This morning … Baby ‘Nona was playing with a twig from the bush in front of her that she bit off to entertain herself while mama and Comanche had their morning drink.
Do you love their reflections in one of our lovely ponds? (Not one that was dug out.) They all still have water. It amazes me. We’ve had great rain this year – so glad BLM got those ponds dug out!
Two fathers met in a wide valley and thought to meet with a swagger, each self-assured of his own dominance, while their families occupied themselves nearby – apart.
But then a wee daughter was curious and walked out toward the fray.
The fathers knew to protect the babe above all else – whether she was theirs or another’s.
Swagger dropped. Family men were calmed.
And all because of an innocent babe.
I have to admit I was nervous when I saw Winona walking directly toward Seven (seen at back left) and Comanche (center), who were together in the sniffing-striking posture. But I could see exactly when THEY became aware of her walking to them, and they broke apart, and that’s what you see here. Kestrel is grazing at left, in front of Seven. Cuatro (darker) and Twister are grazing at right. ‘Nona is with her adored stepdaddy, Comanche, center. Seven hung around just a little bit as if to say, well, I’m not afraid of you, and don’t take this as me backing down, but there are children present after all … then returned to his band.
Meanwhile, Bruiser in the foreground, and Spring, Shane, Mona and Ze in the background. The other horses are out farther and to the right.
Baby girl and ‘daddy, heading back to mama. She adores him, as I mentioned … and it’s clear the feeling is mutual. He’s simply a daddy wrapped around four tiny black hooves.
Back with mama, and all is well.
Meanwhile, look who came to visit:
Twister. 🙂 Isn’t he a handsome boy!
How do they know when to posture and when to nurture?
Elder … Not challenging, just watching Seven’s in the distance. This is what I was aiming at when Comanche then walked past, resulting in the photo a couple of posts earlier.
Followed by Winona and Kestrel.
Seven watching in return …
How astonishing are they?!
It seems to me you could illustrate a whole book on how humans *ought* to interact with each other and treat each other with photos – lessons – “from the herd” … Much like Cowboy Ethics, a collaboration by photographer David Stoecklein and writer James Owen.
Defend your family.
Children above all else.
Know when to walk away.
Be curious.
Know the land beneath your feet.
Learn from and respect your elders.
Live in the moment.
Share.
What else?
Mona and Shane
Raven, Corona and Kootenai
Seven’s band
Ze, Shane and Mona
Worth going in the fall?
Being a loner isn’t strictly a situation of “human terms.” A couple of our boys are – sometimes, according to some inner chord that strikes them – loners. When I first saw Mesa, he was alone. Mostly, since he’s been with the southside boys, then the pintos, he stays with company. But Duke has shown his sometimes-preference for being alone – before he had Raven and Corona and, especially, since he lost them back to Kreacher. And Bruiser had been alone for weeks. Talk about wondering what they’re thinking!
So I was glad to see him with Twister and Cuatro! In my own human terms, I’d have loved to have seen Duke with them!
Duke is still wandering, and Poco and Roach hang together, by themselves, but our other bachelors are at least buddied up with families – with “Steeldust’s band” and with the pintos. These boys were close to Comanche’s little family, which includes Kestrel and Winona, and they were briefly close to Seven’s while Mona was leading them across the flats.
Cuatro looks so much like his mama now, it’s hard to see markers that may hint at the other contributor to his genes! Love the red still in his mane. Twister looks so much like Grey/Traveler now, I can hardly see anything else when I look at him. I recently looked at some pix from when I first saw him – with Bruiser and Cinch! – how little he was! Already fuzzy – that was October, I think – keeping up with the big boys. Hasn’t been an easy life for this youngster – by human terms? – but he seems so self-assured and seems to take his “responsibility” for Cuatro seriously. Mona and Kestrel were very nearby, but they seemed only mildly interested in them, and Comanche was worried less about them than about elder Bruiser (how old IS Bruiser?) – though Bruise kept a pretty respectful distance, farther than the boys, who might have seemed part of the band if you didn’t know better.
Just love their little-boy faces! And Twister, who has always seemed small, looks now taller than stout Bruiser!
Whisper, watching Steeldust’s band … daddy Bounce in the background.
I attended a workshop recently about horse photography. Before I went, I thought: I want to use this as a way to urge myself out of my box, to see things differently. But as it turned out, I like my “box” – the basin, the wild and wonderful and unique horses within it. I have a *relationship* with each of those horses and with the basin. The horses we photographed were beautiful, and the setting was lovely. The light when we were out was harsh, though, the horse running measured circles in the high-barred roundpen did nothing for me, nor the horse galloping around the arena filled with jumps, who wanted to return to his pals in the pasture across the driveway. No relationship – to me. No connection – with me. The pictures I did take reflected some relationships the horses had with each other – not very outside my photographic box. A photographer recently told me he wasn’t going to photograph wild horses any time but in the spring anymore because otherwise they didn’t do anything but graze. I countered that the typical photos of wild horses galloping and kicking and biting and fighting are NOT what happens all the time (hello, spring). “That’s what sells,” countered the professional photographer.
