Hollywood | Spring Creek Basin Mustangs

Guardian angels

23 02 2009

I have some friends battling cancer. One of those friends is helping her mom fight this dreadful disease, but they’re all fighting. Two of these friends are advocates for our wild horses – one has adopted several and currently has three at her house; one photographs them all over the country. One has an artist husband who expressed interest in painting wild horses from my images.

Out in the basin Saturday, in the middle of sunshine and wild, magic wild-horse medicine, I sent out a little prayer for them. Later, I realized I had just met someone who watches over the basin and the horses just as fiercely as I do – but he’s a whole lot closer and there even more. A guardian angel. A month or so ago, he gave some guys hell for four-wheeling out there, and he picked up the trash they left behind at Wildcat Spring – just as I did last hunting season. You can imagine how glad I was to meet him and know he’s a watchful pair of eyes and with the “oomph” to back up his words. (Thank you!!) I hope each of my friends battling cancer also has a guardian angel watching over them … and a little bit of wild-horse medicine to help them along the way.

Now on to the horses.

Moving forward

The first band I saw was Steeldust’s, north of Flat Top, but from the road by the water catchment, I spotted Grey/Traveler’s band almost exactly in the same little area where I had first seen them two weeks ago, tucked away on the southeast side of that little valley below the catchment. They went on the move again, but this time out into the valley and toward me. Two Boots, Houdini’s coming-2-year-old daughter, is behind Jif, so you can’t see her, but that’s the whole family. Jif on the other side of Grey, Iya with the big blaze (look how dark she is! I realized I still think of her as reddish from when she was a bright copper penny!), Twister and mama Houdini at far left.

Family portrait

Grey/Traveler went right on by me, after a pause behind a rather bare greasewood bush, and crossed a shallow ditch that later becomes a deep arroyo, but the band seemed to realize I was standing farther up along the ditch and stopped to have a look. You can see Two Boots now, between Jif and Twister. Aren’t they beautiful?!

They eventually caught up to “daddy” and moved out into the open “valley” where they settled down to graze in that gorgeous golden sunlight. I headed back to the Jeep to decide on a course of action to get out to see Steeldust’s group.

They were out northeast of the pond north of Flat Top, but when I drove up on the road that goes along the ridge to Flat Top, they were out of sight. As I was driving, though, Comanche popped up into view. I watched him through the binoculars, wondering if he was with Aspen’s group or with the band and thinking other horses might come into view. He was walking toward-ish Flat Top (not reaaalll close to the hill), so I figured at least the band was nearby. I parked at the intersection of the FT road and the “north-south” road and started loading my backpack with camera, Gatorade, etc. Guess who surprised me? Aspen, Piedra and Baylee, with Hollywood bringing up the rear, heading up the trail away (east) from the pond. You can’t see the pond from that intersection, even though it’s very close. So I thought, wow, maybe it has water after that last snowstorm. Got my gear together and headed out – the ponies were at the next ridge by then. I walked down to the pond to pick up the trail … pond still dry. It was still early, maybe 8:30 (OK, that’s early to me!), so I wondered if they were counting on water there. Piedra, for all her youth (3 or 4 – I hope 4 but maybe only 3), is lead mare now. Baylee’s still a baby at almost 2. Aspen is older, so he’ll know some of the grazing and water sources, but Piedra is relying on what she has learned in her short life to lead her band to water. Just something to think about. That pond is scheduled to be dug out later this year, but I’m not sure why it’s not holding water right now.

When I got to the next ridge, Aspen and Co. were farther along to the south, but bachelors Duke, Hook and Chrome were visible over the other side. I got to the ridge just in time to see all of them cross over and below another ridge … where I found the family.

Family

And that’s exactly what I thought when I found them – “family.” But look at their collective body language. That’s Steeldust at the rear, with his family bunched together in front of him. Look at his ears – he’s focused on the horses that just appeared from over the ridge: Aspen, Piedra, Baylee, Hollywood, Duke, Hook, Chrome, Comanche from nearby. Mouse isn’t in the picture, but as I’ve written previously, he has slid into Hollywood’s old lieutenant stallion position, and he sticks close to the band now – and Steeldust accepts him (maybe Mouse is hoping to be “rewarded” with Kestrel, like Hollywood got Piedra?!). After the horses “reunited,” they started to relax and spread out to graze.

An aside: Right before I went to the basin Friday night, I covered a high school basketball game. This is neither a compliment nor an insult, just an observation: Wild horses are a lot like teenagers. They tend to travel in groups, they have their own body language, and they know what’s being “communicated” even if no casual observer could ever understand what’s going on. The girls are watching the guys – and vice versa – even if they’re too cool to act like they are. Yeah? 🙂

Case in point

At right is baby girl Baylee. She’ll be 2 this spring. She didn’t get kicked out of her family band – I don’t think – she went of her own free will to hang out with Hollywood and Piedra. I THINK because Piedra is her big sister. Baylee is paying attention to me, but look at Piedra. She’s playing it cool with new stallion Aspen – and she’s about to be a new mama, after all. But check out her ears. She’s trying to act like she’s looking at me, but her attention is all on the boy behind her.

Ein, zwei, drei

Aspen between Baylee, top, and Piedra. The big band is just over that hill, as you can see by Steeldust’s heiny in the background. Piedra’s trying to nap, but her ears are active.

Lucky day?

Unfortunately not

Right now, Hollywood doesn’t seem to be pressing his luck. I kinda expect that to change as spring springs.

Beautiful girl

There should be a baby in that belly, and it should be Hollywood’s foal. He bred her (at least) last May 24, so we should be looking for a late April baby from Piedra.

Meanwhile, Duke, Chrome and Hook were just below the end of the ridge I was on … and not too worried.

Hey, you

This is one of my favorite photos of the day. I had been taking pictures of Aspen’s group, then realized Chrome and Hook were napping just below the ridge where I was sitting. I took some pix of their backsides – which showed Chrome with his eyes closed! – then I think he heard the shutter and looked back to see me looking at him! And that’s how I got this pic. Like a cool teenager, though, he went right back to ignoring me.

Duke

Another favorite pic. Duke was browsing even closer than the other boys, and every now and then he’d look up, then go back to grazing where I couldn’t see his face. Notice he has kind of a goofy twist to his muzzle; that’s because he kept chewing while he looked up at me. I love this grand boy dearly. I think he’s a few years older than the other bachelors, and he was one of the first to leave at the sight of a human a year ago, especially a vehicle. Now, he’s pretty calm.

Because I hadn’t seen Poco, Bones and Roach at all yet this year, I was feeling pulled to the east. The day was young and beautiful, and I have two legs. So one last view … and I headed east.

The mountain shot

What, you thought I’d leave without getting my ponies with the La Sals in the background? Hook, left, and Chrome, eyes closed.

I picked up the loop road – cattle on the east end of the east-west hill. I thought I saw Bounce, Alegre and Gaia slightly south and downhill of the cattle, but Kreacher and the mares were on the finger hills end of the hill, and I saw just Bounce later, so now I can’t remember whether I really did see all of them or not. It was just over the east side of the roller-coaster ridge road that the basin’s “guardian” drove by in a “mule” or a “gator” – one of those ATV-type buggies. He waved; I waved. I was trying to decide how far back in the back I was going to walk, and how disappointed I’d be if I walked all that way and didn’t find the boys and the girl, when he drove back. I thought he was out checking the cattle and had gotten to impassable mud (have I mentioned how incredibly dry the roads were again?) or just reached his turn-around point and was heading back toward the entrance. But he came back to ask if I wanted a ride! So I climbed aboard, he turned around, and off again we went. I told him who I was looking for by description, and he said he had seen them, but over by Flat Top, so I think he had seen Seven’s band – grey, bay and sorrel. Poco’s band: also grey, bay and sorrel but exact opposite genders!

Darned if we didn’t spot them, in the little “meadow” area right by the double ponds – and would you believe both those ponds have water?! He let me off so I could go take pix while he went on up the road to check for cattle.

Found

Ponies first. Poco in front, Bones at left and Roach at right. Poco was looking so handsome in the sunlight, with his thick winter coat looking very reddish. Look at HIS belly! They’re doing well.

Double pond No. 1

This is the pond closest to the road. You can see that it’s really shallow by the mud in the foreground. The “skim” you see on the water in the background is ice. The morning started out fairly cold – 18 degrees at 7:30 a.m. The “back” pond seemed to have more water (it went dry first last year), and it also had quite a bit more snow around the edges; it sits close to a bend in the arroyo (is that Spring Creek?) with a tall “cliff wall” behind it, but it was all in the sunshine when I was there mid-morning.

