Friendly horses in Belen, New Mexico
Horses wanted me to come over
While out on a rural land real estate photo shoot in Belen, New Mexico, I made some new friends. My dog, Kiki, was with me on this desert shoot as she often is. I noticed that she was noticing something in the distance to the east. I was focused on the west getting ready to make my signature HDR sunset shots. In the far distance I saw two animals moving. I thought they were cows as those are the most common large animal sighting in that area. One was really white though and I thought that is an odd coloring for a cow. Looking closer I saw they were in fact horses. I had already been to that area of the property and knew there was a barbed wire fence. I wondered if they would jump over it?
I went back to waiting for the sun to get closer to the horizon. However, the horses kept coming closer to the fence and seemed to be staring at us. I got the distinct impression they wanted us to come over and say hello. It would be some time still before the sun would be in good enough position and shooting from way back to the east would be a nice shot as well, so we walked across the 5-acre property.
Making contact
Kiki was a little bit in defensive mode giving out some huffs and posturing a bit. I told her it was ok. The horses did not seem bothered at all. In fact, as I kept approaching slowly, the white horse in particular was sticking her/his neck out seemingly wanting to make contact. Not wanting to get big, I put out a fist and got a nose rub and quick pet in.
It was time to make some sunset shots, but the horses were still interested and really stretching over the barbed wire fence! I said good-bye to them and thank you for coming over to the fence so we could meet. I did not want them hurting themselves on the fence so we walked away. As I made my sunset shots I could see the horses lingered for awhile longer by the fence before getting on their way.
This kind of experience really appeals to me. There we were, just four creatures out in the middle of nowhere with no one, nothing else around. Just us.