{"id":9630,"date":"2026-01-31T23:36:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-01T04:36:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/torch.cci.fsu.edu\/~lis5313\/?p=9630"},"modified":"2026-02-01T00:03:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-01T05:03:13","slug":"wild-and-free-in-the-badlands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/torch.cci.fsu.edu\/~lis5313\/index.php\/2026\/01\/31\/wild-and-free-in-the-badlands\/","title":{"rendered":"Wild and Free in the Badlands"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Grazing in the Badlands<\/em>, 2022, Christy Heiple, licensed under\u00a0CC BY 4.0<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Secrets of the Badlands<\/em>, 2026, Christy Heiple, licensed under\u00a0CC BY 4.0<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Here in the badlands, where the land is rough and open, the spirit can run wild. Unlike the flowing prairies of North Dakota, the badlands are exposed. Carved into each layer of rock is the story of wind and erosion. It carries the harsh realities of life in the West. Beauty here isn’t lush and obvious, but vast and dangerous. The land endures; time etched into the earth. The horizon stretches, the sky engulfs you, and all is quiet. Tucked away in the folds of the Badlands, the wild horses move like secrets. This is their home. It’s as if the land itself breathed them to life. Here they are wild and free. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our family enjoys visiting the Teddy Roosevelt National Park in the heart of Medora, North Dakota. We love walking the trails and finding the wildlife. The prairie dogs and bison are easy to spot along the winding road. We keep our eyes on the hills to catch a glimpse of the wild horses. No matter how many times we spot them, we are always captivated by their presence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I honestly love both the original and the cropped photo. The original focuses on the full landscape, but the cropped photo narrows in on the wild horses. I used the rule of thirds with the horses spanning across the photo to create movement. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here in the badlands, where the land is rough and open, the spirit can run wild. Unlike the flowing prairies of North Dakota, the badlands are exposed. Carved into each layer of rock is the story of wind and erosion....<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":181,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[83,2],"tags":[93,25],"class_list":["post-9630","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spring-2026","category-student","tag-ml3","tag-student-posts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/torch.cci.fsu.edu\/~lis5313\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9630","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/torch.cci.fsu.edu\/~lis5313\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/torch.cci.fsu.edu\/~lis5313\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/torch.cci.fsu.edu\/~lis5313\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/181"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/torch.cci.fsu.edu\/~lis5313\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9630"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/torch.cci.fsu.edu\/~lis5313\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9630\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9649,"href":"https:\/\/torch.cci.fsu.edu\/~lis5313\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9630\/revisions\/9649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/torch.cci.fsu.edu\/~lis5313\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/torch.cci.fsu.edu\/~lis5313\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/torch.cci.fsu.edu\/~lis5313\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}