Just something about Raven … some weird, wild, wondrous, witchy thing that grabs the imagination and makes you fall in love.
And Raven’s daughter, Corona, light to her dark. Love that mane she inherited from papa Corona, aka “Fabio.” Stallion Corona is still wild in Sand Wash Basin; witness accounts put Raven with his band before the roundup there in October 2008. It follows that Corona-filly, born in 2009, is his daughter. (And yes, I named her after him.)
Mona and Shane
Raven, Corona and Kootenai
Seven’s band
Ze, Shane and Mona
Worth going in the fall?
Blessings come in small packages and golden light, mothers and daughters, quiet breezes and autumn grasses.
This was an evening I don’t even have words for. Absolute perfection. Kreacher was nearby, with Raven, Corona and Kootenai, watching his daughter – does he know? Mona watched them back, as Seven defended them – his now. I don’t think Kootenai will be able to lure them back … and Kreacher was wise (my opinion) not to challenge Seven.
They only watched …
I see curiosity here … what more? Do they know?? What are they thinking?
It is interesting to note that although Roja definitely is (still) alpha mare in Seven’s band, Mona clearly led them here – to where Kreacher’s band was grazing – back across the basin, east to west now. She led them to water first – where she and Raven and Kootenai went first upon stepping hooves on Spring Creek Basin soil – and I’m not sure when she realized Kreacher’s band was there, but I know she went closer when she did – for sure – know.
Just call me the snake whisperer …
This guy/gal was in a shallow little runoff ditch below the road – shot through the driver’s side window just so I didn’t scare him/her away. S/he held this pose as long as we were stopped (at least). Bull snake? Not very thick but pretty long – 2.5-3 feet? Very cool. Love its snakely little smile.
A couple more (not of the snake):
Kreacher’s band: Mona, Raven, Corona, Kootenai and Kreacher
Almost all in a row – Corona was lagging between mama Raven and Kootenai.
The morning I found the tree on fire, I had seen bands at a distance and was headed out to visit them. After I called in the fire (with randomly and surprisingly found cell service), I went on to visit.
What a(nother) great surprise to find Duke with Twister (center) and Cinch (right)! Bruiser still not with the boys, but I’ve had a recent update from this weekend that he has been seen – alone but apparently just fine. I stopped the Jeep and took pix from it …
… but the boys “made a mad dash” anyway. 🙂 Look at that handsome Duke! So elegant! His mind is on Cinch, and Cinch’s mind is on Duke, and young Twister (3 years old) is just happy to be part of the gang.
Stopped again. I didn’t know it at this point, and I’m not sure whether they did … but somebody(s) were up the hill in the trees ahead of them …
I drove on, looking for Hollywood’s band, which I had seen earlier, and it does seem like these boys – Cinch and Twister before Duke joined them – are hanging out close to Holls’ band again. Just below a little “rise” or “edge,” almost to the fence, I found them. They were napping under a tree, and the proximity to the fence was unfortunate because they felt the “squeeze” and immediately started walking out into the open. I stopped a little way on so I didn’t block them, then got out to watch the parade.
Iya leading – she’s not terribly long-legged for her size, but she is a big girl. Sage tossing his head against the gnats, big Tenaz and mama Piedra.
Hollywood in the lead, followed by Baylee, Piedra and Tenaz (Iya and Sage now bringing up the rear).
Piedra, Tenaz (look at him looking!) and Iya, sneaking in a sniff of baby where mama Piedra can’t warn her away. See the dapples in their summer-slick coats. 🙂
Following Baylee. A couple of things about this image: First, see how big he is! His bay-black legs are starting to shed through his baby-fine . But do you see how much he resembles Hollywood? I think Sage tends to resemble Piedra, but this big boy definitely looks like daddy! He’s about a week away from being 3 months old.
Sage and Iya broke off for a little detour visit. Brave ones of the group, these two.
Meanwhile, Holls and the girls and his little mini-me waited at the stud pile(s) for them to catch up. 🙂 Look at that handsome Tenaz – cute!!
On they went, then, heading up the valley toward the boys … who went closer to the hill and found …
Do you see them? Everybody in Kreacher’s (lower left) band is at least partially visible – though not very well, admittedly. 🙂 Mona is above Kreacher; Kootenai is to the upper right; and nearly smack dab in the middle, you might be able to make out Raven’s legs through the tree … and immediately left of her, Corona.
