On the Beach

[Mike Tracy]

Not the most dynamic image but I thought it conveys their habitat and how pretty these wild horses are.

MKIII, 70-200 @200mm, 1/500, f/4, ISO 500, E.C. +3

I forgot to give credit to fellow BPN'r Jared Lloyd who took me out to see them. He is from the area, is a biologist, photographer and knows more about these horses then you can shake a stick at.

http://[IMG]http://i150.photobucket.com/albums/s114/BlueDeuce1/2horsescopy.jpg

[David Fletcher]

Lovely pose and use of habitat Mike. Just outa curiosity, is that their natural coloring?: (Only asking as honestly don't know). Cheers.

[peter delaney]

ditto Daves question .. amazing colours....especially against BKG..

lovely image

peter

[Morkel Erasmus]

lovely contrasting colours here! well exposed too. I also would like to know about the colour :)

[Harshad Barve]

nice position of both here and pops up nicely from BG
TFS

[Danny J Brown]

Mike - I'm amazed at how well-groomed those wild horses look. We have feral horses in southern Missouri and their manes are always full of cockleburs. Thanks for the great shot.

[Stu Bowie]

Good light quality here Mike, and both horses nice and sharp. They stand out well against the sandy BG. Well captured.

[Mike Tracy]

Just outa curiosity, is that their natural coloring?: (Only asking as honestly don't know)

Yes. Most of the horses I observed had a lot of red in their coats. Some had blonde manes while others were black. While reds traditionally are difficult for me to replicate correctly the finished images are similar to the raw files and how I remember them.

Thanks folks for taking time to comment.

[David Fletcher]

Thanks for that Mike. Appreciated.

[Marina Scarr]

Love this image and especially the way the horses are positioned. The smaller one even gave you a head turn. I love the color of their manes. This color of horse is called a "chestnut" in the horse world, and it comes in various hues. When you first look at the picture, you might even think the sand is snow. Altogether a very pleasing image.

[Hilary Hann]

Yes, I would call them copper chestnuts with a flaxen mane. Something my daughter would love to get her hands on. Are these Chincoteague ponies? Agree that the sand could pass as snow. Nice image. Like the scratch marks on the youngster, obviously a bit itchy! :)

[Mike Tracy]

Are these Chincoteague ponies? :)

These are the Corolla, N.C. horses.

[Judy Lynn Malloch]

Love this one Mike. Beautiful composition and the contrast of the horses against the snow puts it over the top for me. Congratulations !!!

[Jared Lloyd]

we definitley had some funky lighting out there that day didnt we?

The health of the horses has much to do with thier environment and their genetic isolation on these islands. Unlike the horses out west, and certainly unlike the horses on chincoteague / assateague, the Banker horse have managed to remain isolated from other breeds of domesticated horses. For this reason they have adaptations to this environment that are not found in any other horse in the world and so they are able to exploit numerous food sources that other horses could not survive on.

We call this coloration "sorrel." Domesticated horses are usually reffered to as chestnuts with flaxen manes and tails... as noted above. This along with bay coloration are the predominant colors we see with these horses. Before the mid 1980s we also has dun traits and coloration as well - such as buckskin colors with zebra stripes up the back legs. These horses were all taken off the island and domesticated before we were able to create the wild horse sanctuary that now encompases thier home.

Good work Mike

Jared