Butch | Spring Creek Basin Mustangs

Wind, bad – babies, good!

29 04 2010

Well, folks, the ides of March have followed us to April – almost to May, to be sure. Southwest Colorado had its second major wind-dust storm of the spring yesterday. It was fairly miserable. We had four or five last year … they were miserable, too.

Toward the end of the day yesterday, visibility finally got really bad (as opposed to fairly, just plain kinda bad).

Today it snowed.

Truth in advertising?! Summer, it ain’t – yet! And I think we need to have a little chat with Ma about the fact that it is – in point of calendar fact – spring. The sign (usually) reads: Summer maintenance only. 🙂

I’m never upset about moisture. 🙂

First, the spoiler:

So follow along, kids: That’s Luna (and ever-present Butch) … and that’s the belly. Ya can’t miss it, right? She’s past last year’s due date. She’s past last-last year’s due date. She’s past 10 days past last-last year’s due date! My goodness, the lady is keeping us waiting this year.

Before my visit, I told young visitor Rochlia that I thought it wouldn’t be long before I had a better opportunity to photograph Duke.

Duke at home right above Spring Creek (which is basically a dry arroyo with tiny places where water sometimes collects and sometimes seeps to the surface). You can see by his nearly horizontal tail how strong was the wind.

After Duke, the next horses I saw were Hollywood’s … and, my goodness, what’s that at Piedra’s side? They were at a distance, and I think they could see Duke, and Piedra was nervous … and Sage was VERY jealous, and Baylee and Iya were curious, so I deduced baby was – without being able to see too closely – just a day old, two at most. Piedra took them up into trees on a hill, and she kept them there all day. Smart – they were probably somewhat protected from the wind there. And from curious-as-all-get-out two-leggeds such as yours truly. 🙂

Here’s a pic I took at the end of the day:

Baby is reddish with a muley muzzle, but reddish mane and tail, so not bay. Very big star and at least hind stockings. In the pic, left to right: Hollywood, Sage, Piedra and baby, and Baylee – Iya is out of the frame at right.

These lovelies also wanted to see the newest addition to the world that is Spring Creek Basin.

Another pond is dry … I know of two – maybe three – that still have water. Gonna be a long time till August-September when we’re supposed to have five or six more dug out. We’re getting moisture, but that ground just sucks it all up … and the wind … that wind is not kind.

Saw Bounce’s and Seven’s … and Steeldust’s … but not before I found the basin’s newest band. It’s headed by Hook. (I know what you’re thinking … everything changes. It can; it will. Enjoy it.) I know I haven’t been very good this spring about getting information posted to the blog in a timely manner (or at all), but Ember and Pinon have been hanging out with Hook lately (the past several weeks … since March?). So they’re all together – separate from Steeldust’s (more on them later) – plus one: Hannah! I alluded to a surprise a couple of posts ago, then never got around to spilling the photographic beans. A couple of weeks ago, I found her with Hollywood’s band! She clearly wanted to go “home,” and Holls just as clearly wanted to make her the newest member of his band. Did I mention Hannah is bold? Fearless? I can see it: The bands are close together … Hannah goes out to say hi … Holls is his usual charming self … then the bands aren’t close together anymore, and Holls is pinning his ears, and Hannah can’t get back to mama. She did end up back with the band, though. Now, she’s with sister, and all is calm.

But before I found them: a couple of white “dots” and a red dot … and an extra!

The “whites,” of course, were Grey/Traveler and Houdini, the red, Terra, and the extra:

Look how tall the baby girl is! And yes, it’s another daughter for Grey and Houdini! And, by the way, this is (at least) the fourth-in-a-row daughter for Houdini. She’s darker red than either Terra or Iya, but she has already-grey legs like Iya had, and the rings around her eyes are dead giveaways that the girl will go – surprise! – grey. 🙂 (I meant “no” surprise!)

Two girls and their mama

Daddy and one of his girls. The birth of the newest little girl means we have at least three of his offspring in the basin. Given the number of offspring he must have sired in his years, it’s a little crazy that most of them are at least unknown.

If I didn’t know better, I’d say he likes being a daddy. A little bit anthro … a little bit observation.

I love her face. This lovely will have a birthday in just another day (definite, not guessed). Sister Iya was born April 27 (also known). Houdini was right on time! And master Sage was born today (again, known), so if Piedra’s newest was born two days ago, she’s also right on time! One young, one not so young. Now … about that Luna … 🙂

Two more … my favorites:

Mama and her big girl …

I love spring. 🙂

Welcome, babies, to your world.

