Bruiser | Spring Creek Basin Mustangs

Interaction

18 07 2009

For the latest installment, a little more intimate look at the interactions of a couple of bands. Visits when I see all or most of the horses are great because I get a sense of everybody’s overall well-being. Visits when I get to hang out with a couple of bands are great because I get a more intimate feel for individual horses and personalities. Visits are great.

David and Shadow were visible from the county road again. They led me to their water source …

Hoofprint puddles

David and Shadow

They seem very bonded, this pair. Shadow is 2 this year … not sure about David.

David

Shadow

She looks like her mother, Ceal.

Then it was on to the main entrance of the basin.

Bounce’s band – and Cinch and Bruiser – were hanging out in the meadow area above the second intersection. Tiny bits of rain drops were falling intermittently. Some clouds to the northeast; some clouds over the western ridgeline. The pressing goal was to find and check on Terra … I did find her, finally, with her band, through binoculars, up on a hill along the eastern hills. She was standing and moving – and up on a hill. Thunder and lightning cut short the visit and any hope of seeing her from a closer distance …

Bounces band and Cinch and Bruiser

When Whisper was first born, I noted that he had the same trot as his daddy; here, he mimics mama.

Alegre and Whisper

Heading toward the road.

Following

Where ya going?

See the likeness?

Wait for me

Cinch

Wait for me, too

Bruiser

The discussion

Oddly enough, it was Bruiser who engaged Bounce. They’re probably fairly close in age?

The conclusion

Bruiser let fly, but he didn’t connect.

One way

The other way

To the rescue

Alegre and the youngsters were walking toward me when Bounce arrived to put an end to that nonsense.

Family

Favorite of the day.

Second favorite

They’re heading away from the second intersection. In the far background, you might be able to pick out part of the loop road where it heads on south from the east pocket.

I drove on (this was on the northwest road, by the way) to visit with Hollywood’s band.

Safe Sage

Piedra grazes close while Sage naps.

Sage and Piedra

Brumley Point (which seems to lack an actual point) in the background. The band was on the north/northwest side of the road between the intersections, southish of the northwest road.

Poco

McKenna Peak (which has a point) and “the promontory” in the background.

Roach

The boys are sticking close – but not too close. They are with company, but I feel some sadness for them, too … close but not close enough to having what they had.

Piedra and Baylee

Baylee

Sage and Baylee

Hollywood

All together

Cheeky

Biting mama’s ear

More cheek

The boy defines “cheeky!”

Ha ha!

So he’s yawning, but what a funny little mister. 🙂

Sweet boy

Quiet

What an angel he is.

Whew, it was hot out there. I left pretty soon after that last picture. The boy’s tummy was full, and he was sleepy again. He laid down for another nap, and I left the ponies to sunshine and browse.

On the way out, to the tune of thunder and a show of lightning, right before I spotted Grey/Traveler’s band on the hill, Steeldust’s were coming out of “hiding” from the direction of Wildcat Spring. All the ponies seen last weekend but Seven’s band. Was particularly glad to see David and Shadow.

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Categories : Alegre, Baylee, Bounce, Bruiser, Cinch, David, Gaia, Hollywood, Piedra, Poco, Roach, Sage, Whisper

‘This is so cool!’

7 07 2009

This past weekend, I got to see the horses through new eyes: the eyes of two people who had never before seen horses in the wild. So cool! Naturally, they have joined the ranks of those enveloped by the magic, and I’m so thrilled to have been there to witness it. C and L, of California, thank you so much for coming out to see our wild horses of Spring Creek Basin!

We first spotted Kreacher and the girls, way up high above Spring Creek canyon, then spotted and made our way toward Steeldust’s band, up in the trees near the road to Horse Park. Bounce’s band was close by the road, so they were the first objects of our up-close-and-personal visit.

Who you lookin at?

They were very at ease with our presence; that little black body at Alegre and Gaia’s feet is Whisper, flat out taking a nap.

Got bugs

I missed Bounce actually bucking to get rid of some big mongo bug, but if you’re planning a visit, be aware of the hordes of bugs.

All well

Ignoring the bugs for a while.

Band ne Steeldust

Then we walked just up the hill and found Steeldust’s band – with bachelors Aspen, Hook and Chrome – napping under the sunshine and periodic clouds. Mouse and Comanche, of course, as usual, were with the band.

Horseplay

Ya gotta watch those boys! Always wantin’ to play! Aspen looking on while Chrome tries to tackle Hook, who just walked away from the cheeky pal.

Hannah

Three months old tomorrow!

Sweet face

Hannah with Mahogany, Pinon, Sable (not very well seen), Butch and Ember at far right.

Lunch time

Love Luna’s expression here while her baby girl nurses.

The ponies finally started waking up and moving on to graze, so we went on to see what we could see. Seven and his band are still in the east pocket – babies seen long distance but look good. Oh, I forgot that first Bruiser and Cinch and then Hollywood’s band – still with Poco and Roach – had appeared out in the open below Steeldust’s band while we watched them.

Cinch and Bruiser

Muddy boys. In fact, it took me a few minutes to first identify them (from a considerably farther distance than this photo was taken from) because of the glare of the sun and the coating of mud on Bruiser!

Steeldust’s band went to water at Wildcat Spring, so we waited for them to drink, then we walked back to see what it looked like. Steeldust’s band and the bachelors were still in the area, standing up on the near hill … so we walked on to see the water … and unfortunately surprised Grey/Traveler’s band there drinking. 😦 They ran up the opposite hill and over to the open area by the road. Argh. Sure never expected to see them right there, drinking immediately after Steeldust’s band, or we wouldn’t have gone back at that time! Waited a bit, then drove around the curve to get a look and make sure everybody was well and good – and they were, calmly grazing.

Traveler and family

You can see Jif, still sporting her big belly, at left.

We drove into the far northwestern portion to see if we could find Duke, Raven and Corona – and did! Almost to the boundary fence. We backed way up to keep them from feeling crowded against the fence, but they came out for a better look – and better viewing!

Raven and Corona

Corona – like all the babies – is growing fast!

And with that, we had seen all but the pinto band and David and Shadow – not too shabby for C&L’s first visit to see wild horses. THIS WAS SO COOL! 🙂

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Categories : Alegre, Aspen, Bounce, Bruiser, Chrome, Cinch, Comanche, Corona, Gaia, Grey, Hannah, Houdini, Jif, Luna, Mahogany, Pinon, Raven, Steeldust, Terra, Twister, Two Boots, Whisper

The dry and the wet of it

1 07 2009

They might have been waiting for me, as close as Steeldust’s and Hollywood’s bands were to the entrance when I returned to Spring Creek Basin for the first time after my recent vacation. They were working their way up the main drainage that comes down to Spring Creek from the upper north hills. Spring Creek has some water in places; the arroyo they were in is dry.

