"A helicopter swooped through the bright blue sky, as a pilot scanned the high desert below for wild horses running through the dusty sagebrush, about an hour's drive west of Meeker, Colorado. A small group of reporters and horse lovers watched from the cover of wizened trees, about a mile from a pen that would trap the horses.

Horse advocate Robyn Smith spotted the first group of the day. Through her high-powered camera lens, she watched about half a dozen horses of various colors galloping together.

"It makes me happy they're living their best life," said Smith, a retired architect who has traveled across the West to photograph wild horses. "And it's just such a beautiful thing to see when you're just wild and free like that."

But she knew what would come next. Soon the helicopter was hovering above the horses, including a baby. They ran away from the loud buzz and toward the pen, just out of view."

Stina Sieg reports for Colorado Pubblic Radio August 21, 2026. [2]