November | 2008 | Spring Creek Basin Mustangs

Still waters – Saturday, Nov. 8, 2008

12 11 2008

Grey against the blue

The horses had a visitor Saturday: Dale from the Denver area. I met her at the main entrance Saturday, we drove in searching for horses. We ended up seeing all the northern horses except Seven and the girls (and they may have become southern horses …), so it was a great experience. We even saw the new mares from a distance – still by themselves, still up in the hills above the trap site.

Our first close-up was of Traveler’s band, just south of the water catchment. He knew something was up, that he had a visitor, so he gave her a little of the old show (which I rarely get anymore because he’s so used to me).

Greeting

He trotted down to the mares and youngsters, the better to protect them.

Defending his turf

With Twister and Houdini and a little slice of far background, looking southeastish.

We drove onward to the loop road and took it counter-clockwise. We spotted Bruiser and Cinch between Round Top and Flat Top – closer to FT – napping in the sunshine. It turned out to be a gorgeous day – perfect after the snow earlier in the week. We also spotted the white spot that is Alpha with her compadres up on the roller-coaster ridge. Below them we could see other horses, which I assumed were bachelors until we got closer. The far horses were bachelors, but the horses closest to us were …

Bashful girl

Alegre and Gaia and …

Big Daddy

Bounce.

These were taken through the Jeep’s window; the horses were below the level of the road and just northish of that pond. We drove on until we could see Steeldust’s band through the trees, then parked and got out to walk to them.

Innocents

I took this photo of Storm and Ember – standing right on the road – but then I looked down, and there was Kestrel coming up from a notch in the hill on the other side of the road – right in front of us! And she was followed by Mahogany! We stopped immediately, but they were as surprised as we were and trotted on up to the band, which trotted on down the hill. Roller-coaster ridge earns its name; it’s narrow along most of its length, and you can see right off either side except straight down. We had seen Hollywood lounging in the distance, watching us, hip cocked, and he and his girls were the last to follow. The horses formed into a line on the other side of the ridge heading toward the pond, but we didn’t know at that point if they had already been to water or if they were heading that way anyway.

Roach and Bones

A little farther on, on the southeast side of the ridge that continues after the road drops over the other side, we spotted Poco, Bones and Roach.

Poco

You can see tiny patches of snow behind Poco, remnants from last Tuesday’s storm.

By then, we had seen everybody I expected to see, so we turned around there so we didn’t have to drive over the roughest parts of the loop road and so we could see the horses again on the return trip.

Band at water

This also answered a previous question, when we saw the horses wading into and drinking at the pond. That’s actually Flat Top in the background. Round Top is more southwest from this position. CORRECTION: Bob Ball emailed to say he thought this hill in the background is Round Top, and he’s right. I was thinking of a different pic taken from a different perspective, farther down the road, looking at Flat Top, which is farther from the water hole.

Band at water 2

A zoomed-in look at almost the same image. You can pick out Steeldust, standing in the first image; walking in the second.

We also passed Bounce, Alegre and Gaia a second time, still in about the same place, and Grey/Traveler’s band, who had moved out into the open from the low hills they were on earlier. All the babies were down for naps in the sunshine. The new mares were lower on their hill, but Dale needed to get back. Nice to meet you; hope you visit the ponies again!

The third hunting season ended the day before I got to the basin, and knowing there had been at least two camps at water, I wanted to make sure they had cleaned up after themselves. Californians had been at the trap site, and they did a pretty good job of taking their trash with them. I’m not sure why people think aluminum cans will burn away in the campfire, but I did pick some of those out of the ashes. There were at least two new trails down to Spring Creek – all with hoof prints – but I don’t know if the mares made the trails or if the hunters did and the mares are using them. I headed up the hill to get a look at the girls.

Girl band

They look plenty comfortable where they are.

Grazing

One thing I noticed is that they’re actually eating what grass is there, and by that I mean they seemed to bypass the “shrubs” – the greasewood and four-winged saltbush (names I just learned). I watched the black mare get at the grass (if you can really call it that; it’s very dry and brown and shriveled) at the base of a small greasewood bush, but she didn’t touch the bush. Makes me wonder if they don’t have those plants in Sand Wash Basin? Or never learned to eat them? At that point, I tried to really look at their body conditions, but they still look good. Fuzzy, but I don’t think they’ve lost any weight.