More to come of Steeldust’s.

Comments : 7 Comments »

Categories : Baylee, Butch, Duke, Grey, Hollywood, Houdini, Luna, Piedra, Sage, Terra

Boys (and girls) of spring

12 04 2010

It was such a busy couple of days in the basin last week – just a snapshot for me of their daily lives – that I hardly know where to start. Well, Roja’s foal – that was the obvious start. 🙂 But step two?

The boys are *charged* right now, and it seems no boys nowhere are more charged than those swirling within and around Steeldust’s band. In fact, I’m starting to think it’s a bit of a misnomer to call it Steeldust’s band – he has eyes, it seems, only for Alpha and watches the chaotic goings-on around him with no apparent interest in getting involved himself. I did see him one day – from a distance – being chased in circles by Sundance or Butch, and I was amazed to see that Butch or Sundance had the upper hand – err, hoof. The pink boy finally let up, and Steeldust loped (yes, loped – slow and easy like he had all the time in the world) back to Alpha and Storm. Butch has latched firmly onto Luna (?), Sundance hangs out mostly with Mahogany and Sable and Luna’s daughter Kestrel. Ember and Pinon seem to hang out together – with Hook!? Aspen – wait till you see an up-close and personal shot of that boy’s cheek scars – is nearly constantly pushing against Mouse and Comanche in his quest to sneak somebody – anybody? – away.

And then there was Hollywood and his new acquisition – which was only temporary, much to – warning, anthro – her relief and my delight. The proximity of – at least – those two bands made for some wild and crazy horse action … and it’s likely to only intensify as the mares foal and come back into heat. I think we’re standing by for some possible big(ger?) changes this spring in band dynamics.

But to take step two and ease a bit of the previous post’s dour (but realistic) mood, here is a series of three pix of two of our youngest boys, Cuatro and Hayden:

The sniff

The nibble

The truce

Of course, a little later, Hayden was following Cuatro … with his stout little baby teeth firmly clamped upon most of Cuatro’s tail. 🙂

Are you curious about Aspen’s sparring scars?

Ouch.

The ponies were grazing right up on the very sides of Round Top, which placed them very conveniently for me on my way to get a look at Roja’s “shadow.”

Kestrel, Storm and Colorado mountain goat, err, I mean Alpha. What do you think about Kestrel? Pregnant? She’s 3 this spring. She’s in my “expect to foal” category. She looks it from this angle, eh?

Steeldust and Alpha …

Luna and Butch …

All together now …

Storm-chaser on guard …

Ain’t he a handsome sucker? Oh, and I think I wrote in a post from last week that Alpha seemed to be weaning him … but in the evening of the day this was taken, I think I saw him nursing – but I was too slow in swinging the camera on them (they were at a distance) to see for sure.

More to come … and an update from a fellow visitor: Shadow, David’s black 3-year-old mare, may have had her foal!

Comments : 5 Comments »

Categories : Alpha, Aspen, Butch, Cuatro, Hayden, Kestrel, Luna, Steeldust, Storm

Stallion circus … then naps

1 04 2010

Spring is in the air, but it hasn’t quite sprung … as evidenced by the fresh coating of snow we have this morning. And the ponies are all still quite fuzzy, so I knew we were not quite done with this long winter.

The following pictures are from my visit last week with Steeldust’s band. The stallions were kicking up quite a fuss from the time I saw them initially to a few minutes after I arrived to visit them … then they apparently came to some agreement, and it was nap time!

Here we have Butch guarding Luna with Steeldust, Storm and Alpha in the background. I can’t quite explain the behavior here, even if Butch is NOT a son of Luna’s … because Luna hasn’t even foaled yet. However, she should be quite close. She’s “due” next week. Steeldust and his little mini-family were, with a nod to Storm’s name – the eye of it – they barely moved during the whole visit, even with stallions and the other horses swirling, literally, around them.

Daring Aspen, walking quite close to the band. Aspen isn’t even one of the two semi-permanent bachelors attached to this band. That’s Sundance, possibly Butch’s brother, trying to fend him off.

Now that’s Mouse in the background, and although it looks like he’s after Sundance, he’s just hurrying him on his way (after horses you’ll see in the next image) so he can deal with Aspen.