Later, after I’d gone back to watch the fire and then was on my way out, I found them again:
Drinking at the trickle – found enough water to splash in! It collects a little below this but is pretty stagnant there; they drink uphill, where it comes out – a barely slurpable trickle, but clear. (Mona was just to the right.)
Freedom is not free, as the saying goes. It means responsibility. It means fences. It means cooperation. It means a greater good. It means my right may not be your right, but it’s as important to me as yours is to you and should be acknowledged as such – and vice versa.
Independence doesn’t mean thrown away. It means pride – and having the courage to look beyond pride and ask for help when it’s needed – it means giving help before it’s asked of you.
Our “free-roaming” wild horses and burros are not. Not really.
Kreacher and his girls can circumnavigate Filly Peak, but they have no access to the pinon-juniper-dotted hillside below the clouds, touching the sky.
Are they less wild? Less free? We all have chains snugging us to the responsibilities and demands of life.
Mustangs are “America’s horses,” more than any other breed in existence. They evolved here. They returned here. They thrive here.
Their freedom depends on us to make their lives as independent as possible.
Let freedom ring. 🙂
Some more pix from the first day of our visit last week.
Hayden and Jif. They were relaxed but shy and grazing.
Grey/Traveler’s band. Gemma is going grey first right over her butt and from a distance looks a little like an Appaloosa with a blanket pattern.
We saw a collared lizard on our walk back to Wildcat Spring, but it wasn’t interested in visiting with us. This guy, however, defended his rock – right in the middle of the road – while I drove right by him! He looks fierce, eh? But I think this was his way of venting some heat – although getting off that cooker of a rock may have helped, too! We had a nice breeze (not enough to rid us of the gnats), but it was warm – up to 92 by the Jeep’s gauge. I love these lizards’ bright colors and muscley little legs!
Hook’s band was only mildly interested in us. Right to left: Hannah, Sable, Hook, Ember and Pinon.
Toward the end of the day, we decided to take one more pass past Wildcat and had a nice surprise: Bounce’s and Kreacher’s bands, right off the road.
From left: Raven, Corona, Kootenai, Kreacher and Mona
Whisper and Liberty. They’re not as close as they appear, and Liberty is standing a bit farther up the hill. They look pretty similar in size here because of lens compression of the scene, but Liberty is still noticeably smaller than Whisper.
Whisper in the foreground and Alegre at right.
T spotted the almost-full moon coming up over the eastern ridges. This is looking out toward the east pocket. A little farther to the right would be McKenna Peak and the unnamed promontory.
Mona and Kootenai caught in a rare moment of affection. Usually Kootenai bugs Mona, who is very laidback, and Raven usually comes to her rescue by pinning her ears at Koot.
Kreacher, Raven and Kootenai walking toward us.
Kreacher, Raven and Corona. You can really see Corona’s wide blaze here in her mother’s shadow. She’s also still nursing.
We were able to sit with them for a bit in the evening light – wonderful! There’s Bounce in the background … and they’re watching some newcomers.
Seven and his band – Roja, Ze and Spring – were coming up toward Wildcat for an evening drink. They hadn’t been visible when we parked and walked out to sit just off the road with Bounce’s and Kreacher’s bands, but as it turned out, I had parked a bit “ahead” of where the trail comes out, and Seven was not pleased. (As a side note, can you see the extreme resemblance to Grey/Traveler??)
He trotted back and forth, looking hard and blowing at the Jeep while Roja stayed some distance back with Ze and Spring. I keep coming back to this, but they haven’t forgotten and so neither have I. It was almost two years ago that they were chased by a man in a truck. They remain extremely wary of not only people but also vehicles. It’s important to know here that although I was parked in their line of sight, the Jeep was not blocking their wayS to water. But because of their extreme sensitivity, it might as well have been. Most of the other bands respond very well to quiet, careful viewing, but Seven’s have never gotten over that incident – maybe others? This is their home, so we quietly walked back to the Jeep and drove away, taking the “danger” with us.
Roja and Spring – pic taken from the Jeep. Look how big Spring is! (I haven’t taken many pictures of her *because* of their wariness.) She looks so much like Molly. She has little black spots on her knees, and I’m sure her legs will darken. Check out Roja’s loooooong dredlock!
And Seven and Ze … now much calmer and at ease. A great sight to leave with.
