Kreacher | Spring Creek Basin Mustangs

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12 01 2009

Mesa invitation

Sunday was my first trip to the basin since I returned from my holiday vacation, and it was a good one. I saw all but three bands (Traveler’s, Seven’s and Poco, Bones and Roach), though most of the horses were pretty far away and viewed through binoculars. I hiked in and found the pinto band at the end of the day and took this photo of Mesa. It seems like he’s inviting me to follow him into his home – and what a beautiful home it is.

I wasn’t at all sure what to expect on the roads, but the road from the county road to the herd area boundary and a short way into the herd area was mostly dry. It was partly sunny when I got there, but then it turned cloudy. Later in the afternoon: full sunshine. I stopped just uphill from the first curve inside the herd area to take a look. Before I got my binoculars, I saw cattle way out in the area northeastish of the finger hills, then some shapes back to the north … one of them a familiar and non-cowy color. I thought, based on where I last saw the new mares and their new beau (down on the east side of Round Top), if I didn’t know better, I’d think that was the apricot dun mare. Damned if it wasn’t Kreacher and the girls!

Tres amigas

I was psyched to see them. Again, based on where I saw them last (yes, it was four weeks ago), I really didn’t expect to see them today.

The new girls have new names this new year. Thanks to Lynn and Kathy in New Mexico for “Raven” for the black pinto mare. As they so astutely pointed out, the mare’s color is exactly the lustrous black of the ubiquitous ravens that call the basin home. And thanks to Karen of South Carolina and Ouray for “Mona” for the “regular” dun. She noticed that I’m always commenting on how cute she is, “que mona” – how cute! It was right as soon as I read it. And for the apricot dun, in honor of her Sand Wash Basin “cousin” who patrols the U.S.-Canada border with the U.S. Border Patrol and is one of two Colorado mustangs going to the inaugural parade Jan. 20 in Washington, D.C., I named her “Kootenai” (“kooten-ee”).

Raven, Mona and Kootenai

And Kreacher following.

Kreacher

My guess is that the girls didn’t like the direction their new relationship was going, so they turned tail and headed back to their familiar (north) hills. What’s a boy to do? Of course he followed. Still not acting at all “stallion-like,” just very calm and laid back. So I started thinking back to when he had Molly and Roja, and I think he was about the same way. The very first time I saw them, I thought he was a mare, as a matter of fact; he wasn’t at all aggressive or protective or otherwise displaying the usual “protection” behaviors. But apparently he has the cajones to keep a few mares – at least for now. Maybe it’s a matter of sheer coincidence, but consider that – in addition to Kreacher now – only Steeldust has as many as three mares. None of the other horses are anywhere close (that I saw) to them, location-wise, so it stands to reason that he’ll keep the girls for a while (maybe until the bachelors start wandering again).

Alert

The girls were up on a hill that gave me a good vantage point to scan the basin. From there, I saw Bounce, Alegre and Gaia, Steeldust’s band and Hollywood’s band with at least one bachelor nearby and three bachelors together just slightly farther away. But rather than try to hike out through the snow and mud to get to them, I decided to drive out and on down the county road to see how far I could get. I thought if I could get at least to the corrals, I’d hike in from there.

But the road was good all the way down to Black Snag Road. Some snow, but earlier traffic was obvious. I turned around there and went back up to my favorite hike-in spot, a little southeast of the county line. I hadn’t seen any horses from there, but the clouds had gone away, the sky was blue, it was a great day for a hike, I hadn’t seen the pintos for a while, and I didn’t want the day to end. I walked in and up on top of the hill where I often found the pintos last year. There was a lot more snow in the southern part of the herd area.

The pinto ponies and their suitors weren’t on their hill, though. I stopped on the trail when I got high enough to see back toward Round Top and scanned with the binoculars. Then I saw them, up on the hill on the north side of the little valley I hike through to get to their hill – actually closer to the road! Ha. Well, it was a great day for a hike.