Sundance was happy when he got back with the girls – Kestrel, Mahogany and Sable.

Sundance and Butch were likely born into this band, and, for whatever reason, Steeldust seems to have no interest in kicking them out. So they have a free pass to wander within the band. Mouse is the lieutenant …

… and Comanche has his back as first sergeant. The pix are a little out of chronological order now, but it illustrates the hierarchy. Here, he’s chasing Aspen, the bay, and Hook, the grey at left. Aspen outranks Hook (but it should be noted that they both have stolen lovely Piedra from dun Hollywood – in two separate years). In the back at right is almost-2-year-old Pinon, still too young – mostly – to join in stallion games.

Hook. This pic and the next were taken before the above “chat” between Comanche, Aspen and Hook. Hook was minding his own business on the very outskirts of the band. Two youngsters were keeping him company … or he was keeping them company …

Ember, left, and Pinon are yearmates. Ember is about a month older than Pinon, and she calls the shots (her mother also outranks his mother), but one of the things I love about watching wild horses is evidenced right there in that image. It’s quiet. It’s not obvious, but it’s right there. It’s a deep bond between two horses that have known each other their entire lives, have grown up together, surrounded by adult horses that feed them, teach them, nurture them, include them. It’s a beautiful thing. It IS obvious.

Notice how Steeldust, Storm and Alpha have barely changed a step since the first photo. 🙂 Behind them: Kestrel, Sable and Mahogany. In the middle: Hannah and Sundance. Luna and Butch at right, and behind them, Mouse. They’re starting to settle down.

Sisters Kestrel and Ember, almost 3 and almost 2.

Luna, Hannah and Butch, shortly before Hannah laid down.

Baby girl down. (She’ll be a year old next week!)

Sundance standing with Sable and Mahogany. Sable will be a year old in a month.

SunnyD and Mouse

SunnyD at left, Sable lying down, mama Mahogany standing, Kestrel behind her, Aspen in the back.

Kestrel down … and here you can just see Ember’s ears behind her and Sable.

After SunnyD laid down.

Wider view … (no Aspen)

Four-square faces. 🙂 (And just the edge of Ember’s.)

Storm-chaser and his mama … my, what a big boy you are! He’ll be 2 in July. For the first time, I saw him make a half-hearted attempt to nurse, but she backed away from him, and he stretched and abandoned the attempt.

Sleepy Storm

Steeldust and mama Alpha

These next two pictures are the ones I “stitched” in Photoshop:

Left side …

… right side.

Luna is due next week … did I mention that? 🙂

Lovely Luna

I eventually got chilled by the relentless wind, so I tiptoed away. At the top of the ridge, I found a small group of muley does. I stopped, but when I moved again, they realized I was “not native” (!) and took off!

Down the other side, they found Bruiser, Cinch and Twister for me! From the top, I watched them, then saw the pintos … and watched Mesa go out for a chat with the boys. Ty was napping with Reya standing over him … Hmm … When he got up, though, they walked back toward the band. I’m kind of expecting almost-3-year-old Reya to have a baby this year. I didn’t go down to them for a closer look, though. I noticed water in the dugout pond, and by that time Steeldust’s band was grazing their way toward the ridge, so I thought they might be coming toward the water. I took another trail back to the base of Round Top.

An hour or so later …

While I visited with Grey/Traveler’s band, this was my last view of Steeldust’s band, on the ridge from which I saw the pintos, out on the other side. 🙂

Comments : 7 Comments »

Categories : Alpha, Aspen, Butch, Comanche, Ember, Hannah, Hook, Kestrel, Luna, Mahogany, Mouse, Pinon, Sable, Steeldust, Storm, Sundance

Hannah at rest

27 03 2010

When I started my visit with Steeldust’s band this week, the young stallions were on active alert. Butch was guarding Luna, Steeldust was the eye of the storm with Alpha and Storm, Sundance didn’t really know what to do, Mouse was snaking Kestrel and Mahogany all around, Ember and Pinon were hanging back with Hook, on the outskirts, Aspen was trying to exploit a hole, any hole, especially those created by Sundance, and Comanche was circling the group trying to keep him away.

But pretty quickly – to me – they settled down and went to sleep! Eyes closed, lips droopy. Butch and Alpha overtly watched me; the others seemed to ignore me as I sat down and fell into the lull of their lowering energy. At one point, about half of them – all the youngsters and Sundance and Hook at least (that I could see from where I was) – laid down!

