Kreacher’s band looking pretty in the waning sunshine, watching Seven’s band.
You scratch me …
13 06 2010
Gemma loves her big sister, and big sisters Terra loves her little sister. Some of the older foals are really good with their younger siblings … and some don’t seem to have much to do with them. Terra is really good with Gemma, and they were scratching each other quite a bit. They’re the lovely daughters of Grey/Traveler and Houdini.
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Categories : Gemma, Terra
Under cover
12 06 2010
Hannah and Sable, yearling fillies, are with Hook – and their siblings Ember and Pinon. As it gets hotter and that high-desert summer sun beats down on them, many of the horses take refuge under trees. It’s interesting that all these siblings – Sable last – left their mamas (Luna and Mahogany) and rejoined each other as part of a new little band, with former low man Hook as band stallion. He’s doing a good job … even though he seems a little bewildered that they don’t follow him straight away when I come to visit.
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Categories : Hannah, Sable
Wild black stallion
10 06 2010
He’s quite handsome, isn’t he? This is our wise Bounce, standing guard over his family, who were grazing and napping in a little arroyo down the hill from where he’s standing, keeping watch over them.
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Categories : Bounce
Beyond and back
9 06 2010
I chose this for the day I drive … my beloved Grey/Traveler, napping in mid-afternoon with his girls, on an island in the basin.
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Categories : Gemma, Grey, Houdini, Terra
Guardian
8 06 2010
Gideon naps while bachelor Mouse stands guard; Aspen in the background. Mama Luna and Butch had walked off to the left … and Butch laid down … to roll, I thought, but he just stayed there napping in the sunshine … and then Mahogany, who is closer to the left out of the frame, also laid down. She rolled half-heartedly a couple of times, then was still, enjoying the morning sunshine, I suppose. I enjoyed it, too. 🙂
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Categories : Aspen, Gideon, Mouse
I’m with you
7 06 2010
Two Boots and her handsome Rio. I think he’s going to be a good-sized boy.
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Categories : Rio, Two Boots
Oneaday
6 06 2010Time for a little experiment. Can’t tell what the goal of the experiment is, really … OK, it’s not an experiment in the true sense of the word. I am leaving mid-week for a much-needed, long-anticipated break from work. I left one job one day and I started a new job the next day and I haven’t had a vacation since September. I’m a little fried.
While I need a break from work, I am of mixed feelings leaving my ponies for a while. How will they survive without me? 🙂
Well.
(The bigger question is how will I survive without them?! But happily, I’m going to a place with a great many ponies – that I can touch and hug and ride and love on – that’s the other mix in the feelings department. And of course, I can’t wait to see my own mama and daddy!)
So instead of trying to tweak several photos at a time with accompanying reports, I had a thought to try to post one picture a day – and hopefully I’ll figure out how to do it from my folks’ place. If the photo has a story behind it, I’ll share, otherwise, they’ll just be pictures of (my most beloved) wild horses at a random moment in time.
Enjoy!
First up, Hayden and Cuatro. Hayden is four months younger than Cuatro, but he’s now nearly as big.
OK, I couldn’t help myself. This was a few minutes later, after Two Boots had walked by with Rio. It’s funny to me because most of the time when I’ve seen Hayden and Cuatro playing, it has been Hayden chasing Cuatro! 🙂 Check out their little lines of “dragon fur” on the bottom of their bellies – always the last to shed.
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Categories : Cuatro, Hayden
BLM promises
6 06 2010Is BLM really starting to listen … ???
*Wild Horses and BLM’s promise of a new day dawning* – LA Equine Policy Examiner
“Animal advocates are a bit saddle sore from past relations with BLM. Trust is in short supply. The proclamation of a new day dawning was delivered with mixed messages wrapped in a pretty package.”
“The announcement also says, ‘The euthanasia of healthy excess animals or their sale without limitation to protect the animals from slaughter’ is a topic of discussion and an option that will be off the table. Dean Bolstad, National Program Division Chief, confirmed interpretation of this wording to mean that the topic will not be included in the Secretary’s initiative.”
BLM’s proclamation by BLM Director Bob Abbey: “Bureau of Land Management Director Bob Abbey today announced that the agency is taking the Federal Wild Horse and Burro Program in an unprecedented new direction, and is seeking in-depth public comment on a Strategy Development Document implementing Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar’s Wild Horse and Burro Initiative.”
There are links toward the bottom to access the document for comments: “To gather feedback, the Strategy Development Document outlines specific areas where the BLM is seeking public input over a 60-day comment period. To ensure input from the broadest number of stakeholders, the BLM is using ePlanning. To access the document and provide the BLM with feedback, select this link. A PDF version of the document is also available by clicking on this link.”
Both links seem to be broken at the moment …
“Costs for the program, particularly those for animals in holding facilities, have risen dramatically in the last several years. In fiscal year 2009, for example, approximately $29 million, or about 70 percent of the total wild horse and burro program budget of $40.6 million, was spent on animals held in corrals and pastures.”
Hopefully our coming proposal to implement a relatively inexpensive fertility control program in Spring Creek Basin using volunteer labor – with major $$ savings – will be well-received …
Comments : 2 Comments »
Categories : Advocacy, Wild horses in the news
Spring in the basin
5 06 2010This post is a little departure from the usual (!). After a very long winter, it’s finally spring – with summer right around the corner. These are a few of the wildflowers blooming now in the basin.
Prince’s plume – this is all over the basin.
Bear claw cactus – saw this while I was photographing David, Shadow and Wind.
Sego lily and not-very-cooperative globe mallow. Lilies also are everywhere right now. These are such a surprising sight to me every year … it seems so odd to see something so delicate in such a desert environment.
Another sego lily – aren’t they beautiful?
Larkspur – don’t ask me what specific kind. *Purple.*
I know what this one is – *blue” larkspur. 🙂
Wild blue flax … the delicate blue didn’t translate very well to “film” in the sunshine, but they are beautiful blue.
Cliff penstemon
Prince’s plume
Ives four nerved daisies … (aren’t there about 398 different kinds of yellow daisies?)
More of the above.
Navajo fleabane
Another sego lily – can’t resist these!
Skeleton weed
Another one. They’re fairly small – maybe 4-6 inches tall, several pink petals – “fringed” on the tips. I saw one in the interior of the basin, but then there were quite a few when I drove out near the entrance on the west side.
I think the phlox is mostly done – it’s one of the very first to start blooming every year. I’ve seen just a few paintbrush this year, very small, very few and far between. The globe mallow is everywhere now, but I managed to not take a pic of any of the nicely blooming patches – and they’re right along the road – I think I read they like to grow in disturbed areas. The claret cup cacti are trying to bloom – they probably need the very warm weather we just haven’t quite had yet (forecast says 94 tomorrow!). “Four o’clock” also is trying to bloom.
And because it wouldn’t be complete without a little wildlife …
This lovely girl ought to be close to having a calf …
And I don’t know what kind of bird this is (Say’s phoebe), but it (she?) was very curious and perched fairly close to the Jeep on a greasewood bush while I watched Kreacher’s band.
And one more …
Happy spring. 🙂
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Categories : Uncategorized
Spring Creek Basin Mustangs 