The little bit of snow we got this morning wasn’t a measurable amount, but it added to the ground’s moisture. You can see a bit of Skywalker’s “mud boot” as he lifts his leg to explore another tasty bit. I can attest to the fact that mud-on-mud-boots (well, I was wearing hiking boots that were defacto mud boots given the conditions) is heavy, awkward and energy-draining. … The ponies take it all in stride (literally).
And snow. But not the sticking kind.
From Tuesday night into early Wednesday morning, we got 0.51 inch of rain (yes, rain). That’s nearly double what we got in all of January, and it left our ground riddled with puddles and gloriously soggy; that’s a lot for us at one time. We had two waves of snow yesterday afternoon, neither of which resulted in sticking snow.
We do appreciate the soggy conditions!
A little bitta mud never hurt a wild girl. 🙂 Cassidy Rain is looking forward to potential snow this week … and more chances to roll in the mud!
While I was walking away from the band, Shadow and three of her bandmates, who were slightly separate from the main group, kicked up their heels and trotted back to reunite with their pals.
I was glad I hadn’t put my camera away in my backpack.
Sunshine on Maia with little floaty bits of semi-frozen wet stuff known in our neck of the woods currently as snowflakes. (Ha?!) Not only did the waves of “snow” not dampen the ground, it actually dried out throughout the day, despite the many waves of, uh, “snow.”
Even at his tender age (just celebrated his first birthday), Odin wins the award for best pony mane-do of the season!
Mariah browses along with her band, near a bigger band. The rimrocks of Spring Creek canyon always make for a gorgeous backdrop.
It was one of a stretch of very beautiful, very warm (for late January in Colorado!) days. Then, the forecast finally hit the weather prediction right on the nose, and we got rain early Friday morning. How much? More than we got during the entire month of January! We got 0.30 inch, which doesn’t seem like much … but see that sentence about it being more moisture than we got in all of January! Lots more chances coming up: Fingers and hooves crossed!
United States Department of Interior
Honor Award
Michael L Jensen
is hereby awarded this certificate of honor for Superior Service
For … the certificate doesn’t specifically mention … his outstanding work for the mustangs of Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area. It’s been a long time coming – at least three years since we started trying to get some kind of BLM award to recognize Mike for his – literally – superior service and partnership.
We advocates had a small celebration for him a few years ago during an informal gathering of ourselves and Mike and his wife, Shawna (a Forest Service hydrologist), but it was really satisfying to see Mike recognized among his peers at a BLM meeting this week in Mancos. Stephanie Connolly, BLM Colorado’s Southwest District manager, also was in attendance (and took the above pic). Derek Padilla, our new Tres Rios Field Office manager, led the meeting (which wasn’t about awards until the end), and it was Joe Manning (pictured above at left), assistant TRFO manager, who introduced the award and Mike.
As Joe said, the wild horse and burro situation is “thorny,” and it is that and more. We’ve had our own challenges in Spring Creek Basin with (very much) less than “superior” service (!). Mike has smoothed out the rough edges and been a partner in every sense since his return to the herd’s helm almost (?) 10 years ago.
Mike is retiring this summer after 30 years with BLM – most of those spent in Dolores at what is now called Tres Rios Field Office. In the pic above, yours truly is grinning like a fool because 1) I was so happy for Mike to get this recognition, and 2) I was trying not to cry (which, as anyone who knows me can attest, even if they weren’t there, I completely failed to NOT do).
Mike says we’ll be OK – and we WILL be. Because of his leadership and vision in getting projects done such as the two new water catchments and his diligent work at updating our herd management area plan, which is stellar among such things. I’m not gonna miss him until I have to miss him (he laughs when I say (repeatedly) that I’m going to chain him to the cattle guard at the basin’s entrance so we don’t lose him), and I will write more later, but damn, I’m going to miss him.
Congrats, Mike. Your service IS superior, and we all are grateful for it.
Thanks to Stephanie Connolly, Derek Padilla, Joe Manning and, of course, Mike Jensen.
In attendance (Mike is pointing them out in the pic above) were VERY long-time (since the 1990s) volunteers and supporters of Spring Creek Basin mustangs Pat and Frank Amthor (who traveled from their home in New Mexico), and Kat Wilder, author of Desert Chrome and neighbor of the mustangs. Tif Rodriquez, another long-time supporter, advocate AND adopter of Spring Creek Basin mustangs Whisper and Asher (and other mustangs), unfortunately was feeling awful and wasn’t able to attend. (Thank you so much, Joe, for letting us know about Mike’s award so we could be there to support HIM!)
These warm (at least 50s) days have the mustangs rolling in the bits of mud they can find (it’s out there, in the shady places) because those great winter coats, so effective when it’s winter-cold, get awfully thick and itchy when it’s so unseasonably warm. Piedra was one of the cleanest mustangs, but you can see by the ruffled hair on her chest that she’s been sweaty.
Just another beautiful day in mustang-land.
Spring Creek Basin Mustangs 