Little Hannah was one of the first.

Going down … front-end first. Butch at left, Mouse at right.

Just a little doll!

Mama Luna at left, Butch center.

Head … so … heavy … 🙂

Sweet dreams, wild little filly love …

Comments : 8 Comments »

Categories : Butch, Hannah, Luna, Mouse

Mudders

5 03 2010

It was April 3 last year before I reported in my notes that I did not see cattle in the basin. Shouldn’t be a surprise, then, that some cattle remain in the basin past their deadline to be out again this year.

That’s the herd area boundary fence. I’m on the road, just before crossing the cattle guard into the horses’ home.

She looks dark – she’s dark red. No calf. The other cows I saw both have calves.

This was just one of those stellar kinds of day. It included horses and hikes and back to the Earth, staring wide-eyed and grateful at clouds in the turquoise heavens. Can you imagine it? It was warm, but there was a nip – still – to that returned March wind (ooh, yeah, it’s back). Perfect day to be walking around the far-out outback, a place filled to the brim with wild still-muddy magic.

So it’s a bit messy … life ain’t perfect. 😉

Steeldust’s mob were the first visible, so I made for them. They were napping as early clouds gave way to sunshine. Aspen and Hook are still hanging on. Storm, Hannah and Alpha were lying down when I arrived; Comanche, Pinon and Kestrel laid down while I visited. Ol’ Steely Dan has a few new scars. He continues to stick close to Alpha; Storm continues to take advantage of the mommy bar.

Nap time (back, left to right: Alpha, Storm and Steeldust; front from left: Sundance, Mahogany, Sable, Luna and Pinon)

Did you see this in the background of the above pic?

Then there was this …

How familiar does this look? (Notice Comanche giving them a wide berth in the background as Steeldust guards Alpha.)

Boy’s got it bad for the girl. 😉

Ember’s hanging out with big boys Aspen and Hook.

Kestrel and Mouse

Sleepy tired boy Pinon

The sun finally cleared the clouds, and I left the ponies to their naps (Butch makes an appearance here, behind Luna; SunnyD is beside her, Kestrel behind them).

All hills make for good mysteries – what’s over the summit? What’s around the bend? In the basin, the potential for horses to be around every bend, on the other side of every hill, below every ridge, is enormous.

Seven’s were out on the saddle, relaxed and soaking up the shine of late-winter sun.

At first glance, they were alone, but guess who was around another bend – or three … a ridge or two?

Pinto ponies

And look who else was closer:

Bruiser …

David and Shadow (oops! I thought I had put their picture into the post but realized later I didn’t) …

… and Cinch and Twister!

It was great to see them, but our visit didn’t last long. They decided they’d rather be on the other side of that hill, and I just didn’t have the oomph to continue on through the mud in the “away” direction. So I went back to share lunch with Seven’s.

OK, so they weren’t interested in what passed for my lunch, but we shared a little stretch of real estate between hills, bounded by ridges, together under the sun.

They were as relaxed as I’ve ever seen them, OK with me sitting on a branch, elevated above the mud.

They’ve been playing in the mud fields …

I might feel compelled to eat my shoe if I ever found out he was NOT a son of Grey/Traveler’s. If he was aged correctly, the boy is 10 this year (hard to believe, eh?). He certainly has gone grey-er in the past couple of years. Handsome, handsome mister … just like daddy.

Speaking of, two white “dots” sandwiching a dark speck way out yonder turned out to be my boy and Houdini and Terra. Seven decided to take a nap under a tree, so I hit the trail.

Headlights caught my eye, flashing as the truck to which they belonged popped over a hill on the road out yonder. The road was a little soft, a little dry, a little damp … I was surprised to see it. But before long, it stopped … hit reverse … discharged a camo-clothed passenger … swapped end for end, re-admitted the man and headed back the way it had come. I found their ruts later.

Bounce’s band came into view … then Hollywood’s. Then … Jif! She was walking up out of an arroyo kind of between me and Bounce’s band, and pretty quickly, Hayden and Cuatro, then Chrome, then Two Boots followed her. What a wonderful surprise! And a reminder how easy it is for horses to be out of sight very nearby.

Hayden is nursing.

Cuatro grazing with stepdaddy Chrome.

Cuatro grazing with stepbrother Hayden!

Fuzzy-fuzzy!

See the white dot, the dark dot and the grey dot “above” Jif? That’s Grey/Traveler, Terra and Houdini.

