Poco | Spring Creek Basin Mustangs

Still waters – Saturday, Nov. 8, 2008

12 11 2008

Grey against the blue

The horses had a visitor Saturday: Dale from the Denver area. I met her at the main entrance Saturday, we drove in searching for horses. We ended up seeing all the northern horses except Seven and the girls (and they may have become southern horses …), so it was a great experience. We even saw the new mares from a distance – still by themselves, still up in the hills above the trap site.

Our first close-up was of Traveler’s band, just south of the water catchment. He knew something was up, that he had a visitor, so he gave her a little of the old show (which I rarely get anymore because he’s so used to me).

Greeting

He trotted down to the mares and youngsters, the better to protect them.

Defending his turf

With Twister and Houdini and a little slice of far background, looking southeastish.

We drove onward to the loop road and took it counter-clockwise. We spotted Bruiser and Cinch between Round Top and Flat Top – closer to FT – napping in the sunshine. It turned out to be a gorgeous day – perfect after the snow earlier in the week. We also spotted the white spot that is Alpha with her compadres up on the roller-coaster ridge. Below them we could see other horses, which I assumed were bachelors until we got closer. The far horses were bachelors, but the horses closest to us were …

Bashful girl

Alegre and Gaia and …

Big Daddy

Bounce.

These were taken through the Jeep’s window; the horses were below the level of the road and just northish of that pond. We drove on until we could see Steeldust’s band through the trees, then parked and got out to walk to them.

Innocents

I took this photo of Storm and Ember – standing right on the road – but then I looked down, and there was Kestrel coming up from a notch in the hill on the other side of the road – right in front of us! And she was followed by Mahogany! We stopped immediately, but they were as surprised as we were and trotted on up to the band, which trotted on down the hill. Roller-coaster ridge earns its name; it’s narrow along most of its length, and you can see right off either side except straight down. We had seen Hollywood lounging in the distance, watching us, hip cocked, and he and his girls were the last to follow. The horses formed into a line on the other side of the ridge heading toward the pond, but we didn’t know at that point if they had already been to water or if they were heading that way anyway.

Roach and Bones

A little farther on, on the southeast side of the ridge that continues after the road drops over the other side, we spotted Poco, Bones and Roach.

Poco

You can see tiny patches of snow behind Poco, remnants from last Tuesday’s storm.

By then, we had seen everybody I expected to see, so we turned around there so we didn’t have to drive over the roughest parts of the loop road and so we could see the horses again on the return trip.

Band at water

This also answered a previous question, when we saw the horses wading into and drinking at the pond. That’s actually Flat Top in the background. Round Top is more southwest from this position. CORRECTION: Bob Ball emailed to say he thought this hill in the background is Round Top, and he’s right. I was thinking of a different pic taken from a different perspective, farther down the road, looking at Flat Top, which is farther from the water hole.

Band at water 2

A zoomed-in look at almost the same image. You can pick out Steeldust, standing in the first image; walking in the second.

We also passed Bounce, Alegre and Gaia a second time, still in about the same place, and Grey/Traveler’s band, who had moved out into the open from the low hills they were on earlier. All the babies were down for naps in the sunshine. The new mares were lower on their hill, but Dale needed to get back. Nice to meet you; hope you visit the ponies again!

The third hunting season ended the day before I got to the basin, and knowing there had been at least two camps at water, I wanted to make sure they had cleaned up after themselves. Californians had been at the trap site, and they did a pretty good job of taking their trash with them. I’m not sure why people think aluminum cans will burn away in the campfire, but I did pick some of those out of the ashes. There were at least two new trails down to Spring Creek – all with hoof prints – but I don’t know if the mares made the trails or if the hunters did and the mares are using them. I headed up the hill to get a look at the girls.

Girl band

They look plenty comfortable where they are.

Grazing

One thing I noticed is that they’re actually eating what grass is there, and by that I mean they seemed to bypass the “shrubs” – the greasewood and four-winged saltbush (names I just learned). I watched the black mare get at the grass (if you can really call it that; it’s very dry and brown and shriveled) at the base of a small greasewood bush, but she didn’t touch the bush. Makes me wonder if they don’t have those plants in Sand Wash Basin? Or never learned to eat them? At that point, I tried to really look at their body conditions, but they still look good. Fuzzy, but I don’t think they’ve lost any weight.

