Baby 4 – Thursday, May 1, 2008

2 05 2008

Kiowa and Spook

Famous last words.

Last weekend, I didn’t go looking for the pinto family because I didn’t think Kiowa was too close to foaling. But I wrote in the post “Maybe she’ll surprise me.” Ha.

When I went out to the basin this evening, I saw them from the county road. I hiked in to see them closer, mostly because I hadn’t seen them for a couple of weeks. And there I saw, at Kiowa’s hooves, a spotted little bundle of joy.

Spook and Kiowa

Today – May 1 – is my brother’s birthday. Kinda cool. The baby may have been born yesterday or the day before, but I’m going to go with today as its birthdate in his honor. Happy birthday, little brother.

I confess that I’ve had this baby’s name picked out for weeks. I’ve always wanted to name a pinto foal Spook, and I love that the foal looks black and white – mama is dark bay/brown.

Chipeta leading pinto band

That’s Chipeta in the lead, followed by Kiowa and Spook and Kiowa’s yearling filly, Reya, who was so covered in mud she looked grey! Shadow is still with them.

Bruiser

Intruder alert. I finally got into a position where the wind was blowing at all of us from the same direction instead of blowing it right from me to them and was kneeling low behind some sage to take the above pix. In the back of my mind, I was wondering where Bruiser was, thinking he must have been blocked by some of the sage in front of me. Then I happened to look slightly to my left – boom. There he was, looking straight at me – and from his view, I was totally in the open. The photo above is from when he came to investigate. I knew the jig was up at that point and didn’t even bother trying to follow the horses. The upshot of this story is that the pintos have a fully watchful stallion looking out for them!

I’ve been able to get closer to the bands than I thought would be possible with the babies, so my plan has changed somewhat, and I don’t plan to pursue them in the near future. Checking on the foals from a distance will suffice for my observations, but it won’t provide very close-up photos for viewing on this blog.

I believe Alpha and Mahogany are pregnant … Roja is a possible … Jif and Chipeta are possibles … Piedra is a possible. Despite having seen her with a developing udder a few weeks ago, she is as slim as ever. I know Alpha usually foals in May, but she doesn’t look nearly as big yet as I’ve seen her get in the past. Still surprises to come! Meanwhile, we have four beautiful, healthy foals in Spring Creek Basin!

I almost forgot to say that I was planning to stay out there overnight, but temperatures here have plummeted, and it was FREEZING out there last night, especially with the wind, so I wimped out. I did see the bachelor band with the two pintos – Corazon and Cinch – and they were with all the other boys in that group: David, Ty, Mesa and the muley bay (someone please suggest a name for that boy!). I also saw Bounce and Alegre and Gaia – little girl was bouncing around and galloping circles around mama! – as well as Grey/Traveler with his little family: Houdini and Iya, Twister and Two Boots and Jif. When I first saw them, they were spread out, and I thought Grey must have things well under control because he’s not keeping them as tight as he was last weekend. Also saw Seven, Roja and Molly. I just don’t know about Roja’s possible pregnancy status. They were a little distance away, but I had a clear view of them – enough to know there were no foals hiding in the sage nearby.

A big cloud of dust out north of Flat Top alerted me to Steeldust’s band being dogged by the Bachelor 7 – which included Kreacher, who was alone Tuesday, but missing Duke now. Hollywood was defending the band against a two-pronged attack from Comanche and Mouse when I drove closer. When I showed up, they separated into two camps, and the boys stood calmly – pure innocence. 🙂 Ember was close to Luna, but I was able to get a clear look at her through the binoculars.

I received a note from David Glynn on the Lakota pronunciation of Iya’s name: Say “EE yah,” not “EYE yah.” 


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Categories : pintos

Exploring unfamiliar territory – Sunday, March 23, 2008

26 03 2008

Mule deer doe

I am fortunate enough to have friends who have a paradise hideaway in the Disappointment, and I stayed there this weekend. After a long winter with snow up to their eyeballs, the muleys are finding Disappointment Valley and Spring Creek Basin another kind of paradise. On my way to the herd area Sunday morning, this doe stood still long enough – close enough to the road – for me to take her portrait in the softly lit sage of early morning.

From the north, looking south

I drove into the northwestern part of the area early during my project, but I didn’t find any current sign of horses, so I haven’t been up there since, although I’ve been into the northeastern part and haven’t seen any horse sign there, either. I really had forgotten how beautiful it is up in the north, with the hills and the pinon/juniper and red sandstone. The photo is from the road looking south. The hill in the distance rises up just to the west (southwest?) of the road as you drive in, before you get to the water catchment.

I hiked up a small, narrow canyon with pools of milky water, still frozen in the shade. An unmarked doubletrack runs up the other side of the canyon. It may be saying something, but the deer trail I eventually followed, about halfway up the east-side wall, wasn’t much better than the two-track. While there are some small meadow-like areas up there, there didn’t seem to be much water – not enough to support multiple horses, anyway. I did walk back on the doubletrack. It’s a pretty place to explore, but don’t count on seeing horses.