Mesa

This boy is kind of the behavioral opposite of Kreacher – and he doesn’t even have his own mares! Copper should feel (!) lucky to have him act as protector while Copper sticks close to his mares from Corazon and Ty, all the boys still acting as one big family.

King of the hill

The last time I saw the pintos, right from the county road, Copper was not acting like the lead stallion; Corazon was. But things seem to be back to “normal” with Copper sticking close – even though Kiowa kept pinning her ears and snapping her teeth at him.

By the time I walked up to their hill, they had moved out into the open and were headed slightly downhill toward Round Top. It coincidentally put them right in the middle of a spectacular background – the La Sal Mountains in Utah.

Kiowa and her girls

Kiowa seems mostly passive from a distance, a benign mother and alpha mare. But don’t let appearances fool you. I think she rules with an iron, er, hoof, when she needs to! From left, Reya (yearling filly), Kiowa, Spook (2008 filly) and Chipeta.

Still nursing

But she’s still a mama above all else. She wasn’t happy about it, but she eventually stood still for Spook to nurse. Copper at right.

Family

Just Mesa is missing from the band above – he had already moved farther to the right, trying to lead the band away. From left, Ty, Corazon, Kiowa, Spook and Reya, Chipeta and Copper. That’s Round Top in the background. It looks different from this perspective, doesn’t it? This was the last shot I took of them as I started back toward the Jeep.

Almost forgot to say that I saw David and Shadow and Cinch south of Flat Top from the hill. I didn’t see Bruiser, but I hope he was nearby; he and Cinch have been together almost since the bachelors kicked him out of the pinto band.

A few more random photos:

Winter day

Kreacher and Kootenai with McKenna Peak in the background.

Close-up

Kreacher and the mares went around the little hill they were on and down to graze. I went around the other side of the hill and caught this shot of Kreacher as he followed Kootenai down into the little valley. I took some pix that really didn’t show him at his best (he really doesn’t have the best conformation), but I just couldn’t bring myself to show them. 🙂 He looks pretty decent here.

On guard

Mr. Mesa takes his protection duties seriously. Always be aware of your surroundings: I was photographing the other horses against the mountains when a look or posture of one of them made me look away from the camera. Tough guy Mesa had come out to say “hi,” all puffed up, and I hadn’t even noticed! He’s really not as close as he appears; I had my lens zoomed out to take the pix of the other horses, and when I saw Mesa, I just pointed and shot. This is one of just two shots like this before he trotted back to the band.

Deer central

The deer are back. Wow. I hadn’t seen this many deer since, well, this time last year. I took this shot right from the Jeep on the county road – the deer are inside the herd area. There were at least a dozen other deer just in this group, and this was one of probably a dozen groups I saw today.

It’s good to be back!

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Categories : Kreacher, Mesa, New girls, pintos

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

Walkabout

1 12 2008

What a fanfabnomenal day! Look who I found:

Shadow and David

It was a little crowded at the yucky water puddle between Flat Top and Round Top (ugh; couldn’t the ponies have chosen a better watering hole?). But the craziest thing was that until I got there, I was thinking that I wasn’t going to see many horses today.

We got snow/rain late last week, and the county road past the herd area was still wet and muddy in places. I decided not to tempt fate (call me paranoid) by driving the road to the basin’s main entrance, so I went down to the corrals instead. I hardly ever hike in from there because it’s a long walk to get to where you might start seeing horses. I headed toward the water catchment and the “front country” first because that’s where Grey/Traveler and Steeldust had their bands last weekend. The new girls were low on their north hills, but the area was otherwise devoid of horses. I did see someone driving out, though, so I guess the road wasn’t as bad as I had feared.

It was one of those crazy beautiful days where the clouds are playing games with the sunlight. When I first got there, most of the basin was under full sunshine, but clouds looked ominous to the south and west. There was evidence of the recent snowstorm along the tops of the near ridges and the far hills. Just astoundingly beautiful. But then the clouds covered the sun, and the rest of the day was cloudy over the basin. It was mostly sunny to the north, but by the time I left, clouds had almost completely veiled the La Sal Mountains, and the basin was purple against the sunshine turning the west hills gold.