Friendly girls

Here are the apricot dun and black pinto mare, pretty close to each other while the other dun mare grazes ahead of them.

Meanie girl

And here, a few minutes later, black mare gave apricot dun mare a warning sizzle. Sheesh. Black mare definitely has ‘tude!

I was on my way back to the Jeep at that point and figured it was a good time to go ahead and leave them to their own devices.

David Glynn, a frequent visitor to the basin, and his wife, Doris, had pulled in with two horses (Buck and borrowed horse Wally) while I was visiting the girls. I stopped to chat with them, and while we were talking, one truck drove into the basin and one truck drove out. Those were the only vehicles I had seen all day. Traveler’s band had been at the water catchment for a drink then moved out into the open to graze. The folks in the inward-bound truck stopped to watch them, then turned around at the catchment and drove back by for another look. I don’t know what it was about that truck, but Traveler watched it all the way out of the basin.

On guard

He turned his head a couple of times to look at me as I drove by, but mostly he stayed focused on the truck. I took this photo from the road after it curved away from Filly Peak and heads straight to the catchment, and the truck he’s watching was at the far side of that big open area, almost to where it curves out of sight and heads to the entrance.

I went on around to check the camp at Wildcat Spring – which should not have been a camp in my ever-so-humble opinion. I took a bag of trash (mostly cans from the fire pit) away from the camp at the trap site; I took five bags and an old cardboard box away from the Wildcat Spring site. People also had left two elk skins, three legs, the remains of at least three rabbits, two still-full cans of beans, three pairs of socks (?!), more cans in the fire/trash (?) pits and two half-full rolls of toilet paper on a branch near a box topped with a toilet lid (of course I didn’t touch that!), among other things. They had also driven their ATV to and across and alongside the spring AND somehow scooped up mud as a dyke across the water, though not very effectively. Not to mention the previously mentioned (in a previous post) second driveway. Not cool. WAY not cool. Very disappointing.

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Categories : Alegre, Bones, Bounce, Grey, New girls, Poco, Roach, Steeldust, Storm

Tumblin’ tumbleweeds – Sunday, Nov. 2, 2008

4 11 2008

No dust

Wall of dust

The wind picked up Saturday night, and Sunday, it was crazy windy. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen it that windy. The wind would pick up the dust from the roads and run with it until it looked like the plume from a moving vehicle – sans vehicle. But by the end of the day, light rain. Tuesday, we have rain; the mountains have snow. Most people are hoping for big things from this election day; I’m hoping for moisture in the basin.

In the morning, Steeldust’s band hadn’t moved far. They were on the eastern end of the east-west hill, close to Knife Edge. But they were away from the road, which put them away from the hunter traffic.

Grey/Traveler and his band had moved out from the base of Knife Edge to an area just west of the intersection to Round Top. He had the youngsters again, and Houdini and Iya were a short distance away.

Lined up

Nose to tail – Twister, Two Boots, Jif and the Grey boy.

Iya and Houdini

Great big girl Iya with mama Houdini

Leader

Jif follows Grey/Traveler past Houdini and Iya in the background.

Looking west

For you folks looking for landmarks, this one (and the next one) is for you. This photo was taken looking basically west, and the light-colored hill in the background is Filly Peak, which you drive past fairly close to the herd area entrance. This also kind of shows the compression factor of this long lens I use. There’s a whole lotta country between here and there. If the image showed more land to the right, you might be able to see the green water tank at the water catchment. This was taken from right off the loop road, just northish of the intersection to Round Top.

Another view

This is sort of west-northwest, I’d say. On the near horizon, you can just see the cliffs above Spring Creek where the trap site was last August. Ponies are Jif, Twister and Iya.

Little and Big Little

A zoomed-in look at Twister, left, and Iya. They’re on about the same level ground there. What do you see? They’re pretty close in size, eh? Twister’s a yearling; Iya was born April 27. Orphan Twister is small for his age; Iya’s a monster! OK, the cutest monster ever, but when I call her a big girl, I’m not kidding!

