Tis the season of deja vu. Work obligations Saturday sent me to the basin Friday, and glad am I that I went, for what I found and for the fact that it snowed again most of the day today!
The horses had a few human visitors Friday, including some on horseback. Grey/Traveler was standing guard against a truck and trailer parked up on the road to Flat Top while his band grazed down in the valley below the water catchment. Kreacher and the girls were out on the northeast side of the finger hills watching riders who gave them wide berth. Bounce and his girls were out on the southeast end of the “east-west hill,” close to Knife Edge. One dark horse was back to the northwest, sort of north of Spring Creek at the trap site. Duke? That was all within my first 15 minutes in the basin.
Because of hills and distance, I couldn’t quite tell if the single dark horse I saw was Duke, so there was nothing else to do but take a walk. The wind was at about mid-throttle – very tolerable given the insanity of the past few weekends.
Very happy surprise to walk up over a modest saddle to find not only our bay boy Duke but Chrome and Hook back with him! And an unexpected visitor.
Prongs
It’s not uncommon to see pronghorn antelope in the basin, not even alone, but this guy figures into the tale, so I’ll include his portrait. He was lying down when I first saw him, on a hill above the horses, protected from the wind, but his back was to me. He got up, and I turned my attention back to the horses. When I looked back at him, he had laid back down as you see in the pic! I wondered if he was hurt, but he didn’t seem to be.
Hook and Duke
Chrome
Chrome kept looking over his shoulder like he expected another pronghorn to pop up and run by.
Pronghorn saunter
When the buck walked down off his hill, the boys watched him very carefully.
Spooky boys
And it gave them an excuse to gallop.
Watching
But then they circled back to just below the hill to watch the buck cross an arroyo and continue up a far hill and out of sight.
Hearts
Do you see the way their heads and bodies seem to form a heart?
Hmph
Duke was sound and seemed well, if a bit grouchy. I couldn’t find any outward sign of why he might have been missing last week. I was glad to find him, and glad to find him with his pals. Something interesting: They were quite a distance from the big band, something Aspen may want to consider …
When I got back to the Jeep, another truck and trailer was visible with visitors. I never did see the original three riders again. I stayed north at the dugout intersection, intending to look for Kreacher and the girls where I had seen them last, but from the road you can look down to the south and see the bottom land you can’t see from up on the west-side road. If I’ve cautioned against having an agenda in the basin once, I’ve done it a thousand times, eh? Guess who I spotted? So I turned around and took the fork to cross Spring Creek again, headed south. The first crossing is wet, but the second is completely dry.
Kreacher and the girls were looking toward the east-west hill (can I just say and call it done that the hill really runs sort of northwest-southeast, but it’s easier to type “east-west”?) but not really toward Bounce, Alegre and Gaia, who were up higher at the end of Knife Edge toward the crest where they could have dropped into the valley between that ridge and Lizard Mesa. I watched Alegre quite intently through the binoculars for several minutes because I couldn’t quite tell if she was sporting an extra set of legs – ha. Call me expectant. She wasn’t – sporting extra legs. She should be within two weeks, give or take.
I decided to continue driving because I hadn’t yet spotted Steeldust’s band, and I also wanted to look for Poco, Bones and Roach to check Bones’ progress.
Ah ha! Poco, Bones and Roach, way out on the southwestish side of the far end of the roller-coaster ridge (past where the road goes over to the east side). And then another nice surprise: the big band, napping right at the intersection to Round Top. I parked short of them and took a closer look through the binoculars.
I always make sure all the ponies are accounted for … and they were … but wait a minute …
Do you see what I see?
Steeldust at left, and Luna. You can’t see him very well, but Sundance is on the other side of them. Butch in the middle, Storm at right (such a handsome boy!), and Mahogany behind him. Also over there were Alpha, Pinon and Ember and Kestrel. Farther out was Mouse. To the left were Aspen and Co., but let me wait a minute before we get to them. What’s that at Luna’s feet?
