Spending time looking for wild horses in New Mexico can be an interesting task. It helps to go with someone who knows their habits, but even still you may not find them. One morning, last summer after a rainfall, we ventured out to eventually locate one of the bands (herds) that we were looking for. There were about 8 in that group and headed by a magnificent stallion folks had dubbed Juan. The band had stopped at a rainwater pool. To view horses in the wild is not something easily put into words. To watch their behavior with each other is amazing as they act like a big family. These were not horses that had recently been turned loose in the desert, as some folks may think. They have been out there for years surviving on their own. Quite possibly they were descendants of escapee Indian ponies from a lifetime before, or descendants of the ponies used by Spanish explorers, no one knows with this group as know one has been able to do DNA testing on them.
Fresh Rainwater for Juan, Wild Horse of New Mexico
This is a watercolor of “Juan” and will be available in March at the Cowgirl Up! Show at the Desert Caballeros Museum.
