Vacations have been like hens teeth lately what with COVID raging here and there and travel restrictions, so it was a real treat when I finally was able to successfully pull of a week-long vacation to beautiful Wyoming in August with a group of like-minded women photographers. We started our trip at the Deerwood Ranch Wild Horse EcoSanctuary in Centennial Valley.
We have a lot of horses here in north Texas, especially in and around Aubrey and Pilot Point, just north of the Dallas - Fort Worth metroplex (known as "horse country"), but we don't have the mountains and vast expanses of horizon that you see in Wyoming. It's not better, its just different and so really is a vacation to the eye and my camera lens as well.
Deerwood Ranch is the first Bureau of Land Management Certified Wild Horse EcoSanctuary which means that the private land owners are approved by the Bureau to care for wild horses, currently numbering about 350 in the herd.
The cattle Ranch is family owned and operated by the Wilson family for 30 years. The conduct tours daily and even have a wedding venue. The ranch is conveniently located approximately 35 miles west of Laramie and south of Centennial near the beautiful Snowy Range, Medicine Bow National Forest and numerous outdoor activities, recreation areas, etc. It's definitely worth putting on your "must do" list on your next visit out west.
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The Geldings Of Deerwood Ranch Wild Horse EcoSanctuary in Centennial, Wyoming
Family-Owned Powderhorn Ranch in Douglas, Wyoming
After a day and night at the Deerwood Ranch, we drove about three hours north to Douglas to spend the next 5 nights at the True family-owned Powderhorn Ranch, which is the home base for Diamond-McNabb Ranch Horses, trained by the renowned Ken McNabb. The story of how these two families came together is an awesome one and worth a read.
This women's photography retreat is organized by the Equine Photographers Network (EPN), you can visit their website if you're interested in taking this trip in the future or one of their other excursions. This was my second visit to Powderhorn and it never disappoints. The True family is incredibly welcoming, the cowboys and cowgirls on the ranch are great to work with and the sunsets are jaw-dropping.
It was fun to see again some of the people I had met in 2019 and make new acquaintances with others. EPN works hard to offer up perennial favorite outings as well as new adventures and we're all very well fed and comfortably housed in the expansive guest house.
There was so much variety this year; of course horses (mares, foals and geldings), working ranch hands, a western family with the cutest kids and miniature pony named Harvey, DOGS (lots of dogs), a cowboy reenacting some of The Man From Snowy River (if you love horses, you know of what I speak and if you don't, read the book - or watch the movie), roping, galloping, drives, portraits in wildflowers and more.
We're up before sunrise every day and eat dinner after a sunset shoot every night. Yes, that's my idea of a vacation! I have thousands of photos from the week so follow me on Facebook and Instagram to see more of them throughout the coming year but in the meanwhile, here are a few more for you to enjoy.
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