Bones with a belly

Does she just look really good … or could she be pregnant? I have to admit my first thought is to be a little scared. If she’s pregnant, will she be able to deliver the foal? Will it survive delivery … will she?? She seemed uncomfortable and kept shifting her weight.

Front view

The compression factor of a long lens can make even a stallion look “pregnant,” but at least she’s no longer “bones” thin!

I headed back to the road, and a minute or two later, there was the guardian with the mule again. Hey, I could get used to such service! We had a really great conversation, and I rode with him back around the loop where he pointed out Bounce, on top of the east end of the east-west hill, seemingly alone. But based on his body language, I’m pretty sure Alegre and Gaia were just out of sight on the other side of the hill. We also passed Kreacher, Raven, Mona and Kootenai up on the finger hills end. Went up north and east around the loop, and we talked about the guys he had to pick up after at Wildcat Spring after they were out four-wheeling. See what I mean about being glad he’s out there? He drove me all the way back to my Jeep – thank you! (Did I mention how dry the road was …)

It was only around 1 p.m. by then, so I decided to drive to the base of Round Top so I could hike out to the saddle and have a look. Thought I might get lucky and see Seven’s or Cinch and Bruiser and/or David and Shadow … maybe even the pintos way off to the south. Driving over, I spotted a horse on the far end of the saddle between the Tops and thought it might have been Molly or Roja, so I took off hiking – and encountered the only real mud I had to deal with all day on the northwest side of Round Top – of course. I should say that even though there was more snow in the basin than two weeks ago, the ground was still mostly dry, and I couldn’t believe how dry the road was.

Peek-a-boo

When I came out to the trail that runs along that far ridge and eventually down to the pond (still dry), I spotted Seven and Molly down in a drainage on the southwest side (west-southwest) but didn’t see Roja. I took the trail south to where I could see down to the pond and farther down into the WSA but didn’t see any other horses. I also scanned up to the northwest – the hill that runs up behind the corral – but didn’t spot anybody up there, either. So I hiked down so I was a ridge over from Molly and Seven’s drainage. Molly was grazing just enough below the far ridge that I could see her back, but she didn’t look up. Seven was farther down the hill, behind some trees. So when I got to the top of my ridge, I finally spotted Roja, napping under a tree up the drainage like Molly likes to do, and I sat down to watch them. It was really nice by then, but a light breeze had picked up. The above pic is when Molly finally saw me. She went back to grazing but started moving down toward Seven – very calm for her.

Waiting

Here they both see me – still sitting on my ridge, wide out in the open. Seven’s looking back up the drainage for Roja.

They went down a little farther …

Chub

… and finally Roja burst up over the ridge and went flying down to join them. Roja is not subtle. 🙂

Seven and his girls

All calm on the western front, not far from where they started. I do expect Roja to foal this spring; Molly got the PZP so she should NOT foal.

Back around Round Top to the Jeep, where I promptly shed my clothes that had gotten too warm – and my boots, which had gotten muddy – and changed into jeans and my muddy (at least they were dry) hiking shoes. Ahh. By then, I was comfortable in just a long-sleeve T-shirt – gorgeous!! Although, to appease the weather gods … seriously unnatural for February! Please snow more!

When I got back up to the finger hills, a group of cattle were down by the creek, but I didn’t see Kreacher and the girls, who had earlier been very visible higher up. So I went across Spring Creek (dry crossing) and north at the intersection so I could look back down the arroyo “valley.” Sure enough, Kreacher and the girls were on the “flats” on the road side of the creek, close enough to the hill that I couldn’t see them from the road above. Because they were so close to the road, I decided to go back and see them. There are a bunch of “deadwood” pinon/juniper trunks down there along with debris from a flood at some point in the past. No growing trees – where did they come from? But they make good viewing benches. The cattle were more worried about me walking down the hills than the horses (sorry about that), and they all started to bunch up and move up the hill (but only 2-3 of the 21 actually walked on up to the very top of the hill); the girls weren’t concerned at all, and Kreacher barely gave me a glance (cool kid).

Hey howdy

Kootenai, left, Raven, Mona and Kreacher behind.

Special Ks

Kootenai and Kreacher with the cattle in the background on the finger hills. We were very close to the dugout intersection.

Sweet K

Kreacher and Mona were sticking close to each other, but they all seem very comfortable with each other.

Boy with girls

There’s the “tail” end of what I call Lizard Mesa in the background. It really doesn’t end there; it goes down to a ridge or saddle, then up to another hill, then down to another ridge/saddle and another hill before tapering off to that valley southwest of the northeastern part of the loop road.

I mentioned that Kreacher and Mona were staying close to each other while I watched them, and I wanted to mention a little more about the dynamics in this band. Raven is still protective of Mona and will pin her ears at Kootenai if she gets too close. BUT Kootenai can make Mona scramble away if Raven’s not close enough. So Raven outranks Kootenai, but Kootenai outranks Mona?

Que mona

Cute girl found this branch (one of the dead trunks lying around) irresistable to scratch an itch she may not have had until she passed it and found it at perfect cheek height (you can see her checking it out in the photo above this one).

Getting late in the day then. The ponies ambled upstream while I sat on my log and thought about my friends battling terrible cancer. When the horses had disappeared from sight, I followed one of their trails to the top of the hill and back to the road. On my way out, I spotted a mini van (??) turning around, possibly on the road to Flat Top. It’s dry out there, but a mini van? By the time I got through the “V” arroyo and up where I could see again, the van was heading out on the far side of the basin. It always makes me a little suspicious of what people are doing out there if they don’t stop to talk and share their experiences, so if you’re out there and you see my red Jeep, please talk to me! I’d love to hear you talk about the horses you saw!

Spotted Grey and his band – actually spotted his band first; took a little while to see him follow them out – farther down the valley below the catchment. I pulled over to watch … then wanting to see my boy got the best of me, and I hiked out. The gorgeous sunshine had disappeared into a haze of low clouds just between visiting with Kreacher and the girls and getting to the valley, and I could feel the temperature of the air cooling. But it was still in that beautiful space of perfection, so I took one last hike of the day to see my favorite boy.

Jif and Twister

Houdini, Iya and Two Boots were farther up (down?) the valley, but these two were lagging behind, and daddy Grey was there to supervise. I loved the soft light on their shoulders – the clouded sun was not even a hand’s width above the far ridge by this time – and loved their closeness. The hill in the near background is the hill above the corral. The dark (trees) hill in the far background with the snow is beyond the county road (and beyond the herd area).

Playing favorites

He’ll always be my favorite. I was interviewed last week by a beautiful little girl named Erin for a school project about mustangs. Her last question was if I had a favorite wild horse. Well, of course I do. 🙂 And this is why you see me call him Grey, even though his official name is Traveler (and I try to call him that, too). I’ve called him Grey since early on (2003?), and he is my beautiful silver boy.

All the horses belong to all of us, of course. And, I think, a little bit of us belongs to all of them. In that way, we’re surely surrounded by angels.

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Categories : Bones, Grey, Hollywood, Houdini, Jif, Kreacher, Molly, New girls, Poco, Roach, Roja, Seven, Steeldust

Before the snow …

8 02 2009

The weather forecasters were raining (and snowing) on my parade since about Thursday, after we’d had decidedly atypical Colorado February weather the past couple of weeks. After being sick last weekend and deciding to wait till this weekend to visit Spring Creek Basin, come hell, high water or a Johnny-come-lately snowstorm, I was heading north to get some face time with the ponies!

You’ll forgive me, again, I hope, for saying – again – what a beautiful day was my most recent visit (Saturday). The weather was undeniably gorgeous (61 degrees?!), and I had the opportunity to sit with three bands while they napped and grazed. I didn’t sit with Kreacher and the girls, but they were so interested in the cattle and a Suburban they all but ignored me as I stood nearby in the early morning sunlight during our visit.

Roach and the gang remain elusive, but I haven’t gone searching for them in their back-of-beyond favored territory. Did see the pintos from afar, and Seven’s, also way off yonder, still between the Tops. Didn’t see David and Shadow, Bruiser and Cinch. Pix of everyone else are but a downward scroll away.

Three girls and a boy

The cattle – a lot of them/most of them? – are up in the area near the entrance and west of the catchment. They have less than a month remaining of their time in the herd area, so I wonder if the ranchers have moved them closer in preparation for moving them out to the private property outside the herd area. When I drove in – the road was remarkably dry, by the way – I saw lots and lots of cattle … and one little grey non-cow-looking object: Kreacher, up on a little ridge, watching the cows go by. I parked by the water catchment to hike out to them, but from the road before I parked, I saw Grey (Traveler) and his band almost tucked away behind a little hill across the “valley” south of the catchment. It’s always a great day when I see my boy! The above pic of the girls and Kreacher was taken from a little ridgetop trail that basically goes from the water troughs at the catchment toward the pond just off the road to the trap site.