Some good news: The little pond by the road to the old trap site at Spring Creek has water! The proof of recent rain is evident, but the roads were all dry. It’s pretty green, and even though most of that is vegetation like four-winged saltbush and greasewood and sage and etcetera, there actually is some grass – besides the gone-to-brown cheat grass.

The ponies are in great shape. The babies are growing stout and healthy, and even the stallions, who got a little lean last spring sparring for the girls, look super. So good to be back!

Sage

The little mister is trying to give us a glimpse of his true color … but what will it be? Keep in mind his dorsal and zebra stripes. Mama is grey – likely born bay; Daddy is dun … grandma may have been grulla (that is to say, the mare I think is grandma was grulla).

Watchful

Steeldust and his band pay close attention to Hollywood’s band and friends Poco and Roach.

Siblings?

Little Hannah, now almost 3 months old, with big sister Ember, barely seen behind Butch, with Sundance at right. Brothers? Hannah and Ember’s brothers? You can see Sundance is still keeping his “pink” shade, while Butch is tending more toward grey now.

Must be lunch time

Storm, 11 months old, is still nursing from Alpha. At left, you can just barely see Hannah’s chinny-chin-chin as she nurses from Luna. Two-year-old Kestrel (who no longer shows signs of a bulging belly) is in front; big daddy Steeldust is in back.

Pinon and Storm

And a little action: Although Pinon is two months older than Storm, Storm’s mama is an “alpha” mare – that would be Alpha! – and he inherits some of her status. He’s a big boy, outgoing, confident and strong. And look how grey he has become!

Heads and tails and a baby face

Extended family

Comanche at left, Steeldust’s in the middle, Hollywood’s at right. Poco and Roach were out of the frame to the right. Steeldust’s is Piedra and Baylee’s original family band; Mahogany is Baylee’s dam, possibly Piedra’s … possibly Sage’s grandma! Fun. I love watching their family interactions. This is looking to the northwest. Between the nearer green hills and the hills dotted with pinon-juniper is the little valley through which the upper northwest entrance road runs.

As I headed into the heart of the basin, clouds were looming over the western horizon, but I was prepared to wait out any rain from inside the basin (serious danger alert: you better be prepared with food, water and possibly sleeping bag and extra clothes if you’re going to do that; know that the roads will – eventually – dry out, but it might be several hours, even the next day). After three weeks away, I really wanted to re-connect with Grey-my-boy.

I spotted Bounce and his girls and little boy up on a clear hill near the road to Horse Park. My, they were up high(er than usual). Then, below them and more west or northwest, ghosts in the trees … Grey/Traveler and Houdini and the fam! They were headed down out of the trees toward Wildcat Spring. By the time I got around to that area, the horses were on the trail to the open from the spring.

Time to play

When I got to them, I was surprised to see a couple of the youngsters playing “chase.” Now for the cool part: That’s Twister – 2 years old – chasing 2-month-old Terra! Houdini was already across the road (to the right) by this time. Cuatro, infected by the fun, was trying to get mama Two Boots (also 2!) to play, but she wasn’t nearly as accommodating. Jif leading and Iya bringing up the rear.

Playful Cuatro

Catch me if you can

Hide n seek

I love this scene. Daddy Grey in the foreground – ears up, happy. Cuatro at right, trying to get mama to play. Then, see that butt? That’s Twister. See the sly little girl hiding around the tree at left? Ha! A couple of moments later, she took off for mama.

All right with the world

Grey/Traveler, Terra and Houdini

Jif with da belly

Someday soon …

Two Boots and Cuatro

Just about now it was starting to rain, so I headed back to the Jeep – all the better to protect the camera, see.

It rained for about an hour and a half – a nice, gentle, excellent rain. The ponies mostly stood napping as it rained, but as the rain started to ease, the horses started grazing, moving back toward me but not all that close. The ground was wet, with puddles, but it wasn’t sloppy muddy. It had cooled down quite a bit, from the 70s to the 60s, so I put a jacket on and started to head out toward them … when I heard a sound – loud, like ATVs.

Watching

I kept watching back around the curve of the road for people on four-wheelers, wondering why they were out so soon after it rained (but look at me, waiting out the rain IN the basin). The ponies watched, too …

Away

But then they started running …

… and then I realized why.

Bird of prey

To wild horses, especially those that have been rounded up by helicopter, helicopters might as well be hawks, the horses, rabbits. “Mad” doesn’t begin to describe my emotion watching that helicopter cruise over the basin – over Grey’s band, over Bounce’s band and over, as I found out in the next moments, the bachelors (Aspen, Chrome, Hook, Cinch and Bruiser – yeah, they were back in the north). Traveler, Bounce and Bruiser all were gathered in 2007 – with their families, by helicopter.

I don’t know the origin of the helicopter, private or otherwise, or on-the-ground launch site. It came from the west and flew almost directly east. How low was it? Low enough. I’m willing to entertain the thought that it was related to some kind of firefighting effort – bless those brave folks – but way not cool to fly a helicopter so low over a wild horse herd management area.

Still running

They ran from about the middle of that big open area west (southwest?) of the east-side loop road to the road past where it curves south.

STILL RUNNING

They’re on the road now … still running. I don’t know that it’s possible to convey the distance with photos, but they were running after the helicopter – and the sound of it – was gone.

Bounce’s band just disappeared. I became aware of the bachelors when they came galloping down out of the hills and into that open area.

Running away

They ran in the opposite direction from the helicopter, got to the cottonwoods in the Wildcat drainage and finally stopped. Then they headed toward the arroyo and the east-west hill.

Rollin

They found the spot to roll in the mud – yummy! Cinch had already rolled; Bruiser went all the way over!

Thats the spot

There’s Cinch checking out Aspen.

Telling secrets

It’s gotta be the sweetness that keeps the spotted boys coming back …! Is this weird: Cinch and Bruiser come to the north, but I’ve never seen the northern boys in the south. First thing that comes to mind: water.

The clouds disappeared, and the sky was bluer than blue (well, it was). I wasn’t driving anywhere any time soon, so I followed the path Traveler’s band had taken. They got to the dry pond around the curve (still dry), then headed toward one of the saddles of Lizard Mesa, up and over. I found them grazing on the east side of Knife Edge.

But this is the real news:

Water, flowing

How cool is that! OK, so it’s pretty cool. Hard to tell, I know, and it was muddy, but no one looks down their muzzle at flowing water in the basin – unless it’s while they’re sipping.

