January | 2024 | Spring Creek Basin Mustangs

Not too worried

21 01 2024

Seneca rouses long enough from her nap to look at a band across the little arroyo between her band and that band. Then she went back to sleep. With a high temp that day at 50 degrees, conditions were lovely for a nice nap!

The ground was VERY muddy, but it’s mostly free of snow now. The 95 percent chance we had a few days ago resulted in zero snow (ZERO! how does that happen?!). Now the forecast is giving us about 40 percent chance of rain or snow today and tomorrow. We have to remain optimistic.

Comments : 5 Comments »

Categories : McKenna Peak, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Spring Creek Basin mustangs, Temple Butte

Blue-sky girl

20 01 2024

Mariah (see below) appeared at the top of a little knoll above me as I was taking pix of horses slightly below *me*.

She’s looking at them while I’m admiring her.

*****

Update! I realized I left out a couple of very important letters when naming the beauty pictured above. This isn’t Maia, it’s MARIAH! Ha. So sorry!

Comments : 17 Comments »

Categories : Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Spring Creek Basin mustangs

Winter friends

19 01 2024

This nice group of healthy elk was in the western part of Spring Creek Basin yesterday. The basin is a wintering ground for elk and mule deer; they find it welcoming at a lower elevation and not much snow (as shown).

The evidence that we’ve had snow is in the muddy, muddy ground (not visible but felt while hiking around)! The last forecast snowfall (Wednesday) gave us zilch again, so we’re hoping for some moisture Sunday and Monday.

Comments : 10 Comments »

Categories : Elk, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Wildlife

Silly snorter

18 01 2024

I’ll have more dignified pix of Reya in the near future, but I’m posting this one because, although she’s known me since she was a weanling (which was a year or 17 ago), she’s the only horse in Spring Creek Basin who continues to blow at me. It *still* makes me laugh, which, I’m sure, is NOT the reaction she’s going for (if she were actually “going for” a reaction). 🙂

Comments : 8 Comments »

Categories : Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Spring Creek Basin mustangs

Snow snails

17 01 2024

While walking through an arroyo in the far southern end of Spring Creek Basin the other day, I came upon these nifty little beauties:

These snow “wheels” really did roll right up as they rolled right down the arroyo walls!

The first pic is from one place, and the last two pix are the same spot. There were many such spots throughout the arroyo, and I promise that I didn’t have a hand in creating any of them! Their perfect coils must have had something to do with the moisture content of the snow that allowed them to roll so perfectly down the walls/slopes?

There’s always something wonderful to see in Spring Creek Basin!

Comments : 12 Comments »

Categories : Snow, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area

Cold shade, warm light

16 01 2024

Maia gives me a perfectly beautiful look with Temple Butte lit up with evening light against a bit of a cloudy sky (likely snow farther to the southeast at higher elevation). Beauty and beauty.

Comments : 6 Comments »

Categories : Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Spring Creek Basin mustangs, Temple Butte

Bright spot

15 01 2024

Sweet ‘n curious, that’s our girl Rowan. 🙂

Comments : 14 Comments »

Categories : McKenna Peak, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Spring Creek Basin mustangs, Temple Butte

Hard times

14 01 2024

Lady Houdini is showing her age every time I see her lately. It’s a hard time of winter right now with a fair covering of snow and very frigid temperatures. These are difficult challenges she’s met numerous times in her very long life, but at her age (30s, as best as I can tell), it’s still just hard on the old girl.

In another development, I found her not with Flash but with another young stallion. I’d been seeing them – from a distance – recently, so I don’t know what happened or exactly when. She’s in a completely different area of the basin now with her new band: three other mares, one of whom she knew from her years with Hollywood. Whatever else, I’m glad she has mare company.

Comments : 18 Comments »

Categories : Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Spring Creek Basin mustangs

Brrrr

13 01 2024

Something about this image – the shade? – makes this scene look *cold* to me. Does it convey that feeling to you?

It WAS cold, and the wind didn’t help (unless you mean helping it seem even colder than the air temp).

This was late in the afternoon, and I’d been out for a couple of hours. Not much later, and my camera (battery) was struggling to work because it was so cold, even mostly sheltered in my pack. My old Canon is a workhorse, but cold is cold!

Comments : 10 Comments »

Categories : La Sal Mountains, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Spring Creek Basin mustangs