Look at the weird cows!

From left, Mona, Raven, Kootenai and Kreacher. Mona and Kreacher were shy this day, but none of them were so interested in me as they were in those cattle!

Sunshine nap

The girls must think it’s quite normal to have weirdo the two-legged (that would be me) around at random intervals. They don’t seem to be bothered by me in the least. Here’s Raven, getting some of her 40 winks. Hope that’s just belly fat?! She’s healthy, anyway!

Fuzzy horse

I love how fuzzy and furry she is! All the horses were fuzzy as can be, so I’m sure they know in their wild bones that winter is not quite over, despite the warm temperatures we’ve enjoyed lately.

Next stop: Traveler’s band. But when I walked down to where they had been, they weren’t there! I spotted them up on the ridge, probably on or close to the doubletrack that goes to Flat Top and the pond. I’m not sure if they had water on their minds, but when I reached the ridge top, they were walking a diagonal back slightly toward me. I thought they might be going toward the Spring Creek arroyo, so I went back to the Jeep and braved the V arroyo (did I mention how dry the road was?), then turned on the “north-south” doubletrack. By the time I got that far, they had crossed that road and had slowed down to graze. When it looked like they weren’t going to make a beeline to water, I parked and walked out toward them.

Blue ridges

Conventional photography wisdom says “shoot with the light at your back.” This isn’t directly shot into the light – but close. We had some high, thin clouds during the day – mostly sunny, but sometimes a heavy enough cloud would cross the path of the sun and turn the sky cloudy. Whatever combination of light was going on here, I happen to like how the photo turned out of dun Jif and dark grey Two Boots! That’s Knife Edge in the distance.

Houdini

She’s still not too sure about me. Lucky for me, she tolerates her stallion’s tolerance for this two-legged!

Grazing

When it became clear they were going to settle down to the business of eating, I angled around the other side of them – and got a white sky for my troubles. Ha.

Little boy, big girl

Twister (back) will be a 2-year-old this year (along with Two Boots), but this orphan is still a little guy. Iya (front) will be a yearling the end of April.

The boys

Twister and Traveler don’t seem to mind being the only boys in the family.

Le petite Jif

Is there a baby in that belly?! She didn’t have a foal last year (and wasn’t gathered), so as far as I know, this will be her first baby.

From my visit with Kreacher and the girls, I spotted horse-ant dots against the very same hill where I found Steeldust’s band a few weeks ago, and if you can believe it, I drove out to the loop road, parked a little northwestish of the old enclosure and hiked out to them. The road, if I haven’t been clear, was unbelievably dry. I thanked my lucky stars, but that’s just not right in February! (The stars held off, for whatever reason, and it’s snowing here now – Sunday.)

But when I got close enough to see their hill, all I saw were Bounce and Gaia, close together, and Alegre a short distance away. That baby girl loves her daddy (not really her sire)! But by the time I started hiking, there wasn’t a horse to be seen – except, in the other direction, Seven and Molly up against Round Top. Off I went.

All the trails I’ve learned in the basin are the result of walking out to the horses – whether directly from the Jeep or on a long walkabout loop. What I always find interesting is finding a trail for the first time, then having it become familiar because the horses are suddenly hanging out somewhere. It was like deja vu walking back out to that hill, even though I couldn’t actually see any horses at that point. This was also the point a few weeks ago when I found out Aspen had stolen Piedra and Baylee from Hollywood. I walked up the ridge where Duke had walked to join Chrome and Hook that day, then followed the little diagonal trail to the top of another ridge, which I had gone up on last time to look over the other side …

The first ponies I saw were Duke, Chrome and Hook. Then Bounce, Alegre and Gaia between the boys and Steeldust’s band. Then, running toward Steeldust’s band from the left – Hollywood and Comanche, hot on the heels of Aspen, Piedra and Baylee! Weird timing, but I don’t think they had seen me because I hadn’t seen any horses and approached from the wide open. They must have been just around the end of that hill/ridge I was on.

Bachelors

Alegre, Gaia and Bounce – top – ran for the opening between the bachelors and the big band, then the bachelors – Duke, Chrome and Hook – went toward the band.

So close

Then Bounce’s band sort of stopped to watch Hollywood challenge Aspen to get “his” mares back. They were totally oblivious to Bounce and his mare and foal. Piedra galloped toward the band with Baylee right with her. At one point, Hollywood actually got between the mares and Aspen, but re-claiming his mares was not to be, and they remain Aspen’s mares!

Sorting it out

At left, you can see grey Piedra and Baylee (big star, strip and snip) with Aspen (star) behind them. Hollywood is in the middle, torn between them and Comanche and Mouse – you can see their matching grey-brown butts behind Steeldust toward the right; Mouse is the right of those butts, trying to cut Comanche (the left butt) away from the band.

Eventually, they all ran out into the open, away from Knife Edge. I waited on my ridge until they got everybody separated and ran out of steam, then went down toward the end of Knife Edge. I had seen Bounce and family earlier this year but from a great distance – no pix – so they were my goal. Except that when I got down to where I could see the horses out in the open starting to settle down and graze, Bounce was nowhere to be seen. Alegre seems to favor that little “valley” between Knife Edge and Lizard Mesa as a sort of escape route (from either direction), so I figured they’d go that way. Sure enough, from one of the trails that goes up over that “flank” of Knife Edge, I could see Bounce, Alegre and Gaia, also seemingly settled down and grazing.

Bounce is pretty tolerant of me, so I walked slowly up and over until he saw me, then stopped so he could recognize me. What a boy. He’s one of my favorites because he’s so smart and laid back. He’s been around the block, you might say, and he doesn’t waste energy where it’s not needed, and thankfully, he apparently doesn’t see me as something to waste energy over! Alegre and Gaia were walking slowly eastish, grazing as they went. I came down the hill so Bounce could see me through the trees and waited. He looked toward Alegre and the baby a few times, but he just cocked a hip and otherwise stood looking at me. Hmm. That shady side of Knife Edge was still soupy from melting snow (the most snow I’d seen still in the basin), so I didn’t really want to walk through the mud when it had been such easy – dry – walking, and I didn’t want to go after Alegre and Gaia and thus get between them and Bounce. If I had done that, I figured Bounce would go running toward them, and they’d all take off. So I found a nice little boulder on Bounce’s sunny side and sat down to see what happened.

At some point, Alegre must have realized Bounce wasn’t following her, so she came back to him. Did Bounce know she would come back?! Or did he just figure he and I were fine alone, together? Oh, I try not to anthropomorphize … but it’s hard NOT to wonder what they’re thinking!

Baby loves mama!

One of my favorite mares … one of my favorite babies (though I can’t really say I have a least-favorite baby!?). And another little belly. Gaia was born around April 22, so around that time is when I expect Alegre’s next baby. Hey, if the politicos and football talkers can speculate, so can I!

Faces

Three of my favorites. 🙂

One more

Can’t have too many pix of this beautiful little family.

Wild black stallion

Lizard Mesa and the east pocket in the background.

Alegre finally got tired of ignoring me, so she sauntered off back up the valley (you can just barely see her and Gaia above “Spring” and the “C” in Creek). I took a few more looks back at the boy as I left, then he stretched and moseyed on after them! No energy wasted in the observation of this human!

Disappearing ponies seemed to be a theme of the day because when I went back over the flank of Knife Edge to see Steeldust’s band and head back to the Jeep, they were all gone! But it was about midday, time for a drink. Mouthfuls of snow weren’t readily available like they had been until recently. I figured if I waited long enough, I’d see them pop up out of Spring Creek. When I waited long enough to amend that thought to “… if they haven’t already popped up and gone up the hill and over the road and out of sight,” they appeared. Stinkers. I’m not privy to their timetable, of course.

Midday nap

By the time I crossed “the big open” and picked up a trail to the arroyo and up the hill and made it up to them, it was time for their midday nap (not to be confused with the equally important mid-morning nap). From right to left, Butch, Storm, Alegre, Kestrel, Pinon, Mahogany (and Sundance’s back), Steeldust, Luna and napping Ember at the very left edge of the picture. Filly Peak in the distance. They were just a hop, skip and a jump from the loop road here. I sat with the ponies for quite a while and enjoyed every peaceful minute.

Outcast

Aspen sandwiched between Baylee, left, and Piedra. Hollywood at right.

Windblown

The wind picked up at some point mid- to late morning and started blowing with a vengeance. Even so, it was never cold. I love how the wind is blowing tendrils of Chrome’s tail. That’s Hook at left. Duke was a short distance farther to the left. I noticed when I first saw this pic that Hook’s snip-hook seems to have faded right away as he gets a little more grey. Chrome’s face looks really white from a distance, but here you can still see the outline of his blaze.