Sweet, sweet day in the company of many of those I hold dear. Always a wonderful way to spend a day.

Comments : 19 Comments »

Categories : Alegre, Alpha, Aspen, Bounce, Bruiser, Butch, Chrome, Cinch, Comanche, Cuatro, David, Ember, Gaia, Grey, Hannah, Hayden, Hook, Houdini, Jif, Kestrel, Liberty, Luna, Mahogany, Mouse, Pinon, pintos, Roja, Sable, Seven, Shadow, Steeldust, Storm, Sundance, Terra, Twister, Two Boots, Whisper, Ze

Duke following

18 01 2010

Had an amazingly welcome sighting on day two of last week’s visit – Duke! And not alone. 🙂

He’s shadowing Steeldust’s band (which still includes Aspen after his buddy Hook went and stole himself a little family). He’s keeping a pretty respectful distance, and he’s still limping, though not even as much as when I saw him last (I even saw him trot!). He looks OK, as you can see from his photo. Thin but not terribly so.

It was a welcome relief to see him feeling better that he’s showing signs of wanting company again – and able to pursue that company.

Some other images from the quick visit:

Big-boy Comanche and not-as-big-yet Pinon

Sleepy Mahogany and Sable

Luna has to lift her head high now to accommodate growing girl Hannah, who was looking for a mid-morning snack. Alpha at right.

Mouse and Ember, Sundance and Kestrel.

I do think they’re brother-sister … Very sweet. 🙂

Mouse only barely on the outskirts. He and Sundance had a little scuffle a little later, but it lasted just seconds, and they were right in the middle of the band with nary a disturbance. The dynamics are amazing.

Also saw Hook, Piedra and Sage, still together; Grey/Traveler, Houdini and Terra; and way out, Kreacher and his girls.

And I almost forgot about these critters, outside the herd area:

There were at least three bucks with the large group (maybe two dozen?).

I SO lucked out coming along to get pix (from the Jeep on the Disappointment Road) of them with the La Sals in the background! This is looking northwest across the northern end of Disappointment Valley.

Comments : 5 Comments »

Categories : Alpha, Butch, Comanche, Ember, Hannah, Kestrel, Luna, Mahogany, Mouse, Pinon, Sable, Sundance

Catching up

22 10 2009

“There are 85,000 apps that can do almost anything.”

I have two questions: Wasn’t it just 75,000 a week ago? And … what the heck is an “app”? Or is it ap? Appy? Appaloosa? OK, now we’re talking my language. (If “almost anything” will select and cull my photos, download them, pick ones for the blog and tweak ’em and upload ’em … just tell me how to get one.)

Nope, no appys in this post, but I think it gets me up to just a week behind (it’ll widen again in a couple of days, no worries).

L&K beat me to the basin that morning. They know the ponies like nobody’s business, and it’s awesome having them out to visit. We were both optimistic and worried when we didn’t find Mr. Duke where they had seen him the day before. Unfortunately, none of us have seen him since.

Our first visit was with Steeldust’s band, who were drinking at the catchment. The three misters (Aspen, Hook and Twister) were there, too, drinking from the smaller trough.

100909sdcatchment

Big band at the big tank; misters at the little tank.

We stood at the road and took pictures … and after drinking, the horses wandered up to say hello!

100909alphagraze

Alpha, Butch, Ember and Hannah

100909stormnursing

Look at that big little guy! I don’t know whether he’s getting anything … but he’s still nursing – and mama Alpha is still letting him! Steeldust at left; Hannah at right.

100909stormtwister1

Then he goes over and pokes at Mr. Twister, who is hanging out with the big boys now. Twister’s getting his licks in now …

100909stormtwister2

Storm chases Twister …

100909stormtwister3

Twister flashes his heels (which I was too late to catch), and Storm-chaser backs off. Works every time.

100909boys

And then they were friends. There’s Comanche on the left, Mouse on the right, Aspen at far back right and Hook behind him.

100909sdbandlook

Sisters Ember (near) and Kestrel. Notice Storm (and Hannah) coming up behind them and young Pinon, also looking at something in the background.

100909lunalook

What are they looking at?

100909lunalookclose

Right to left: Ember, Kestrel, Luna, Butch and Hannah. Could be five generations there if Butch is, indeed, one of Luna’s brood.

