As an autistic child, Alfie Bowen had a rough time in his early schooling. The regular school system didn’t serve him well, and he suffered from bullying. But once he got into a specialist school and met his mentor, the late Duncan Rollo, he thrived. Rollo encouraged Bowen’s passion for photography, arranging his first exhibition and sharing publishing contacts. Now, Bowen has followed his 2021 book, “Wild World: Nature Through an Autistic Eye,” with a new photography book, “Wild Horses,” published by ACC Art Books.
Indeed, wild horses are what this book delivers. “Always staying at a safe and respectful distance and never approaching any of the animals, it has been my privilege to spend many magical hours over the past twenty-four months. witnessing and recording these horses and ponies thriving in nature: in the fields of Suffolk, on the mountains of North Wales and amongst the trees of the New Forest. In many ways, it has been as much a journey of self-healing and self-exploration as it has been about photographing the horses,” Bowen writes.
Photo by Alfie Bowen
The photos are astonishing in their composition, clarity, and depiction of the moving relationships between horses. There are sweet pictures of foals and moms, funny pictures of horses shaking off water, and dramatic photos of them rearing up on their hind legs as they play or fight with each other. In some shots, horses are nose to nose. In others, one horse will have their neck wrapped around another. Horses look right at Bowen through his camera in many pictures. The incredibly clear black and white photos show every knot in the horses’ tangled, wild manes.
Photo by Alfie Bowen
This book would be a great accomplishment for any photographer, but knowing Bowen’s back story adds extra meaning to the work. While Bowen has known many tribulations in his young life, his tone is uplifting.
Photo by Alfie Bowen
As he says, “My message to everyone I have met is to get out into nature, surround yourself with the wonderful flora and fauna that we share our planet with, and feel the sunshine on your back, and the wind blowing through your hair — it can transform you.”
You don’t need to be a cowboy to appreciate horses. People all over the world and from all kinds of backgrounds adore these unique animals for their elegance and power. Different breeds show off these strengths in various ways. Race horses wow people with their speed, while show ponies can perform impressive tricks. Through equine therapy, horses can also bring people comfort and help reduce stress.
Given the many talents horses have, it’ll probably come as no surprise to learn that there’s a lot the average person doesn’t know about these critters. Discover some weird and fun facts about horses with this list full of interesting info.
A trail camera in Alberta, Canada has captured footage showing a grizzly bear chasing wild horses, likely in the hope of capturing a foal.
A trail camera in Canada has captured footage of a grizzly bear chasing wild horses, likely in the hope of capturing a foal.
The accompanying footage, shared June 16 by the Help Alberta Wildies Society (HAWS), shows several horses sprinting across a creek, followed seconds later by the charging grizzly bear.
Days later, HAWS explained in another video post that the band of horses included two foals. That footage showed the horses before “the chase” and the narrator said it was not clear if the bear succeeded in its hunt.
“[A] grizzly can sustain a run at 25-28 mph for up to 2 miles,” HAWS explained. “We won’t know until our next camera run if all of this band made it.”
The nonprofit’s cameras documented a similar but more dramatic scene in May 2022. The footage (posted below) shows a head-on view of the horses running for their lives and the bear in ferocious pursuit.
After that incident, HAWS stated: “The next time someone tells you that the Wild Horses have no natural predators, send them to me. We are losing a lot of horses this year, sooner and quicker than in past years. Not just the foals. Adults also.”
Trail-cam footage captured in the Yukon Territory picks up mystery sound as wild horses bolt across snow.
A motion-sensor trail camera has captured footage showing wild horses bolting across snow in Canada’s Yukon Territory. But the Yukon Wildlife Cams footage also picked up a mystery sound seemingly issued by the lead horse.
However, David Troup, who monitors the cameras he positions on remote game trails, is reasonably sure he solved the mystery.
“I’m not sure what else this could be other than flatulence from the first horse on a warm winter morning,” Troup wrote on Facebook.
Add this to the many behaviors exhibited by critters as they pass Troup’s cameras.
In the past week Yukon Wildlife Cams has shared footage of grazing wood bison (a first for the cameras), a bugling elk, a lynx, and a compilation featuring appearances by a lynx, a black bear, two moose, a coyote and another black bear.
One of our favorite clips, from 2021, shows a large grizzly bear scratching its back on a tree before charging within feet of the camera, revealing its ominous bulk and massive claws.
Grab a mint julep, it’s time for the 2023 Kentucky Derby. This annual event brings the world together for “the most exciting two minutes in sports” at Churchill Downs’ dirt track in Louisville.
It’s been more than 140 years since the inaugural race — Saturday’s race will be the 149th running — and you’d think reporters would have covered every angle of the event, from the horses’ names and odds to jockeys and trainers to Triple Crown winners.
But there’s one community whose perspective on the Kentucky Derby has gone largely unexplored. That community is horse girls.
No, these aren’t half-girl, half-horse hybrids. Humanity hasn’t created centaurs… yet. Instead, horse girls are simply girls who love horses.
People outside of equestrian circles may not realize how developed horse girl subculture is. There are horse girl movies, books, clothes, websites and so much more. In the small Georgia town I grew up in, horse girls qualified as their own clique in school. Similar to University of Georgia fans wearing team jerseys to bond with other fans, horse girls identified each other through horse-themed clothes and flocked to each other in the cafeteria.
The phenomenon is so well established that BuzzFeed was able to compile a post full of horse girl memes. Urban Dictionary also has several definitions for “horse girl.” Many girls (and women) just adore horses. And like anything people love, from sports to bands, there is merch, media and more catered to it.
