My absolute favorite line from Opus Moon’s “Wild Horse Anthology” is from “Illusion”: “No one knows … where they go … as they slip into the shadows of the earth.”
That’s like saying any one mustang is my favorite. 🙂
Aspen, walking into the twilight shadows at the end of the day under the La Sals, epitomizes that line for me.
This music … every line is a favorite. If you don’t have this CD, get it. Period.
Aspen on a windy day was gamely providing “gotcher back” to Hayden – from a distance – where it was, you know, safe(r). But he couldn’t let the kid get himself into trouble, so here he was. Ready. Just in case.
Note that he’s starting to shed his winter coat. A little more snow today that didn’t come close to sticking made it still chilly. Don’t shed all at once, pal.
The wind was ruffling their manes and tails and forelocks, but they – Hayden, indeed – were completely unruffled by our presence.
Hayden is not pictured in this lineup because he had started walking up the road to where I had stopped the Jeep.
From left: Tenaz (almost 3), Apollo (almost 2), Killian (!) (almost 2) and Aspen (probably 11+).
A couple of visits ago, Killian was not with mama Roja and her band (Storm’s band, which includes Gaia and her daughter, Cassidy Rain). I hoped he hooked up with the bachelor boys; he did! Aren’t they the picture of innocence in the pic above? 🙂 Killian appears to be an “off” shade of bay because he will turn grey, like his sire, Seven.
And, because I can’t leave him out, and because he was posing so handsomely for my friend Nancy, who was lying on the ground to photograph him, Mister Hayden:
Love, love, love his heart-star. From the cutest baby to quite a handsome young mister, this Grey/Traveler son is filling out very well.
As you can tell, it was a pretty windy day. Rain is in the forecast; all dances, finger- and toe-crossing welcome!
Our friend Ann also was with us for a visit to the horses. We saw Shadow and her baby girl (and Seven and Puzzle) but from a very great distance.
I also want to give a shout to friends Sue and Roy, who also were visiting the horses. Roy was the first to spot last year’s first foal of the year AND named her: Mariah. What a gorgeous girl she is growing up to be.
Left to right: Apollo (almost 2), Tenaz (almost 3) and Aspen (9-ish or older). Sorrel Hayden (3) also is with the group of bachelor pals.
The misters had been with elder Poco earlier. It was good to see him for the first time after the winter. He looks pretty good – and if I’d gotten to them earlier, I might have had a pic of FOUR bay buds!
No, this isn’t a post about an expectant mama.
It’s about stallions going into winter with happy bellies! Look at these pudgy boys: Aspen (right) and Seven!
They were hanging out with youngsters Hayden, Tenaz and Apollo. Always nice to see the older boys guiding the younger generation.
Handsome misters. 🙂
What, you thought this would be a post about Colorado’s colorful trees?
Aspen and Seven were hanging out with Traveler’s band.
Spring Creek Basin boasts a few cottonwoods in various locations, but it’s too low (elevation) for aspen. The cottonwoods along Disappointment Creek are blazing. Some are past peak now, but they’re gorgeous!
These boys were moving across Wildcat Valley the other night while I was visiting Comanche’s and Hollywood’s bands.
Seven, Bounce, Kreacher, Aspen, Apollo, Tenaz and Hayden at sunset.
Aspen against a rainy sky a few nights ago.
The recent rains DID, in fact, put water in some of the ponds. Some went from very shallow to quite a bit fuller. Some went from dry to this:
The Flat Top pond. It (likely) won’t get dug out this year, but it’s good to see it with water again.
The northwest pond, however, should get dug out next week – it’s still dry. Or was; the basin got rain again this afternoon after a dry spell of a few days.
The east-pocket pond has water again. The Sorrel Flats pond has way more water (it was getting pretty shallow). And those are just the ones I’ve looked at, being more concerned with pony doings. What can I say, I get distracted easily. 🙂
I should have – but didn’t – take pix of the first Spring Creek arroyo crossing. No more water flowing, but the rocks the water pushed along was awe-inspiring (as always). Water is a driving force in this “Disappointment Country” – and the lack of it just as much, if not more so.
And I’ll leave ya’ll with this pretty sunset over the La Sal Mountains (to the northwest of the basin, in Utah):
It’s good to have rain. 🙂
A while back, I promised more pix of Seven and the horses with him, but then came the distraction of baby Mariah! And now Aspen is – or was recently – alone. I haven’t seen Mona – or Storm. Bounce and Tenaz had left the bands, too.
He doesn’t lack for handsomeness, does he? 🙂 Mr. Muscle!
He definitely has Roja (and their son Killian) back, and he chased Mona back to Aspen at least a couple of times. Roja is definitely pregnant!
Mona with Aspen.
Better light on the pretty girl.
Storm, growing up and shedding out! When I confirm his whereabouts – and Mona’s – you’ll be the first to know!
Hadn’t had a sighting of these horses in a couple of weeks. Thought they must be the first back to the east pocket – and there they were!
From left to right: Seven, Killian and Roja, Mona and Aspen, and Storm. Not seen up the hill to the right: Bounce and Tenaz.
Tenaz gave me a massive scare earlier this day; I found the horses – except him. I spent a fair bit of time with them while they grazed their way from an arroyo to some hills and over – not a sign of him to be seen. The photo in the previous post of Poco and Roach I got after walking out to see if he was with them and I had missed him when I saw them first – from a distance. (He wasn’t.) But when we came back around a few hours later, there he was, unscathed and perfectly fine. No idea where he was earlier.
Seven seems to have Roja and Killian back – which I thought was the case when I last saw them, from a distance. Seven actually chased Mona back to Aspen a couple of times. Bounce and Storm are fending each other off, and Tenaz seems to stick close to Bounce (which he has been doing for the last several months, and which is why it gave me such a scare to NOT see him).
I’ll have some more pix of these guys, but this one shows most of them together. Bounce is fairly lean and has quite a few new scars. Roja is just as pregnant as all get out. She’s not due till May, but until last year, she had been my first foaler (early April).
Spring Creek Basin Mustangs 