Friendly girls

Here are the apricot dun and black pinto mare, pretty close to each other while the other dun mare grazes ahead of them.

Meanie girl

And here, a few minutes later, black mare gave apricot dun mare a warning sizzle. Sheesh. Black mare definitely has ‘tude!

I was on my way back to the Jeep at that point and figured it was a good time to go ahead and leave them to their own devices.

David Glynn, a frequent visitor to the basin, and his wife, Doris, had pulled in with two horses (Buck and borrowed horse Wally) while I was visiting the girls. I stopped to chat with them, and while we were talking, one truck drove into the basin and one truck drove out. Those were the only vehicles I had seen all day. Traveler’s band had been at the water catchment for a drink then moved out into the open to graze. The folks in the inward-bound truck stopped to watch them, then turned around at the catchment and drove back by for another look. I don’t know what it was about that truck, but Traveler watched it all the way out of the basin.

On guard

He turned his head a couple of times to look at me as I drove by, but mostly he stayed focused on the truck. I took this photo from the road after it curved away from Filly Peak and heads straight to the catchment, and the truck he’s watching was at the far side of that big open area, almost to where it curves out of sight and heads to the entrance.

I went on around to check the camp at Wildcat Spring – which should not have been a camp in my ever-so-humble opinion. I took a bag of trash (mostly cans from the fire pit) away from the camp at the trap site; I took five bags and an old cardboard box away from the Wildcat Spring site. People also had left two elk skins, three legs, the remains of at least three rabbits, two still-full cans of beans, three pairs of socks (?!), more cans in the fire/trash (?) pits and two half-full rolls of toilet paper on a branch near a box topped with a toilet lid (of course I didn’t touch that!), among other things. They had also driven their ATV to and across and alongside the spring AND somehow scooped up mud as a dyke across the water, though not very effectively. Not to mention the previously mentioned (in a previous post) second driveway. Not cool. WAY not cool. Very disappointing.

Comments : 4 Comments »

Categories : Alegre, Bones, Bounce, Grey, New girls, Poco, Roach, Steeldust, Storm

GAO report is out

11 11 2008

GAO report summary (“BLM is concerned about the possible reaction to the destruction of healthy animals.” Go figure?) : http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-77

Here’s the full report: http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d0977.pdf

BLM “welcomes” report (of course it does, given what the report says): http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/info/newsroom/2008/november/NR_10_11_2008.html

AP article: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h0KjM5RmgCK9mR1hWIheT8pYBzFAD94CDVM81

It will be interesting to see what comments come of this report when people read it … and after the Wild National Horse and Burro Advisory Board meeting next Monday, Nov. 17, in Reno, Nev. My first reaction is this: It’s reactionary – not visionary. Even while the BLM says it has no money to care for horses in long-term holding, it’s still removing horses from the range and doesn’t appear to be considering returning them to ranges they are legally entitled to (and have been completely removed from during the past 30 years because of livestock interests, oil and gas interests, etc.) – just killing them.

How much does a contractor get to round up wild horses? Why all these catastrophic removals of hundreds of horses at a time? I’ve heard contractors get $3,000 per horse. Is that right?! Hello?! Two things wrong there (if that’s correct): No WONDER so many horses are rounded up at once (more profitable to the contractor!), and why is the BLM paying so much to REMOVE horses from the WILD when it can’t find the money to sustain them away from the wild??

Something I read recently had a huge impact on me. With 30,000 individual animals in the wild (and how do we really know that? one problem is and has been BLM’s inaccurate counting), most species at that number would be on the endangered species list. The BLM wants to drop that number even further, to 27,000. How is that the magic number?

From the summary: “Most of the field offices GAO surveyed considered similar factors in determining AML, such as rangeland conditions; however, BLM has not provided specific formal guidance to the field offices on how to set AML. Without clear guidance, BLM cannot ensure that the factors considered in future AML revisions will be consistent across HMAs. At a national level, in 2007, BLM was closer to meeting AML (about 27,200 animals) than in any other year since AMLs were first reported in 1984. The extent to which BLM has actually met AML depends on the accuracy of BLM’s population counts. Nineteen of the 26 field officials GAO surveyed used a counting method which, researchers say, consistently undercounts animals and does not provide a statistical range of population estimates.”

