June | 2010 | Spring Creek Basin Mustangs

More spots – and three bays and a grey

5 06 2010

The pinto gang was my last sighting of the visit – right off the Disappointment Road. Although the solids almost equal the spots now, I’ve always thought of this as “the pinto band” because, although Copper seems to be at the top of the hierarchy, there are three other stallions mingling and following. Truth be told, it’s really Kiowa’s band – girls rule! This girl certainly does.

Mama Kiowa and Milagro. She’s looking right “on (new) schedule” to foal the end of this month or early July. (It’s her new schedule since she – apparently – got just enough PZP-22 to delay her last pregnancy two months but not prevent it altogether.)

Milagro is still very fuzzy. I have noticed that the youngsters are always the last to shed out, but goodness. The little boy still looks like a fuzzy teddy bear! It was pretty warm in the basin – into the 80s both days. Mid-50s at sunrise – that’s crazy warm for us!

Band stallion Copper with 3-year-old Reya and 2-year-old Spook (Kiowa’s daughters). Reya looks as slim and girlish as 3-year-old Baylee – I don’t think either of them are pregnant.

Chipeta, also on her “new schedule” looking pregnant. She foaled the end of July last year.

And the hangers-on:

Corazon, with his “tell-tale heart.”

Ty, very most definitely going grey.

And easy-going Mesa, bringing up the rear as usual. 🙂

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Categories : Chipeta, Copper, Corazon, Kiowa, Mesa, Milagro, pintos, Reya, Spook, Ty

Boys with spots – and one grey

5 06 2010

This photo is actually from last week. I saw the boys again this week but from a greater distance. They were down on the sort of southern end of Poco and Roach’s territory, but I didn’t see the bay and sorrel boys.

Cinch is standing slightly uphill and in front of the other boys, but I don’t know whether that alone makes him look so much bigger. I think he’s a fairly big boy, and I know Twister is not very big, and Bruiser, while, well, a “bruiser” in terms of being short but stout, isn’t very tall, either! They’re all in good condition, though, and while they’re traveling quite a bit, don’t seem to have been too crazed by the “spring stampede.”

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Categories : Bruiser, Cinch, Twister

Long time no see

4 06 2010

I hiked around Round Top to look for the pinto ponies and got a nice little surprise – David, Shadow and Wind!

David came to check me out.

Growing boy. He’s gained some size, hasn’t he? 🙂

Another one of David … at the edge of the world.

I didn’t see Poco and Roach during my visit, but I did see everybody else, including some horses I either hadn’t seen recently or hadn’t seen close. I should have more pix of those ponies as well as some of the usual cast of handsome characters soon. (Spoiler: I did see the pintos … eventually!)

Although my original hope was that my hike would yield a glimpse of the pintos, David’s band was the only one I saw behind the hill. Pond is dry. They were grazing their way away from the area of the yucky water puddle … Wind was standing alone under some trees when I first spotted David … then Shadow, grazing some distance away from him. Pretty independent little guy!

Lots blooming right now, and I was kicking myself for not taking my macro lens. I did take some pix, though, and I’ll post them as I get through them – including one interesting little pink, many-petaled flower I haven’t been able to identify. Maybe one of ya’ll can help?

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Categories : David, Shadow, Wind

Come again

1 06 2010

Is that a phrase that get used much anymore? There was quite a bit of disbelieving “huh” on my part when I realized Mahogany did NOT have a foal and WAS in heat and clearly HAD had her foal. And it refers also that the big band that had fractured had come (together) again … if perhaps only temporarily.

And whoever coined the phrase “a picture is worth a thousand words” clearly hadn’t met these ponies. I think it took me a thousand pictures to try to convey the goings-on.

These three – Comanche, Kestrel and Winona – are clearly “together” now … but not far from the others.

Um, Hollywood?! Where’d you come from? His band wasn’t all that far away, but they weren’t close.

While the other horses graze, Steeldust sees his duty to keep away the intruder (Hollywood). All the other horses are seen here, left to right: Luna, Gideon and Butch in the group at left; Storm, with Mahogany and Sundance directly behind him; Steeldust looking at Holls and Mouse directly behind him; Alpha; and Aspen at the back. Comanche, Kestrel and Winona were up a bit to the right.

Storm and Alpha

This was after Steely Dan had come back from chasing Holls away – which didn’t entirely work.

Gideon laid down … and there’s Mahogany and her hangers-on behind them now. While Winona was able to get several minutes at a time of shut-eye, Gideon was up and down several times because of the commotion all around.

Close-up of the sleepy boy.

When they weren’t fired up chasing her or fending each other off, this was a common sight – Mahogany grazing and Sundance and Mouse right behind her.

Close but far enough away to be out of the commotion – though Comanche did go down to have a chat with Hollywood at one point.

Even tough-guy manly stallions like to take some time to stop and smell the globe mallow.

Finally, it seemed he had had enough and was headed back to Piedra and the gang …

… but not before a stop to say hello. “What ARE ya doing?” “No, what are YOU doing?!” Funny boy. Then away he went.

When I turned back around, I realized the commotion had sent Gideon to his feet. Even Luna woke up long enough to watch him go.

Then this was really interesting – talk about stallions being very tolerant of babies. Gideon swung his butt around and then backed up so his butt was right up against Butch’s chest. I don’t know if you can quite tell it from the picture, but he is literally butt-to-chest with Butch, who now has his nose right at the crest of Gideon’s neck. He stood solid as a rock for a few moments, but it was like he didn’t quite know how to take it, this tiny little thing “cuddling” up to him, and he soon stepped aside and went to pursue “manly” things – like running off Sundance and Co. 🙂

So Gideon turned to mama for comfort …

One of my very favorite images from the whole day.

With all the commotion, these horses in particular seem to nap often.

Storm and Alpha – even though he kept getting a wild hair and going off to try to breed Mahogany, he kept coming back to mama. You can see he’s still shedding out a bit of reddish baby fuzz.

Love their relaxed faces.

Winona, Kestrel and Comanche …

… right before Winona laid down again. 🙂 She was mostly flat out on the ground, her little side heaving in the warm sunlight … and her front leg would occasionally “wave” out in circles … I think she was dreaming of racing the wind.

Kestrel and Comanche napping over baby Winona, clearly not his baby. He didn’t even acquire Kestrel until after she had foaled. He had been low man on the totem pole in the bachelor hierarchy. And yet he now *protects* her as if she were, indeed, his own. I repeat again, stallions do NOT go around willy nilly killing foals that aren’t theirs.

After about half an hour, Winona still stretched flat out, Kestrel and Comanche started to graze – away from sleeping babe.

She looked up a couple of times, then back down … until she finally realized she was “alone.” I don’t know if you can quite tell here, but she’s whinnying for mama to come back and “rescue” her – which mama Kestrel completely (as far as acquiescing to baby’s plaintive demands) ignored. Obviously, she wasn’t THAT far away.