Water - more - flowing!

What can I say, flowing water deserves photographic celebration.

I went on up to the crest of the east-west hill to watch Grey/Traveler and family, and I got another surprise: Seven’s family was on or near the west-side loop road! How ironic; can’t get to them because of the mud, and they wouldn’t have stayed on/near the road with company of the two-legged variety anyway, but there they were. I watched them (both bands) through the binocs for a while and did finally see both of Seven’s foals – Ze and Liberty – so I headed west along the top of the hill back toward the Jeep. Beautiful, glowing light. Lovely visits with the horses – dumb, crappy, insert-bad-name-here helicopter notwithstanding. Did I mention I was glad to be back?

You can get lost in the basin. Not geographically (too many landmarks) but in thoughts and emotions. The magic of the basin, when it envelopes you, does it subtly, gently. It’s the horses – they have their own magic – but it’s the light, too, and bucking the “nothing is out there” myth, the air, the breeze (against you when it brings dust, dries out ponds; your friend when it keeps the gnats away). It’s miles away from people and what doesn’t matter.

I was lost in THAT place walking across a bench above the arroyo (flowing water!) toward a hill when I caught movement out of the corner of my eye: Alegre … Whisper … Gaia … I froze, camera on the monopod over my shoulder (I cleaned out my Jeep for the trip home, so excited to get back to the basin, forgot to replace my backpack; I know, I said I was prepared – mostly!), and watched them come up out of the arroyo. I thought Gaia saw me, but Alegre – leading – didn’t until she had come many steps closer … to me … frozen in … THAT place … in wonder … in the magic.

Then ‘Legs saw me, and Bounce came up at the same moment, and they changed course and trotted up the hill in front of me.

Mama and her boy and her girl

Those horses … that light … that place.

Sweet girl, lovely mama

They stopped at the top of the hill. I was glad to see them at the end of the day, and again, after the helicopter.

Bounce

Magic.

Doesn’t get much better than that.

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Categories : Alegre, Alpha, Aspen, Baylee, Bounce, Bruiser, Chrome, Cinch, Comanche, Cuatro, Ember, Gaia, Grey, Hannah, Hollywood, Houdini, Iya, Jif, Kestrel, Luna, Mahogany, Piedra, Pinon, Poco, Roach, Sage, Steeldust, Storm, Terra, Twister, Two Boots, Whisper

Anticipation

25 06 2009

Almost three weeks ago, I was in the basin. Almost on the eve of returning, here are some photos from that last trip to whet your apetite – and mine!

Sharing a scratch

Mona and Kootenai and their dashing beau were right by Filly Peak – again.

Kreacher

The dashing beau.

Ladies and the lad

Looking sort of east-northeast from the north side of Filly Peak and the road.

Spots in a sea of green

Cinch and Bruiser came up to the north country to have a chat with the bachelor 3 – Aspen, Chrome and Hook – and possibly to get some water from the last pond on the place (which is now dry).

Bachelor 3

Cheeky boys: Chrome, Hook and Aspen

Friendly

Aspen and Hook

Looking out

From beyond the pond – which is unseen in the foreground – looking westward toward the heart of the basin. Hollywood’s band – with Poco and Roach – are at left, and Steeldust’s are at right. They’ve left the pond and are heading back toward the road and the open areas to graze. You can see the doubletrack that leads from the road to the pond.

Once red, now grey

Storm-chaser has mostly shed into manly grey. That’s Comanche at left.

Storm spots

On the way home, the spotted ponies were visible from the county road. Visible above are all the critters save the two bay solids: Copper and Mesa

Spotted lasses

Reya (2) and Spook (1) and Copper in the background.

Dark or darker

Ty of the unknown color.

Can’t wait to get back.

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Categories : Aspen, Bruiser, Chrome, Cinch, Comanche, Hollywood, Kootenai, Kreacher, Mona, Piedra, pintos, Poco, Roach, Spook, Steeldust, Storm, Ty, Uncategorized

A living prayer

6 03 2009

Words are useless to describe my experiences with the horses last weekend. So I’m not going to try. It has taken me several days to even get to where I could look at the photos I took because the memories – and the emotions they evoked – are so vivid, the photos really are just aids to remember.

It’s about the horses. Always about the horses …

Reya, Copper, Spook, Ty, Kiowa

Spook and Kiowa

David and Shadow

Shadow, David and Mesa

Shadow and David watch Corazon and Mesa

Corazon, Chipeta and Mesa

Shadow and David leaving

Pinto band settling down

Bruiser and Cinch nearby

Shadow and David later

Hook, Chrome and Duke

Duke and Chrome

Steeldusts band in front of McKenna Peak

Ember and family

Mouse and Comanche in front of Brumley Point

Steeldust and Comanche

Steeldust and Hook

Mahogany

Pinon under a juniper

Luna

Ember

Storm and Alpha

7-month-old Storm

Poco

Roach

Bones

Bones and Roach

Gaia and Bounce

Alegre

Gaia and Alegre

Two Boots, Iya and Twister

Houdini

Houdini and Two Boots

Jif

Jif, Iya, Houdini and Grey/Traveler

Grey, Houdini and Two Boots

Twister and Iya

Two Boots, Grey/Traveler and Iya

Although not everyone is pictured above, only Seven’s band did not make an appearance Saturday. The pictures of the pintos, David and Shadow and Bruiser and Cinch were taken early in the morning, and the pictures of Grey’s band were taken with the last bit of sunlight and after the sun had gone behind Filly Peak. A full day of horses.

Pictures from Sunday to come …

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Categories : Alegre, Alpha, Bones, Bounce, Bruiser, Cinch, Corazon, David, Grey, Houdini, Jif, Luna, Mahogany, Mesa, Pinon, pintos, Poco, Roach, Steeldust, Storm, Ty

Mountain magic

22 01 2009

Go never to the wild with an agenda … If you’re silly enough to go with an agenda, be prepared to abandon it immediately.

That is a lesson I learned early on, and it continues to hold true. As late as driving along the herd area on the county road Sunday morning, I had one mission but no agenda. I had an idea where I wanted to park and hike in – not my favorite hike-in spot – but that idea was quickly abandoned when I happened to spot a white spot among white snow spots: the pintos. Hit reverse, back to my spot, through the fence and onward.

When you’re given horses, never ignore the gift.

Sharing snow

The pinto girls and boy and their solid pals were below the bench that runs around the west side of their hill, grazing lazily in the sunshine. In this photo, Kiowa and Copper shared a patch of snow. Check out Copper’s expression.