I don’t have the answers. If I did, I’d be on the phone, not on a blog. But a “decision” to kill horses and a government report supporting a government decision (hello!?!?) is cowardly. A number of suggestions have been put forward, and I’m pretty sure “euthanasia” isn’t anywhere on that list. Why aren’t those suggestions being considered?

From the end of the summary: “The long-term sustainability of BLM’s Wild Horse and Burro Program depends on the resolution of two significant challenges: (1) If not controlled, off-the-range holding costs will continue to overwhelm the program. The percentage of the program’s direct costs for holding animals off the range increased from $7 million in 2000 (46 percent) to $21 million in 2007 (67 percent). In 2008, these costs could account for 74 percent of the program’s budget. (2) BLM has limited options for dealing with unadoptable animals. The act provides that unadopted excess animals shall be humanely destroyed or, under certain circumstances, sold without limitation. However, BLM only manages these animals through sales with limitations. BLM is concerned about the possible reaction to the destruction of healthy animals.”

Again, totally, totally reactionary. Nothing about actually “protecting” wild horses – part of the mission – horses in the wild. And “limited options”??? Here are some: http://www.wildhorsepreservation.com/solutions.htm

From the AWHPC Web site (http://www.wildhorsepreservation.com):

The AWHPC Coalition is calling for a Congressional inquiry into the government’s wild horse management policies, and coordinating a grassroots campaign in support of:

the review of scientific findings that contradict BLM’s claims of wild horse overpopulation and negative impact on the range;
a moratorium on round-ups until actual numbers of wild horses and burros on public lands have been independently assessed; and
implementation of in-the-wild management, which would save millions of tax-dollars.

Go to the Web site and click on the links (shown as underlined above) to learn more.

The advisory board is accepting comments through Nov. 12 – that’s Wednesday. Please send comments to the board c/o Ramona DeLorme: ramona_delorme@blm.gov.

Comments : Leave a Comment »

Categories : Uncategorized

Tumblin’ tumbleweeds – Sunday, Nov. 2, 2008

4 11 2008

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.

Comments : 4 Comments »

Categories : Bones, Grey, Houdini, New girls, pintos, Poco, Roach

Wonderful wild – Saturday, Nov. 1, 2008

3 11 2008

Copper and the girls with spots

What a beautiful weekend! Too warm for the hunters still, maybe, but perfect for wandering the wild for our wild beasties. I had a report from Durangoans Tom and Amanda that they had seen Seven, Molly and Roja last weekend at the base of Brumley Point, so that’s where I headed first.

The pinto girls with their boys were on top of the hill they favor, but I gave them a wave and headed on to Brumley. I ended up going almost to the southern boundary fence and looked down into the “meadow” area you can see from the county road across from the Black Snag Road. I made extensive use of my binoculars. I sat on a hill at the base of Brumley and enjoyed the world.

Yeah, I never saw the grey boy and his girls.

The pic above was taken on my way back across the hill. Copper is at right, then Chipeta, Reya, Spook and Kiowa.

Girl guard

Here, Chipeta gives me the stare-down while Copper grazes and Corazon sticks close.

Boy guard

And here’s Copper taking his stallion duties seriously with Kiowa, right, and Corazon in the background.

Kiowa and her baby girls

Mama Kiowa, back right, with baby Spook in the middle and yearling Reya at left.

Ignorance is bliss

Baby Spook ignores Copper having a little “stay away, pal” chat with Ty.

Blended family

All together now: from left, Kiowa, Spook, Reya, Chipeta, Ty, Copper behind Ty, Corazon and Mesa. This is looking slightly northeast. The south side of Round Top is just a bit to the left.

A hunter was waiting at my Jeep on the county road when I hiked out. His question surprised me: “Is this private land?” I told him it was the wild horse herd management area. Then he told me he had just let his buddy out a bit farther up the road. Sooo … kind of a belated question if he thought it was private land? He was after “the big one,” but I told him I’d seen just one deer since spring. He went his way, and I headed up to the main part of the basin.

The first thing I noticed after driving in the main entrance was a hunting camp down at the trap site by Spring Creek – right by the creek, which has running water. Then I spotted the new girls, so I decided I wasn’t going to be shy about driving past the camp to park and hike up the hills to see the mares.

