Spring Creek Basin Mustangs

No dust

Wall of dust

The wind picked up Saturday night, and Sunday, it was crazy windy. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen it that windy. The wind would pick up the dust from the roads and run with it until it looked like the plume from a moving vehicle – sans vehicle. But by the end of the day, light rain. Tuesday, we have rain; the mountains have snow. Most people are hoping for big things from this election day; I’m hoping for moisture in the basin.

In the morning, Steeldust’s band hadn’t moved far. They were on the eastern end of the east-west hill, close to Knife Edge. But they were away from the road, which put them away from the hunter traffic.

Grey/Traveler and his band had moved out from the base of Knife Edge to an area just west of the intersection to Round Top. He had the youngsters again, and Houdini and Iya were a short distance away.

Lined up

Nose to tail – Twister, Two Boots, Jif and the Grey boy.

Iya and Houdini

Great big girl Iya with mama Houdini

Leader

Jif follows Grey/Traveler past Houdini and Iya in the background.

Looking west

For you folks looking for landmarks, this one (and the next one) is for you. This photo was taken looking basically west, and the light-colored hill in the background is Filly Peak, which you drive past fairly close to the herd area entrance. This also kind of shows the compression factor of this long lens I use. There’s a whole lotta country between here and there. If the image showed more land to the right, you might be able to see the green water tank at the water catchment. This was taken from right off the loop road, just northish of the intersection to Round Top.

Another view

This is sort of west-northwest, I’d say. On the near horizon, you can just see the cliffs above Spring Creek where the trap site was last August. Ponies are Jif, Twister and Iya.

Little and Big Little

A zoomed-in look at Twister, left, and Iya. They’re on about the same level ground there. What do you see? They’re pretty close in size, eh? Twister’s a yearling; Iya was born April 27. Orphan Twister is small for his age; Iya’s a monster! OK, the cutest monster ever, but when I call her a big girl, I’m not kidding!

No other ponies were visible from the loop road as I drove around. I stopped and hiked the horse trail to Wildcat Spring, the first time I’d checked the spring in at least a month. I hate it when people lie to me. When people with a camper-trailer pulled into the spring “driveway” last Sunday, I asked if they knew about the spring. A guy said, “It’s dry.” Did he outright lie, or did he just not explore past his nose and the creek bed, which actually IS dry? Guess who was still camped there a week later, with a second trailer. Imagine my surprise at also seeing a second “driveway” they’ve driven in after a week of camping there. Grrr.

Let me continue with my righteous indignation:

Just say no

Seriously?! These cans and bottles (plastic and glass) filled two and a half of the trash bags I carried out of the basin this weekend. This (mercifully now un-decorated) tree is on the north road.

Back to the good news: The new girls made their second appearance in two days, up in the far north, steps away from the now-dry pond and the north entrance (lots of steps, really, but relatively close). I do like these girls. They seem very comfortable and relaxed, and perfectly happy to be their own company. (I did pass along information about certain very handsome wild stallions, conveniently nearby. They’re independent, these gals.)

White spots

A weird angle, yes, but you can see the black mare’s belly spot and her white chin.

Apricot girl

Cute and curious.

Plain old regular dun

Look at that sweet face. This little girl seems perfectly happy with either of her companions. The black mare seems intent on staying between them. It will be fun to watch them branch out, maybe meet some new friends. When? Who? We’ll have fun finding out!

Still early, so I went back around the loop. Tip No. 1: Never stop looking, looking, looking for horses. Even when you’ve already looked there.

Poco

Mr. Bay Boy and his pals, Roach and Bones, were hanging out at the base of a hill southeast of the (dry) twin ponds.

Roach

Roach here, with Bones behind him, looking toward Poco.

Cocky

Roach and Bones, sharing the same cocked-hip stance. They look kinda goofy, don’t they? 🙂 Hey, they’re just hangin’ out, not doin’ nuttin’.

It’s kinda cool to share some hanging-out time with some of my favorite pals.

C'mon, rain

Back up in the area between Filly Peak and the water catchment – Grey’s band. (Steeldust’s fam and hangers-on had moved up to the top of their hill.) Unfortunately, the sky looks more threatening than it proved to be. But it’s another long-view vantage, looking … where? Northish. I took the photo from the Jeep on the road right alongside Filly Peak.

Then it was out of the main part of the basin to the dirt-way home, hoping for a glimpse of some ponies from the county road. I thought I was a creature of habit, but those spotted ponies are giving me a run for my habitual trend. There they were, right at the base of their hill. But I could see just everyone but Chipeta and Corazon. But on the other side of a line of trees, a white body with a dark flank splotch … but all I could see was the top part of the white body with the dark flank splotch. Corazon or Chipeta? Or possibly Bruiser? Once more on the trail. A report from last weekend put Bruiser and Cinch with David and Shadow after the spotted boys left Steeldust’s band, so I hoped it might be Bruiser, with David and Shadow nearby. I did see them last weekend but from a distance – the top of Round Top.

It turned out to be Corazon and Chipeta; no sign of other horses. I decided to just walk right out and say howdy, expecting them to follow another of their habits and head to the hill and their trail to the top of the hill … But they didn’t.

Cool cat Chipeta

Can you see how fuzzy she is? It hasn’t been too cold yet in the basin, but days are short, short, short. They’re prepared.

Reya and Spook

Sisters. Spook seems braver and more outgoing than her yearling sister.

Happy days

Do ya love this photo? What’s not to love? Three butts and no heads! But it represents a victory of sorts. It represents Kiowa’s comfort. She didn’t head for the trail; she didn’t walk away. In fact, they had walked toward me before they stopped to ignore me and return to grazing.

I wore a grin all the way back to the Jeep. I learn more about them every time I visit, and I learn a new appreciation. Winter’s coming. I always wonder what stories I miss while I’m gone. Learning their language is damn fun.