Chipeta and admirers

Front to back: Corazon, Chipeta and Ty. I don’t quite understand the dynamics of this non-traditional family, but it makes for fun watching. Copper definitely seems to be back in charge, but he tends to leave Chipeta to her own devices. She’s a bit of a coquette, I think. If they get too close, she pins her ears warns them away. It’s a little dance they do.

Mesa and the girls

We scared up some deer, and the horses walked on up to the top of the hill. Chipeta caught up to Kiowa, and Mesa paused to check me out before moseying out to lead the line.

I headed toward Round Top with the particularly vague idea of hiking to the summit to survey the area. At 10 a.m., the ground was still frozen. By at least 10:45 a.m., the thaw was well under way. Good thing I didn’t really want to march up the Top because I spotted horses out on the hill where the pinto band was last weekend.

Four horses total. Two together, Bruiser a little farther away and … David? By himself? Uh oh. The two horses together were Cinch and Shadow. Luckily, they waited until I hiked out to them to start the fireworks. (David saw me, but the others didn’t until after the show.)

I said no!

Cinch got frisky, but yearling (actually, she’ll be 2 this spring) Shadow wasn’t willing to accept him, so she ran from him, occasionally firing a half-hearted kick at his chest.

Go away!

Right after this, they suddenly stopped and started grazing (as best they could through the snow). David was right above them, watching them and me, and I thought Shadow might walk right up to him. But she didn’t. He finally turned around and went back down his side of the hill. Finally Bruiser noticed me, then Cinch, then Shadow. THEN she walked up the hill to David, and normalcy was restored.

Some magic

They trotted down the hill toward an arroyo, then up the other side toward Round Top.

Another sort of chase

David finally had enough of Cinch being close to his girl and lunged at him. This was across the arroyo. They all trotted away together.

I continued on up toward Round Top, hiking past the pond on the way. Dry. Not even any snow in the bed of the pond. There’s a trail that goes up to the ridge on the southwest side of the saddle between the two Tops, which I’m starting to call the saddle trail. From there, I spotted, way off yonder in the amazingly far distance, what looked like Grey/Traveler’s band. I could pick out a grey – him or Houdini – and what looked like Twister.

Sleepy Seven

Look who I found napping in the sunshine closest to Round Top. He was sort of uncharacteristically calm; I couldn’t believe he watched me while lying down. At first, I saw just him and Roja – grazing nearby – and was really looking around for old-girl Molly.

Sleepy Molly

When I finally saw her, I realized that while focusing on Seven and Roja, I had walked right by Molly, who was napping under a tree, one of her habits. She looked at me for a minute, then seemed to realize that I was closer to her family than she was and trotted on back to them. Seven got to his feet and stretched, then started nickering to Molly, but it was a little odd – more like a colt nickering to his mother than a stallion nickering to his mare. I know that sounds weird, and it was.

Roja and Molly

These girls are close. I think Molly could be Roja’s dam.

Seven and his girls

Once they reunited, they didn’t go far, but I headed back up to the trail. I was glad to see these ponies.

After I saw Seven and the girls, I was pretty sure the far horses were, indeed, Traveler’s band, but they were way up to the northwest, and my Jeep was way back to the southwest. Because of the snow and mud and what promised to be a long walk not only to where the band was but then back to the Jeep, I decided to walk back to the Jeep, then drive up to the corral and hike from there.

Under the mountains

The horses ended up being even farther along the hill above the corral than I thought. That’s Filly Peak sloping up to the right. Two Boots looking at me, Twister behind her, Houdini grazing, and Iya in front of her.

Houdini

Mama Houdini. Random thought from the day: She should be about three months from foaling.

Traveler

Handsome boy.

Horses, mountains

See the fence in the background? Behind the horses. That’s the boundary fence that eventually runs down to the county road. I’ve never been that close to that fence.

Bliss

The promised image of Traveler enjoying a bite of snow. He really seemed to enjoy it!

Backside of Filly Peak

Twister, Traveler and Jif with the southwest side of Filly Peak in the background.

Jif

Jif should have Traveler’s foal this spring, too.

Family

A final look of the day at the ponies.

I took my time walking back across the hill and down to the Jeep, savoring the day and letting my tiredness catch up to me. The weather was particularly gorgeous; for January, it was nothing less than amazing. My mission of the day, by the way, was to find Grey. Fabulous day.

We’re supposed to get some snow in the next few days, so I won’t be making a trip to the basin this weekend. But I will be taking a trip to the Browning Ranch in Farmington, N.M., which acts as a holding facility for wild horses rounded up and removed from (at least) the Carson National Forest. Claude Steelman, photographer and author of the excellent book Colorado’s Wild Horses, adopted a yearling colt from the Carson and took him home last Thanksgiving. I’m going to meet up with Claude there and see what’s what.

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Categories : Bruiser, Cinch, Corazon, David, Grey, Houdini, Jif, Mesa, Molly, pintos, Seven, Ty

And on the seventh day …

26 11 2008

Seven and his girls

Look who decided to make an appearance: Seven, left, Molly and Roja. They were at the yucky little water hole between Flat Top and Round Top on Saturday with Bruiser and Cinch. Molly is showing her age, but she looks pretty good. Roja is downright fat! Seven is handsome as ever. That light patch on Molly’s hip is just dried mud, in case you were wondering, like I was.

I walked out to them on the trail that goes around the west side of Round Top and connects to the trail that runs along the ridge sort of south of Flat Top down to the water hole that has been dry since April. Right along that ridge trail is where Bruiser and Cinch were grazing. Seven saw me for quite a while as I was hiking, but the spotted boys were oblivious until I was fairly close.

Wide open invisible

This is Cinch, with Seven in the background. I was standing in the middle of the trail here, in full view of Seven, and I had expected Cinch and Bruiser to spot me much earlier than this. In fact, although you can see Cinch’s eye here, he still hasn’t noticed me.

Hello!

Cinch pretends to finally notice Seven.

And hello!

Now they see me. Bruiser on the left.

Boys

A wider shot showing Seven in the background.

Molly and Roja

See how fat is Roja? She’s the sorrel mare walking away. The white stuff is the salty stuff around the little water puddle. And that’s Molly looking at me.

Mr. Handsome

Seven was not very happy about the proximity of the pinto stallions, but they insisted on sticking around.

Bruiser and Seven

Older and recent band stallion Bruiser seemed to recognize Seven’s dominance, and neither he nor Cinch put up much “fight.”

Arabian knight?

“How cool am I?” Seven seems to ask here. Isn’t he beautiful?

El Victorio

Very satisfied with himself.