L&K saw Cinch and Bruiser later when they drove to Flat Top to check the pond, so in hind sight, I wonder whether the ponies were checking out those boys out yonder.

100909kesemsthan

After Storm got his fill of boy time, he remembered his gentlemanly manners by escorting mistress Hannah back to the band … which she clearly didn’t appreciate – look at those ears! And big sisters Ember and Kestrel are posing prettily for the camera.

As the horses moved closer and closer to the road, we decided we might be blocking their route, so off we went.

100909mahogsable

On the way down the hill, I saw Mahogany and Sable looking down from the ridge, so I stopped the Jeep and grabbed a shot.

While L&K went to check the pond, I went on to check the Wildcat boulders.

100909wsbouldersh

100909wsbouldersv

Fabulous!!

While I was going clockwise around the loop, L&K were going counter-clockwise. Not a single pony was in view for me. Both the pond right by the road in the east and the east-pocket pond still have water. I was looking hard for Poco and Roach – and L&K saw them right before they saw me – but I never saw the boys. In fact, when I spied the wandering elusive-ites, L&K were already watching them … and worried about the one they didn’t see.

Seven’s were down on the southwest side of the roller-coaster ridge, out away from the pond, which also still has water. Seven, check. Roja and Ze, check. Liberty … all alone … where’s Molly? Liberty was by herself a short distance from the other horses, and while we watched, she turned and walked away. Seven and Roja and Ze followed, and they all dropped down into a wash out of sight. Every once in a while, we could see somebody’s back, but none of those backs were Molly’s. There were a few dead junipers out there and one alive. Knowing Molly-girl’s penchant for napping under trees, I thought she might have hung back while the other horses moseyed on, grazing. My theory was that when Liberty got out away from her, she decided she wasn’t going any farther and went back to Mama. Given Molly’s known condition – even though we also knew she had been seen recently by J&K – not seeing her worried us.

There was nothing for it but to walk out to get the scoop, for better or for worse. When I got to the edge of the wash and saw Liberty nursing from Molly, I was able to flash L&K the thumbs-up!

100909mollyliberty

It is what it is.

100909rojaze

Roja, little chow-hound that she is, never even looked up at me, and that in itself was a surprise. She’s usually the first to “alert.” Maybe I’m growing on her. 🙂

100909seven

Silent sentinel. He also was very relaxed with me there.

I took just a few photos and left them – no worries from me, ponies.

Bounce and his band were on the other side of the ridge.

100909bounceband

Whisper, Bounce, Gaia and Alegre. They like this bend of the arroyo (and not just them – Poco and Roach, Hollywood’s … ), which is weird (?) because there’s no water in that section, but there is water farther west.

On the way back to the west-side loop road, we spotted Grey/Traveler’s way – WAY – off yonder under some trees sort of eastish of Round Top – between RT and the weird guzzler. I figure sometime between then and Sunday was when Chrome “acquired” Jif and Hayden.

100909hollsband

Hollywood had his band out on the east-west hill; that’s him at right. Then Piedra, Sage and Baylee.

Am I right, or was it warm?

Out on the flats east of the catchment were the misters and Steeldust’s band. (Keep that in mind.)

We got back to Filly Peak, and I hiked out “behind” the hill to check for Duke, and L&K went on down to the trap-road pond to look for him. We all came up unlucky. But guess who I did see from back yonder?

And that jogs the memory – on our way into the basin, they were out on the corral hill. So when I saw Kreacher’s band – traitors included – they were heading north toward – I thought – the catchment. I reunited with L&K and gave them the report, and sure enough, the band popped up and went to the big catchment trough. They drank, then headed back the way they had come and dropped back over the edge. We drove back over and were able to see them down on the flats south of the catchment.

L&K had a drive back to their home away from home, and I had a “date,” so we headed toward the entrance.

But the ponies had other ideas (don’t they always?). I guess they weren’t quite ready to say good-by to these fans-of-theirs … Remember I said Steeldust’s band had been out on the flats east of the catchment? By the time we got back around to just past Filly Peak … they were blocking the road!

100909rd-stormalpha

Mama Alpha and big-baby Storm (he had just finished nursing – again).

100909rd-sablenurse

Muddy brother Pinon, Sable and Mahogany. You can see the road above/behind them.

100909rd-kessabmah

Lovely Kestrel and Sable and Mahogany

100909rd-hannahluna

Must have been that time of day. Hannah and Luna (road again behind them).