Through the binoculars, from the road past the catchment, I spotted horses way down to the southeast. I thought they were Grey’s band, but I couldn’t tell for sure, and I couldn’t tell exactly where they were. As it turned out, they WERE Grey’s, and they were a bit east of Round Top. While I was heading toward them – before I realized quite how far they were yet – I spotted a black horse against the sky between Flat Top and Round Top. … Shadow? I hadn’t seen her or David for quite a while (almost as long as I had gone without seeing Seven and his girls), but I walked on up to the base of Round Top to see how far away Grey/Traveler was – and I was planning to take the Round Top trail back toward the corrals anyway. It turned out the silver boy and his family were still quite a distance from where the road ends at the base of Round Top (and where the trail takes off), so I made sure everyone was there (Iya still nursing), then hit the trail.

I was feeling a little disappointed that I hadn’t seen Steeldust’s big band … Who do you suppose I found hunkered down between the Tops?

A boy and his band

Steely Dan, with some very muddy furballs masquerading as his sons and daughters!

Mud, Muddy and Muddier

Or is that Muddiest, Muddier and Muddy?! Butch, Sundance and Kestrel (possibly siblings). You can see they’re still wet, and that’s not a shadow on Kestrel’s side; it’s her very own swath of mud.

I don’t know if it was the nip in the air or something in the mud, err, water, but the ponies were feisty today! Ember was bucking around, and Kestrel, Butch and Sundance would be calm for a few moments – like in the photo above – then one would back into the other, and THEY would start playing around with each other! It was awesome to watch them feeling so good and being so silly!

Storm and Alpha

Luna girl in the background. I think it was the mud. The mudballs were the silliest. 🙂

Invitation to play

Innocent Storm … He’s still gullible.

Sweetening the invitation

Aww … such a sweet girl, giving kisses …

Gotcha!

Is that just like a girl?

Look out!

She looks fierce, doesn’t she?

Calm after the storm

No pun intended!

No rest

Then she was off with Pinon (poor boy – can’t resist).

One more

And muddy Kestrel couldn’t resist, so she jumped right in … and Butch and Sundance came to play, too, but they all went and hid behind mamas …

Steeldust

And big daddy!

Lost boys

Breakaway boys Kreacher, Hook and Chrome were back with the band – hanging out here with Duke. That nasty-looking dark splotch on Chrome’s face is just mud.

Making friends

But before Duke and the grey boys rejoined the band, Duke was thirsty enough to march up to the puddle for a drink – while David and Shadow were there. They were very respectful of each other.

Kreacher and Hook

Sweet boys.

Look who else was watching the goings-on:

Waiting patiently

They’re up by Round Top there. Funny that the yucky little water hole has become such a gathering place. Maybe I’m the only one who thinks it’s so yucky?!

David and Shadow

These guys hung out at the water hole the whole time all the silliness was going on in Steeldust’s band. Maybe I wasn’t the only one entertained! 🙂

Fun day and a great walk – four and a half hours from corrals to corrals. One great big loop walkabout. Saw 34 of the 50 horses – all but the pinto family, the pinto boys, Poco, Bones and Roach, and Bounce’s band. The ground was soft, so the basin definitely got some of that rain and/or snow, though, like here, no snow remained.

A fanfabnomenal day!

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Categories : Alpha, David, Kreacher, Molly, Pinon, Seven, Steeldust, Storm

Love and light

19 11 2008

First light

It comes a little after 7 a.m. now, that gentle, golden light that slides over ridges and slips around hills and envelops you like a caress. If the horses are relieved to see it morning after morning, they give no indication. It finds them, warms them; it marks the next day in Spring Creek Basin. I can think of few better places to enjoy the coming of dawn. Above are horses in Grey/Traveler’s band: Iya and Houdini, Traveler in the background (farther away than he looks), Jif, Two Boots and Twister.