Seven

I have definitely missed seeing this boy.

Molly, Seven and Roja

This was taken near the road to Round Top looking sort of northish, maybe slightly northeastish.

Boys with spots

One more of Cinch, left, and Bruiser. What if Bruiser is Cinch’s sire? Similar faces, eh? But check out those little curvy hooks at the tips of Cinch’s ears! Cute!

Quiet time

Steeldust’s band was right along the base of the roller-coaster ridge, just a little southeast of the pond. They were fairly spread out. Mouse was close to the family band (seen above minus Kestrel, Steeldust and Mahogany and Pinon), Aspen, Comanche and Duke were hanging out with Hollywood, Piedra and Baylee, and the breakaway boys – Chrome, Kreacher and Hook – were even farther south. In the photo above, from left, Storm, Alpha, Ember and Luna, Butch (hard to see) and Sundance. You may not be able to see it in this small photo, but Ember is totally eyeing me even while having her snack.

Luna and Kestrel

Luna and her yearling filly, Kestrel. Even though yearling filly Baylee (Mahogany’s daughter) decided to join Hollywood’s little band with Piedra (who might be her big sister), Kestrel is still with the big family.

Luna and her babies

Luna and her youngest babies, Ember and Kestrel. And a bonus background. Can you guess? That’s Filly Peak way off yonder to the west.

Steeldust

Family man Steely Dan walking toward Luna (and Ember and Kestrel) with the beautiful La Sal Mountains in the background.

Pinon and Mahogany

I think young Mr. Pinon is growing up to be such a handsome young man!

Alpha, Storm and Sundance

Storm looks slightly disembodied here, but he’s still lying down as in that first photo of the group.

Little prince

A closer look …

Soooo sleepy

Check out his wispy little “Trojan horse” mane!

Napping

Daddy Steeldust was taking advantage of the warm sunshine, too. Flat Top in the background.

Boo-boo

Hollywood and Mouse got into a little play fight last Sunday while we watched them near the end of the day. Although none of us thought they were being at all serious, Hollywood came away with a cut on his lip, and Mouse has an apple-size swelling on his neck.

Hearts

Say it with me now: Awwwww. I love how their faces seem to mimic the shape of a heart. Piedra, left, and Hollywood.

Alegre and Gaia

These last photos were actually taken at the very end of the day Friday (all the other pictures on this post were taken Saturday). Bounce and his girls were down on the other, north, side of the roller-coaster ridge.

Bounce m'boy

Such a handsome boy! That’s McKenna Peak (thanks, Kathe and Bob) in the background, namesake of the McKenna Peak Wilderness Study Area.

Only beautiful

I love this boy, Bounce. And I love his look here.

Can you have too many beautiful weekends in the wild? As I’m writing this, it’s the day before Thanksgiving. I could never take the horses, their beauty and grace, for granted. My heartfelt thanks to them for what they teach me every time I’m with them.

I do still have some photos from Sunday to tweak and post, including more of Seven and his girls, and some from a lovely visit with the new girls. Over the course of the weekend, I saw all the horses but David and Shadow! (So now who’s the object of the wild horse chase, eh?) Thanks also to you readers who have come along in this journey of getting to know our Spring Creek Basin horses.

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Categories : Alegre, Alpha, Bounce, Bruiser, Cinch, Hollywood, Luna, Mahogany, Molly, Pinon, Seven, Steeldust, Storm

Far afield

28 10 2008

Stop.

If you’re expecting news of the new girls, stop reading now. Though I searched high and low and found all the horses but Bounce’s band and Seven’s band – and, well, the girls – I didn’t find the girls. At all. Not hide nor hair. I’ll tell you who they’re for sure NOT with (as of Sunday): not Steeldust’s band, not Traveler’s band, not Cinch and Bruiser, not the pintos, not Poco, Bones and Roach, not David and Shadow.

Maybe they’re wandering far afield, testing their new boundaries, walking new paths, learning the landscape of their new home. Maybe they’re looking for something familiar – a hill, a smell, something that reminds them of home that used to be. Maybe they’ll stay together; maybe they’ll split up and go their separate ways. Maybe I’ll find them next weekend.

It was a gorgeous weekend, but it’s so, so dry. We need rain. The horses seem to be wandering quite a bit. My human eyes don’t see much vegetation that looks scrumptious, but the horses look pretty good – even fat in some cases.

First up Saturday was the big band: Steeldust and the Bachelor 7. Right around the corner: Cinch and Bruiser. Hollywood is still hoarding his small harem but basically part of the band.

Object of interest

She’s hard to see in this photo, but the doe the horses are looking at is maybe the first deer I’ve seen in the area since early spring. She caught the attention of all the horses, who stood looking … until Storm suddenly bolted down the hill, which sent all the horses galloping.

Gallop

They ran right down to the pond – the same one the new girls drank from Friday – drank, then wandered out into the open to the south and east.

Drink break

Cinch and Bruiser followed them to the pond and had a little chat with some of the Bachelor 7, not visible here.

I drove on into the basin and around the loop and up toward the north, and kept the binoculars practically glued to my eyeballs. From Round Top, I saw David and Shadow, who have been elusive lately. They were at a little puddle – the one Grey and the youngsters and Bruiser were playing in last Sunday, I think – but a little separate. David waited for Shadow, who had wandered east. His patience won; she finally wandered back at a mosey, maybe an amble, and followed him across the trail and down to the little “valley” below (westish of) Flat Top and Round Top and out of sight.

From a hill in the north, I could see that Grey/Traveler was up by the water catchment – along with Steeldust’s band. I didn’t see any other horses that day.

Grey and his band were up by Filly Peak in the shade by the time I drove around to see them. Steeldust and the big band were nearby but east of the road and still in the light. Hanging out close to the bachelors were the pinto boys.

Bruiser and Cinch

I took this picture of the boys from the Jeep. You can still see some mud on Bruiser, but he has shaken off most of what had him looking like a dark boy last weekend.

Family within the family

Hollywood with his girls, Baylee and Piedra, who was taking a cat nap in the late sunshine.

What about me?

Last fall, I don’t remember seeing any of the foals nursing this late, but this year’s babies are still nursing. Ember, nursing in the photo above, is the oldest of this year’s foals. Pinon is the curious youngster at left.

Seemed like a good idea

And there’s little Storm, youngest baby in the basin.

All the babies – and big babies, too! – are getting fuzzy. The days are practically perfect, but sunset comes early, sunrise comes late, and it gets chilly under that endless night sky over Spring Creek Basin.