Convenient chin rest

There’s good baby Storm (almost 6 months old!) letting “uncle” Butch rest on his back.

Show me the love

I wish I knew the exact relationship of these look-alikes. Brothers? Surely. Twins? Who knows?? Butch, right, tries to give Sundance a little nuzzle, but SunnyD is suspicious of his motives …

Gotcha!

… For good reason!

Lover boy

Steeldust was looking for a little romance, but Luna shot him down.

New season

If you had a belly like that, you probably wouldn’t be up for much romancin’, either! Ember was the first foal last year, likely born April 18 or April 19. Pinon, in the background, was born around May 13, right before last year’s count by the Four Corners Back Country Horsemen. The count is May 16 this year. All the babies seem to be weaned (except Storm). I saw Luna, Mahogany and Alegre raise a hind leg, pin ears, nip or just walk away when the babies even thought about sneaking a slurp (I didn’t see Iya even try).

Luna and Ember

Being weaned doesn’t mean the “old” babies don’t still get comfort from mamas, though.

Pinon and his mama

Can’t help but look ahead a year or so when it will be time for Steeldust to kick last year’s babies out of his band to start their lives with new families – a new stallion or a group of bachelor buddies.

Wild world

I’m a sucker for taking pix of the ponies with the La Sal Mountains in the background, in case no one has noticed. Big girl Kestrel will be 2 this year – same age as Baylee, who already has left the band.

That old wind was fierce, and I had had such a great day (saw Seven again, and Roja) that I decided to head home, glad the snow held off for one more day. It was pretty nice to be able to drive in as far as I did, which enabled me to do a few short hikes as opposed to one great big one, but I’ll be the first to make a wish for more snow. The pond by Flat Top, which dried up early last year, like the one south of Round Top, is still dry so far – like the RT pond. We need more moisture for the coming dry months.

Thanks, ponies, for our time in the sun!

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Categories : Alegre, Alpha, Grey, Hollywood, Houdini, Jif, Kreacher, Luna, Mahogany, New girls, Pinon, Steeldust, Storm

Surprise over the ridge

19 01 2009

Hello, my name is TJ, and I am addicted to the wild horses of Spring Creek Basin.

The lessons have been both big and small, but I learn something new about them almost every time I visit, and though two different people last week suggested I need to get a life (away from the horses, I think they meant), almost nowhere else do I find such enjoyment as in the simplicity of days in the wild of the basin. And so I can’t seem to stay away. They mean well, I think, but what other addiction is so healthy and enjoyable and full of benefit?

Perfect nap weather

Steeldust and his big band and Hollywood and the bachelors were out between the loop road and Knife Edge. I was able to drive in and park at the water catchment. (Kreacher and the girls were down in the “valley” southwest of the catchment.) Mouse was close to the band, as he has been in recent months; Duke, Hook and Chrome were fairly close; and Hollywood and Comanche were scrapping a little farther away. Yep, you already guessed the change-up if you know which horses weren’t visible – because they were together. But given that they were all together the last time I saw them, I didn’t think too much about it and stayed on track to visit Steeldust’s band. Oh, notice Butch’s position – he’s lying down at far left. He looks like he’s so sleepy he’s about to roll over on Ember. In the next few moments, he did. They were so close, she had to lift her head over his when he laid his big head on the ground at her knees.

Harrassment

Where have you seen this pose before? Baby brother Storm was trying this with big sister Ember a few weeks ago (at least). In fact, the butt in the background is hers. Pinon was quite a bit more tolerant, but Storm also seemed a bit half-hearted. In fact, here, I love that he seems so focused on me but is still pawing at Pinon – what a multi-tasker!

Three boys

Pinon, Storm and Butch. You can see Ember’s face in the background – flat-out asleep – and that’s Luna behind Butch.

Sentinel Duke

Meanwhile, Duke was on a ridge above the band, taking it all in.

Hook and Chrome

McKenna and the unnamed peaks in the background.

Lover boy

Meanwhile, Steeldust squeezed in a little lovin’ on Alpha-girl. She accepted it – for a few moments – then struck at him and led Storm away. Easy come, easy go, buddy.

Three more boys

Hook and Chrome hooked up with Duke, then they went across the ridge to a little point, where they could look down on the band.

I could see Hollywood on a ridge below, but Comanche had dropped out of sight, and I still hadn’t seen Aspen, Piedra and Baylee. I still hadn’t put it together. I climbed a little higher to make sure no one was on the other side of the highest ridge and found a dry spot for a little lunch break. Then I went down to Hollywood. Found Comanche … and, on the other side of the ridge below Hollywood … Aspen and the girls.

Uh-oh

My first glimpse of change: Hollywood on the ridge (I’m shooting from a ridge parallel to his) and Aspen below with the missing mares. How did I not see that coming? Prior knowledge can be blinding.

All together

Same five horses that have been together since before the holidays … a little change in dynamic. That’s Comanche and Hollywood together in the foreground, and Aspen, left, Piedra, back center, and Baylee in the background.

New lead guy

I gotta say I’m not liking this change. I’m pretty fond of Hollywood, and he’s a better stallion than Aspen, not to mention that Aspen was low on the totem pole among the bachelors. Not as low as Kreacher but maybe above Hook. What is it with these lesser stallions getting the girls?

Snow snack

After most of the past year keeping Mouse at bay, Hollywood loses his mares (and he got not one but two!) to Aspen?! Now, if Holls has a fault as a band stallion, it may be that he’s not always as attentive as he should be, especially with several footloose bachelors on the prowl. Nobody seems to be hurt, so I’m thinking it might have been as simple as Hollywood not paying attention and Aspen sneaking in and snaking the girls away.

The proof

I watched them for quite a while. Because these five horses have been separate from the big band and together for at least the past several weeks, I figured it was possible that I just happened along at a point in time when the girls just happened to be closer to Aspen than to Hollywood. But Aspen definitely was acting like the band stallion, so for now at least, Aspen is king.

Five in a line

There they are – my look back as I was leaving (the snaking actually came right after this). Hollywood, left, Comanche on the other side of a low ridge, Baylee, Piedra and Aspen. Piedra, by the way, should have Hollywood’s foal this spring (sometime in April); I think it will be her first.

I was hoping to catch a glimpse of Bounce, Alegre and Gaia and/or Poco, Bones and Roach because back in that area by Knife Edge is one of their stomping grounds (P, B & R are usually a little farther east), but I didn’t see hide nor hair of those ponies. After I left Aspen’s band, I headed toward the intersection on the loop road that goes to Round Top. Earlier, while walking the road, before cutting off toward Steeldust’s band, I saw horses that I’m pretty sure were Seven, Molly and Roja up on the saddle area between Round Top and Flat Top. No sign of them on the way back, either. I crossed the road and headed toward Flat Top to close my loop back to the Jeep, also hoping I might see Traveler; they were on the west side of Flat Top the last time I saw them. A long shot, sure, but worth a look.

Kreacher and the girls were still down in the little valley but a little closer to the road when I got back. I was plenty tired at that point (another five-plus hours of adventure walking), so I didn’t go out to them. They watched me go by, then went back to grazing. I was glad to see them branching out from their north hills territory.

The only cattle I saw were northwest of the dugout intersection by the hills above Spring Creek and northeast of the finger hills.

It was a gorgeous day, and I hiked without a coat. There was only a very light breeze. You can’t get much closer to perfect. Quite a bit of snow, and with snow and clear blue-bird skies comes mud. The coolest thing is that you can actually hear the snow melt (see what I mean about simple pleasures?). The ponies take it in stride and use it to their advantage. It’s much easier for them to just gobble mouthfuls of snow when they’re thirsty than have to travel to known water sources. They seemed to enjoy it, and in the next post, I’ll have a nifty shot of Traveler to illustrate just how much!

The crazy thing is that I almost left that evening because the walking was so tiring. But I hadn’t seen my boy Grey (Traveler), and I just am so addicted that I couldn’t leave without seeing him. It took all day Sunday, but I found him and his family. 🙂 Stay tuned.

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Categories : Alpha, Bachelor 7, Hollywood, Kreacher, Mesa, New girls, Pinon, Steeldust, Storm

Bachelor no more

13 12 2008

What that really means is the new girls have found a beau! David Glynn, who was out both Saturday and Sunday last weekend, emailed this week to say he saw the girls Sunday with “companions.” Wow! They got pushed down out of the hills by the cattle, and that’s how they came to mingle. I could tell you the name of this less famous “Bachelor” (he’ll never make it on the more famous show), but I’m going to mimic my own suspense and keep you waiting (or you could cheat and scroll all the way to the bottom).

