Wild Skies

Wild Skies is part of a larger series of photographs by Eileen Skahill titled Wild in Taos. Rather than choosing a figurative image, we selected this specific photograph primarily because it captures the essence of what the office of equity, diversity and inclusion most fundamentally represents. Although the horses are similar in appearance, in reality they are genetically diverse hybrids, which have evolved to adapt to their environs. The Spaniards first introduced these horses on this continent and across the Southern Cone in the Fifteenth Century; however, the wild horses of northern New Mexico and Colorado’s San Luis Valley defied their captors and for centuries have roamed freely across the valleys and the plains, disregarding the borders and boundaries that demarcate political borders and property lines. Although they struggle to survive in an increasingly hostile natural environment, due in part to the dramatic changes that have occurred as a result of climate change as well as the threat of illegal capture and slaughter, they continue to adapt and persist. Banding together as a unit, the horses in this photograph position themselves symmetrically in a carefully choreographed configuration. The younger, more vulnerable horses are poised at the center of the herd; while the stallion grazes front center. The latter seems to be occupied with eating the sparse desert grasses; yet upon closer examination it becomes subtly apparent that he is acutely aware of every move the photographer is making, though his gaze seems to suggest otherwise. When viewed as a whole, Skahill’s image serves as a tribute to community and survival, to defiance and persistence. “The wild horses of the San Luis Valley enrich the lives of all who view them,” Skahill observes, “they serve to remind us of our undeniable connection to the natural world and all that is wild.”