Late sunrises are good for a non-early-riser like me. Sunday, Steeldust and his entourage were down in the broad “valley” east of the water catchment. They stayed out there – generally speaking – most of the day. I drove around the loop and spotted Bones’ white face from the roller-coaster ridge road. I hiked down to make sure they were all there.

Spring Creek

They were lounging by Spring Creek, which actually has flowing water! Not much, and shallow, but it has to be better than drinking from puddles.

On guard

These guys are pretty easy going, but I was lucky again to find them across an arroyo (Spring Creek).

Poco and Roach

It’s nice when they’re so worried they get a little shut-eye while I hang out with them. 😉

I headed on out, passing Steeldust again on my way, and drove down the county road to hike in and look for the pintos – and see if the new girls were with them. They weren’t, but the pintos, still with Copper and the boys, were back in the vicinity of their “favorite” hill. The weirdest thing was that they moved between my first sighting of them and when I actually found them, so it took a little looking. So close, so hard to find. Probably more to that than I even know.

When I did find them, they were on a hill across a gap from where I was. As careful as I am with all the horses, I’m especially careful with this group because Kiowa has been so protective of Spook, this year’s baby. I’ve been trying to get her to know I can share their environment without being a danger to them. The weirdest thing about this encounter with them was that I “snuck” up on them in the open. I stood on my hill, occasionally taking a step or two forward, waiting for one of the eight to notice me. I finally got to the edge of my hill where it started to slope down to the arroyo between “my” hill and “their” hill and sat down, and hung out, and enjoyed watching them graze across the hill.

The horses were pretty well spread out, and I tried to look at them with fresh eyes: If I didn’t know them, what would be my first impression of the eight horses on the far hill? On the left side of the hill: Mesa and Copper. To the right of them: Chipeta and Corazon. Sort of in the middle: sisters Reya and Spook. On the right side of the hill: Kiowa and Ty. Because of their size, yearling Reya and baby Spook would be easy to identify. At one point, Spook marched over to Kiowa and started nursing. Pretty obvious relationship there.

Two bay boys

Both the above are stallions; one I have identified as more in the band stallion position than any of the others. Which one do you think is most likely that stallion? The stallion on the left is bigger, his coat is sleek and shiny; he’s in good condition. The stallion on the left is smaller, he looks scrawnier; he may be a bit muddy, but he’s definitely scruffier. Fifty-fifty chance … guess? OK, it’s kind of a trick question. The stallion that looks like the king is at the bottom of the heap. What can I say? Mesa at left; Copper at right.

Corazon and Chipeta

Here’s Corazon, left, and Chipeta, not far up the hill from Mesa and Copper. Copper wasn’t worried.

Back to the what-if-I-didn’t-know-them question. My first thought probably wouldn’t be a mare and a foal and a yearling with a bunch of stallions – or even another mare. Maybe I’d think most of the others also were mares. But which one was the stallion?

Of all things, I think it was my camera shutter that gave me away, and it was Mesa’s little fox ears that heard it. He’s the one that finally saw me. That led to Copper, Corazon and Chipeta becoming aware of me. They started walking toward Kiowa and the others, and finally, a little “stallion” behavior:

Snaky

Once they were all together, they settled down again. At this point, neither Kiowa, Ty nor the babies had looked up or seemed to notice me.

On a mission

This pic of the sisters was taken before the above photo, and Spook walked right over to mama to nurse. She was so funny afterward – almost “drunk” on her mother’s milk, she immediately fell asleep on her feet!

I watched for a few minutes longer, then got up to leave.

Later, ponies!

And this is what I saw when I turned for a last look. Only Mesa is missing from this family portrait.

The glam big band was still out in the open when I returned to the main part of the basin for another trip around the loop. Guess who I found out for a Sunday drive? Photographer Claude Steelman, his wife, Katie, and friends Steve and Lisa Mackey. They were excited to see Steeldust and company, and they reported seeing “your boy” (Grey/Traveler), drinking at the pond below the roller-coaster ridge, and Poco, Bones and Roach! I was happy they saw all those ponies. But they hadn’t seen anybody else, either.

Traveler and the fam were napping between the pond and Round Top when I got around to that area. Northish from the twin ponds, I spotted Bones again, with Roach or Poco under a nearby tree. I looked especially hard back in the east pocket for Bounce and/or Seven, but those ponies had other ideas this weekend.

On the way out, Steeldust and groupies again.

Wild and beautiful

There’s my last glimpse of the wild beauties before I headed out of the basin around 5 p.m. To the far left, you can see Bruiser and Cinch.

Better luck next time! But how can you go wrong seeing so many horses? I did see Bounce, Alegre and Gaia last Sunday, but it’s been a few weeks now – since the tour – since I’ve seen Seven, Molly and Roja. I’d like to see Molly to check her condition.

If you didn’t stop reading, thank you on behalf of the horses. 🙂 I can’t even say I’m disappointed, not seeing the new girls – I had anything but a disappointing weekend! They are elusive, but maybe it makes finding them all the more wonderful … and full of wonder. And there’s always next weekend!

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Categories : Bones, Bruiser, Cinch, Corazon, Grey, Hollywood, Mesa, pintos, Poco, Roach, Steeldust, Storm

First look!

25 10 2008

Hello!

At long last, our three new mares, introduced to increase our herd’s genetic variability, are in their new home in Spring Creek Basin.

The last three introduced mares came in 2000 or 2001, I think, but only Luna remains (Slate died over the winter; what happened to the other mare is unknown). Because our herd is too small to maintain genetic viability on its own, the BLM introduces mares from other, similar type herds every few years. These three mares, like the last three, are from Sand Wash Basin in northern Colorado. A roundup there started last Friday (Oct. 17). This introduction had been planned at least since last fall.

Bob Ball, our BLM herd manager, went to Craig this week to select the mares, which have all been aged at 2 years old. He called me today on the way, and Jamie Sellar-Baker, associate manager of the Dolores Public Lands Office, was out patrolling and greeting hunters in the area, and had the near-perfect timing to stop in just before Bob and the mares arrived.

First steps

This apricot dun mare was the first out of the trailer, followed closely by the black pinto mare.

Apricot dun and pinto

These two came out of the trailer very close to each other, so I didn’t get clear first shots of the pinto. She’s not an obvious pinto; she has just three small white “slashes” on her left side. One is on her barrel, just behind her elbow, and the other two are smaller and toward her flank. From some angles, the smaller slashes are hard or impossible to see.

Dun girl

This mare’s coloring is similar to Hollywood’s, maybe not quite as “orangey.” Look at that big trot! Too bad about the “unnatural background,” but you can see the big green water tank and the two drinking tanks that provide water from the catchment.