Yeah.
I admire this photographer very much, and I can’t fault him for knowing what sells – he makes his living by what sells. As do other professional photographers.
Would he be surprised by what I *saw* – what I *see* – when I’m with these horses – little ole amateur me? Aspen and Mouse, Sundance and Aspen, Whisper later with Storm, then Bounce to the “rescue” after they’d had a great round of fun – or maybe he just wanted to play, too; he has played with Storm before. Gaia, whinnying for her little brother to come back up the hill to her and mama and daddy – not willing to intervene but anxious, worried about brother. Mona and her new daughter, covering a wide expanse back to a known territory – to … to show off her daughter to her daughter’s sire, to her “sisters” who made the journey from a place far away – see how my world has changed? Isn’t she gorgeous? Kreacher’s, then, staying nearby, at least overnight and into the next day. Not challenging, just watching. Young Cuatro, learning from young Twister – are they glad for some other, elder, company in Bruiser?
Nothing going on?! Lord help me and my battered Jeep, I keep going back BECAUSE of all that’s always going on! There is my connection! There are my relationships (yes, I’m rather a loner by human terms). There is my “box,” and I learned I really don’t want to be outside. Being inside is the greatest gift I’ve ever been given, and I love, I love, I love them all.
I’m in a unique position of not worrying about what sells – because I don’t. But I am very keen that people who view my photos FEEL a relationship with these horses – that they SEE the relationships these horses have with each other – and with their home. The pic of Comanche and Bruiser – stallions, with a mare and foal nearby – and a very prominent landmark of a very particular place in the background – do you SEE the connection? Do you feel THEIR connection to home?
Some are just pretty pictures. Some are illustrating behavior, interaction. But my goal all along has been to tell a story with these photos, from me, who is there, to you, who are not able to be. I very much also admire the photographer who led the workshop, a fine art photographer. If I try to combine photojournalism (documentation) with as much art as I can muster – if that combines to provide you with a window to something deeper about these horses, I will feel I’ve done my part to return to the world some little piece of the magic I’m filled with every single time I’m with these incredible creatures, these particular wild horses, of Spring Creek Basin.
Whisper and his father, new generation and a generation that came before, near and far, future and present and past. What has Bounce seen in his long life? How many foals has he raised into the world, how many mares has he loved and lost, seen removed? Will Whisper stay home? Will he find mares and sire foals? What is his future? Do you see it? Do you wonder?
If so, I’m grateful. These horses are integral to the world’s connective fabric.
If not, well, I guess I better keep at it … 😉
Blessings come in small packages and golden light, mothers and daughters, quiet breezes and autumn grasses.
This was an evening I don’t even have words for. Absolute perfection. Kreacher was nearby, with Raven, Corona and Kootenai, watching his daughter – does he know? Mona watched them back, as Seven defended them – his now. I don’t think Kootenai will be able to lure them back … and Kreacher was wise (my opinion) not to challenge Seven.
They only watched …
I see curiosity here … what more? Do they know?? What are they thinking?
It is interesting to note that although Roja definitely is (still) alpha mare in Seven’s band, Mona clearly led them here – to where Kreacher’s band was grazing – back across the basin, east to west now. She led them to water first – where she and Raven and Kootenai went first upon stepping hooves on Spring Creek Basin soil – and I’m not sure when she realized Kreacher’s band was there, but I know she went closer when she did – for sure – know.
A series of three photos of Mouse and Aspen.
Aspen was working really hard to provoke Mouse, who wasn’t really going for it … but aren’t they cute?
Mouse was not thus named for a timid personality, by the way, but for his brown-grey color – very similar to Comanche at the time when I first starting documenting the horses, right after the 2007 roundup. But Mouse has always had this extra refinement; Comanche was always a bit heavier, burlier. Oddly, Mouse was the more dominant of the two, but it was low-man quiet Comanche who got the girl (Kestrel), when she went off a bit to have her foal (Winona). However, I think, because of behavior I saw last spring, that Mouse may be Winona’s sire.
I don’t even know what to say about this photo except that I had to share it. Comanche walked past me – with Kestrel and Winona – and past Bruiser in the background, who was standing in front of the unnamed promontory, one of the unmistakable landmarks of Spring Creek Basin. Near and far, the place and its natives are magic.
Bruiser, alone and wandering for a while by himself, has found Twister and Cuatro, and the three of them were together … Another elder for the youngsters – good for them, good for the herd.
Spring Creek Basin Mustangs 
