Mono Lake Wild Horses
Mono Lake in California’s Eastern Sierra is home to hundreds of wild horses. For years, Blake DeBock has endured extreme conditions to watch family bands move across brilliant green grasslands, drink from pristine freshwater springs, and disappear into a landscape so vast that even hundreds of horses can vanish from sight.
The lake is roughly one-third the size of Lake Tahoe. Beyond the shoreline most visitors know, rough, sandy 4×4 roads cross immense stretches of open country. This is no small or barren place. It is a paradise offering endless space, water, and abundant seasonal forage.
The horses migrate here seasonally from the mountainous country farther east. Mountain lions prey on their young, old, and sick, while drought and severe winters impose natural limits of their own. The herd has always existed within a wild system that has its own way of maintaining balance.
Then, in the summer of 2026, 463 horses were removed by helicopter in only three days despite overwhelming public and local opposition. Family bands that had survived predators, drought, and the greatest winter on record were broken apart and stripped of the one thing wild horses have always represented: freedom.
Blake’s photographs preserve the story of these horses, including the family bands, the freedom they lost, and the wild spirit that remains.
THIS IS THE FREEDOM WE STAND TO LOSE
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