Company

Bob pulled in and released the mares from the trailer right by the water catchment. Grey/Traveler was right down the hill! I was terribly excited, but as it turned out, I don’t think he ever saw the new mares. They’re pretty hard to see in this photo, but pinto bachelors Cinch and Bruiser are in the background, directly above the apricot dun (above the first group of trees, above a little ridge, below the second swath of trees). Jamie also had earlier spotted Alpha, in Steeldust’s band, in the far northwestern hills (not in this photo). Eagle eyes!

First drink

The mares started grazing pretty quickly after they got out of the trailer, but they also kept moving, and they completely bypassed the water tanks. They ended up by the small water hole by the entrance and the trap site. In the background here, you can see the canyon that rises above Spring Creek.

At the pond

Here you can see the black mare’s biggest white marking – which is not very big at all – and you can also see the shaved spot on the apricot dun’s hip. They all have that with an “FA” brand. (I’m not sure what exactly that denotes, but they all did get the PZP-22 immunocontraceptive.)

Nice, long drink

They didn’t go right into the water, which worked well for me because I couldn’t see them very well when they first approached the pond. They walked along high ground from the water catchment almost until they got to the pond, and I took a wide-arc approach until I got to a ridge just west of their ridge. I took these photos from the end of the ridge so I wouldn’t bother them. When they left the pond, I headed back to the catchment.

First impressions: I like these girls! The apricot dun, although she was first out of the trailer, seems to be low on the totem pole, based on the black mare’s attitude toward her. At least twice, the black mare pinned her ears and warned the little mare away. The other dun mare led the way down off the ridge and right to the water, with the black mare following right behind her.

They all have blazes, but the apricot dun and black mare have very wide blazes, and the other dun mare’s is narrower. The black mare’s hooks over her left eye, and the apricot dun has a spot at the bottom of her blaze, above her right nostril. Both dun mares have dorsal stripes, and zebra stripes are obvious on the apricot dun (though not black like Hollywood’s), not so obvious on the other. The black mare has a left front stocking, the dun has a left hind pastern (and possibly some low white marking on her left front), and the apricot dun seems to have a left hind fetlock that may be distinctly visible just from the inside (see the pic of her getting out of the trailer). When they walked toward the pond, I didn’t notice any distinct markings. The dun mare and black mare both have white chins (at least partially)!

Traveler and his band were just finished drinking from the smaller water tank when I approached on my way back to my parked Jeep. Ahh … I had really hoped he’d come right up the hill, see the new girls and go “welcome” them! Alas, it was not to be. They were very calm; I don’t think they ever saw the mares.

Lookie loos

From left, Houdini, Iya, Jif and Two Boots.

Good night

Jif, Twister and Traveler.

So there’s your first look at our new girls. Unfortunately, I had to return to civilization, but tomorrow will see me back in the wild. I can’t wait to see who – if anyone yet – they’ve hooked up with. Maybe one or some of the bachelors will get lucky!

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Categories : Bruiser, Cinch, Grey, New girls, Steeldust

Guess who!

20 10 2008

Roach and Poco

Although I hadn’t seen this little band for several weeks, it was worth the wait. Poco, Bones and Roach all look great. After the past year of getting to know my ponies, I’m close to a guarantee: The harder I look for particular horses, the more likely it will be that when I find them they’ll be right out in the open.

Last weekend, I hiked to the top of Round Top – always enjoyable to get a unique, almost “from-the-air” perspective of the basin – and still didn’t spot Roach’s distinctive red coat (he’s one of only two sorrels in the basin). This weekend, I hiked out between Flat Top and Round Top (and saw horses, but you’ll have to read on to find out who) and down to the south side of Round Top. Then I hiked south from the “twin ponds” and walked a narrow spiny ridge. Nada. Then north of the ponds. Nichts. Fun hiking, but where on Earth were those crazy equines? (You know the saying “God only knows”? Every time I ask myself where the horses are, I remind myself that THEY know where they are!)

A little after those hikes, in the Jeep, on the road, sun inching closer to the horizon hills, badda-bing: Through the binoculars, I saw a dark spot that turned out to be Poco’s back. Very close: Bones. They were in that little valley between Knife Edge and Lizard Mesa. I drove on and scanned; drove on, stopped to scan … Hello! Steeldust’s band just a short distance off the road in a grove of pinons. I interrupted the hunt for Poco’s band to take some pix of Steeldust’s group.

But before I get to them, here are a couple more of the “found” girl and boys:

Rear view

Here’s a pic of Bones’ healed fractured pelvis that probably shows it better than any other pic I’ve taken. But don’t just look at that – look at her little belly! She’s not what I’d call a fat girl, but she looks WAY better than she did at this time last year, and I’m encouraged to see her going into this winter with some fat on her, err, bones.

Poco and Bones

Poco was all shy and spent most of his time napping at the far edge of the little “island” they were on. I shot from various points on the other side of the not-so-deep, fairly broad arroyo that curved around their little island/oxbow. Bones was closest to Roach when I approached, then she wandered over to Poco to feast on that greasewood bush.

Bye-bye

One last look from Bones before I left these wanderers to their grazing and naps.

So where was I? Before I get back to Steeldust’s band, let me go back to Round Top. It’s hunting season, of course, and it’s Colorado, and we have a high percentage of out-of-state plates in the areas with drivers and passengers sporting blaze orange. So far, like last year, I’ve seen plenty of traffic along the Dolores-Norwood Road and the Disappointment Road but not too much in the basin. Based on tire-track evidence, a few vehicles have been through since I was there last. I did pass a pickup Sunday with a man and woman, but I think they might have been looking for horses more than deer or elk.

I drove the loop counter-clockwise again, and from the road, I spotted a shiny spot and a horse shape that eventually moved right between Flat Top and Round Top. During the tour with Kathe and Bob a couple of weeks ago, we saw Seven’s band there. So I thought it might be him again, with Molly or Roja as the “horse shape,” and the other one in the trees. And another surprise: Cinch and Bruiser farther west.

I parked at Round Top’s base and took the trail around the west side. There were some faint signs of horse traffic and a few coyote prints – and one sadly deflated and worse-for-wear “Happy Birthday” balloon (which made its way into my ever-present trash bag back in the Jeep) – but it didn’t look like it has seen much use lately.