A big snow storm (it’s supposed to last until about Thursday) is headed our way, but I wanted to get out to the ponies one last time before I head south for the winter holidays. Two weeks ago when I went out, the road was muddy enough that I parked at the corrals and hiked in – but while the ground was “soft,” it wasn’t really muddy. This time, the road was perfectly dry to drive in on, but the rest of the ground was slick, slippery, gooey … absolute mud. And snow was still in patches all over the place. The wild thing was that if you looked south, the landscape looked all white and wintry, but if you looked north, it looked the same golden brown as usual – the pattern of snowmelt.

Steeldust and his band were out southeast of the pond close to the entrance, so I parked just down the road to the old trap site and hiked out. I realized pretty soon that the quality of the basin road would deteriorate between the high ground just in from the entrance and the shady side of Filly Peak, so I decided to leave the Jeep and do another walkabout. Naturally, the bachelor-formerly-known-as … ha, thought you had me, eh? Anyway, the boy had the girls waaaaay out on the northeastish side of Round Top, and I had to wait that long to see them, so you’ll just have to wait.

In the meantime, I had a really great visit with the babies (particularly) in Steeldust’s band. Remember on my walkabout two weeks ago, muddy Ember was chasing everybody around? Turnabout’s only fair in play, and this time, it was Storm who was little Mr. Ornery.

Storm, Kestrel, Ember and Sundance

One of the funniest things about this picture is the fact that Kestrel and Sundance barely moved from these positions the whole time I was there, despite all the young energy swirling around them.

So worried

Ember was so concerned about me walking toward them that she actually laid down a few seconds after I took the the first pic.

World view

A wider view to show the background … Note the stealthy approach of a wee baby brother …

Play with me, please?

Zoomed back in – do you see that Storm has a leg over Ember’s neck?

Mmmm, ears taste good!

By this time, Ember may have been regretting her assault on Storm a couple of weeks ago … He chewed and chewed and chewed – her ears (both), her forelock, her face, her neck …

Enough!

Until she couldn’t stand it anymore! So much for taking a nap.

Hiding

But of course Storm wasn’t out of potential playmates. Just to the right, Luna was napping on her feet while Steeldust grazed (Mouse was even farther right) and Pinon tried to go unnoticed.

Wanna play?

Not having much luck with big sis, Storm tried his luck with big brother Pinon.

Tastes like colt

Notice Sundance there on the right.

Who, us?

Notice now that Pinon managed to get away from Storm and hid behind bigger brother Sundance, who became a protector without moving a step.

Leave me alone

But moments later, Storm was at him again.

Protect me!

Mama, Storm won’t leave me alone!

Intermission

Might as well take advantage.

Me, too

So Storm decided it was a good time to find HIS mama. But about a second after I took this shot, Butch walked up and parked himself right in front of them. Then Pinon became fair game again …

Sisters

Sweet girls, but notice the drama in the background.

Ember and Luna

Have I mentioned that the babies still all seem to be nursing?

Aww

Little sisters ARE good for something … like when you have an itchy face.

Mouse

Mouse seems to have given up on Piedra and slid into Hollywood’s position as Steeldust’s lieutenant. He has stayed with the band even while the other bachelors have split up recently. (And now you know it’s not Mouse who has the girls!)

Snow queen

Lovely Alpha is the color of snow.

Steeldusts band

Only Alpha and Mouse are missing from this “family portrait” of Steeldust’s band. (The wordpress program doesn’t like apostrophes in photo captions.)

Baby faces

Another zoomed in view of the youngsters – you can just see Pinon’s ears in the background.

Three of the bachelors were close, so I went to see them, thinking that Hollywood and his girls and the missing bachelors and possibly the new girls were just out of sight over the hill.

Still bachelors

Duke, Hook (back) and Chrome maintain their bachelor status. Points to you if you know the remaining three bachelors!

But Hollywood and the others weren’t over the hill or beyond the next ridge. In fact, from the top of a hill above Spring Creek, I could see a lot of country but no other horses. Because I had seen a lot of horses recently in the Flat Top-Round Top area, I decided to walk on out there to see what I could see.

I hit the road just before the first Spring Creek crossing and walked it all the way to the base of Round Top. It was really muddy, snowy, slightly less muddy and snowier in spots, and I think my trusty hiking shoes are toast (Santa, are you reading?).

I finally spotted a group of five horses between the road and Flat Top, but I thought I was looking for a group of nine horses, and Grey/Traveler and his band were in that area last week, and though the horses were darkish, I thought that could have been because of the weak light, mud and/or a horse out of sight below a ridge. I thought it would be too easy to find Hollywood – and the new mares – that quickly. So of course it was Hollywood, Piedra and Baylee … and two bachelors. Guess who?

They were far enough off the road, and I was far enough from a good view of the area around Round Top, and the mud was such a deterrent, that I decided not to go down and take pictures of them. Onward.

Bounce and Gaia came into view next – they were near the roller-coaster ridge pond. Dark Alegre was close by. For the same reasons as above – and one other – I decided not to go down to them, either.

That “other” reason is that I had spotted – through the binocs – the dun girls up in the trees on the east side of Round Top! Just call me a horse-findin’ fool.

By this point, I knew who had the girls because of the bachelor missing from Hollywood’s group (and you all peeked, I know you did!), but oddly enough, I never actually saw him until I got almost to them.

Pretty girls

These girls are smart. They already know me, so they weren’t worried at all when I came into view from the trail around the north side of Round Top. That makes me feel really good!

Fuzzy!

The apricot dun mare – look at her gorgeous winter coat! It was so still when I arrived in the basin that morning that I noticed it as soon as I stepped out of the Jeep. It’s always so windy out there, when it’s NOT, it’s a noticeable absence. You can HEAR the silence. But at almost 1:30 on the nose, the wind suddenly picked up out of the south-southwest. It was just above freezing when I arrived, and the Jeep showed 42 degrees when I got back, but I was plenty warm while walking. I spent enough time being still with the mares and their boy that I started to get cold, and I was envious of their thick coats!

Lovelies

Are you dying to know?! I know you all cheated and scrolled down, but drum roll, please ….

Who, me?

Kreach-a-licious!

Knock me over with a feather. Kreacher was low man on the Bachelor 7 totem pole, but he’s the only one I know of that actually had a band previously (Molly and Roja, with Seven now), so maybe that helped him. He is not what I call an outstanding stallion, and his personality is so laid back as to be prone on the ground, but I have become fond of him this past year. He did NOT act like a stallion when I showed up, but I’m unsure whether to attribute that to him knowing me and being comfortable with me, too, or being timid. The mares still interacted with each other (black mare still kind of poopy toward the apricot dun but not quite as much as before), but although they didn’t seem to mind Kreacher’s presence, they pretty much ignored him. (I’m sure they got a lot of the “get to know you” out of their systems in the past week together.) Another un-stallion-like behavior of his is that he stayed behind them almost the whole time; he never came up front to “protect” them. Again, because he knows me or something else? The only time he was closest to me was after they had passed me on their way up to the “saddle” and I crossed behind them back toward the trail and he just happened to be in back, and thus, closest.

Peace and hope to you and yours

I wish all of you a very merry Christmas and all the best in the coming year. I hope it’s as full of joy and wild beauty for you as the past year has been for me.

Grey/Traveler and his band showed up on the northwest side of Flat Top as I made my way back to the Jeep. Steeldust and his band and hangers-on had moved to the other side of Spring Creek, so I was glad I had my earlier visit with them. It was a very long walkabout (about 5.5 hours) and well worth every minute!

Amazing

The day was solidly cloudy … until the very last moments of sunset. As I was driving up the curvy-curvy road out of the Dolores River canyon, the above view stopped me in my tracks – literally. If you’ve been on that road, you know the view begs for a pullout (or five), but there aren’t really many good places to stop and get off the road. So don’t tell the authorities, but I pretty much just stopped in my lane and pointed the camera out the window.

Basin glow

Besides the (fading) glow, do you recognize what makes this view so significant? That’s the home of my ponies out there underneath that glowing sky. At the almost-very-far-right is that prominent, unnamed peak you can see from almost anywhere in the basin. Pretty beautiful, eh?

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Categories : Alpha, Bachelor 7, Grey, Hollywood, Kreacher, Luna, Mahogany, New girls, Pinon, Steeldust, Storm

The cattle are in

8 12 2008

Holiday teaser

Who wouldn’t think “Christmas card” when they saw this scene? Bones, Poco and Roach.

If we don’t get snow to stick on the ground before I need to get my Christmas greetings in the mail, you’ll see something similar to the above photo as my Christmas wish to all of you before the holidays! (Of course, as I type this post, it’s snowing like crazy – and it’s sticking.)

The biggest change to the basin this weekend is that our bovine winter visitors are back in town (so to speak). The cows are in from Dec. 1 until the end of February.