So pony time intervened, and there was nothing to do but watch and admire and take pictures and smile and smile and smile. 🙂 A minute after I figured I had to be leaving, the ponies were across and off the road, and we were on our way.

Can’t have a much better fare-thee-well than that! 😉

Comments : 2 Comments »

Categories : Alegre, Alpha, Aspen, Baylee, Bounce, Butch, Comanche, Ember, Gaia, Hannah, Hollywood, Hook, Kestrel, Liberty, Luna, Mahogany, Molly, Mouse, Piedra, Pinon, Roja, Sable, Sage, Seven, Steeldust, Storm, Twister, Whisper, Ze

Visiting dignitaries

6 09 2009

That’s certainly what I consider them: Dan Elkins and Karen Herman, who visited Spring Creek Basin in mid-August to tour the herd area and meet some Wild Bunch members and our BLM herd area manager and answer questions we had about gathering horses via bait trapping and about PZP.

In June, I wrote about Dan and Karen administering the first PZP doses to mares from the Carson National Forest: https://springcreekwild.wordpress.com/2009/06/02/pzp-partnership-in-the-carson-national-forest-nm/

Learn more about Karen’s Sky Mountain Wild Horse Sanctuary here: http://skymountainwild.org/

Direct link to a story about Dan and Karen using PZP (also linked from Karen’s Web site): http://www.santafenewmexican.com/Local%20News/carson-national-forest-Forest-first-to-use-contraceptive-on-wil

We learned that Karen was able to get a grant to fund the PZP program for the Carson NF mares, and that set our wheels in motion. Now we have to write a proposal asking the BLM to allow us to pursue funding to implement a PZP program – which could start as soon as this coming spring! – and agree to have Dan and Karen come back to administer it. This is the good news I alluded to when I broke the bad news about Chipeta’s colt, Joven. Best of all, Dan and Karen get their PZP doses directly from ZooMontana in Billings, so we won’t have to worry about the PZP changing hands and freezing and thawing and re-freezing and re-thawing so many times during BLM transport.

Also, our herd population stands at 49 horses (BLM does not count foals till they’re a year old), we’re still well within our AML (35-65), and so we were told the next gather likely will not be until at least 2011. In the meantime, I hope our BLM is watching the goings-on at Pryor Mountain. One thing I’m happy about there is that bands are being kept together. Also, with Matt Dillon’s documentation of the horses and MOU between the Pryor Mountain Wild Mustang Center and BLM that they provide herd information, I’m hoping we can duplicate that partnership when it comes time to round up and remove some of our horses. I’ll never be happy about that, but I also will never condone horses starving on an overgrazed range when it could be prevented. A PZP program here will hopefully slow the population growth of the herd, allowing more horses to stay wild longer. And knowing about Dan and his method, I hope we’ll never again hear helicopter blades churning over Spring Creek Basin.

Dan and Karen are awesome. Extremely knowledgeable and friendly – it was like meeting old friends from our first handshake. My hope is that someday every herd manager in the country will know Dan and Karen. I hope a contract between them and our BLM is in our immediate future, for the horses’ sake.

Here are some random pix from that day, taken in the morning before everyone arrived:

Hannah and Sable

Butch and Storm

Pinon

Mouse and Steeldust

Sage

Hollywood

Mona, Kootenai and Kreacher

Kootenai and Kreacher

Kootenai

Mona and Kreacher

As soon as I say this, they’ll leave, but if you’re in the area to visit Spring Creek Basin, I would be surprised if, out of all those 49-plus (with foals) horses, you did NOT see this little threesome. They have been hanging out in the area surrounding the water catchment for months now. The grazing is not the best, but the water is. The other bands seem to have been going for forage over quality of water, and the only other horses I’m pretty sure have used the catchment recently are Traveler’s band and the bachelors Cinch and Bruiser. Hollywood’s band has been in that general area the past two weekends; I have not seen them at the catchment. Most recently, I saw Hollywood trying to drink from the pond area off the road to the old trap site. I did not see any water from the road, and I did not go closer … Poco and Roach followed the band past the “pond” without even stopping to try to drink.

Comments : Leave a Comment »

Categories : Advocacy, Butch, Hannah, Hollywood, Kootenai, Kreacher, Mona, Mouse, New girls, Pinon, PZP, Sable, Sage, Steeldust, Storm, Wild horses in the news, Work projects

Spring Creek Basin Mustangs