I also drove over into the northeastern side, but when the road turned southish, I didn’t go much farther. Again, not much horse sign. Maybe there’s a stallion hiding away up there, and he came out, swooped down and snatched up Slate and hustled her away into hiding again … but all the hoof prints I saw were cloven.

On my way back to the intersection, I stopped north of the enclosure and hiked south, past it, down and up through a big arroyo and up the north side of the east-west hill – from the south part of the loop road, you see this hill from the southish side. Driving in earlier in the morning, I had seen what looked like Bounce and Alegre and the Bachelor 6 far to the east on the south side of that hill. I thought I might hike up to the hill top and look down on them … and maybe see down into places I can’t see from the road.

Lots of cattle tracks, lots of four-wheeler ruts (how do they get those things where they get those things?!). I have seen horses north of that hill in the past, but I haven’t seen them up there since I began my project last fall. From the top of the hill, the horses were still fairly close together but even way farther east, so I watched through the binoculars for a while, and scanned the area for big, dark bodies, then headed back.

You know, in Texas, we sometimes like to say the mosquitoes are as big as buzzards. Out in the basin, the jack rabbits are practically as big as deer. Especially when they explode out from a sagebrush practically under your nose.

I admit to being a little (OK, a lot) bummed after not finding Slate – again – so I headed out in early afternoon. I saw Steeldust’s band on the north side of Flat Top, and when I was approaching the water catchment, up to the north, guess who? Grey and Houdini and the foals. They were north of where I last saw him with the bachelors – when they were 7 – north of the catchment.

Driving south along the herd area boundary, I spotted a flash of white. Whoooooaaaaa, Nelly. Chipeta … and Shadow … and Bruiser … and possibly the top of Reya. They were way in and behind a hill and trees, so I didn’t see Kiowa. I had lunch with my friends, the owners of the hideway (thanks!), then after they headed home, I headed back into the herd area where I had seen the pintos a couple of hours earlier.

Sometimes, you can’t find horses no matter how hard you look or how hard you beg the powers that be. Other times, they’re right where you want them to be. Ta da, there they were, still where I’d seen them earlier. They look good and still have Shadow. I think she’s probably a permanent member of that family for a while. Question: What happens when she grows up? Will Bruiser kick her out, or will she go from adopted daughter to harem mare? We shall see. 

Kiowa and Bruiser

Kiowa, left, and Bruiser. He IS a big bruiser, but I’ve come to respect him. He’s calm and confident and pretty tolerant. Note that black spot on his left front cannon – it’s his distinguishing mark.

Pinto family

From left: Shadow, Reya, Kiowa and Chipeta. Like Twister with Two Boots, orphan Shadow has gotten attached to Reya, it seems.

It was after seeing these guys that I hiked to the top of the hill south of Round Top and east of the water hole. Just on chance I saw Kreacher and Corazon. I’m fairly sure Cinch, Ty, Mesa, David and the muley bay were on the other side of the hill where I spotted them, but I can’t confirm. Just a couple of minutes after I spotted them through the binocs, they were gone. I hung out on that hill quite a bit longer. Just one of those perfect, slow moments that come so rarely anymore.

In the basin, it really is all about the simplest things in life: air (wind), water, shallow arroyo crossings, light and dark, heat and cold, social interaction. You learn quickly that the fastest way to the other side of the arroyo is by following the deer and hoof prints. It’s a place of elements, simple life, and it’s always hard to leave.


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Categories : Corazon, March, pintos

Finally pintos – March 16, 2008

17 03 2008

As the saying goes, I have good news, and I have bad news. The bad news isn’t so bad in the overall scheme of things.

The good news is that I found the pintos today. More good news: Shadow was with them.

That brings us to the bad news: Ceal was NOT with them.

Which brings us back to more good news: The pintos did adopt Ceal’s 2007 black filly, Shadow – as I hoped they would. And, if Ceal did die this winter, it means she lived her entire life in the wild; a beautiful life for any wild horse.

Ceal and Shadow

Ceal and Shadow on Nov. 11, 2007.

Ceal with the pintos

I saw Ceal with the pintos in the very south of the herd area on April 22, 2007. Here she’s with a pinto yearling. The horse second from left is Chipeta.

Ceal and sorrel yearling

This has always been one of my favorite photos, just because of the way Ceal’s yearling is trying to hide behind mama but is just too curious to resist peeking out to look. When I took this photo, May 15, 2004, Ceal was with Roach (sorrel stallion) and Poco (solid bay) up in the northeast section of the herd area. Roach and Poco are still together, and still in the northeast.