Moo

This photo was taken near the first crossing of Spring Creek and is looking to the north-northwest. I saw other groups up in the north hills (where I did NOT see the new mares this past weekend), and there was a group east of the finger hills.

Several groups were in the area of Flat Top and Round Top again. Bounce and his lovely ladies were on the north side of the roller-coaster ridge. Grey/Traveler and his band were between the loop road and Flat Top. Seven and his girls were up at the base of Flat Top. Hollywood and his girls and a few of the bachelors were closer to Round Top, but I couldn’t see any of the main family band. I saw for sure later that they had separated – Steeldust and his band were up at the yucky puddle between the Tops, but I didn’t see them the first time I saw the other horses. Through the binocs, I thought I saw Shadow or David between the Tops … but I can’t confirm. Saw a lone dark horse to the east past Round Top that I finally identified as Poco, but Bones and Roach didn’t come into view until I hiked out to them. I lost a green Camelbak bottle last winter while I was hiking out there in the snow (remember when Seven had Houdini, Two Boots and Twister?), and the threesome was in that general area where I thought I lost it, so I decided to hike out to see them. (I never need much of an excuse to go visit those ponies!)

Have you ever wondered if Bones could lie down – even roll – with her healed, fractured pelvis? I have, and I was wondering that again just recently. Would you believe she cooperated and showed me she absolutely can?

Rolling Bones

Too bad I couldn’t divine the future from the way the “Bones” settled … 🙂 One reason I like Bones so much is her pluck. She looked so skinny last year, I named her thinking she wouldn’t make it through the winter. Not only did she survive, she has flourished!

The eagle and the raven

I call the ravens Heckle and Jekyll indiscriminately. They heckle me; I try to get them to help me find horses. None of us is very cooperative (!). While I was photographing P, B & R, a golden eagle soared low down an arroyo close by, then rose into the air in ever-ascending spirals. I guess I feel better that I’m not the only subject of Heckle’s heckling. There was one raven at first, then two. They were pretty far above me, and this photo is significantly cropped, but can you see how the eagle is looking at the raven? When you’re a human object of Heckle’s affection, there’s not much you can do. When you’re an eagle, you just fly away. By the time s/he flew away, four or five other ravens had joined the “game.”

What a view

The horses aren’t always in position for me to get shots of them with the mountains in the background, but most of them were cooperating Saturday for me to get a bunch of different potential Christmas card scenes. That’s Comanche, who was turning to lead Hollywood and his girls down the trail. It was at this point that I realized Steeldust’s band really wasn’t in the immediate neighborhood.

Walking the line

Comanche leads Aspen, Baylee, Piedra and Hollywood down a trail to an arroyo. When they got to the arroyo, they dropped out of sight for a little while … I’m not sure if they got water there? You can see in this photo how much Piedra resembles Comanche in color.

Grey boys

Chrome, Kreacher and Hook (and Duke) were about a minute behind Hollywood’s group on the same trail. If you’re wondering about bachelor Mouse, who has been after Piedra most of the year, he was the only bachelor still with the family band. That’s Knife Edge in the background.

El Duque

Big bay boy Duke stopped to say hi as his boys followed after Hollywood and Co. He has come a long way. He used to be pretty intolerant of people (me); now he almost seems to like me and will stop for prolonged (moments) visits.

Shades of grey

Grey/Traveler and his band were across an arroyo that emptied into the arroyo the boys (and Baylee and Piedra) went into – and I could see them ahead of us – so I trailed along with the ponies, down close to the arroyo, until I got to the silver boy and his family (remember when HE was one of the bachelors?).

Lunch

Big, growing girls need plenty of chow! I keep thinking about telling the tour folks back in October that I hadn’t seen any of last year’s foals still nursing last fall. I’ve still seen several of the babies nursing this fall … and not just youngest baby Storm. I like the picture above particularly because it also shows Two Boots, Houdini’s yearling filly.

Another spectacular view

And you know I’m not just talking about the landscape scenery!

Bosom buddies

Twister is another horse with a good dose of pluck. He was an orphan in the care of two stallions (Corazon and Cinch) when I first saw him last fall. Then he found mama Houdini and Two Boots and joined the family. That’s back when Seven was the head of the family. I wish he could stay young forever so he’d always have the comfort of his adopted family, but in another year or two, Grey will likely kick him out on his own. Maybe Two Boots will go with him. They’re pretty good pals.

Watching over baby

Jif and Iya. Most of the band napped while I sat on the ground; Houdini grazed most of the time, but then she came back and stood a little in front of Iya, just to the right out of the picture.

Mama

A different angle. Wise old girl Houdini has had her share of babies. Twister, in the background with Two Boots, is just one of her brood.

Itchy

I like how the plane of his face matches the line of Iya’s neck and body.

I had been keeping an eye on Seven, Molly and Roja up at the base of Flat Top while I hung out with Grey/Traveler, and that’s when I had seen Steeldust and his band up at the puddle. Eventually, they moved down, past Seven’s, toward Traveler’s and toward the bachelor boys and Hollywood’s. I walked up toward them on another trail and got into position so I could photograph them against the mountains, but they were on a mission to reunite with their boys, I guess, and they never stopped walking, grazing as they went. Consequently, I didn’t get many pix with their heads up!

Muddy boy Butch

Still muddy! Ooey gooey!

Sundance, clean

Sunny-boy was as muddy as Butch last weekend. He must have had a few good rolls since then.

Muddy Mouse

Mouse was the only bachelor still with the band. It looks like he waded into the water hole – look how deep it must be! He has mud all the way up to his belly, but it doesn’t look like he rolled in it. The “puddle” is pretty small. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned its dimensions, but I’d say it’s about 3 to 4 feet in diameter – tiny!

Pretty buckskin girls

Remember how muddy Kestrel was last weekend? She cleans up nice, eh?

Alpha and Storm

Lovelies.

Guardian

Kinda wild that I didn’t see Seven for almost two months, and now I’ve seen them the past three weekends – and all in the same area! And yes, I had been looking there all that time and never saw them. I do like seeing them.

Top of the hill

Seven and Roja on a short ridge at the base of Flat Top. Roja is ornery! When Steeldust’s horses came past them on the old road, I could see Roja trot out to meet them – kind of like a stallion will do. Seven stayed back on a little rise, and Steeldust’s horses seemed to be on a mission like I mentioned above, so they just ignored her; they never stopped moving until they got just a little past me and within view of the bachelors and Hollywood. Roja is a tough girl and fun to watch!

End of day

Here they’re on the shady eastern side of Flat Top, late afternoon. This pic doesn’t translate very well on the Web, but in the full version, I like the almost painterly quality of the light. Old Molly got the PZP last August before she was released, so she shouldn’t have a foal next year (her 2008 filly died sometime in August). She and Roja were with Kreacher last fall when I first saw them (remember that?); neither Roja nor Kreacher were gathered, and Roja didn’t have a foal. I expect Roja to have her first baby in the spring, and because Seven stole her and Molly from Kreacher in early March, I’m sure Seven’s the daddy.

After my visit with these guys, I headed back to the Jeep and on out to beat the dark home (not successful). I looked but didn’t see Bounce, Alegre and Gaia on my way out, and I scanned the north hills the whole time I was out for the new girls, but I never spotted them. I don’t know if they know about cows, but I wonder if the “tourists” will encourage them to come down from their hilly stronghold and meet some new friends.

What a gorgeous day! Chilly but gorgeous sunshine and great weather for hiking around and visiting with the ponies. The days are short, and I keep thinking about the past year, all that I’ve learned and experienced. I certainly don’t lack for peace, hope and joy this holiday season! It’s supposed to snow again next weekend, but I’m going to try to get out there because I’m taking a two-week holiday to visit my folks and home ponies, which will mean at least a three-week hiatus from the basin. That’s the most time (by far) I’ve spent away from the horses since February, but given the potential weather in December in Colorado, it’s probably the best time to plan to be away.

I’m tossing around the idea of asking you, blog readers, for suggestions to name the new girls. What do you think? Can’t keep calling them “the new girls” forever, and I want people to really know these horses as OURS. So if you have suggestions, leave a comment, and be sure to specify a name or names for each particular mare: the dun, the black pinto or the apricot dun.

Thanks for coming along on this journey of discovery and joy. As much as I’ve enjoyed sharing part of the horses’ lives, I’ve enjoyed sharing what I’ve learned with you. It’s not over by any means!

Comments : 4 Comments »

Categories : Alpha, Bachelor 7, Bones, Grey, Hollywood, Houdini, Jif, Kreacher, Luna, Poco, Roach, Roja, Seven, Steeldust, Storm

Giving thanks

28 11 2008

Another beautiful morning

As I write this post, it really is still Thanksgiving, even though I know the blog will say otherwise. Not that I can’t give thanks for the horses, and my time with them, any day of the year, but I just wanted to make that point. All these photos are from last Sunday. As you’ll see, it was a gorgeous day. Also as I write this post, it’s snowing. The basin is getting rain or snow or some combination. The horses are likely wet, but hopefully they’re as ready for this next season as they look. They – we – really need the moisture.

