Bay beauties Tenaz and Madison engage in a bit of flirting for a brief moment.
Their family dynamic is … complicated. But then, what family’s isn’t? 🙂 The wonderful thing is that the overall dynamic between the families is one of respect and mostly peaceful.
Mostly. 🙂
That’s the sun, sinking through a mixture of smoke and dust. The rim of earth is Spring Creek Basin’s western rimrock boundary.
The sky? Well, that was just Mother Nature showing off. 🙂
Mustangs were below … but I couldn’t fit them in the image.
Who DOESN’T like to take in that view every now and then?!
Rowan keeps an eye out for anything that’s *not right* while the band grazes among the rocks in the high northwestern part of Spring Creek Basin. This was a different area than where the horses normally are, and I liked the different look of it. There was a lot of chattering from, I think, pinyon jays, and I think that’s what caught her attention. … Either that, or another band over a bit of a ridge.
This was (fortunately) several days ago now.
That was yucky.
I thought it was wildfire smoke from (at least) the Deer Creek (western Colorado and eastern Utah; northwest of Disappointment Valley at the base of Utah’s La Sal Mountains and above Colorado’s Paradox Valley) and Turner Gulch (northeast of Gateway, Colorado) fires because the wind was out of the north/northwest/west, but I read that it was from the Arizona fires (Dragon Bravo and White Sage). Look at a fire map of the western United States, and you’ll see that we’re likely getting smoke from … any/everywhere. 😦
Skywalker on the flyby to give me a bit of a checkout as he moseyed with the band.
Several days now after the above images (I really couldn’t bear to post them at the time), our sky has returned to glorious Colorado-turquoise. The unfortunate part there is that we’d like to have some clouds. 🙂 For shade relief, let alone rain. … Never quite happy, are we? 🙂 (Please, please, please rain!!!!)
Corazon, old as he is and as long as he’s known me (most of his life), still likes to act surprised to see me.
As much as I *love* these mustangs and find them the most beautiful of all creatures upon the planet, I do wonder now and then (often) what they think of us crazy two-leggeds. … I don’t think there’s much appreciation there (though I’m glad there’s a lot of tolerance). 🙂
Winona paused for a brief little catnap on a ridge above Spring Creek canyon while moseying/grazing with the band. I just happened to be moseying along with them – happily, gratefully! – and caught her looking beautiful as always.
Skywalker might be considered Tenaz’s lieutenant, though I don’t think he would mind my translation that it’s not a title he likes or plans to use for long (!). Tenaz has two young mares, and Skywalker does keep Tenaz on his toes. They’re part of a bigger group of horses that’s basically two separate bands – one mostly happy family. 🙂
Above, the mares have gone ahead (to the right), and they’re waiting for their turn at the water cooler … err, pools of water that gather in the creek bed just above/upstream of Spring Creek canyon. A couple of other bands beat them to it, so they were politely waiting their turn.
The arroyo actually comes from beyond/above where Skywalker and Tenaz are standing, passes by us on the left, makes a big curve behind me as I’m facing them, runs a short distance, then makes another big curve to enter the canyon. Another few curves later, it empties below the rimrock cliff band that forms the basin’s western boundary into lower, wide-open Disappointment Valley on its way to join Disappointment Creek (which also is dry but for pockets of water) … and on to the Dolores River.
The mustangs definitely rely on these seeps in Spring Creek and its tributary arroyos as the summer gets drier and drier before the hoped-and-prayed-for monsoon rains. The forecast is showing an uptick of chances next week, and we’re crossing fingers, toes and hooves (!) that some rain actually pans out for us from those chances!
First, I feel the need to alleviate any fears that the red/orange/golden light in the background of this image might be flames. It’s NOT. It’s sunlight bokeh through just a little bit of still-smoky haze and a low cloudbank at the very end of day.
An extraordinary evening in the back of beyond of Spring Creek Basin (where even I don’t very often go anymore because it’s accessible from only one direction, and that direction is long, rough and, well, rough – and far!).
Glorious.
Spring Creek Basin Mustangs 