For self-described horse girls like Reddit user iDieFirst, riding horses and watching the Derby are family traditions. For others, the Derby is more of a casual event.
“I think it’s a really cool thing to watch, whether you know anything about horses or not,” said Lauren Davoodi, a rider at ISE Equine Endeavors in Parker, Texas. “There’s also a lot of amazing history behind the Derby and the Triple Crown, and you can learn a lot just by reading about the races or seeing posts online. It’s really amazing to see how much love and effort the riders and trainers involved put into their horses.”
In contrast, some horse fans, like childhood horse girl and current art educator Anna Moon, have never even watched the Derby. Similarly, Savannah Kawahata, veterinary medicine student at UC Davis and “lapsed horse girl,” has also never tuned in to the race.
“I’ve never had the attention span for watching professional sports,” Kawahata said.
“I don’t think horse racing, at least in the U.S., is done in a particularly healthy or sustainable way with concern for the animal’s well-being, so I don’t love it as a whole,” Kawahata adds. “That being said, I’m sure this level of racing is leaps and bounds improved over the tracks I’ve seen.”
While opinions on the Derby vary, there are some key sentiments that horse enthusiasts want people to know. When it comes to animal health, Moon wants Derby watchers to understand how the sport impacts horses.
“I think attendees should know it’s a dangerous sport, that’s about entertaining humans and not a love for the creatures,” Moon said. “I was pretty scarred as a child to learn just how dangerous racing was for the horses, how it’s nearly impossible to rehabilitate horses from injuries or doping abuse.”
Like dogs bred for specific qualities, horses bred for racing display strong talents in some areas and major drawbacks in others.
As a 2020 episode of the Scientific American podcast Science, Quickly explains, “Breeding pairs are chosen for their athletic prowess and competitive behavior.” This system can and has resulted in “significant inbreeding” and related health issues.
While this raises concerns about the ethics of horse racing, it also pushes back against claims that horses are forced to race.
“A common argument I hear against the Derby and racing in general is that the horses are forced to run,” Davoodi said, “and that couldn’t be farther from the truth. Race horses, especially the ones that are good enough to make it to the Derby, love their jobs.
“They’re like bird hunting dogs — they’re bred to do one thing, and that’s all they want to do. If a horse doesn’t want to run, it won’t run, and there’s nothing you can do to make it.”
A network of trail cameras in Alberta, Canada, captured an extraordinary scene recently involving wild horses running for their lives from a grizzly bear.
Trail cameras in Alberta, Canada, captured an extraordinary scene recently involving wild horses running for their lives from a grizzly bear.
In the accompanying footage, uploaded Thursday by Viral Hog, the horses charge past one camera with the bear following at full sprint, perhaps 40 yards behind. A second view picks up the chase, with the bear trying to close ground.
A young horse, perhaps the target, is in the mix. All of the animals look tired.
Viral hog stated that the grizzly bear was a mom with two cubs, and that the chase occurred May 26 in Central Alberta.
From the nonprofit that captured the footage: “These trail cameras are part of a large network of cameras collecting video data on the plight and mortality of Alberta’s Wild Horses, from both natural causes and large predators.
“Help Alberta Wildies Society has been conducting this research since 2014, and uses the data to promote worldwide awareness about our threatened population of Wild Horses here in Alberta, Canada.”
The Help Alberta Wildies Society (HAWS) shared the same video via Facebook. The description reads, in part:
“The next time someone tells you that the Wild Horses have no natural predators, send them to me. We are losing a lot of horses this year, sooner and quicker than in past years. Not just the foals. Adults also.”
The post generated more than 1,000 comments from people expressing emotions ranging from sadness to anger. The most extreme sentiments called for the culling of grizzly bears, which are native to the region and the focus of an ongoing population recovery effort.
Grizzly bears can run in bursts up to 40 mph. It was not clear, however, whether the bear was successful in this chase.
The month of May kicks off what could be called the Super Bowl of Horse Racing, with the Run for the Roses at the Kentucky Derby opening up a month-plus celebration of the best in Thoroughbreds that also includes stops at the Preakness and Belmont Stakes.
And the pop-culture mashup of the Triple Crown and the NFL’s big game brings up an interesting part of USA TODAY Ad Meter history. A slice of trivia that looks at the equine stars of the Super Bowl’s small screen since 1989.
The question: What horse first appeared in a Super Bowl ad that was part of the ratings?
The answer…
While it’s expected that most people would think of Budweiser and its famous Clydesdales, the iconic King of Beers steeds are not the correct response.
They were a close second, trailing a couple proverbial lengths to more of a silhouetted background player that majestically appeared in Michelob Dry’s 1989 ad.
(Yep, Michelob Dry.)
To borrow America’s hit song title, it was… “A Horse with No Name”:
via YouTube
As for Budweiser?
Much of the ads back then still focused on the Bud Bowl, so the first animal to appear in a commercial that was part of the Ad Meter ratings was… a calf.
A big guy’s butt is really bothering horses at the Tokyo Olympics.
“A big guy’s butt” is really bothering horses at the Tokyo Olympics. Sort of, anyway.
At least, that’s what some of the riders participating in equestrian events seem to believe. And they may very well be right.
Clearly, there’s been a problem with some of the horses taking to the 14-jump equestrian course at Tokyo’s Olympic games. Something on the course is disturbing the houses. They’re getting spooked on the 10th obstacle on the course.
And what’s right next to that obstacle? A lifesize statue of a sumo wrestler. It’s big. It looks real and, writes the AP’s Jake Seiner, some of the riders believe it’s the main distraction on the course for some of the horses.
Confusing, right? Don’t worry. Here’s a quick explanation.