In the photo above, that’s Hollywood and Baylee near the road and the water catchment. Steeldust’s family and all the bachelors but Chrome, Kreacher and Hook also were there.

Big band

The horses were all very relaxed and calm Sunday morning about an hour after sunrise.

Steeldust, Alpha and Storm

I included this photo as the start of a little visual journey. Soon after I took this photo, Storm laid down for a nap.

Sleepy boys

There’s Pinon standing over Storm, with Sundance snoozing behind them.

Daddy on guard

Slightly different angle. That’s Ember behind Steeldust.

So that’s nice, you’re thinking, but this isn’t much of a story. Maybe not, but all stories need a beginning. See, I took these photos from just down from the fenced-in water catchment. The light wasn’t the best from this angle, but it was the best angle to catch little Storm-chaser at his nap (and who can resist?). My back was to the northeast, where that hill drops off to the big “flat” below.

So I’m taking pix from a crouched position, and the horses are calm, and Storm is looking at me but not bothered enough to disturb his semi-nap. But then all of a sudden, all the horses looked up at me. What did I do? I hadn’t moved?

Hoofbeats. Behind me. Trotting.

Boo!

I look back, and there’s Grey/Traveler trotting after Jif, who is trotting up over the edge of the hill and right past me! He’s trotting in this photo – can you see his eye looking at me? I think he was as surprised to see me as I was to see him!

Traveler and Jif

He finally got her to stop there, where they’re looking at Steeldust’s band (who were all possibly just as surprised as the rest of us), who were looking back at them. I figured the rest of the band was coming up the trail, but they never showed up.

Sassy Jif

Moments later … “I’m going, already.”

Not too worried

He followed after her, pretty calm, as you can see here, but this is where the story (visually) got good.

The chase is on

Jif was being sassy and lolly-gagging along, so Grey/Traveler decided to push a little harder.

Cant catch me

Now he’s starting to get a little mad.

Keep moving

I really thought the band was just out of sight below the edge of the hill.

Over the edge

They dropped over the edge, and I walked over slowly, expecting to see the other horses.

All calm on the eastern front

But they weren’t. I walked back to the Jeep and drove on down the hill and across the “flat,” where this photo was taken from the Jeep. Left to right: Jif, Houdini, Iya and Twister (Iya is just barely visible), and Two Boots. Grey/Traveler is just out of the picture at right. They were way away! (Relatively.) Why did Jif go running off like that? She’s kind of independent, but does she do that often? Another hmm. The end.

Not really, of course. I had spotted the new girls up on a hill around from the dry-pond trail, so that’s where I headed next.

Da girls

They were out enjoying the sunshine, as calm and relaxed as Steeldust’s and Grey’s bands (minus the Jif incident).

Pretty little girl

Isn’t she cute?

Black mare

Don’t let this angle fool you; she’s really a girl with (small) spots.

Cute n curious

I walked across the hill below them to get them in better light, then sat down to hang out with them for a little while and see what they’d do. This little girl just walked on over, the better to see me. Black mare and apricot mare stayed back. Feeding their pal to the lion? Just waiting to see what the lion would do? Some friends, eh? Ha.

Let me just check out this saltbush ...

I love her curiosity. When she realized I a) wasn’t a lion and b) wasn’t going to eat her, she just went to grazing. She did that for several minutes then walked back to her pals to give them the scoop.

OK?

OK.

Showing her spots

Watchful girl.

Little apricot

Calm enough to graze. I like it when that happens.

It was a really nice, quiet visit with these girls. I’m really quite fond of them!

I never expected to see Seven and his mares again Sunday, but I decided to go have a look anyway, just in case. Would you believe they were in the same exact place – a little closer to Flat Top – as where I found them Saturday? It’s where I last saw them in early October … and I’ve looked there every time I’ve been out there since – and never seen them until this weekend!

Seven

Handsome boy.

Molly and Roja

I didn’t stay with them long, and I didn’t take many photos. They were fine with me standing at a distance. I checked off the ridge but didn’t see any other horses.

Breakaway boys

Almost forgot this pic of the three boys who wandered away from the big band: Chrome at left, Hook and Kreacher. This was taken from the road, almost to the base of Round Top, looking eastish. Kind of a cool backdrop, eh?

I looked for Steeldust’s band on my way back out but wasn’t seeing them. From the north, I had seen them walking along the ridge toward the pond near the entrance, so I thought I might see them in that area. Sometimes, they’re where you’re least expecting them.

Steely Dan and fam

They were against the hill right inside the main entrance. They barely looked up from their grazing …

Aspen

Except this guy. He was looking so handsome in the sunlight, I couldn’t resist taking his picture.

Ember and Luna

And this little girl. I keep thinking of all this year’s yearlings, how they looked last year when they were the age of this year’s babies. They grow so quickly. Ah … I’m so sentimental.

But wait! The story’s not yet over. Guess who I saw right from the county road on my way home?

Painted ponies

I took pictures of them right from the fenceline off the road. Here, from front to back: Kiowa, Chipeta, Corazon, Reya and Spook.

Ty was back with the band. I guess he found family life more appealing than life as a single guy.

Muddy Mesa

Big muddy boy. Copper was the farthest from the band and never came very close. The king is (driven away); long live the king? Corazon was right with the band … which isn’t unusual EXCEPT that Copper was so far away. So is Corazon the new head of family?

And that’s the Sunday story. Heartfelt thanks to my ponies, as always.

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Categories : Corazon, Grey, Hollywood, Jif, Mesa, Molly, New girls, Pinon, pintos, Roja, Seven, Steeldust, Storm, 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

Without words

20 11 2008

Center of the world

Sunday was … the last day, the end of the weekend, gorgeous … busy with visitors … the end of the fourth/last hunting season. Did I mention gorgeous? The kind of day when it never enters your mind to be anywhere else or with anyone else.

I had a couple of hours of early morning again Sunday before Debbie and Kathleen arrived in the basin, and Steeldust’s and Traveler’s bands were still close by and accommodating. There is such a feeling of peace and all-is-right-with-the-world under all that rich light.

Traveler and Jif

Silver-beautiful boy and his girl Jif.

Iya and Houdini

Although Houdini does still let Iya nurse, it seems like she’s starting to wean her away, just by walking off when Iya indicates interest.

Soft

Do you love his expression here?!

Youngsters

Do good things come in threes? Three good babies. Beautiful early light. Wild youngsters so relaxed.

Baylee and Hollywood

Piedra was there, too, a few moments earlier, then she wandered off to graze.

Home with a view

Relaxed Steeldust, hangin’ with the (extended) fam. If you’re having a big crew to the table this Thanksgiving, think of him, leading his big crew to grazing every day of the year. Don’t stress. Enjoy the sunshine. Take a nap. Appreciate your family.

Shortly after this, Debbie and Kathleen arrived, and we returned to find the horses in the same areas. We spent more time with them, Debbie had her wonderful conversation with Grey/Traveler, and we bid them farewell to head north.

Top of the world

Twister, Iya and Houdini walking along the edge of the “ridge” that drops off southeast of Filly Peak beyond the road where it curves to take visitors past the catchment.

The ladies’ time in the basin Sunday was limited because of their distance from home. We spotted the new mares up off the north road, so we headed up to visit them.

Apricot dun

We took our time walking out to them, even though they were just a short distance from the road and had seen the Jeep rolling toward them. They were on a little grassy bench above the road. (And I did see the black mare nibble at a greasewood bush. I think they’re just not sharing all their secrets at once.)

One way

There’s the black mare between the two duns, warning the apricot dun away.

Then the other way

They didn’t go far.

Once more

When I was in third grade, I followed my best friend, Linda, everywhere. Looking back, I’m pretty sure it was annoying.

Go, duns, go!

You might be able to just see the black mare’s nose behind the tree branches at right behind these girls. Seconds after this, the only thing you could see of them was their heels in the air!

What more can you ask from life? So … a few words, but my goal was to show off the expressiveness of the horses, whether napping or playing. Happy? I really think they are.

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Categories : Grey, Hollywood, Houdini, Jif, New girls, Steeldust

Friday night

17 11 2008

The sun wasn’t far above the horizon when I arrived in the basin Friday evening. Grey/Traveler and his band and Steeldust and his band – including the ever-present bachelor boys – were waiting for me fairly near the entrance. Grey’s were grazing, but most of Steeldust’s were napping. Babies Ember and Storm were lying down, but Pinon had made a new friend.

