This is wild stallion Mouse with his very expressive eyes and many battle scars. He has a large beautiful family and sires many cremellos, which of course I love. He was keeping his family away from bachelors and other stallions last month in Salt Wells Creek, Wyoming. #wildhorses

HoneyMead is the lead mare in wild stallion Mouse’s band. I had to laugh when her new foal Dune was getting creative trying to nurse as mom keeps walking in Salt Wells Creek, Wyoming. #carolwalker #wildhoofbeats #wildhorses

This is dollar, wild grey curly stallion of Salt Wells Creek. I usually have a hard time taking a photograph of Dollar with his head up, but on this day last month, he’s the consummate wild stallion with the wild land behind him. #carolwalker #wildhoofbeats #wildhorses

Happy Mother’s Day! This is wild stallion Takini’s lead mare Natasha and her new filly Blythe in the Red Desert Complex of Wyoming. I was honored that Natasha brought her filly toward me and let me get a good look at her precious look-alike daughter. Wild horse mothers are wonderful. #wildhorses

Here’s a soft image for Friday, one of my favorite images I took in April in Salt Wells Creek, Wyoming. This is wild stallion Cosmo’s beautiful blue eye. I have known Cosmo since he was a two year old still with his natal band. #carolwalker #wildhoofbeats #wildhorses

Throwback to several years ago at dawn and the wild leopard Appaloosa stallion Looking Glass is running toward his family in Lost Creek in the Red Desert Complex of Wyoming. #carolwalker #wildhoofbeats #wildhorses

A new wild filly in Woodrow and Legacy’s family - Carrotte. How could I resist with that marking and that color? She is a cutie doted on by her mother. I was happy to see her and the rest of the family when I visited Salt Wells Creek two weeks ago. #carolwalker #wildhoofbeats #wildhorses

I first met wild overo pinto stallion Cosmo when he was 2 years old and still with his family. I was captivated by his stunning blue eyes and spectacular markings. Cosmo has grown into a big, beefy and powerful stallion, still a bachelor with the south herd. #carolwalker #wildhoofbeats #wildhorses

Throwback four years ago when Ace of Hearts was just a foal, with his dad Jack of Hearts at the waterhole on the mountain in Salt Wells Creek, Wyoming. #carolwalker #wildhoofbeats #wildhorses

Portrait of wild stallion Valentino in Salt Wells Creek, Wyoming. People talk about the wild curly horses in Salt Wells Creek but most of the horses on this herd are not curly, but still magnificent, deserving of our protection. #carolwalker #wildhoofbeats #wildhorses

Calypso’s band. She’s the pinto roan beauty on the left. They were standing and nearby was another colorful band, and their palomino stallion Ohiyesa was not at all pleased and moved his family off to get away - but the other band followed on a windy day in the Red Desert Complex. #wildhorses

Happy Spring everyone! This is “Filly in the Lupine,” an image I took just after dawn in the Pryor Mountains of Montana many years ago. #carolwalker #wildhoofbeats #wildhorses #wildhorsepc #equinephotographersnetwork

One of my very favorite images from Adobe Town, Wyoming - Wild Horse Family Leans. This beautiful wild family all together, touching, and the red roan mare foaled a few weeks later. This is family, this is the heart of wild horses. #carolwalker #wildhorses #wildhoofbeats

Touch and family. So important to wild horses - family members are always touching. Family members need to stay together, where they belong, wild and free. #carolwalker #wildhoofbeats #wildhorses

My three muddy mustangs were super excited this morning before breakfast with the cold and the fog, something we very rarely get. #carolwalker #wildhoofbeats #wildhorses

Wild curly stallion Jack of Hearts in his curly winter coat - as rugged as the sage brush and the vast landscape he calls home - Salt Wells Creek, Wyoming. #carolwalker #wildhoofbeats #wildhorses

Beautiful wild blue roan mare and her lovely pinto foal in Poseidon’s band. I was lucky to spend time with this stunning family last month in the Red Desert Complex of Wyoming. #carolwalker #wildhoofbeats #wildhorses

Wild curly cremello stallion Julian and grey colt Ash, together in the band with the grey mare and three other stallions in Salt Wells Creek, Wyoming. #carolwalker #wildhoofbeats #wildhorses

Stunning black curly lead mare in Gunnar’s band. Her name is Nova, and what a soft sweet eye she has. She’s also a wonderful aunt to new filly Cinder in Salt Wells Creek, Wyoming. #carolwalker #wildhoofbeats #wildhorses

Wild curly stallion Julian and his family with a mare, her two offspring and 4 stallions head to the spring in Salt Wells Creek in August, followed by another family in the morning. #carolwalker #wildhoofbeats #wildhorses

Handsome wild stallion Poseidon with his winter whiskers turning to look in the soft dawn light in the Red Desert Complex in Wyoming. #carolwalker #wildhoofbeats #wildhorses

Wild curly cremello stallion Julian in his thick winter curly coat! I found he and his band napping, rears to the wind, three weeks ago in Salt Wells Creek, Wyoming. His unique band consists of 4 stallions, a grey mare and her two year old and yearling sons. #carolwalker #wildhoofbeats #wildhorses

Newest member of Sid and Teton’s band, little wild filly Firefly in Salt Wells Creek, Wyoming. #carolwalker #wildhoofbeats #wildhorses

Throwback to 2024 with wild black curly stallion Bobby, his curly mare Mysterious and their new curly foal Tristan in Salt Wells Creek, Wyoming in the spring. #carolwalker #wildhoofbeats #wildhorses