What scary monsters are yonder?

Very close to the main entrance to the herd area here and not long after my visit with Grey’s band, still fairly early. Chrome was fascinated by something in the near distance and couldn’t take his eyes off it. Duke came to offer support. What scary monster could it have been that eventually sent the boys all running to catch up with their mates down at the pond?

Ooooh ... scary!

Go ahead, give it a chuckle. Two little baby boys, just up from morning naps, were the “monsters” Chrome was so worried about.

Snack time

Not much longer, and Debbie and Kathleen arrived and we drove around to watch the horses in Steeldust’s band from the road near the catchment.

Another nap

Pinon and Storm laid down for another nap, surrounded by family.

Last ones standing

While we watched and Debbie communicated with them, almost all the other horses laid down, too. It would be a shorter list to name who did NOT lie down. In this photo, you can see Kestrel, Sundance and Hollywood lying down. Butch also is back there lying down. Even Steeldust laid down.

And even Duke

Even vigilant Duke laid down for a rest. Both Chrome and Hook also eventually laid down. It was fantastic to see them so relaxed, even with visitors.

Wild light

Evening light here. I took Debbie and Kathleen up on Round Top to give them an overview of the whole basin. On the way there, we saw Bounce, Alegre and Gaia. We saw the pintos from the summit, as well as Bruiser and Cinch and, close by, Ty. We saw Poco, Bones and Roach from the loop road. We saw a large (20?) herd of mule deer and one beautiful young buck near Lizard Mesa (Sunday was the last day of the fourth and last hunting season). We had seen Steeldust’s band from the summit of Round Top, too, and we were looking for them on our way toward closing the loop – voila. We came up over a slight rise that blocked our view, and there they were, just above the dugout intersection. The picture above represents what we saw. The horses were very relaxed and all very close together. Beautiful horses in beautiful light.

Asleep on their feet

Piedra and Baylee are rarely far from each other these days. Did you spot Hollywood in the previous picture? He’s right up in the middle of the band. At left is bachelor Aspen.

Three grey boys

Hook, left, Chrome and Kreacher. Kathleen and Hook took an instant liking to each other.

Bachelor 4

All calm on the eastern front. Chrome, left, Kreacher, Hook and Duke.

Last light

Gorgeous, yeah? Ember and Luna, Storm and Alpha.

Zzzzzzzzz

Storm-baby was sound asleep almost the whole time we were with the band – probably because the other horses were so relaxed no one raised an alarm.

Time to get up!

Ha! I’m not sure I’ve captured a funnier face than the one Ember is making here! Storm had awakened, and she was checking him out as he scratched and stretched. He was in no mood to get up, but he finally did.

Now what?

After the nap – now what trouble do you suppose they can get into? Tomorrow’s another day …!

The band crossed the road to the side we were on, then went down the hill to graze into the night.

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Categories : Alpha, Bachelor 7, Grey, Houdini, Kreacher, Mahogany, Pinon, 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

April flowers

6 04 2008

The first sign of spring has come to the basin in the form of these tiny flowers, a kind of phlox, I think. It’s not quite green yet, but these flowers are a hopeful sign of a fresh season. Babies can’t be far behind.

There aren’t any new foals yet, but it’s only a matter of weeks now. The first horses I saw were those in Steeldust’s band, just on the north side of the hill called Flat Top. Driving on the little road toward that hill, I thought I saw Grey/Traveler or Houdini and the foals – just their backs over a hill. But just before I parked to walk toward Steeldust’s band, I got a bad scare: Grey – definitely – and alone. But not to fear; before I could freak out too much, there popped up Two Boots … then Houdini … then Twister. Whew!

The mystery horses turned out to be Seven, Molly and Roja. That’s not the first time I’ve made that mistake from afar and looking at just their backs.

But then I worried again because Grey was moving his family right toward Steeldust’s. I followed the road around until I was actually on the side of Flat Top, where I could watch without interfering – although goodness knows I wanted to run out there between them!

