Wild Horses of Placitas

Truth be told, this isn’t really a travel-related post. Not unless fewer than seven or eight miles from home counts. But with COVID putting a damper on our travels recently, and since our site equally counts as an “adventure” blog, I’m going out on a limb to claim it as appropriate! It’s certainly an adventure to go look for the wild horses in Placitas, especially with Koda coming along for the ride.

We had a light dusting of snow one night last week, and the next morning I thought it would be nice to see if I could find some horses. There’s just something special that snow can sometimes bring to a photo. I was lucky to find a small band of about nine horses not far off the road. They were a bit wary of me at first, but realized I wasn’t a threat after a while.

The pair above were my favorites. They were the most curious and kept coming right up to me. The dark one repeatedly tried to grab my sleeve. I kept backing away as my lens was a telephoto, and if they got too close, I couldn’t focus the shots. These two were also the most spirited, horsing around with each other in the snow.

Koda, in the meantime, was so excited she was crying to get out of the car. Of course, I can’t let her out around the horses. Not because I’m worried about what they would do, but because I don’t trust Koda not to go charging up to them, and jump on them trying to give them kisses. I’m sure the horses would be spooked by her, and then who knows what would happen. But going to find the horsies is one of Koda’s favorite things!

After I was there for about half an hour, they tended to ignore me. I was lucky enough to see some of them rolling around. Even wild horses love to play in the snow!

There are many different bands that live in the hills, roaming free on both public and private lands, and probably a total of at least a couple hundred horses scattered throughout Placitas. They don’t all get along, and often battle scars can be seen on the horses from their encounters with rival bands. But I am blessed to live in a place where I can “travel” to see these horses anytime I wish.

Happy New Year!