Chipeta bulletin

20 08 2011

Chipeta’s band was out almost exactly where I saw them last – and Kiowa’s band was just up the hill! It was good to see them, too, but I think the proximity and/or Chipeta’s impending due date had her more wary.

She doesn’t look quite as huge as I’d have thought she’d be (her due date and Puzzle’s birthday is Sept. 1), but she’s definitely showing signs of getting closer to foaling.

The pintos (Kiowa’s band) were just up the hill to the right.

I also took some pix of Kiowa’s band that I’ll post later. I didn’t stay with the horses too long. The bands haven’t been close to each other (that I know of) for quite a while, and I’d sure like to see them separate again before Chipeta foals.

Although I didn’t walk back to check it, I’m fairly sure the Round Top pond still has water, so they’re probably drinking there (this was somewhat close to the pond). David’s also were out right where I had been seeing them in previous visits – close to the Disappointment Road. There are at least a couple of places in the big arroyos nearby where water seeps up to the surface, so they could also be drinking there.


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Categories : Chipeta, Puzzle

Kootenai bulletin

19 08 2011

Kootenai is holding her own. I didn’t think she looked a lot different than two weeks ago … and then I caught sight of this!

Quite a change!

Not looking too broad … but neither does Chipeta, and I know she’s close.

The biting flies were bad in the northwest hills where they were grazing.

And she definitely has the look of a mama in the late stages of pregnancy!

So I don’t think the Aug. 20 guess – that’s tomorrow! – is going to pan out, but the good news is there’s still time to guess Kootenai’s due date! Leave your guess – if you haven’t already guessed – in these comments or the comments of the original post.

Do you think she’ll foal in August … or will she make it to September?!


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Categories : Kootenai

Grey beauty

19 08 2011

I’m home.


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Categories : Piedra

Boreas and family

15 08 2011

Chrome’s were on the first hill as you drive into the basin when I saw them last week and realized Jif was no longer pregnant. Part of the time, there was a nice view down to Spring Creek Canyon with its gracefully arched rimrock border.

Two Boots

Boreas playing by some big rocks. Wild babies have the coolest toys!

Big brothers (Rio) make good play things, too!

And there are always ready-made fly swatters courtesy some obliging family member.

Mr. Chrome

Hayden with the Spring Creek Canyon background.

Chrome also is an easygoing, calm stallion.


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Categories : Boreas, Chrome, Hayden, Rio, Two Boots

Gettin’ the girl(s)

14 08 2011

Cinch is adding to his little family.

Cinch at right, Gaia, Liberty and Spook.

Gaia and Spook are 3 years old (less than two weeks apart), and Liberty is 2. Alegre is Gaia’s dam; Molly-girl was Liberty’s dam; Kiowa is Spook’s dam. Seven is Liberty’s sire; Gaia’s and Spook’s are unknown (likely gone with the last roundup).

Spook almost looked like she could have been coming into or going out of heat.

Pretty good size difference between the girls, eh?

Liberty seems to have taken Spook under her wing, much like Gaia did with her when mama Molly died (when Liberty was a weanling).

Liberty is just as sweet and generous as her mama was. She’s a year younger than Spook, but she acts like the leader of the two.

I didn’t see Bruiser, who had had Spook for a couple of months or so (I’d have to look back for certain), but he was seen last week – alone but near a couple of bands.

Interesting little change.


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Categories : Cinch, Gaia, Liberty, Spook

Kreacher feature

12 08 2011

Taking a much-needed break. I’ll post some short snippets as I have time.

I found this one from July of Kreacher when he, Raven and Kootenai were trying to drink from the trickle (before we got the much-needed rains). This was also the day I watched Apollo having fun with his “old man” by playing nip-it every time Kreacher’s ears came within reach (every time he lowered his head for a drink!).


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Categories : Kreacher

Squeezed

9 08 2011

I’m so easily distracted … I was looking at other photos when I came across this one:

Young master Varoujan tried to squeeze between big brother Gideon and mama Luna. I’m pretty sure it was Gideon who kept the squeeze on that never did let Varo inch his way totally between them.

In the background at right is Steeldust, Gideon’s sire and Varo’s grandsire (Butch, Varo’s sire, is Steeldust’s son). I swear, the old man sports new scars every time I see him. Mouse – seen through legs in the back at left – was dominant again.

This was toward the end of the day as a big storm cloud was threatening the sun. Earlier in the day, the band was arranged in almost a crescent around Varo, who was laid flat out taking a nap. I walked around them, and once in a while, someone would turn his or her head to look at me, but Varo was out cold – eyes shut tight and little lips slack. There’s a definite heirarchy, and little Varo is king – well, most of the time. 😉


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Categories : Gideon, Luna, Mouse, Steeldust, Varoujan

David’s at attention

9 08 2011

Because I’m putting together this ID booklet for BLM for the roundup, I’m more conscious of the kinds of photos I need. Early in my documentation project, I worried less about “pretty” pictures and more about photos that showed – from the side as much as possible – the full horse, including legs. Even among the sparse vegetation of the basin, it’s sometimes difficult to show some of the lower leg markings.

