KEEPING BEAUTY WILD & FREE

KIMERLEE CURYL

Wild horses have a very special kind of beauty. A culmination of power, freedom, form, color, and texture, wild horses touch us on physical and spiritual levels. They are an integral part of the dwindling wild landscapes of the western United States, among others.

Photographer Kimerlee Curyl has been smitten with wild horses since she was a very young girl, “loving everything ‘horse’ from the moment she could breathe.”

Born in Minnesota, Curyl moved to Hollywood so she could work more closely with horses. She frequents different areas in California where wild horses roam free.

Curyl gets up close and personal with these magnificent beasts, enabling her to get the most intimate portraits.

We can feel the warmth of their breath, the velvet of their muzzles, their hard sculpted muscles, their pulsing veins, and their tousled manes, just by gazing at Curyl’s images.

Curyl also captures the rugged wild beauty and poetry of the surrounding landscapes.

Self-taught, Curyl’s photography has a unique combination of unbridled passion and controlled artistry.

Beyond art, however, Curyl’s work has another purpose: to raise environmental consciousness, to help save wild horses from abuse, loss of habitat, and systematic sanctioned killings.

Curyl has been the premier photographer for Return To Freedom American Wild Horse Sanctuary for 8 years. She also serves on their Advisory Board.

Founded in 1997, by Neda DeMayo, Return to Freedom is dedicated to preserving the freedom, diversity & habitat of America's wild horses through sanctuary, education, & conservation. It also aims to enrich the human spirit through direct experience with the natural wild world.

Each season Curyl sponsors an at-risk youth photography day. She also takes both amatuer and professional photographers out on hike into the hills to meet the herds.

Curyl's dedication to Return To Freedom & wild horses has helped inspire similar international  programs.

Kimerlee lives in the beautiful valley of Santa Ynez, CA with her 2 horses, a paint mare named Sequoia and a young newly adopted wild mustang el Regalo.

Read more about Freedom all this week on BeautifulNow, including Set Yourself Free: Beautiful Road Trips, and Freestyling Awesomeness: Lorenz Holder. And check out more beautiful things happening now in BN Wellness, Impact, Nature/Science, Food, Arts/Design, and Travel, Daily Fix posts.

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IMAGE CREDITS:

1. Image: by Kimerlee Curyl. “Return to Freedom II.” Lompoc, California.
2. Image: by Kimerlee Curyl. “Return to Freedom II.” Lompoc, California.
3. Image: by Kimerlee Curyl. “Wild Horses of Onaqui Mountains, Utah.” Onaqui Mountains, Utah.
4. Image: by Kimerlee Curyl. “Sacred. Return to Freedom II.” Lompoc, California.
5. Image: by Kimerlee Curyl. “Wild Mustang. Return to Freedom II.” Lompoc, California.
6. Image: by Kimerlee Curyl. “Return to Freedom II.” Lompoc, California.
7. Image: by Kimerlee Curyl. “Return to Freedom II.” Lompoc, California.
8. Image: by Kimerlee Curyl. “Peaceful Pinto...Good Night Onaqui.” Onaqui Mountains, Utah.
9. Image: by Kimerlee Curyl. “Return to Freedom II.” Lompoc, California.
10. Image: Courtesy of Kimerlee Curyl. “Kimerlee Curyl.” Rancho Ruiz, California.
11. Image: by Kimerlee Curyl. Wild Horses. Rancho Ruiz, California.
12. Image: by Kimerlee Curyl. Wild Horses. Wyoming.
13. Image: by BN App - Download now!
14. Image: by Kimerlee Curyl. Wild Horse. Rancho Ruiz, California.