Storm graciously paused in his grazing – though not in his chewing – to give me a long look on a glorious evening. (I love how his long tail is casually draped over a bit of vegetation.) The ground was still somewhat damp from recent moisture, and graupel still held its “ball” shapes in little piles under bigger, sheltering shrubs like shadscale and four-wing saltbush. There was something to love for all of us.
Lovely Seneca on another quiet, peaceful, beautiful evening in Spring Creek Basin. We’ve had a run of these ordinarily extraordinary days – that also happen to be very, mostly dry. Starting today, though, we have moisture in the forecast – for the next several days! If we get even a fraction of the forecast rain, snow or both, I’ll be doing cartwheels (or what passes for cartwheels at my age). 🙂
If it seems as though most of the mustangs are napping in recent pix, you’d be right. That wind. … It’s exhausting. Maiku watched his pals check out a water source, but it wasn’t very appealing, and they walked on to find a better drinking spot.
His band was grazing up the hill to the (my) left (his right). I don’t know what held the interest of that one wayward ear. My interest, of course, was all on handsome Sundance and the magnificent background of his home world.
The topography of the land where Buckeye and his band were grazing the other day was always slightly downhill of where I needed to be to get that nice background of rimrocks and La Sal Mountains. So it was hard to get it all within the frame of my long lens. But of course I had to try. 🙂
Buckeye did his best to accommodate my photographer’s request.
We have another chance of snow/rain in our Sunday forecast. It’s not a huge chance, but we need it hugely.
Storm is wise and strong, and because he’s wise, he keeps his sweet little band in the faraway places of Spring Creek Basin, rarely seen by humans (I imagine the other horses see them infrequently, but as many times as I ask, they keep the secrets of their kind …). And if he’s confident enough to nap with his girls, it’s because he’s also strong enough to meet any challenge (though it rarely comes).
Happy Leap Day!
In very good news, we got half an inch of nicely wet snow yesterday morning. In other news, our view didn’t change much from the above-pictured visit with Corazon, taken a couple of days ago, because the snow melted very quickly. In fact, by afternoon, with sunshine and continuously howling winds, the ground and roads were dry again.
A little moisture is very welcome.
Snowy white girls Mysterium and Juniper (don’t mind the mud bits – at least they’re finding it!) have a bit of a nap under a cloudy sky recently. The only white between here and there is – literally – the salt of the earth – alkali – coming to the surface of the dry soil.
In the space between napping and rousing and grazing, Seneca gives me her sweet look as if to ask if I also see the fabulous scenery. Yes, indeed, dear girl. I see you.
The handsome fellow has been elusive for the last couple of months, and I hadn’t seen him either alone or with the other (mostly young) bachelors.
Finally a friend alerted me that she was “85 percent sure” she’d seen him from Disappointment Road on the southern side of Spring Creek Basin. … I looked for him in that area on a couple of drives but didn’t spot him (or any other horses). From interior, with another band, when they turned as one to look at *something*, I did, too, and there he was, glowing orangey-dun on a drab taupe hillside. 🙂 The decision to hike out to him was MUCH faster than the actual hike.
He’s still pretty lean, bordering on downright thin, but he’s OK. His hip gouge has healed, and his right eye is open but squinty.
He couldn’t have made it more plain that he didn’t want to be bothered by an overly-happy-to-see-him human, so I didn’t visit with him long. I really was very happy to see him.
Spring Creek Basin Mustangs 