Had a simply gorgeous time in the basin … despite the forecast that called for – you guessed it – rain/snow – again – right smack dab on my weekend. The forecasters were wrong! (Please forgive my wicked glee!) The sky looked threatening the whole way out, but then it was sunshine and layer upon layer of thick fluffy white clouds from here to the horizon. Ma Nature brewed her dark clouds over the La Sals to the northwest, and assistant Wind dutifully carried them east and south, but Storm’s corridor was just along the northern and eastern ridges and on down to the far southern reaches of Disappointment Valley and beyond, leaving the basin just a paradise on the edge of the world.
An example – this patch of sunlight illuminated the finger hill Bruiser, Twister and Cinch (reunited) were standing on while the ridge behind them stayed in shadow. They were looking down on Hollywood’s band, who eventually went north, while the boys moseyed down off the hill and across the arroyo and up onto the bench that carries the west-side loop road toward Round Top and points east.
Even more is blooming now – late this year. I’ve been keeping track, but – crazy! – I haven’t stopped to photograph the flowers yet. The paintbrush has been trying its best to find the sunshine and warm breath of spring, and more is blooming every week. Prince’s plume started last week … the globe mallow was out just this week – not so much in the basin but very much along the private road leading to the basin. Hardy phlox – white and pink – has been out for weeks and still blooms, some of the petals looking a bit windblown. Loco weed also pops up in places. Some isolated yellow daisies-something-or-other. The cheat grass is still green but starting to flag. Greasewood is greener than green (it’s possible) and was budding last week. Water holes are dry or very shallow. One pond holds decent water, and a couple of bands are in the vicinity of Wildcat Spring. At least one band is using the catchment, but they have to range far for forage because it’s just not that great in that area. The claret cups are tightly furled within their nests of thorns … not blooming yet. I saw a couple of bunches of lupine (my very favorite wildflower) near Dolores, but that was it. We don’t typically get lupine in the basin (I’m so jealous of the opportunity on Pryor Mountain to photograph babies in fields of blue lupine!)), but there are spots along the Dolores-Norwood Road where they’ve been insane in past years. Given the great snow we had this winter, I’m looking forward to a great show of wildflowers here in Colorado this year.
The horses are mostly shed out now – last year’s youngsters still fuzzy in most cases. Nights still dipping into the 20s (occasionally) and 30s (commonly). The temp reached at least 72 while I was out. Just beautiful.
The first horses I saw were Chrome’s: Jif, Hayden, Two Boots, Cuatro and Chrome, taking his time, bringing up the rear. Can you tell that Jif is slick while Hayden is still fuzzy? Oddly enough, because he was born so late in the year, I’ve never seen Hayden shed out. His face is starting, though, and I think he’s going to stay sorrel – he’s going to be just as handsome a devil as his daddy!
Two Boots is starting to look a little closer … Can you see the little hunks of hair Hayden is trying to shed?
“Wait for me!” They walked on by and down the hill on a horse trail, then Chrome looked up from his lolly-gagging (grazing) and decided he was being left behind, so he went galloping after them.
I saw Seven’s close to Grey/Traveler’s close to Bounce’s, who turned out to be close to Kreacher’s who were close to … Luna’s. (Some stallion weirdness I’ll explain in a minute, so for now, it’s Luna’s band because everyone is following her!)
Didn’t take pix of Seven’s or Grey’s. Seven’s were very close to where I saw them last week. I just sat in the Jeep and watched them. Roja grazed and watched and watched and grazed for about 10 or 15 minutes, then oh-so-casually led her family away. She is so wary and so protective, and because I’ve witnessed them being chased (a couple of summers ago, after which I never saw Molly’s filly Starla again), I just don’t have much heart for even attempting to get too close for her comfort – which isn’t close at all.
Grey’s were moving toward the road on which I had stopped, so I enjoyed my vantage of being able to watch them as they grazed their way closer and eventually crossed to where Seven had had his band.
Who’s who? Doesn’t Whisper, left, look just like daddy Bounce? He’s going grey, though … I love seeing the resemblance.
Gaia and Liberty
And this girl is pulling a Luna on us – two weeks past her “due date,” and she barely looks pregnant at all. Even with her most recent spa treatment in evidence, isn’t she just beautiful?
Raven and Kootenai. You may remember a few posts ago, I referred to their mid-morning nap … here we are smack in the middle of their middle-of-the-afternoon nap!
Corona – no, she is NOT white! – Mona and Kreacher. I know she looks white – she’s blown out, too – but she’s not. She has this very unusual flecking of her palomino color … like Ma Nature couldn’t decide what color to paint her.
All but Mona, who was just off to the left.
And there’s baby Gideon with Mama Luna and Butch, Storm and Alpha at right. Steeldust was nearby but not too close.