As time went on, my focus has shifted to wanting to show the relationships between the horses – their behaviors.

Now that I’m thinking about “conformation” shots again, I’ve realized how difficult it is! I was joking to Chipeta and Puzzle (I talk to them – habit): “All right, step forward, please, into the open, careful the background, and turn just so …” You’ll be just as stunned as I was that I was not obeyed upon the instant. 🙂

At least in some cases I have no trouble whatsoever getting four pairs of ears at attention!

David at left, his yearling son, Wind, then mama Shadow and baby Coal.

You can plainly see Wind’s left hind sock – you can’t see his right hind pastern. You may or may not see Coal’s teeny star – it could be mistaken for a bit of glare on his shiny handsome face. And how many legs of David’s have white? Not only does he have the right hind sock, he has a left front fetlock and left hind pastern.

I walked back down and over to visit them after I left Ty’s (they were not that close and not within sight of each other). Mama Shadow was first to see me, but she went back to grazing. I got within an arroyo of them and sat down on the long “hump” (not tall enough to be called a ridge, it’s just where the land humps up between arroyos or “washes” that have eroded down from a much bigger ridge that actually marks the edge of a long sloping hill). They continued grazing for a little while, then some unseen/unheard signal called everybody to mama – they stood like that for a few moments, then turned and walked over the next “hump.” I like to be the one to walk away and leave them alone, but sometimes, they’ve had enough of me before I’ve had enough of them. 🙂


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Categories : Coal, David, Shadow, Wind

News article about coming roundup

8 08 2011

The Cortez Journal published an article Saturday about the coming roundup/EA.

And on Monday, The Durango Herald published a letter to the editor about the roundup and adoption by our own Pati Temple (NMA/CO).


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Categories : Adoption, Disappointment Valley, Disappointment Wild Bunch Partners, Education, Fertility control, National Mustang Association/CO, PZP, Roundup, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Wild horses in the news

Guess Kootenai’s due date

8 08 2011

All right, folks – contest time.

Kootenai (“KOOT-en-eee”) is having a baby. But when is anyone’s guess – including mine!

Not a particularly flattering photo, but she pays me hardly any mind at all anymore – and it shows the belly.

Kootenai is a 6-year-old mare from Sand Wash Basin. She was brought to Spring Creek Basin on Oct. 24, 2008, with Raven (still in Kootenai’s band with Kreacher) and Mona (now in Seven’s band). Raven was pregnant when she came and had Corona (named after her sire, Corona, still wild in Sand Wash Basin) on (or about) April 29, 2009. Mona had Shane (sired by Kreacher) on (or about) Sept. 15, 2010, and Raven had Apollo (sired by Kreacher) on (or about) May 10, 2011. PZP-22 was administered to all three mares before they came to Spring Creek Basin. It worked wonderfully on Raven – she did not foal in 2010. It worked probably as well as expected on Mona – she didn’t foal until September 2010. And it has worked very well on Kootenai – she’s 5, in obviously fantastic condition, having her first foal. The late date is unfortunate but is likely due to timing of application over the vaccine itself – and Jif herself is proof that September foals happen without interference (Hayden’s birthday isn’t till Sept. 22).

My most common view of the girl – grazing … and with that grass, who’d ignore it for me?! 🙂

A view slightly from the back …

And a close-up of her udder.

These photos were all taken Aug. 4.

Contest rules:

* Just to make it easy for me, everyone gets just ONE guess at a date.

* Guesses can start now – which is to say, you can guess that she’ll foal tomorrow if you like.

(Disclaimer: I’m not able to get to the basin this week or next, but I’m almost positive she won’t foal in the next two weeks. That said, I haven’t been around pregnant domestic mares for a while to be an absolute great judge, so if you are positive she WILL, make your guess accordingly – and let me know – I might be able to send someone out to check her for me.)

* I like to think I’m able to guess birth dates within a day or two, so the guess closest to the date I determine gets the nod. If there’s a dispute, I’ll ask a local veterinarian to make the final determination.

* In the case of a tie, hmm … what do ya’ll think is fair? Flip a coin? Who gets heads and who gets tails? When I chose the winner of the calendar last year, I had a co-worker pick a name out of a basket. Would everyone consider that fair? You can guess the same date as someone else … or it could also happen that someone guesses, say, Sept. 4 and someone guesses Sept. 6, and she actually foals on Sept. 5. I make guesses as to date; I have no way of knowing what time of day!

Prize:

The winning guesser gets a calendar (won’t be ready till the end of the year) AND naming rights for Kootenai’s foal.

All good? Good luck!


Comments : 15 Comments »

Categories : Kootenai

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