Yep. Roach.
I specifically climbed up on top of Round Top on Sunday to find some particular horses, but the only ones of those I saw were Poco, Bones and Roach. It made me really happy to find those guys because I hadn’t seen ’em for a while, and someone told me recently that they were all looking in poor condition.
They all look pretty good, don’t they? Bones has filled out some. She’s still thin, but she’s no longer as skinny as she was last fall when I first saw her.
I noticed a strong similarity between Poco and Bounce this weekend. Something to make ya go hmm.
Maybe?
I have to say that Roach is one of my favorites. Maybe it’s his personality – he rarely gets ruffled – maybe it’s long association. One of these days, I’ll post a pic of him from when I first saw him in 2004, with the roached mane that earned him his name.
Bones. Not the prettiest girl in the basin. This photo is meant to illustrate her weird hip, but it’s kinda hard to see, I guess.
This shows it a little better. Any veterinarians care to speculate?
There’s Roja at right. Pregnant?
Stunning boy Grey/Traveler with his family. This was taken from the road near the dugout intersection. Seeing him like this – not alone, not with bachelors, but with a family!!! with mares and yearlings and a foal – is a phenomenal thing. I’ve known two exceptional horses in my life; Grey’s one.
Steeldust’s girls. Luna leads the way down the road followed by Ember, Mahogany, Alpha and Piedra. They’re followed by the rest of the band, and Hollywood, and Mouse and Comanche.
I really like this young guy, Hollywood. I’d like to see bigger things from him than being an eternal lieutenant stallion to Steeldust. But he’s young. His time will come.
Comanche, one of the Bachelor 7. He and Mouse and Piedra are all a weird brownish-grey color, which I think comes from them being born brown or bay. They’ll all eventually turn grey. Comanche is shedding out more greyish this spring.
Mouse. Another of my favorites. I really hated to see him limping. I hope it’s something minor that heals quickly. The low sun angle might be a little strange on their colors, but you can see that Mouse is a shade more brownish than Comanche.
I haven’t had time to look this flower up in my book. It’s very tiny and very low to the ground, like most of the other wildflowers in the basin.
Another flower I haven’t taken the time to identify. This photo was taken April 20, the day I found Ember. This flower was growing in the shade, but in following visits to the basin, I found it out in the open in full sunshine.
Indian paintbrush – one of my favorite wildflowers. I particularly love the ones – like this one – that are so bright they look like they’re glowing with their own inner shine.
Spring Creek Basin Mustangs 
If you find out anything about Bones’ hip, let me know. We have a mare that has a hip like that too. It is most noticeable when she is very thin, not as bad when she has filled out.
Billei
I will! How old is your mare? Has she had foals? I think Bones isn’t too old, but I don’t know if she has had foals, and I wonder if her problem might make it difficult to foal. It doesn’t seem to limit her movement, but they’re usually pretty calm when I see them, so I haven’t really had the opportunity to see her do more than walk.
TJ
She is 6 and has foaled before and is currently pregnant. She is one of our mares that gets very thin in the winter. She has lost 2 other foals. Don’t know why, but she does look bad coming off the winter. Her hip doesn’t seem to bother her at all, it just looks funny, and not hardly notiecable once she starts filling out for the summer.
Bones actually looked better to me this spring than she did going INTO winter. I had been wondering if her hip deformity was because of an injury, but now I’m wondering if it’s some kind of birth defect that she’s had all her life. Based on her shade of grey, I think she’s probably at least 5 or 6 – roughly the age of your mare. She certainly doesn’t look pregnant…?
TJ
Bones appears to have suffered from a pelvic fracture. My own horse broke his pelvis and looked like Bones until he healed. I used chiropractic to realign the bones to get better symmetry. Fractures of the pelvic bones are “not uncommon,” according to the veterinary literature. I have seen them more often in my practice than other breaks. Fracture of the pelvis heal well, depending on the location of the break. If she continues to be thinner than the others and lose foals it makes me wonder if she might be in pain. Comments above indicate that she is not lame, or maybe no one has seen her trot.
Karlene,
Thanks so much for your comment. She has gained weight from last fall. She doesn’t seem to limp, exactly, but I noticed this weekend that she seems to compensate by kind of throwing her stifle out to the side a little when she takes a walking step. Trotting, I’m not so sure about – her group is usually pretty calm when I see them. I don’t know if she has had any foals, although I’d guess her to be old enough that she could have, all conditions being equal. I don’t know about her level of pain, but I think she’s one tough little cookie; I didn’t expect her to make it through the winter. It’s so hard to see any of them hurt, knowing there’s not a thing we can do. Then again, it’s amazing how resilient they are!
Thanks again for letting us know what could be wrong with Bones!
TJ