Pinon and Aspen

I don’t know what it means … Just a pic to make ya go “hmm.” They grow up so fast!

The light was just perfect, and the horses were relaxed and soaking it in before another long, chilly night. (The temperature dropped into at least the mid-20s overnight.)

Last light

Grey/Traveler and his band were just below the road on a hill above the area where Steeldust’s band was hanging out. Not too much interaction between the two bands (at least while I was watching), but there would be plenty of action later among Steeldust’s hangers-on.

Houdini and Iya

Houdini and leggy Iya

Iya

Big, curious girl. She looks like a draft horse foal, doesn’t she?

Sleepy baby

Storm’s doing his impression of a curly haired bison calf here. Kestrel and Sundance in the background.

Sisters?

Hollywood’s girls, Piedra and Baylee. Baylee is Mahogany’s yearling daughter. … Piedra has her ears. Maybe. Need a chuckle? Check out Piedra’s lower lip.

Looking for trouble

Well, maybe not all of them …

Uh oh

Chrome has noticed that Hollywood’s not guarding his girls, not paying attention, chatting with pal Aspen, who also has noticed at this point that Chrome is making his move.

The approach

Chrome’s feeling lucky …

The rejection

Baylee says “no way! can’t you see I’m underage?!”

The rescue

Chrome paws the ground in frustration after Hollywood finally comes to his girl’s rescue.

Better luck next time

Nothing ventured, nothing gained, eh?

Show me the love

Chrome wasn’t the only one in a romantic mood on a Friday night. This photo was taken just a few moments after the lead photo in the next post (“Affirmation”). Alpha flirted a bit half-heartedly, but Steeldust knew it wasn’t his lucky day. One difference between a roguish teenager and a seasoned family man!

And I forgot a photo from earlier in the day:

Pintos

The pinto band with the bay boys – minus Ty. Leading lady is Kiowa, followed by Spook, Chipeta, Reya, Copper, Corazon and Mesa. This was taken from the county road right alongside the herd area. Saturday, from Round Top, I spotted Cinch and Bruiser very briefly before I lost them in the folded hills, with Ty not quite with them but very nearby. Remember his little altercation with Copper from last weekend? Maybe leaving the band to find his bachelor pals was his version of a cold shower. It’s fall, sure, but who says romance is only for spring time?

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Categories : Alpha, Grey, Hollywood, Houdini, Pinon, pintos, Steeldust, Storm

Wild horse chase – Sunday, Nov. 9, 2008

13 11 2008

Think “goose,” think Seven, think more than a month since I’ve seen the boy and his girls. The gauntlet has been thrown, and I’m on the trail of Seven, Molly and Roja. My trail has been cold so far, and this weekend wasn’t any different. I’ll keep looking – it’s half the fun!

Since a report a few weekends ago that Seven had been spotted near Brumley Point, I’ve been concentrating my searches in that area. Last weekend, I hiked in and went around farther south. This weekend, I hiked in and made a loop up to the northwest to Round Top and around westish and southish back to the road. Did see the pintos and their solid pals. Did see Bruiser and Cinch. Did see the Glynns riding between Flat and Round tops.

Waiting

Have I mentioned these spotted creatures of habit? Hill. Pintos. Check. Call it my natural stair-stepper, that hill. Copper, Kiowa, Reya, Spook, Chipeta and Ty were toward the top of the hill – Mesa and Corazon out of sight – and they saw me coming from a mile away (maybe literally). But they were calm, and I set a diagonal course to reach the top of the hill south of them. When I poked up at the top edge of the hill, Spook-girl spotted me right away, but Chipeta – seen here – and Kiowa (at least) were standing so they faced down the hill. Watching for me? Surely. I waited until they noticed Spook’s attention and saw me, then walked on up. I had a fairly single-minded goal of looking for Seven’s band, and I wasn’t necessarily going to take any more photos of this band, but who can resist? Not me.

Stallion action

With Mesa and Corazon presumably in the trees – out of my sight, anyway – Ty decided to make his move. It was not a move well received by either Copper or the girls, however. You can kinda see Chipeta – far left – at the lower end of a kick to the boys. I’m not sure she was aiming for either of them particularly, just both of them.

Mama and babies

Resistance is futile?? Who can resist those faces? That’s Mama Kiowa with baby Spook in the middle and yearling Reya.

Around then, there was a whinny from the trees – Mesa or Corazon? It turned out to be a “where are you guys” call from Corazon. One thing I’ve noticed is that the ponies rarely whinny, and the message seems fairly urgent when they do. Mesa came out later.

Having seen Cinch and Bruiser between Flat Top and Round Top on Saturday, I didn’t expect to see them there again, but I had seen David and Shadow there a few weekends ago, so that area was my northernmost goal. When I first saw the boys, they were looking at something, but all I could see was something red through the trees. It turned out to be the Glynns, watching the boys from the other side. They rode up to where I was, and we chatted a bit, then they rode on south to see the pintos (still out on their hill), and I headed southwestish. Soon after I watched David and Doris ride over a ridge east of Round Top, I spotted Poco and Bones way, way far away against the far grey hills. Roach must have been nearby. Not another horse did I see – except the pintos again as I approached the Jeep.

Seven, pony, where are you?

Into the basin on the main road. Binoculars helped me spot the new girls – still on THEIR hill. I stopped at the water catchment to check the level of water in the drinking troughs; I turned off the flow of water Saturday. Still good.

Didn’t see Grey/Traveler and his band on my way in, but I did see them on my way out – still near the catchment. They’re definitely staying close to that fresh water.

On the loop road, as I approached the Round Top intersection, some of Steeldust’s horses, then Bounce came into view, looking at something. Then I saw Doris and David, so I stopped so I wouldn’t interfere with their observation of the horses. I was within view of that old enclosure right off the road but pretty far from the horses and at least partially blocked from their view by hills. I thought the horses would head west and low, toward the arroyo, and I’d see them appear out in that “valley.” So I took the time to write some notes on my earlier adventures … then looked up to see horses coming right toward me!

Alegre and Gaia

Bounce’s girls stopped ahead of and east of the Jeep.

Bounce

Bounce stopped behind them and looked back for followers. What a handsome boy he is. They trotted on down the hill, out of sight, and ended up out in the open to the east.

Two mamas, two babies

Storm and Alpha, Ember and Luna.

When the band realized I was there and saw the Jeep, they stopped, milled around, then started grazing – or just standing around like cool cats.

Three boys grey

Kreacher, Hook and Chrome.

More boys

A wider view of more boys: Comanche at left and Aspen and Duke in the center (Aspen standing sideways to the camera). Knife Edge in the background.

Pals

Hook and Chrome. Sometimes I wonder how long some of these bachelor boys have known each other. Did they grow up together, like Storm and Pinon?

Hollywood and girls ... and one little boy

Hollywood with Piedra and Baylee – sisters, I think – with Pinon in the background. Pinon is definitely Baylee’s little brother. If Piedra’s dam also is Mahogany, he’s her little brother, too! You can see the road behind him.

Around this time, the Glynns had ridden up on a far ridge, and I realized we had the horses trapped between us. Plus, the horses all turned around to look at them, so then I had only butt shots! I started moving around them toward the Glynns so the horses didn’t feel squeezed and could continue on if they chose. They were very calm, though, and had mostly started grazing again.

Snack time

I’m not sure if Alpha here was looking at my Jeep or at Bounce, Alegre and Gaia as they moved away from the ridge and horses and humans and excitement. Steeldust had walked around Alpha as Storm nursed and stopped right in front of her, as if to keep her from going any farther.

Auntie Luna standing by

Again with the wider view, here to show “Auntie Luna” very close by.

Little boy, little girl

Storm and Ember

Like mother, like son

Striking similiarity, eh? Mahogany and Pinon. Ember and Storm were just to the left, and they tagged along in Pinon’s wake as he passed them with Mama.

I walked the road down to where David and Doris were watching from their hill. The horses stayed in the area for quite a while as we talked and watched them. When they started to move on, so did we, both taking the road back toward the dugout intersection.

Heading out

This may actually be the photo I was thinking of when I wrote this morning’s post about Saturday’s adventures. That IS Flat Top in the background. So many landmarks … so many ways to present them!

Closer look

Zoom-zoom.

Uneventful, the rest of the day. We woke up to snow Monday morning in Mancos, so I hope the basin got some more of that moisture. It melted right away here, so I’m sure it did there as well. We’ll take all the moisture we get after our recent dry spell. Weather is certainly turning toward winter. The ponies are all fuzzy and look great.

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Categories : Alegre, Alpha, Bounce, Hollywood, Kreacher, Mahogany, Pinon, Steeldust, Storm, Ty

Spring Creek Basin Mustangs