$Grey watching Steeldust\'s band$

That’s Houdini in the foreground, watching me as I walked the road, and Grey/Traveler watching the other horses. At left (in front of Grey) from front to back are Baylee, one of the rose grey stallions and Steeldust; in the center are Alpha and Piedra; the dun in the back is Hollywood, still tagging along with Steeldust but now causing some stress; and the bay mare, Baylee’s dam and, I believe, that rose-grey stud’s dam.

Houdini wanted no part of the gathering and stood apart the whole time, but the foals were curious, and they crowded behind Grey as he watched the other horses. Here, he had turned around with this sweet expression. A moment later, he was striking at them, and immediately after they backed off, he rubbed his face on Two Boots’ side as if to apologize.

Steeldust was much more interested in what Hollywood was doing than he was in Grey’s open challenge. I had observed Hollywood with Steeldust as a mutually beneficial arrangement, but the two seem to be harrying each other now – another sign of the season, I suppose.

Grey finally had enough of waiting, I guess, and he lunged right into the group of horses in Steeldust’s band. Calmly watching in the background is Alpha, who until sometime last spring was Grey’s favorite mare. (She was gathered with a different stallion and was one of the lucky ones released.)

That broke the spell, and the bands split. Two Boots made a rebellious dash toward the other band, but Grey chased after her and turned her back. Based on about how old I think Two Boots was last spring when I first saw her, I think Houdini is two weeks or less away from foaling.

The Bachelor 6 are 7 again; Kreacher has joined them. I saw them to the west as I approached the first intersection. The last time I saw Kreacher, he was south of Round Top with, at least, Corazon, who has been with Cinch, David, the muley bay, Ty and Mesa. Dunno how he ended up in the north with the B7, but I’m glad he has company.

It was deja vu with this merry band again. They were just west of the south loop road (which angles toward the southeast), and this was as close as I got to them before they trotted down the road toward Round Top. Roja was in the lead, looking pretty sprightly for a mare I thought was pregnant. I happened to see her later from straight on … She doesn’t look very pregnant. It wouldn’t be the only pregnancy-related surprise of the day.

I spotted Roach, Poco and Bones northeast of that road, on the other side of the ridge that it follows before it swings north. They were grazing in the company of some mule deer. I hadn’t seen Bounce yet, and I admit that I still hope to find Slate, so I parked by the second arroyo after the split to Round Top and walked up the road. I saw Roach and Co. from the east again, but I never saw Bounce and Alegre – until I drove back toward the dugout intersection. They were northeast of the road just on the east side of the arroyo – Spring Creek, I think that is? I missed them on my drive out. Bounce has been hanging out in that area for quite awhile now, and I’ve wondered, if Slate is dead, if she died somewhere around there. So I parked and walked out.

They saw me from the moment I saw them, from the Jeep from the road. And I walked out across the hill and down to a bench of land just above the west side of the arroyo in plain view. I kept expecting them to walk away, so I took my time looking for anything that might have been Slate. I took the pictures of the phlox during that little walk. But Bounce just stood where he was. Except for turning once when he saw something behind him (not Alegre), then turning back to face me, he never moved except to eventually cock a hip and settle into trying to ignore me.

Maybe the arroyo, which is wide but shallow there, was enough of a barrier that he thought he was quite safe. I didn’t betray his confidence; I stayed on my side. I did move back and forth to get a composition with Alegre in the background, then I walked back up the hill.

Where on Earth is Slate? I wish I knew. I want her to show up with a phantom stallion, one I haven’t yet documented. Walking, I went far into the northeast, but I didn’t see signs that couldn’t have been made by Bounce and Alegre or Roach, Bones and Poco. The longer it goes without seeing Slate, the more sure I am that something happened.

