Herd watching

Wren and I were playing on the deck the other evening, when we noticed that the horses were bathed in the most beautiful light.


The sun was low in the sky and cast a reddish glow over everything. I had to get out my camera and take a few pictures. This is the herd without the polarizer on my lens.


And this is the herd with the polarizer. The polarizer removes the reflected light, so all that remains is the beautiful reddish cast.


I took a few pictures from up on the deck at first.

Chico and Catlow.


I tried to switch to my long lens so I could get closer, but then I had to wait about 10 minutes for the lens to unfog (yes, it's that warm and humid here that glasses and lens that have been in an airconditioned house fog up upon going outside!). Still, I was impatient and snapped a few pics anyway. It gave the pictures a cool effect, like the horses were shaded in fog.

Chico and Griffin.


Eventually it cleared up. This is Chico and Pumpkin.


I headed down along the fence to get closer to the herd. Kachina shows off her gentle eye. With flies of course. There are a lot of flies bothering the horses, but they haven't been too bad. The first summer I had them here, my original three had very red-rimmed irritated eyes and I had to purchase fly masks. They haven't been bothered to that extent since though, thankfully.


Chico's brand.


Griffin's leg barring.


Chico and Cody grazing head to head, like usual. They are lovers.


Chico scratching an embarrassing itch.


It's a good think the tail swat conveniently got in the way of the lens and preserved his modesty.


Wren was a pretty good sport while I went to take some pictures. She just watched me from her prison on the deck. I have a baby gate to keep her from falling down the steps.