Holy baby!!!!!!! I have to say, I didn’t quite expect to see a foal this weekend. Luna was first to foal last year, too, but Ember was born April 18 or 19 (I like to pin it to April 18). Friday was a full week earlier than that.
I started to walk out on the road, trying to decide if I could drop down off the ridge and skirt around them without worrying them. Then I heard the truck and trailer coming behind me. I decided the best course of action was to walk back, tell the people in the truck there was a brand new baby with the band and ask if they would wait until the horses finished their nap and moved away from the road.
As it turned out, the man driving the truck was born in Telluride and knew the country quite well. We had a great conversation – though it was sometimes hard to hear him over the wind. He lives in California now and has worked on Thoroughbred racehorse farms most of his adult life (he’s now “nearly 70”). He brought his cousin and two horses, which they rode later. It was pretty cool to hear him talk about some of the history of the land and the horses and roundups past, horses he has ridden and rodeos at which he has competed. I hope I get this right: He won the calf roping at the Norwood rodeo seven times! They ended up turning around there and drove back toward the dugout, then parked along the road to unload their horses and enjoy a ride in the basin.
While we were talking, the horses woke up, and the stallions started messing around. It seems like Butch and Sundance are finally starting to feel their oats – are they 3 this year? Four? Three and 4? The “pink” boys are silly boys. They started moving, and I’m still somewhat surprised to report that after I visited them, and after I visited Poco and Co., and after I drove away … at least an hour and a half after I first saw them? … they were still moving, heading to Round Top from Flat Top! Those rowdy boys.
But let’s back up. You’ve been waiting, and … but of course I have baby pix! 🙂
Oh, wait; first, the promised pic of Hollywood, guarding “his” band, which just so happens to contain the stallion that stole “his” mares.
The breakaways
Hollywood at left; Aspen with Baylee, barely visible behind him, and Piedra.
Welcome to your family
Little Hannah girl. Such a little thing and now famous! Mama Luna at left, and big sister Kestrel, now 2, at right. I’ve been wondering for a while whether the pink boys are descended from Luna. They did stay rather close … or was it my imagination?
Snuggly
Luna-dear is an old hand at mothering. If she’s 10 – I suspect she’s close, one way or ‘tother – this is possibly her eighth foal! She did not seem at all concerned with me, focusing instead on eating everything palatable within reach.
Baby, meet baby
This is one of my favorite pictures of the day. Storm is no longer the baby of the family! I love his expression; I can’t imagine what he’s thinking.
Keeping up
Luna didn’t exactly ignore her baby, but she didn’t coddle her, either. This might be a good place to say I think Hannah is at least a couple of days old (I put her birthday at Wednesday, April 8). She doesn’t have that newborn look anymore, and she wasn’t so new that Luna was constantly checking and nuzzling her. She expected baby to follow, and baby did!
Hannah
Isn’t she a doll?!
Peace
Welcome to your world, sweet baby girl!
All calm
Meanwhile, Aspen and Co. were following the band at a respectful distance.
Beeline
Piedra started walking toward me, and Baylee was not quite sure that was the wisest move.
Making a run for it
Apparently, Baylee dawdled too long because Comanche came calling. The butt straight out is Mouse’s, and he’s directing Steeldust’s horses away from the fray.
Get lost, buddy
Then Aspen, who had been trying to protect Piedra from Hollywood, came running back to the rescue. The grey in the background at right is Steeldust.
Eye of the storm
Piedra tried to ignore the chaos swirling around her (but note the ear). Baylee is just happy to be back at her side. Aspen – you can see his head just over Piedra’s hindquarters – cut Comanche off … but Hollywood was about to make his move.
Around and around
Now see what I meant earlier when I said Aspen would do well to put some distance between himself and the band (again)? Personally (and not-so secretly), I’d love to see Holls get the mares back, but if Aspen stays in the vicinity of the big band, I’d wager that the dynamics of this little band are going to change, or Aspen is going to be run ragged – or both.