On my way out, I came over a little rise and ta-da, there was Steeldust’s band again. I parked and got out, stood at the back of the Jeep and hit the shutter button. They were moving in the direction I had just come from, grazing as they went. They were so close! And totally ignored me. They crossed the road behind me, and I thought I was the cause of them moving, so I almost left. Then I realized, even more than earlier, that it was the stallions, Steeldust and Hollywood. Hollywood was chasing Jif, and Steeldust was chasing Hollywood. After they crossed the road, they came back toward me, making sort of a U around me. The stallions chased and danced, and always Jif seemed to be in the middle of things. I stood right by the Jeep and just tried to find nice compositions through the lens.

Steeldust trying to stay between his band and Hollywood with little Jif right by Hollywood. Notice the scars on both stallions. They’ve been playing hard.

I think our little Piedra is going to be a mama! She doesn’t look very pregnant, does she? But look at that udder.

This is one of my favorite photos of the day, taken during that last encounter. That’s Luna in the lead, with Kestrel beside her followed by one of the rose-grey studs. The bay mare is on the other side of Luna.

I wanted to add a little bit about the rose-grey studs. Based on conformation and behavior, I think the rose-grey stud in this photo is the bay mare’s 2-year-old colt. I’ve started to think the other rose-grey is Luna’s 2-year-old colt. Now, I could be totally wrong, of course; I will admit that it’s weird that a bay mare and a buckskin mare both threw rose-grey colts (they may have been born sorrel) in the same year. And last year, they threw fillies the same color as themselves. The rose-grey in this photo – with the darker shading around his muzzle and the coarser head – looks a lot like the bay mare, and I’ve seen them frequently grazing together. The other colt is a bit more independent, but when I saw him grazing that day with Luna, their similarities struck me. That colt has a bit more refinement (I thought he was a mare at first!) and nicer conformation.

It has been busy these past weeks, and going out to the basin has become my refuge. Wild horses, outside, are indeed very good for the inside of this woman.

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Categories : Alpha, April, Bachelor 7, Bones, Bounce, Grey, Hollywood, Houdini, Kreacher, Poco, Roach, Seven, Steeldust

It’s still winter – March 2, 2008

3 03 2008

Kreacher (grey) and his mares, Molly (muley bay) and Roja (sorrel) shelter against crazy-strong wind March 2, 2008, in the basin. Two days ago – Friday – there was NO snow.

What did I do to Mother Nature?! All week, it’s gorgeous. It’s sunny. It’s warm (almost 60 degrees Saturday). It’s fantastic. I had the chance to go out to the basin Friday just long enough to check out the road – dry! I saw the Bachelor 7 again – again from a far distance – and I was beside myself to get back out there Sunday, after I watched James Kleinert’s film “Saving the American Wild Horse” Saturday afternoon at the Durango Independent Film Festival. I was in complete denial of the forecast.

I was up at 6 a.m. to snow, terrible wind and temperatures in the 20s. I didn’t leave until 10:30, and the upshot of the day is that I hiked for three hours and almost didn’t see a single horse. I was well on the way to being horribly depressed when, on the way back to the Jeep, after I had (not) come to terms with the idea that I wasn’t going to see a single horse, there was Kreacher and his girls, sheltering from the wind on the southeast side of a juniper tree. They didn’t see me until I was west of them, and that awful wind carried my scent right to them. I was headed down from a ridge to the end of the doubletrack road that follows the ridge above the corral. I took some photos as I went – and waved when they saw me – but I was happy that they weren’t bothered enough to leave the shelter of their tree.

Molly looked pretty thin, though not as skinny as Ceal and Bones, so I’m hopeful she’ll bounce back this spring. With all this moisture, I have to assume it will be a great spring for the horses! I couldn’t see Roja well enough to determine her pregnancy status any better. Molly seems particularly protective of her, standing always between her and perceived danger.

I hope to be back to the basin soon, and I hope to see more horses – and I hope the weather is better!

I attended the National Wild Horse & Burro Program’s advisory board meeting last Monday in Tucson, and I have been trying to get my thoughts in order about all that happened. Lots going on; I just need time to put happenings into words!

Tomorrow’s forecast, of course, is for sunshine.

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Categories : Kreacher, March

Spring Creek Basin Mustangs