Spring Creek Basin Mustangs

There’s that sweet face. And a little slice of the La Sal Mountains.

Southwest Colorado finally has gotten a dose of drizzle (rain in places, snow in places) – very, very, very welcome moisture. The weather has been unseasonably March-like. We’d like to see some January-like weather, even as we’re about to flip the calendar into February. As long as it’s wet, we’ll take it! (Even the faraway Denver weather folks admit that we in the southwestern corner of the state are in dire need of moisture.)

Stretching low and bendy, Ty demonstrates unique technique to youngster Maiku.

All boys must rest after play time.

The rest of the story: Boys that play together also graze together.

Doesn’t yesterday’s pic and backstory make this peaceful pic even more meaningful? While I was with the boys, the girls were napping. Peace on the prairie (so to speak). 🙂

Long-time readers of this blog know that pix like this show up rarely on this blog, and they know why – because while photos of this typically provoke comments of oohs and ahhs, the actual behavior of this is, in reality, fairly rare. And this blog is all about slices of beautiful, calm, normal, wild life.

The coolest thing about this pic really is the backstory, which goes something like this: Maiku and Copper and Ty were feeling good on a beautiful day, and this was the wild-equine-boy equivalent of a game of pickup among human boys.

Sitting on the ground with the perfect 50-yard-line tickets to the show (did I just mix sports?), watching them nip and squeal and kick, I thought oh-so-happily to myself: “Oh, how cool – the boys are playing with the stunning, snow-covered La Sals in the background!” Um. See the sliver of the La Sals? Imagine how stunning are those snow-covered peaks while the boys photobomb them. Well, it’s only right that the boys steal the show! (Snow-covered Northeast, we’d also like to steal some of your snow.)

Note that no injuries were incurred during this slice-of-life play date. Tomorrow: the rest of the story. It’s ordinary, and that’s what’s so extraordinary about these moments with the wild.

P.S. See the white in the background behind Copper’s tail? That’s not snow. That’s the salt in our soil, brought up by the bitty bit of moisture we have had.

Maiku has one of the sweetest faces in Spring Creek Basin. His beautiful eyes are often hidden under that enviable forelock, but he’s one cute, sweet dude, and he has an eye for the ladies.

Not really mist. 🙂 Prickly winter greasewood looks soft as a frame around lovely Chipeta, as seen through the distance of a long lens.

Seven looks like he’s in a nearly impenetrable wilderness of pinon-juniper forest.

Well, he’s in the wilderness, all right – McKenna Peak Wilderness Study Area. 🙂

In the background, the heavily eroded, knobbly-topped mesa in front of Temple Butte is Brumley Point (which reaches much less of an actual point than McKenna Peak).

S’aka is a pony-size boy. It took some doin’ to get his chin high enough to clear Skywalker’s back. But his pal didn’t seem to mind.

Apollo seems to have something interesting to tell pal Killian. It’s lovely to see the snow on the eastern ridges; unfortunately, there’s none on the ground in the basin.

Storm and Mysterium watch birds nearby; we all appreciate the wildlife-viewing opportunities in Spring Creek Basin! That’s Brumley Point in the background.