Where Horses Run Free

While living in Vegas, I had heard of a place in the desert where wild horses run free. To get here we have to drive between two prisons, which is the first odd sight. A few miles further into the desert, we came upon five horses sharing the road with us.

A bit further was a turnoff to the desert's little surprise. A spring-fed pond. This is Cold Creek. 

When we first arrived, there were no horses at the pond. Asher found a bit of fishing line with a lure still attached and made his own fishing pole to pass the time while waiting for thirsty horses to arrive.

The area behind the pond drops off down into the desert, so we didn't notice the horses approaching. The kids were on the back side and the rest of us on the other when all of a sudden we hear a loud whinny and look up to see two very large black horses just on the other side of the brush from the kids. It startled all of us, but the kids slowly walked to us and were fine. This is another group of horses that stopped by for a drink. They were not afraid of us or our dogs.

This horse let me get within 15 feet of him while taking these photos. He was shiny and beautiful, though thin. Sadly this area is grossly overpopulated with horses. There isn't enough vegetation in the desert to sustain this many and most are quite emaciated. For this reason, BLM does roundups periodically to reduce the numbers to a sustainable level. The horses are rounded up and evaluated. The sickest ones are euthanized, but most are moved to a Utah facility where they receive proper nutrition. Once they're healthy, some are deemed adoptable and the rest are sent to live out their lives on the greener pastures of the midwest.