Sincerely and with all gratitude, thank you to all who voted for photos of Spring Creek Basin mustangs to grace next year’s calendar! A portion of the proceeds from the calendars will go to the Colorado chapter of the National Mustang Association for projects done in the basin for the horses, such as fence repair, tamarisk cutting and weed spraying, and PZP darting.
The winner of this year’s calendar is Morgan Griffith! Congratulations, Morgan. 🙂 I will send you an email to get your mailing address.
This was a difficult year, in many ways. We lost Spring and Twister, Cinch, Hook and Kiowa … and others to the roundup, necessary to keep the herd and their range healthy and vital. In any case, each was a loss difficult to bear. On the other hand, we gained many friends of the horses who help us move on and work for the sustainable management of the Spring Creek Basin herd.
Here we go for the monthly images. With an eye to the overall calendar and in deference to some horses we lost, however, I’m going to overrule some of the votes.
January
Popular vote (by 3) was for Winona, but Lanny made a very good point: No other calendar will include this grand old warrior – “The Boss,” his adopter calls him – so this month, this year, is dedicated to Steeldust.
February
Popular vote – but not by much! – was for handsome Hollywood.
March
Bruiser earned the popular vote for this month. Cinch – by far – earned votes for the cover. Bruiser is gone from the basin, but Hook is gone from the world.
April
They got a slow start in the voting, but Luna and Varoujan (now called Banjo) earned the popular vote for April, and I must agree!
May
Hard decision. The image of Deniz and Houdini beat this of Alpha by one vote, but going again with the fact that lovely Alpha is no longer in the basin … I think it only right that she grace the calendar for the month of May.
June
By far, the popular vote for June went to the pintos, led here by Kiowa.
July
With one exception (and it was a tie), Twister received more votes than any other horse in any other month. I cry still for this beautiful heart, lost too soon … I am deeply gratified that you all honor him so.
August
Popular vote decided August’s image of Comanche and Chrome, too. Long-time readers know I don’t often show photos like this. Yes, it’s part of the horses’ lives, a relatively small part. But there’s something about this image, these stallions – Comanche and Chrome – on the eve of the event that changed the fabric of those lives …
September
September – the month of the roundup. This photo – taken the week before. A little elder boy, a little girl of the future. A lot of enduring hope.
October
Alegre in the magic light received as many votes as Twister in July. Did this image receive “help”? Surely divine.
November
Popular vote again determined November’s image of Chrome and “friends” – Hollywood’s and Comanche’s bands. Appropriately, this was taken Thanksgiving morning. There is much for which to be thankful this year … in spite of everything, because of everything.
December
A very tight vote, but for the end of the year, the camaraderie of friends, one still with us and sure to inspire a new generation. Though we couldn’t have gone wrong with Comanche and Winona!
And the cover, by very popular vote:
Cover
Cinch. Because.
And there you have it – the 2012 calendar featuring our Spring Creek Basin mustangs!
Update: I’m not much good at this selling thing, so after a reminder to me, here’s a reminder to readers: To order a calendar, please email your postal address to me at mtbgrrl (at) fone (dot) net. They’re $15 – to cover my costs and a $5 donation to NMA/CO. I will try to get them sent out ASAP, depending on how many orders I have (I give these as Christmas gifts, too).
Thank you all! 🙂
Spring Creek Basin Mustangs 
Wonderful! Beautiful! Outstanding work!! I’ll be buying one here in the next few days. You rock TJ!! I will definitely be passing this on to my friends. 😉
Krissy
CRY…….Excellent job. As always your beautiful photos for this calendar tell a compelling, sad, heart breaking, heart warming story of loss and healing and hope. I am so thrilled to see both my boys representing their basin family. Though they are now physically gone from the basin, they will not be forgotten by those who will see the photos of these ponies day after day over the next twelve months at least and are reminded of their plight. Your photos & calendar help to remind us of those special ponies that are now lost forever…….The horses who survived the round up are no longer “FREE”, but will always truly be “wild horses” in their hearts. Their lives have forever changed. NOW the future of the WILD herd lies in the ponies who are still out there and your dedication to photographing & documenting their lives is priceless and vital as the future of their “management” plays out. Hang in there and continue to be their level headed advocate. I will be buying multiple calendars.
{{{HUGS}}} from Steeldust (The BOSS), Banjo & me
Beautiful TJ. Great seeing Cinch on the cover.
I am confused what happend to spring?
Also what happend to Hook again? I know Cinch was the broken neck, Twister broken leg, Kiowa was bad leg infection which I don’t understand why they put her down, she seemed fine in the wild and you never mentioned anything wrong with her. I don’t remember what happend to Spring either.
Hook broke his neck at Canon City, apparently during processing before gelding. Kiowa’s leg injury/infection happened after she left the basin. Spring died sometime in January or February. She disappeared from her band (Seven’s) … then showed up with Bruiser … then I never saw her again.
beautiful calendar and wonderful choices. Love it.
Great pictures for the calendar, but I love all your pictures. I know it was a hard choice.
Wonderful choices of beautiful pictures.
Every picture tells a story.
Very nicely done.
Thanks.
T&K
Great choices. Wonderful calendar thank you TJ
Thank you all for helping me choose! It’s fun making it a collaborative effort. 🙂
Thank you so much for the pictures, always! Joy and tears for the year but it is life and it is what it is. I want 3 but I will e you about that. Beautiful!
I’m thrilled to have won this calendar–esp since I never win anything. Each picture will be a special reminder of each horses story. Honored to bring them into my home. Thanks TJ.
The honor is ours. 🙂 Thank you.