As I commented last week, Spook, 3, is with Bruiser (NOT Butch – thanks, Lynn, for catching my big typo!). They were far enough away when I saw them last week that I could tell she didn’t have a foal with her but couldn’t tell about her pregnancy status. As you see here, she clearly does not have a foal with her and just as clearly is no longer pregnant. Bruiser looks massive next to her, doesn’t he? She’s pretty small – he’s a short, stout guy!
Judging by the dried blood on her hind legs, it was fairly recently.
They’ve done a fair bit of traveling, this pair, and have ended up in the far eastern part of the basin.
Did I mention the wind was a stiff son-of-a-gun? You can tell by this photo – any wind stout enough to push Bruiser’s heavy mane to the other side of his neck is worth reckoning. I’m surprised I have any sharp photos from the day as much as it was pushing us all around. Day in the life of the ponies!
The Albuquerque news (which we get here in the southwest corner of Colorado, given that we’re in that viewing area and far closer to New Mexico than to Denver) last night showed images of the Duke City shrouded in smoke from a big fire in the Gila Wilderness in Arizona. Wednesday, it got a bit dense here, too, and though I would have believed it was dust because of the wind, it sure smelled smoky. That fire was reported at 60,000 acres last night, almost as big as the 70,000-plus-acre wildfire north of Durango the second year I lived here … Also on the news was a report of a 1,000-acre wildfire on the Carson National Forest in northern New Mexico. The Forest Service manages a herd of wild horses on the Carson … I don’t know where they are in relation to the fire, but include them in your prayers, as well as the firefighters battling all the blazes. It’s dry out there, folks. Really, really dry.
Also wanted to point out what sharp-eyed readers will already have noticed – a healing cut to Bruiser’s upper forearm. Four Corners Back Country Horsemen spied it a few weeks ago during the count, and I hadn’t been able to confirm it until now. It looks to be healing, and he doesn’t seem bothered by it.
Spring Creek Basin Mustangs 