Gaia and her daughter, Cassidy Rain, formerly with Grey/Traveler’s band, now are with Storm’s band, which previously consisted just of Roja and her yearling son, Killian.
Pretty mama and baby girl.
Isn’t it strange to see a foal turning not lighter but darker?? (In our basin of dominant greys, it is!) Now she’s the rich, dark brown of her sire, Cinch. The question is: Will she stay this color?
His horn to toot is his extreme cuteness!
Framed by rabbit brush, salt bush and grasses, at home in his world.
This is the middle of a head toss, but he seems to be giving “auntie” Winona quite a look as they walk. (And that’s mostly greasewood around them in this photo.)
He’s doing exceptionally well. No more cough/bloody nose.
Did no one guess the answers to the questions posed under the “Change” post? Their names were in tags, of course, but … anyone?
Maybe it’s just that this young stallion continues to amaze me. Aspen has been dogging Grey/Traveler’s band for the last week or so, but it wasn’t Aspen who stole a mare. It was …
Storm!
As a side note, can you believe how dark Cassidy Rain now is? Look back at this post or this post and compare.
The ponies are showing definite signs of “fuzzying up”!
Asher, adopted by local mustang advocate Tif last year after the roundup, has grown into an amazing young mustang.
The day after Tif took Asher home.
Asher, a few days ago.
In Tif’s words:
“I made the decision several months ago that I had done what I could for Asher. He had become so strong, so confident, that he needed someone that was dedicated, loving and most of all had the time that I didn’t have. Some very good people, very good friends that I’ve come to know over the years came to my mind as possible adopters for Asher. It was a difficult decision for me to make, but a decision that I had to make for him to continue to grow and flourish.
Vern and Jeri with Asher.
“What an incredibly right decision it was. Asher went to his new home for a trial run several months ago. He weighed about 515 pounds. BLM was notified of an address change. I still held title, as is required. We all wanted to make sure that it was the right fit for all parties. I remember loading him up to take him to Vern and Jeri’s house, and man, was that hard. I trailered him over with Pepper, his surrogate mom. I knew she would keep him calm and secure. He responded like he had been trailered many times before. As I left his new home, I bawled like a baby. My head knew it was the right decision, but my heart was aching. I love that little guy so much.
He’s big: 14 hands as a yearling.
“Vern and Jeri have done an incredible job with Asher, as I knew they would. They’ve had some losses recently, and it gave me some comfort that Asher was able to ease some of their pain. They’ve provided Asher with a home that I only dreamed he could have. If we had homes like theirs for all of our mustangs, the world would be a better place.
Not afraid of the stick-and-bag; note the lariat on Asher’s butt.
“Vern and Jeri have kept me posted on Asher’s progress. I’ve been out there several times to check on him, see how he’s doing, visit, as I have unlimited visitation rights. 🙂 I went out this past weekend and was absolutely blown away. My little orphan has grown into an elegant young horse. See for yourself. He now weighs about 780 pounds and stands about 14 hands tall. Vern and Jeri demonstrated all of the things they do with him, from free working in their round pen, to jumping over logs and barrels, wearing and walking with a tarp, fly mask, ropes, walking up stairs onto their front porch, checking things out in the garage, giving hugs and hoof shakes, and afraid of a bag on the end of a stick? No way.
Sniffing the tarp.
Wearing the tarp.
Wearing a fly mask and blanket.
Checking out the big rubber ball!
Exploring the garage.
Enjoying a siesta on the porch.
Who’s afraid of a lariat on his head? Not Asher!
“He has two stable mates that he runs and plays with when they’re turned out together. Vern said that he’s very independent, venturing off on his own while grazing. Jeri is proud of his BLM freeze brand, as it’s a testament to what our mustangs can do.
Pasture pals.
“People are often asking what do you do with them? Everything. They are productive members of every family they belong to. They do everything a horse should do. They are amazing animals, and although they may take a bit longer to come around, some more than others, when they do come around, you have a companion for life. Truly amazing our mustangs. Asher has some baby habits still, but he’ll grow out of them. After all, he’s a yearling. Vern doesn’t let him get away with anything, and that’s as it should be.
Vern and Asher
“Thank you, Vern and Jeri, for providing the best home possible. Tears in my eyes at our visit because I know I made the right decision. Although I wish I could have him here with me, he’s so much better off under your careful training and guidance. You have brought him so far. Your kind hands and warm home have been exactly what he needed.”
To follow up from the knapweed spraying seen at the northwest pond, here are some pix of sprayed musk thistle at the east-pocket pond:
On the western edge of the pond.
On the south edge of the pond – and dying already! (Note the water.)
Dying musk thistle, full pond – what’s not to love?
Did I mention full pond? The east-pocket pond now is one of only two ponds in the basin that have not gotten dug out in recent years. It did go dry this year but rebounded (a couple of times) with rain. And the Sorrel Flats pond, which was dug out in 2010, is just to the south.
Thank you to the Forest Service and BLM for your continued partnership with Four Corners Back Country Horsemen and Disappointment Wild Bunch Partners in managing Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area to the best of its potential! It’s fantastic to come back and see the fruits of our labors – GPS’ing sites in the spring – come to fruition in the fall!
As hinted at in yesterday’s post, we spotted Duke and Kreacher together in the northwest. Kreacher and Seven have ditched each other – and the young boys have ditched Kreacher – or vice versa – and were with Bounce and Seven.
Kreacher and Duke. The northwest pond is behind them to the left.
Kreacher with some colorful fall rabbit brush in the foreground.
Duke. Such a mustang classic. The reddish hue to the ground around him is purslane. I don’t know much about it, but it’s apparently very widespread this year.
Love that his ears still are dark.
Bay gorgeousity.
Who are they, and who are they with?
For two days this week, a Forest Service crew directed by BLM has sprayed Russian knapweed around all the ponds in Spring Creek Basin. In May, Four Corners Back Country Horsemen members and guests GPS’d several sites (including ponds) of weed infestation to help BLM identify sites for future spraying. This is all part of the Director’s Challenge grant, which was awarded to the Tres Rios Field Office based on its affiliation with Disappointment Wild Bunch Partners.
We happened to catch G, with the Forest Service, leaving the basin after his second day of spraying and got the scoop.
After visiting with Duke and Kreacher in the northwest “meadow,” we surveyed the northwest pond and spraying activity.
This was a fitting day to get the news about weed spraying; Pat Amthor, who, with her husband, Frank, has honcho’d 13 years worth of wild horse counts in Spring Creek Basin with Four Corners Back Country Horsemen, was visiting. From our vantage with the boys, it was Pat who spied water in the pond.
The vegetation around the pond is the particularly nasty Russian knapweed, noted in a previous post about the pond and it being dug out this summer (also with Director’s Challenge funds). If the green looks a little unnatural, that’s OK – that’s the chemical spray.
Note: Russian knapweed is toxic to horses if ingested in great enough quantity. The good thing is that horses rarely eat it if other forage is available. And we have plenty of other forage available, especially this year.
As we continued around the basin, we did note that all the ponds we saw showed signs of having been sprayed. Yay!
As a side note, we ended up seeing every single horse in Spring Creek Basin, including – again – the elusive Mr. Poco.
… he’s beautiful.
Mustang poster boy. 🙂
Beautiful baby!
Sticking close to mama.
Baby and mama. What a beautiful pair!
Spring Creek Basin Mustangs 