When I got farther around the hill on the trail, I could see that there were a couple of horses toward Flat Top, but they were blocked by trees and I couldn’t make an ID. Then, what to my wondering eyes should appear but Grey/Traveler! He was following Jif and the yearlings toward the horses in the trees. Whoa. So the tree horses were Houdini and Iya, but it was still a slight mystery why they were separated by such a distance … Until I saw through the binocs that Jif’s entire right side was dark glistening, and wait, had Grey suddenly gone pinto?? Now I know you moms out there are thinking it should have been mama Houdini taking advantage of the mud spa, but in this case, she was spending some alone time with baby Iya while Daddy took the youngsters to play in the, ahem, mud bath. 🙂

Iya and Houdini

Looks like Iya had done a little splashing in the mud. They were waiting for the other horses to reach them.

Daddy and the gang

Clearing the coast before returning to Mama. Disclaimer: Houdini is Two Boots’ and Iya’s dam, but Grey/Traveler is not the actual sire of any of these horses.

Once they reunited, they walked closer to Flat Top, where they drank from a pretty yucky, white-salty, muddy little puddle.

Have thirst, will drink

Grey got there first, and he left last. I guess the boy was thirsty. This pic doesn’t show them well, but notice the black splotch on his shoulder. He had another one on his chest.

Yucky!

Houdini shows what she thinks of the water puddle.

Somebody’s been playing with the finger (hoof?) paints! Notice the little streak on his face.

Tender touch

Iya and Houdini

The next time I saw the band, I was on the spiny ridge and the horses were on the road heading toward the water catchment for some rainwater-pure, fresh H2O.

Two other horses were beyond Traveler’s band, but from the distance and light glare, although one looked like pinto bachelor Cinch and the other one was very dark, and I wondered if Cinch had stolen yearling filly Shadow from David and ditched Bruiser for family life. It was a good lesson in what our BLM guy, Bob Ball, has to deal with in terms of identifying horses. The other horse was, in fact, Bruiser. See for yourself:

Bruiser and Cinch

Cinch is at right, and Bruiser is the dark mudball on the left, demonstrating the wild horse version of “look! what’s that over there?!” Too bad for the ponies, I have eyes only for them.

Compare that photo of Bruiser with this one (taken last fall) from the “Find a horse” page:

Bruiser

Yes! I promise that’s the same horse! Apparently he found the same tar-baby pit Grey/Traveler and the youngsters were playing in.

After the boys went back to grazing, I went around the south side of Round Top a short distance to check on the still-dry water hole. No more horses.

So now we’re back to the point where I “found” Steeldust’s band, “hiding” in the trees right by the road.

Peek-a-boo

This photo was taken right from the driver’s seat. Look at my long-legged little Storm-boy at right, with the light turning his spiky mane to gold. Can you believe he’s just a few days shy of three months in our Spring Creek Basin on this beautiful planet? And over on the left, his head just sticking out of the trees is Mouse, standing just in front of Hollywood’s girls, Piedra and Baylee. They and Hollywood seem to have reached a comfortable balance of friendship lately, and Holls doesn’t seem too worried about keeping them apart.

Bachelor boys

The wayward boys are all “home.” Duke, Hook, Kreacher and Chrome had split away from the band for a few weeks. Last weekend, Duke was back with the band, and now all the boys are back. From bottom to top: Duke, Kreacher, Chrome, Hook and Aspen. Am I alone in being glad that the boys are back? Ha! I spent all summer wondering when they were going to strike out on their own – again – and now I like seeing them with the family. A side note to this photo: The boys were working their way up to the band (I was out of the Jeep by this point), but curious Kreacher was either determined to get another last bite or was so focused on me that he didn’t notice when all the other boys disappeared over the top of the hill. He finally did when I walked back toward the Jeep, then trotted away after his pals. Wait for me!

I drove on a short way, through another arroyo, then got out again and walked out to Poco, Bones and Roach’s “island” and took pix of them. Boy was I glad to see them! Not worried about them, particularly, but I miss them when too many weeks go by without seeing any of the horses.

When I got back to the Jeep, I looked over toward the water hole that sits back to the east off the unmarked doubletrack, wondering if Bounce and his girls were still back in the east “pocket,” where they were last Sunday. When I was beside Lizard Mesa, I stopped and looked again – bingo! Bounce, Alegre and Gaia had just walked up on the edge of the pond! They started walking farther east on the doubletrack, so I sat in the Jeep and watched them through the binoculars. I hadn’t been close to them since the tour, but it was getting late, and I didn’t want to pursue them. But while I was watching them, guess who was walking out of the trees and making their way toward the water hole? While I was googling over Poco, Bones and Roach, Alpha marched her company around toward the pond. See the progression? Nap time, chow time, pub time! I have to say, the pond “pub” has a wonderful ambiance.

Steeldust’s band has become pretty used to me over the months, do I decided to park and walk down to the pond (which is in the wilderness study area, I think?) and wait for the horses to come drink. If the horses walking toward the water had been Bounce’s band, say, I might not have risked being at the water when they came to drink. Bounce is pretty tolerant, and young Alegre takes cues from him pretty well, but I wouldn’t want to risk them not drinking because I was there. Steeldust’s band, on the other hand, would drink even if I was there, I figured, and I was right.

Thirst abatement

I sat on the end of the pond opposite the way the horses approached and was glad the light was from behind me. I sat in full view, and they knew I was there. They waded right in, and drank and drank. I was glad of the opportunity to see them wade into the water because it gave me an idea how deep the pond is – almost up to their elbows! This pond dried up over the summer and refilled a couple of months ago after at least two intense cloudbursts in that eastern area. From left: Piedra, Baylee, Hollywood, Aspen and Chrome. Another couple of bachelors were to the right (including Duke), but the two young stallions, Luna, Alpha, Mahogany, Ember, Kestrel and Steeldust were around to the left and closer to me.

Wind drinker?

Steeldust drinking alone while his band spread along the banks of the pond to the right.

Play time

In the “progression” I wrote about earlier, I forgot one very important element: play time! Storm doesn’t seem to be drinking water much yet, but the older foals are drinking water as well as their mothers’ milk.

Three musketeers

Don’t these boys make ya smile? From left: Aspen, Mouse and Comanche.

By then it was about 6:15 p.m., and the sun was below the far-west ridge, a reminder of the quickly changing seasons. It was a gorgeous day – a light-jacket morning but a short-sleeve afternoon. Just after the sun had gilded the clouds in the western sky, I was driving past Filly Peak and Grey’s band. Most of the band was on the mesa side of the road, but Houdini was below the road, so I waited for her to cross the road – because Iya was there! – then headed out and home.

“If you’re lucky enough” to spend the day in Spring Creek Basin … you’re (I’m) lucky enough. Eh? For sure.

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Categories : Bones, Bounce, Bruiser, Cinch, Grey, Houdini, Roach, Steeldust

Spring Creek Basin Mustangs