Photographer Captures Horses Being Saved From LA Wildfires

Jan 13, 2025

Ken Klein

A person gently pets a brown horse wearing a teal halter with a rope lead. The person is wearing a dark quilted jacket. In the background, there is an overcast sky with dark clouds, suggesting an impending storm. — Photo by Carlin Stiehl for Reuters

In a sobering what-are-the-odds assignment, Reuters sent freelance photographer Carlin Stiehl to document a safe haven for horses and other animals as Los Angeles battled deadly wildfires. The photographer knew the property: he had learned horseback riding there as a boy.

Stiehl’s animal-rescue photos were seen worldwide, posted by ABC, BBC, and other media.

“It was good to know,” Stiehl shared on Instagram, “the Los Angeles Equestrian Center (LAEC) where I first learned to ride horses was one of the many places that set up a large animal shelter.”

The greater Los Angeles equestrian community, Stiehl learned, rallied to safeguard horses and help each other. He cited offers to donate alfalfa and to provide safe spaces and transport.

A white horse is being unloaded from a trailer by a woman holding its lead rope. A second person, wearing a uniform, stands by the open trailer door. The scene takes place at a facility with buildings and trees visible in the background. — Photo by Carlin Stiehl for Reuters

Long Affinity for Horses

Growing up in Los Angeles, Stiehl competed in martial arts. Horseback riding, he found, was calming and meditative.

“It’s the flip of martial arts,” he says. “Instead of fighting a person, you’re connecting with an animal.”

Stiehl appreciates the deep bonds between people and their horses, which can be considered part of the family.

Two horses, one brown and white and the other white with black spots, stand near a horse trailer. Two people prepare the horses for loading, surrounded by stable buildings on a dusty ground. A cloudy sky looms overhead. — Photo by Carlin Stiehl for Reuters

On assignment at the equestrian center, the photographer heard harrowing stories of horse rescues.

“One woman said she had 20 minutes” to move her horses from the path of the fire, he recalls.

In addition to documenting animal rescue, Stiehl also photographed Los Angeles area fires and their impact.

“I’ve never covered wildfires before, but it’s inescapable now,” Stiehl says. “Fire seemed to pop up everywhere. I swung by the Topanga Canyon and couldn’t venture down the back side because the smoke was so thick. I also ventured to the Eaton Fire where every other house was a pile of rubble in the evacuation zone.”

His eerie image of the smoky Los Angeles skyline was featured in Reuters Pictures of Day (January 8, 2025):

A city skyline with tall buildings is shrouded in a thick, brownish smog. The sky is overcast, and the air appears heavy and polluted, obscuring the view of the skyscrapers and creating a somber atmosphere. — Photo by Carlin Stiehl for Reuters

Two firefighters spray water on a large, intense blaze consuming a structure at night. The scene is illuminated with bright orange flames and thick smoke, with charred trees visible in the foreground. — Photo by Carlin Stiehl for Reuters

Stiehl relocated to Los Angeles after graduate study at Ohio University’s School of Visual Communication. As a student in Ohio, he won first place recognition from the Ohio News Photographers Association in 2020.

A person with dark hair and a beard sits on the floor against a warm, orange wall. They are wearing a plaid shirt, dark t-shirt, olive-green pants, and brown hiking boots, with one hand resting on their head. — Photographer Carlin Stiehl | Photo by Thomas Bassett

To complete work for a masters degree, Stiehl has selected an equestrian subject matter: Mexican rodeo in greater Los Angeles.

Image credits: All photos by Carlin Stiehl for Reuters.

About the author: Ken Klein lives in Silver Spring, Maryland; he is retired after a career in politics, lobbying, and media including The Associated Press and Gannett in Florida. Klein is an alumnus of Ohio University and a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council of the Scripps College of Communication. Professionally, he has worked for Fort Myers News-Press (Gannett), The Associated Press (Tallahassee), Senator Bob Graham, and the Outdoor Advertising Association of America (OAAA).