Comanche
This guy is pretty burly. It’s only a matter of time before he starts to collect a harem, I think, though there are only so many to go around.
Pinon and Ember
Pinon is a month from his first birthday; Ember is just a week away!
Keeping the girls in line
Steeldust had his hooves full trying to keep his ladies together, but Mouse seems to be pulling his weight.
Still a baby
Don’t grow up too fast, little man. Pinon with Mouse.
The ponies moseyed on, and I sat awhile longer, marveling at the horses and all the behaviors and interactions I’m privileged to witness. Really amazing. They crossed the arroyo I was sitting at the edge of, and I waited until they had dropped out of sight over the next little ridge, then went on back to the intersection.
Poco, Bones and Roach had gone out of sight from that side of the roller-coaster ridge, so I drove on that way to see if they’d gone to the other side. Sure enough, they were down by the squishy arroyo on the east side of the ridge. I watched them from the Jeep for a while, then turned around and headed back. Bones looks like she could foal at any time … Fingers crossed she safely delivers a healthy foal.
Mountain majesty
Looking northwest, look who I spotted right on the west-side road! I stopped to scan for Bounce and the girls toward Knife Edge or down toward the arroyo below the road, but I didn’t see them. By the time I got moving again, Kreacher and the girls had dropped out of sight – again.
I decided to go down and see if any water had collected in the pond by Flat Top. Hook was a short distance west of the road, acting as lookout. I caught a glimpse of Duke but didn’t see all three of them until later, on my way out. And I got another surprise because Kreacher and the girls had gone slightly southwest and up toward that north-south road that goes between the Flat Top pond and the main road. After them disappearing and re-appearing all day, I finally had the chance to see them from a closer vantage, which gave me the chance to check on Raven.
Three girls
Kootenai, left, Raven and Mona right on the north-south road.
Kreacher
I think the ponies aren’t so used to a lot of visitors like they had Friday, so they seemed a little more nervous than usual.
Kootenai
Mona
Raven
Compare the bellies
I’m just sayin’ … Maybe she’s just an easy keeper …
They went on up the road, so I decided to turn around rather than follow them and have them feel pushed. Once back out on the main road, guess who else I found? Only my very favorite boy!
Lowlanders
Between them, Grey/Traveler and Houdini-mare are wise, wise ponies. They were down in this shallow arroyo, at least semi-protected from the wind. It did turn out to be another very windy day, but the moisture we’ve gotten recently (snow last Saturday) seems to have glued some of the dirt to the ground, so we didn’t have the major dust storms we’ve had lately.
All at attention
Well, except Mr. Twister, snoozing in the protection of the ladies. You can’t see their whole bodies here, but look how big Iya’s face (center, bald face/big blaze) is compared with older sister Two Boots’, next to Twister, behind Jif. Maybe it’s the marking, and maybe it’s that Iya has a big Roman nose and Two Boots is quite a bit more refined, but Iya is one big girl (and her first birthday is coming up in about two weeks!).
Is it summer yet?
I noticed that some of the horses didn’t seem quite as fuzzy as they had even last weekend, but check it out: Jif is shedding!
Testing her limits
Where have you seen this before? Cheeky Jif tries to outrun her stallion …
Ducklings
… while the youngsters crowded around mama Houdini, who went the opposite direction. I thought that was funny. 🙂
Pied piper
Traveler, of course, brought his wayward young mare back to the fold, but how she ended up at the head of the line, only she knows. She has just a little belly, but Houdini is bulging at the seams.
And there you have it. Duke and his pals were all visible in the “flats” east of the catchment. I think I didn’t stop smiling all the way home. 🙂 A beautiful new baby, a missing boy found, a day in the wild. Could it have been a better day? I can’t quite see how.
One down, eight to go? We shall see!