Steeldust
Who could resist this gorgeous matriarch? One of the great grand dam(e)s of Spring Creek Basin.
Storm and Alpha watching Kreacher’s band. (And yes, he’s still nursing.)
While I was watching this, I kept one eye on Steeldust, who watched but never moved a hoof. Butch has bred Alpha in the past, but he didn’t now, though she’s clearly in heat.
Butch did a little dance (like a very slow motion passage) over to Steeldust, who didn’t go after him, but neither did he back down. It did provoke him to mark his territory, and Butch went back to Luna, who took the opportunity to walk away …
… followed by Alpha …
… to the very shallow nearby pond. Here’s Steeldust at left – rear – while Butch leaves a territory marker as Luna leads Gideon and Alpha and Storm around the pond – effectively separating Steeldust from the mares.
Luna walked around the pond, but Alpha stopped. Butch continued after Luna, and Steeldust stopped with Alpha.
Think that looks terrible?
How about this?
The good news is that BLM is supposed to have several more ponds – hopefully including this one – dug out because they’re all very shallow (because of the highly erodable soil). The bad news is that neither of the two ponds dug out finally last fall have water right now (I was so optimistic), and the ponds to be dug out aren’t even on the schedule until August or September.
Here’s Butch getting great enjoyment out of his “spa treatment”! Check out how he’s tilted his head and closed his eyes to avoid splashing mud. 😉
He splashed a few times, laid down just so his cheek appeared to touch mud, then got right back up again.
Kreacher, Mona and Raven watch Luna lead the band away from the pond. Butch is looking back at Alpha and the others.
They’re really all quite polite with each other. Whether that’s something conscious – “don’t want to get involved in THEIR drama” or “I think I have enough …” – or bonds keeping them together, who knows? The girls from Sand Wash Basin seem quite content with their boy.
Alegre napping at the base of the hill while the babies (not “babies” anymore!) graze in a bunch. Bounce was down a bit watching the two bands.
He has such a presence, but he’s really not a very big boy in size.
Our very own wild black stallion. He has a heart of gold.
Mahogany, Sundance and Mouse …
Kestrel, Winona and … Comanche, still guarding the girl and the babe!
Notice anybody missing?
There’s Aspen at far right …
Notice anything else, hmm, “odd”? Kestrel and Winona in the background … and in the foreground, Mahogany (front), surrounded by boys, left to right behind her: Mouse, Sundance and Aspen. And not quite ready to present her baby … but close …
Comanche … Hey, who’s that behind him?
Do you see? Recognize? Now do you see who was missing from Mahogany’s band?
Hannah and Sable. When I saw Mahogany – without Sable – I hoped fervently that she had joined her yearmate and big brother Pinon older half-sister Ember with Hook. This kind of thing makes me wonder how “off” our herd dynamic is with massive roundups that take most of the horses every two to four years. Hannah and Sable are yearlings. In a normal environment, I don’t think they’d have left their dams this soon. In both cases, they left before their mothers had even had this year’s foals.
Left to right: Pinon, Hook, Sable, Ember’s head, Hannah
Kestrel
I thought she was going to put on a show like Gideon did last week …
…
But this wee girl is more reserved than her uncle.
Mama and first-born daughter
Snack time
Love her expression here … *drinker of the wind*! Trying to catch a whiff of this weird two-legged.
Baby girl laid down when Kestrel was grazing with her head hidden from me by a greasewood bush. But then Kestrel grazed her way around her like this, and it looked to me like a little “hug” of the baby – a cocoon of sun-warmed grass and mama’s protective presence.
Comanche grazes by Kestrel as she stands over Winona. The other horses were never far away. I wonder whether Kestrel will continue to follow Mahogany or whether she and Comanche will eventually split off on their own.
Baby napping under guardian legs. Could anything be sweeter?! (Don’t answer that, and if you’ve made it this far, more sweetness is coming …)
With all those boys together, there’s bound to be a little of this. Mouse, left, and Sundance.
And then Hook had the audacity to strut up the hill from his little flock toward Comanche, Kestrel and Winona. Kestrel never looked up, and it didn’t – immediately – interrupt Winona’s nap – but Comanche took immediate notice. And Hook got a little shock:
He took off after him – HARD. I had started to leave them, so I missed the beginning stages of this chase with the camera.