Three beautiful girls from Woodrow and Legacy’s family in Salt Wells Creek, Wyoming. Their reddish coats show up wonderfully against the winter foliage. #carolwalker #wildhoofbeats #wildhorses

The beautiful wild buckskin roan lead mare in Poseidon’s band just after dawn in the Red Desert Complex of Wyoming. #carolwalker #wildhoofbeats #wildhorses

In this closeup of wild curly stallion Socrates you can see the waves in his thick, curly winter coat. They haven’t really needed that thick coat this winter unfortunately one of the driest and warmest on record. #wildhoofbeats #carolwalker #wildhorses

Wild buckskin stallion Mystic and his family in Stewart Creek last summer. #carolwalker #wildhoofbeats #wildhorses

Wild curly stallion Legacy in his wooly winter coat in Salt Wells Creek, Wyoming. #carolwalker #wildhoofbeats #wildhorses

My Freedom for Wild Horses podcast episode that is out today focuses on my trip to visit the wild horses of Salt Wells Creek two weeks ago in the winter with the least snow that I can remember. www.wildhoofbeats.com/podcast/wint... or anywhere you get your podcasts. #wildhorses

Wild curly stallion Woodrow (on right) and his family minus lieutenant Legacy who was bringing up the rear, on their way to a spring in the Maggie Springs area of Salt Wells Creek, WY. It looks like fall but it’s actually the middle of a very dry winter. #carolwalker #wildhoofbeats #wildhorses

This fancy high stepping stallion with blue eyes is Reynaldo, who lives in Lost Creek, Wyoming. He had a beautiful family before the incredibly harsh winter of 2021-2022 but lost them and since then he has been a bachelor dogging different families. #carolwalker #wildhoofbeats #wildhorses

Here’s another wonderful wild curly stallion in his gorgeous winter coat - this is Socrates. I spent time with him in the summer and fall. He has a pale palomino mare and foal and now a new sorrel mare. #carolwalker #wildhorses #wildhoofbeats

Not all of the wild horses in Salt Wells Creek are curly - not even half! This is the wild black stallion Barbados and his family. He had not been seen in the area I spend most of my time in until 4 years ago. #carolwalker #wildhoofbeats #wildhorses

Young handsome black curly stallion Jett, son of Bobby already has some mares. It was great to see him in the winter with his thick curly coat in Salt Wells Creek, WY. #carolwalker #wildhoofbeats #wildhorses

Wild curly stallion Zorro in Salt Wells Creek, Wyoming. Winter brings out the curls in Zorro, and he is easily distinguished from other black curlies by his bent ear. I don’t see Zorro often but enjoy his big solid presence. #carolwalker #wildhoofbeats #wildhorses

I was delighted to meet the newest member of Sid and Teton’s family last week - wild filly Firefly. She’s one of four foals I saw in Salt Wells Creek. No, there is no “foaling season” that only goes March 1- July 1. #carolwalker #wildhoofbeats #wildhorses

It’s finally snowing here on the Front Range of CO! My adopted mustangs got all fired up this morning before breakfast especially Helios, the youngest, who is 6 next month. #carolwalker #wildhoofbeats #wildhorses

Jack of Hearts, wild curly stallion, looked even more magnificent than usual in his dense winter curly coat. This is the first time I have seen him in winter, and here he is all puffed up because band stallion Barbados is getting too close to his mares. #carolwalker #wildhoofbeats #wildhorses

Last week when I posted a photo of wild curly stallion Legacy that I took in the fall, coincidentally later that morning I was so happy to find him with his band. Here you can see his gorgeous winter curly coat that is so luxurious and textured. #carolwalker #wildhoofbeats #wildhorses

Wild curly stallion Socrates and his family in Salt Wells Creek, Wyoming. I love the way the coats of the curly horses get so dense and thick and show their patterns in the winter. #carolwalker #wildhoofbeats #wildhorses

Handsome wild stallions Trilos (in front) and Starsky having a discussion last summer in Stewart Creek, Wyoming. Trilos is a pintaloosa, the only one I know of in this herd. #carolwalker #wildhoofbeats #wildhorses #wildhorsepc #equinephotographersnetwork

Wild curly stallion Legacy and his mares last summer in Salt Wells Creek. Legacy’s coat is amazing with all the whorls and ripples, texture like crushed velvet even in the summer. Salt Wells Creek has the largest population of wild curly horses. #wildhorses

Looking for Wild horses in Salt Wells Creek, WY.

In our virtually snowless winter (so far), a family of wild horses run across the road together as the wind whips a storm up in Salt Wells Creek, Wyoming. #wildhorses #carolwalker #wildhoofbeats

Wild curly stallion Sawyer last summer fending off bachelors from his family at the waterhole in Salt Wells Creek, Wyoming. #carolwalker #wildhoofbeats #wildhorses

Jack of Hearts, wild curly stallion of Salt Wells Creek looking toward his family at the waterhole. Jack had a rough year last year, losing most of his family, but he still has a family band. It is the life of a wild horse - change, and growth and loss but also sweet freedom. #wildhorses

Beautiful sunrise with a wild curly stallion and his family in Salt Wells Creek, Wyoming last fall. #carolwalker #wildhoofbeats #wildhorses

Spring two years ago in Salt Wells Creek with three foals in wild curly stallion Bobby’s band and snow still visible on the mountain. #carolwalker #wildhoofbeats #wildhorses

Two beautiful wild mares in Salt Wells Creek looking out over the vast and beautiful landscape that is their home last spring. #carolwalker #wildhoofbeats #wildhorses