The pintos all look healthy and in good condition. The wind was strong today, and it helped with some long-term observation of the group as they grazed on a high meadow south of Round Top. The first time I saw them last fall, they were in a meadow just east of where I found them today. I was able to get behind a little juniper, which not only helped with horse observation but also as a slight (very slight) wind break.

They wandered around in the same area for quite a while. Shadow has some spunk. Once, when she walked past Bruiser, she stopped to nibble on his forelock. He didn’t seem to mind.

Shadow teasing Bruiser

Now that I have completed the original documentation of the horses, I feel like I really have time to pay attention to their behavior! It’s the coolest!

Pintos

That’s Bruiser at left, Shadow walking and Kiowa grazing at right.

While I was watching the pintos from behind the tree, I saw Corazon farther north toward Round Top. It was when I was paying attention to him, trying to determine if he was with Cinch and the others that Chipeta, watchful girl, saw me. Bruiser saw her alert to me, and the jig was up.

Once they see me, I always figure the best thing to do is stand in full view so they can see me and hopefully decide there’s nothing to fear. At that point, I usually take some photos of them milling around and then leave. I don’t want them to lose their wariness, and I do want to give them plenty of space.

Chipeta and Reya

This one is for Rachelle, who has a little sister in the Big Brothers Big Sisters program. 🙂 Chipeta, right, is 3 now, I think, and Reya is Kiowa’s 2007 foal. All three were gathered and released (along with stallion Bruiser) last August. Chipeta and Reya aren’t sisters (that I know of), but because of that, I thought this picture showed the strong bond wild horses share with their band mates. Chipeta was closer to Reya when the “alarm” went up, so Reya chose to go to her “big sister” for protection.

Kiowa and Chipeta

That’s Kiowa at left with Chipeta.

Bruiser and Reya

Bruiser in the foreground with Reya visible at left and Shadow barely visible between his legs. Tough guy!

After they saw me, I didn’t hang around too long. I hope it was just the right amount of time because although they milled around some, they didn’t go anywhere; they just watched me as I left.

I had seen another horse with Corazon, so I headed north to figure out who else was with him. The last time I saw Corazon was last Sunday. He was with Cinch, Ty and Mesa, and they picked up David and his muley bay sidekick (who still needs a name!) near the water hole south of Round Top when the other bands came together. Mesa ditched his pals that day to see what excitement he could find with Steeldust’s band and Aspen, Hook and Comanche. After I saw Corazon today, I eventually picked out Cinch and David … then, through the binoculars, the muley boy picking on Ty.

 Bachelors play

At upper left is David (with the blaze) and Cinch, and in the bottom right corner are Ty (black, rearing) and the muley bay. I saw Corazon … and then, off by himself, Mesa. The muley bay and Ty played and played, both of them getting the other to go to their knees by biting, and ended up chasing each other around and around David and Cinch and finally getting those two to join in the fun. The above photo is very cropped. They disappeared over that ridge in the near background, and I kept heading southwest. The wind would have been blowing my scent right to them at that point – if they were paying attention.

They ended up running back toward me, between me and the water hole. Mister Ty thought he would show off his courage by trotting up a little hill toward me. But he just shook his head and took off toward his pals.

Courageous Ty

It looks like there could be something wrong with his right eye, but it’s mud. Close up, he doesn’t look very true black, does he? He has more of a “sunburned” look than either Bounce or Shadow, the only other black horses in the basin.

I love these boys – the bachelors. They’re so much fun to watch! They don’t give you much time to shoot, and even when they’re trying out their “muscle,” they quickly revert to being little boys.

While I was watching them, I was also scanning the area around the water hole with my binoculars. On this trip, I wanted to find the pintos and, if possible, Ceal and Shadow. I also wanted to look for Kreacher and Slate. Because of the shake-up I found last weekend, I thought Slate might be with Kreacher. It would be weird because she’s a north horse, and he’s a south horse, but Seven did steal Kreacher’s mares. I have seen Seven (with Houdini and the foals) mainly north of Round Top but also over in the northeast and to the west, north of Flat Top. That doesn’t mean the horses don’t go places where I haven’t seen them, but I do think about where I’ve seen them before when I’m out looking for them.

So while I was scanning the area, I saw a grey horse with a blaze west of the water hole. He was down in a shallow arroyo, and he was some distance away, but I knew it was him. I couldn’t see another horse. I walked around the north side so I wouldn’t spook him.

Kreacher

He was alone. That’s a bank of snow clouds behind him, oddly enough. It was WINDY in the basin today, but I had pretty good weather – mostly cloudy skies. It did snow as I hiked out, but I could almost have counted each flake as they fell. 

So, another mystery solved – Kreacher is alone – but it leaves a mystery: Where in the heck is Slate?

I didn’t drive into the basin today. I parked off the county road and hiked in, so I didn’t see any other horses. I should have more time next weekend. None of the mares I’ve seen look terribly close to foaling, but of course, I’m anticipating!


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Categories : March, pintos

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