the water all around them. The evening light illuminated the gnats and flies, which gave them a fairy-like appearance floating about over the river and horses.

It was a magical moment and evening being in the presence of this wild band of mustangs so close by, watching them carefree in their environment, drinking their fill and munching on river grasses.

A few spicy ones sparring and biting and kicking made for wonderful action shots. We even witnessed the beautiful mating between a couple of stallions and mares. It's pretty special to witness them just being horses, unrestrained, free, wild, and rugged.

We spent away the afternoon snapping off shots under the desert sun, surrounded by wild horses until the sun went down.

Before visiting Coon Bluff we researched best places to find the horses as 20,000 acres is a big area....and what we learned was Coon Bluff was a spot that was frequented by the horses and the best times of day to see them was around sunrise and sunset when they come to drink. Bill's research paid off and we enjoyed the company of upward around 50 mustangs that day. It would have been around 3:30-4pm when the horses arrived to the river.

"You were born free. Release your majestic mind, embrace your untamed spirit. Break free from captivity, avoid society...you were born to be free".

Bill & Cat