So Hook, former lowest man on the bachelor totem pole, has a band of four now, and Comanche, former first sergeant for Steeldust’s band and then low on the bachelor pole that developed when SD’s band split, seems to have acquired a mare and her foal … and former Lt. Mouse seems to be still in that position – to Sundance, who seems to have been born into and at least grew up in the band? – with Aspen at the low end of THAT heirarchy. Following in the footsteps of low-man Kreacher and low-man Copper … Smarts, not necessarily brawn, with this group?! Or is the bottom of the heap the place to be when it comes to “acquiring” those that lag behind (whether youngsters or a mare that goes off to foal)? Always a myriad to ponder …
Hollywood’s band was almost the last I saw (I saw Cinch, Bruiser and Twister again, far off). Not too far from the road, and I was able to get a nice look at Piedra’s newest son.
No lupine … and greasewood doesn’t quite have the same luminous quality, but baby in a sea of green appeals just as well to my heart.
Piedra and her little boy – see how his star makes a heart at the top – like Hayden’s? Or another upside-down aspen leaf …
Baylee and Sage
After a bit, he got up to nurse, but I loved this look he’s throwing back over his shoulder.
Then Piedra decided that was enough exposure to a two-legged, and she walked down to Hollywood. Iya in the foreground. She turned to follow them, and I wish I’d been about five steps to the left or right because Holls bent his neck around to greet his son for a few seconds before Piedra turned and walked a bit farther before settling back to grazing. The whole moment was blocked because I was behind Iya in a direct path. Oy. As much as I love to capture the interactions between the mamas and their babies, I love to capture that between the stallions and babies – just more rare to see. They like to portray this stoic tough-guy front, but they’re big softies when it comes to babies! Just like all of us!
The Four Corners Back Country Horsemen’s annual wild horse count is this weekend – I hope you folks see all the horses and new babies and have weather as great as mid-week!
Mid-morning naps!
Trying to find some time to get to some photos I’ve taken in the last few weeks that haven’t seen beyond my memory card or hard drive. This was such a lovely morning, two, maybe three weeks ago now. Corona was half-heartedly poking at Kreacher while he tried to nap among his girls. He was almost completely unperturbed. Their faces were close, but she was almost totally in his shadow from the rising sun.
He is soooo good with her … but I can’t help but remember how good Duke also was with her.
I was so intent on capturing Kreach and his lovely stepdaughter through the lens that it took me a minute to realize Kootenai had laid down just beyond them.
Do you want to sit down? Relax? Take a little mid-morning nap?
I did exactly that. I joined them … they joined me …?
Mona laid down, too.
Corona came over for a mid-morning snack, then she laid down, three!
Little peek-a-boo miss. Can you see her wavy forelock?
Are you sleepy yet? 🙂
Kootenai, who had been napping longest, eventually got up and stretched – arched her neck and stretched one hind leg waaaay back – and walked over to stand behind these two. Kreach thought Raven was being neglected, so he walked over to her, but she gave him the cold shoulder and walked off to graze. I could have stayed there forever in that long, perfect moment under the morning sun, but I left the girls to their naps and carried away that beautiful morning as memory … and pictures to share.
Our pale pearl Corona was an unexpected bonus that came with our “gift” of three mares in October 2008 from Sand Wash Basin. Her mother, Raven, was pregnant when she arrived, and the fortuitous connection with Amanda Conner, HSUS intern the past two summers at Sand Wash Basin, gave us the information that Raven had been with stallion Corona’s band before the roundup there. (See Nancy Roberts’ blog, Sand Wash Basin Wild Horses, for information and loads of photos – including of Corona’s band and our Corona’s pale half-brothers Whisper and Bobby.)
As spring sprang last year, I became suspicious – then confident – Raven’s growing belly was hiding a little more than “good eatin.'” Then I found Kreacher, Mona and Kootenai – without Raven – and finally found Raven and pale-pale baby girl with Duke! I named Corona after her sire, forever linking our two herds.
She did show a bit of her color then, didn’t she?
This was the last time I saw Raven and Corona with Duke last fall. They’ve been back with Kreacher and the other girls – great aunties to the girl – since October 2009.
From the shiny days of last summer. Corona and Raven and stepdaddy-at-the-time Duke. One of my favorite visits with them.
She really blossomed over the winter, and her winter coat, at least, hints at her true palomino color. When she was born, I wasn’t sure what color to call her … but I knew she wasn’t “white”! That thick, luxurious, wavy mane definitely comes from daddy Corona! His nickname there is “Fabio”!
Happy first birthday, glorious girl!
Spring Creek Basin Mustangs 
