I Was Lost on Sable Island

I was lost on Sable Island … Not in the traditional sense of the word, but rather lost in the beauty and wonderment of such a place. On August 21st, 2017 I had the rare privilege to visit this island of mystery. As we flew across the endless Atlantic waves, I hoped and prayed that I would be able to spot some of the famed wild horses of Sable.

To get there one must board a small aircraft called a Britten Norman Islander which seats only 5 people. Knowing we would be landing on a sand beach brought a twinge of nervousness to my heart. But I turned my mind back to the fact that I just might get to see first hand these special horses. I grew up thinking of them as Sable Island Pony’s but they are in fact horses. It’s their smaller size that earned them the pony title.

Since I was a girl I had wanted to visit Sable Island and see these horses that were stranded here hundreds of years ago. Some say they swam ashore from some of the hundreds of wrecks that give Sable its nickname ‘Graveyard of the Atlantic’. Others claim they are descendants of horses stolen from the Acadians during their expulsion in the mid 1700’s. It’s believed that part of their ancestry hails back to Andalusian stock, the famed Spanish horses that kings across Europe rode. Whatever their ancestors, the fact is that they are now truly robust animals having been sculpted by Sables fierce weather. And today I was going to have my first chance to encounter a wild Sable Island Horse.

As I peered down at that long strip of green sandwiched between light caramel colored beaches stretching into the horizon, I wondered at the miraculous circumstances that created this oasis in the middle of the Atlantic. Then wondered even more that wild horses thrived there.

Whenever I sets out to observe nature I carry my Canon Rebel and 150-600 mm Tamron Lens. Sometimes I need the reach that huge lens provides but often I  don’t as over the years I’ve honed my skills at approaching wildlife. In the case of Sable’s wild horses, the lens allowed me to stay at a distance which meant I was able to capture them in their natural activities and behavior.

Whether it be Sable’s grassy dunes, the Chic Choc Mountains of the Gaspésie Penninsula of Quebec, the rolling foothills of Yellowstone Wyoming or the Florida Everglades I’m up before sunrise and push myself through the day capturing not only images of wildlife but their attitudes and behavior. I want to know everything I can about my subjects.