It’s a boy!

12 05 2012

Reya, not due till the end of the month or early June, has a baby boy! Our first of the season.

Reya and her darling boy.

Thanks to DG for alerting me to baby’s arrival in the world. He has named the baby S’aka. “It means strong, mighty. It is Lakota. It is pronounced ‘Sh-aka.’ One word with a stop between the first and second syllable.”

Baby was no match for the warm sunshine.

Baby catching up to mama, walking past Chipeta and Uncle Half-brother Maiku (Reya’s little brother by their mother, Kiowa, and baby’s brother by their sire, Copper).

If you have been to Spring Creek Basin in the spring, you have done battle with the gnats. They seem especially bad in the southern part of the basin. They’re not bad – yet – but they’re out. Baby was battling them. Isn’t he divine?

Reya is being a very good mama. Her first foal was born last year, and it died before I saw it. I wasn’t looking for her to have a foal before the end of the month.

Baby and his big half-sister Puzzle – same sire again. They inherited Copper’s red bay, while Maiku takes after dark mama Kiowa.

Just scrumptious!

Switching gears just a little: I saw David and Shadow, too. No baby, and I can’t say with certainty either way: that Shadow is or is not pregnant. I will say that, from a distance, she doesn’t really seem to be.

Raven – more specifically, Raven’s belly – is huge. Ginormous. Apollo was a big foal, so maybe this baby will be, too. She’s past due. Gaia looks to be making us wait a bit. Corona seems to have lost her foal. She no longer has even a “maybe baby” belly.





Spots and not

27 04 2012

More of the spotted ponies seen about a week ago close to the Disappointment Road:

Peek-a-ponies! Chipeta and daughter Puzzle, trying to hide behind the greasewood.

Corazon was being standoffish. He’s usually right in with the band.

Big guy Copper was very relaxed and comfortable.

Mr. Ty, easy-going. The storm brewing to the south never made it to Disappointment, but it made for a nice background over the far cliffs!

Little Maiku is such a sweetheart. He likes to stick close to big sister Reya.

Pretty Puzzle, striking her glamour pose!

Chipeta. Isn’t she lovely?

Leaving you with a shot of the expectant girl, Reya.





More pintos

24 02 2012

It has been a strange winter, in a recent trend of weird winters. I haven’t actually driven into the basin in almost two months now. Partly mud (OK, lotsa partly), partly busy hiking other areas. Interestingly, I’ve seen the pintos much more this winter than any other band.

Here are some more pix from a couple of weeks ago, shortly after fresh snow (which is visible only on the background ridges).

Corazon with the unnamed promontory in the background.

Puzzle

Puzzle and mama Chipeta – love their spots.

Corazon and Maiku

Corazon, Puzzle and Chipeta

I think I’ve posted this one of Reya before, but I like it, so thought I’d include it again. 🙂





Mix

23 02 2012

Good news: Copper has reunited with the pinto band.

Although he looks like he’s moving through frosted greasewood, it’s not – just normal winter-grey. But there was plenty of snow underfoot, err, hoof!

Youngsters Maiku (front) and Puzzle napping in the morning sunshine.

Ty – who knew grey-on-grey could be so vibrantly beautiful?

Maiku and Ty

Pretty girl Reya is *glowing* with good health, eh?

Maiku

Daddy Copper

I’m not sure when he reunited with the band, but I’d bet it was shortly after I saw them apart. The horses were visible right from the road – and very close – this day (about a week ago), but they haven’t been so visible or close since.





More spots

2 02 2012

Some more random images from last week’s visit:

Puzzle, Reya and Corazon

Maiku

Corazon

Chipeta and Puzzle

Reya and Corazon

Reya and Chipeta

Chipeta and Puzzle

Ty and Chipeta

Chipeta and Puzzle

Ty

Reya

Corazon (love the little twitch of his muzzle)

Chipeta

Corazon, Chipeta and Puzzle … unusual, but maybe my favorite image of the day.





Sleepies

30 01 2012

Last week, I caught the spots at nap time.

This was right after Ty laid down, but he looks like he’s enjoying the sunshine, doesn’t he?

They’re all there but Copper – he was on my side of the arroyo to the left.

Chipeta and Puzzle

Big guy dreamed hard for a couple of minutes. I saw Sundance dream that hard once: Ears flickering from pricked to laid flat, legs trembling, hips and shoulders shaking, eyes rolling. Then up he woke, but he didn’t get up until Chipeta decided nap time was over and grazing time commenced.

Even Copper laid down …

… right before he rolled!

Not a lot of snow (you can see some patches in the above photos), but you can see by Copper’s waving hooves how muddy it is.





Family resemblance

23 01 2012

We got moisture in the basin! A little snow, a little rain. Lots of mud. So here are some more pix of the pintos from a week ago.

Mama Chipeta

Not-so-baby anymore Puzzle

Very alike, yes?

Puzzle and half-brother Maiku

Maiku’s half-sister Reya

Reya and possible-brother Corazon

Copper, daddy of Maiku and Puzzle

Ty, daddy of Asher





Spots in a row

10 01 2012

Three spotted girls and one spotted boy – minus the other boys. From lower right: Reya, Puzzle, Chipeta and Maiku.

Low on this hill, the sunshine was awesome. On top of the hill, the wind was biting!





Dynamics of spots and solids

19 11 2011

Ah, the pintos.

Like Poco and Roach, they have a “home territory.” The roundup disrupted it some, but they also had come “up” to the “front country” this spring – with Cinch and his band and Spook and Bruiser coming and staying. Chipeta is leading the band now, and after a bit of wandering, they’re back.

Apparently, “there’s no place like home,” and that’s where they are. Saw some of them from a distance Wednesday afternoon, then all the rest that evening (the first spotting not only was from a distance, obstacles of trees and hill prevented a clear line of sight). Thursday morning afore the sun rose, I was with them in a tiny “valley” between “islands” of trees … and on … after the sun rose into a glorious day. (And snow is back in the forecast in Southwest Colorado!)

Chipeta showing off her dredlocks.

Chipeta and her yearling daughter, Puzzle.

Band stallion Ty.

Former band stallion Copper, now kept at bay by Ty and lieutenant Corazon.

Corazon – and yep, he has some pretty fresh scars.

Ty and Copper

Copper being chased up the hill by Ty …

Up and over, around and down and across below the hill … Ty breaking off and making the turn back to the band!

Maiku and Puzzle. Maiku, born the end of June, is significantly smaller than Puzzle, born the first of September (2010).

Maiku and Chipeta

Maiku is the son of Kiowa and Copper; Puzzle is the daughter of Chipeta and Copper.

Puzzle, Chipeta and Reya on the shady side of the hill, waking basin behind them.

Gorgeous.





Pinto band (Ty’s band)

29 09 2011

Ty is the color holdout in the new pinto band. Corazon was back in home territory, and Copper was alone, and Chipeta was leading her group on merry walkabout. Every time I saw them, they were quite a bit farther from where I’d previously seen them. They ended up back where I saw them a week ago.

Maiku at left, Reya behind Puzzle, Chipeta and Ty bringing up the rear.

Mama Chipeta and daughter Puzzle (1) make a striking pair. Chipeta’s colt is doing extremely well with his adopter.

Looking back at some of the other bands in the area.

Darn greasewood. 🙂 Ty with Maiku and Reya.

And off they went: 4-year-old Reya, her yearling brother Maiku (Kiowa’s daughter and son) and Chipeta (who is probably about 6-7). Hollywood’s and Comanche’s were coming to check them out.