In step

Our new girls look comfortable in their new environment. They’re still together, by themselves. (I did tell them there are many handsome stallions to be found in Spring Creek Basin!)

Curious girls

The girls are curious, not afraid. Makes me wonder how many visitors they had in their Sand Wash Basin home.

Grey boys

I didn’t stay too long with the mares; there’s plenty of time to get to know them. Steeldust’s big group was hanging out right near the loop road, close to the Round Top intersection. I stopped the Jeep before I got to them and just watched them from there for a while. They ended up walking right past me, and I never left the Jeep. In the pic above are Kreacher, ignoring me, Chrome looking at something in the distance and Hook peeking over Chrome’s back.

Peek-a-boo Pinon

Pinon wasn’t above playing the peek-a-boo game, using mama Mahogany to hide behind.

Ember, too

Ember had recently submerged herself in mud, so she may have been feeling a little shy!

After the act

One of the weirdest things I’ve seen yet happened Saturday. Butch bred Alpha – with Steeldust standing about 5 feet away. Butch is one of the two young rose-grey stallions (the other is Sundance) in Steeldust’s band. I’ve been wondering when he was going to kick them out. I think, possibly, Luna is their dam, and I think they’re 2-3 years old. Earlier this year, Sundance decided to hang out with the boys for a few hours, but neither of them has really demonstrated any signs of sexual maturity – until now! (Although they got a little jealous when Hollywood bred Piedra in May.) It has been three months and a week since Storm was born. Alpha got the PZP when she was released last August after the roundup, and my understanding is that she will continue to come into heat. The only theory I have is that Steeldust had already bred her so didn’t mind if Butch had his chance?! Alpha was obviously in heat and receptive. In the pic above, you can see Steely Dan straight behind Alpha.

Venting

Then Steeldust chased Hook off. (What did HE do?!)

Nursing

Then Storm decided it was snack time.

As the world turns, eh?

In sync

These little boys are practically inseparable. Storm was obviously playing in the same mud puddle Ember found so inviting.

Baylee and Hollywood

The family dynamics are certainly interesting to watch in this big band. Hollywood and his small harem are with – and separate from – the band. (What a stud! He gets two girls while the bachelors are still, well, bachelors!)

Piedra and Hollywood

Holls and his other girl, Piedra. Busy day at the spa, eh?

When the ponies had ambled on past the Jeep, it looked like they were going to wander down the hill to the arroyo. I drove on to go around the loop. Guess who I spotted from the roller-coaster ridge road, in almost exactly the same spot where Poco, Bones and Roach were last Sunday?

The beautiful Bounce band

Bounce, left, and his lovely ladies, Gaia, center, and Alegre.

Bounce and Gaia

“Daddy” Bounce and baby Gaia.

Gaia and Alegre

Baby and Mama. I think Gaia plans to keep her sorrel color. She’s still bright red; Ember, Iya and Storm, all born sorrel, are all turning grey.

I hiked down to them on the same trail I found last weekend, and glad I did: Grey/Traveler and his band were behind a hill, close to Knife Edge, where I couldn’t see them from the road. It was cool to see them, but I didn’t hike any closer to them so I could stay on the opposite side of the arroyo from Bounce’s band and not worry Alegre. I did drive on around the loop, but I didn’t see any more horses.

Despite the resemblance to Grand Central Station – people, people, everywhere – it was a beautiful day with beautiful horses in a beautiful place.

Comments : Leave a Comment »

Categories : Alegre, Alpha, Bounce, Grey, Hollywood, New girls, Pinon, pintos, Steeldust, Storm

Teaser

3 11 2008

New girls

The lost girls are found! (They knew where they were all along, of course.)

It was a wonderful weekend, full of horses and exploration, and I have a lot of photos to go through and stories to tell. This will have to serve as a teaser until then.

I will also say that the area is full of hunters, if not deer – the third rifle season started Saturday – and I carried out three bags of their trash. There are camps where there should not be camps (near water sources), and there are tire tracks where there should not be tire tracks – into the wilderness study area, up and down beds of arroyos, off the road to ponds, etc. It makes me nervous.

Seven and the girls remain unseen (by me), and David and Shadow, Bruiser and Cinch were elusive this weekend, but I saw all the others.

Best news of all? It was starting to rain as I left. 🙂

Comments : Leave a Comment »

Categories : New girls

Spring Creek Basin Mustangs