To me, the horse is one of the most beautiful animals on the planet. I do not ride horses, but I admire them very, very much. I was lucky enough to be out at the Silha Lazy JS Ranch on Friday before their annual horse sale that night, and had the chance to make some photo studies in their corral. What I was looking for was the line of a neck or a back, or a head, in an interesting composition with the rest of the herd.

I love how the different colors of white, brown, and gray play off each other.

Logan Silha of the Lazy JS Ranch is a classmate of mine, and also an artist. A while back, he named one of his horses Chagall. I’ll bet there aren’t too many horses from southwestern North Dakota with that appellation.

I wish to extend a great big thank you to Logan, Diana, and family. It was a real treat to be able to observe and photograph your wonderful horses. Hope your sale went very well.

Sunday was a great day to be out and about in the countryside surrounding Bowman. Not only were there fields, clouds, bales, and sunflowers, but also this wonderful group of horses huddled together. I love the graceful lines of a horse’s head, neck, and back. Some of these photos almost seem like a landscape, with the horses’ bodies forming the horizon.