No other ponies were visible from the loop road as I drove around. I stopped and hiked the horse trail to Wildcat Spring, the first time I’d checked the spring in at least a month. I hate it when people lie to me. When people with a camper-trailer pulled into the spring “driveway” last Sunday, I asked if they knew about the spring. A guy said, “It’s dry.” Did he outright lie, or did he just not explore past his nose and the creek bed, which actually IS dry? Guess who was still camped there a week later, with a second trailer. Imagine my surprise at also seeing a second “driveway” they’ve driven in after a week of camping there. Grrr.

Let me continue with my righteous indignation:

Just say no

Seriously?! These cans and bottles (plastic and glass) filled two and a half of the trash bags I carried out of the basin this weekend. This (mercifully now un-decorated) tree is on the north road.

Back to the good news: The new girls made their second appearance in two days, up in the far north, steps away from the now-dry pond and the north entrance (lots of steps, really, but relatively close). I do like these girls. They seem very comfortable and relaxed, and perfectly happy to be their own company. (I did pass along information about certain very handsome wild stallions, conveniently nearby. They’re independent, these gals.)

White spots

A weird angle, yes, but you can see the black mare’s belly spot and her white chin.

Apricot girl

Cute and curious.

Plain old regular dun

Look at that sweet face. This little girl seems perfectly happy with either of her companions. The black mare seems intent on staying between them. It will be fun to watch them branch out, maybe meet some new friends. When? Who? We’ll have fun finding out!

Still early, so I went back around the loop. Tip No. 1: Never stop looking, looking, looking for horses. Even when you’ve already looked there.

Poco

Mr. Bay Boy and his pals, Roach and Bones, were hanging out at the base of a hill southeast of the (dry) twin ponds.

Roach

Roach here, with Bones behind him, looking toward Poco.

Cocky

Roach and Bones, sharing the same cocked-hip stance. They look kinda goofy, don’t they? 🙂 Hey, they’re just hangin’ out, not doin’ nuttin’.

It’s kinda cool to share some hanging-out time with some of my favorite pals.

C'mon, rain

Back up in the area between Filly Peak and the water catchment – Grey’s band. (Steeldust’s fam and hangers-on had moved up to the top of their hill.) Unfortunately, the sky looks more threatening than it proved to be. But it’s another long-view vantage, looking … where? Northish. I took the photo from the Jeep on the road right alongside Filly Peak.

Then it was out of the main part of the basin to the dirt-way home, hoping for a glimpse of some ponies from the county road. I thought I was a creature of habit, but those spotted ponies are giving me a run for my habitual trend. There they were, right at the base of their hill. But I could see just everyone but Chipeta and Corazon. But on the other side of a line of trees, a white body with a dark flank splotch … but all I could see was the top part of the white body with the dark flank splotch. Corazon or Chipeta? Or possibly Bruiser? Once more on the trail. A report from last weekend put Bruiser and Cinch with David and Shadow after the spotted boys left Steeldust’s band, so I hoped it might be Bruiser, with David and Shadow nearby. I did see them last weekend but from a distance – the top of Round Top.

It turned out to be Corazon and Chipeta; no sign of other horses. I decided to just walk right out and say howdy, expecting them to follow another of their habits and head to the hill and their trail to the top of the hill … But they didn’t.

Cool cat Chipeta

Can you see how fuzzy she is? It hasn’t been too cold yet in the basin, but days are short, short, short. They’re prepared.

Reya and Spook

Sisters. Spook seems braver and more outgoing than her yearling sister.

Happy days

Do ya love this photo? What’s not to love? Three butts and no heads! But it represents a victory of sorts. It represents Kiowa’s comfort. She didn’t head for the trail; she didn’t walk away. In fact, they had walked toward me before they stopped to ignore me and return to grazing.

I wore a grin all the way back to the Jeep. I learn more about them every time I visit, and I learn a new appreciation. Winter’s coming. I always wonder what stories I miss while I’m gone. Learning their language is damn fun.

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Categories : Bones, Grey, Houdini, New girls, pintos, Poco, Roach

Far afield

28 10 2008

Stop.

If you’re expecting news of the new girls, stop reading now. Though I searched high and low and found all the horses but Bounce’s band and Seven’s band – and, well, the girls – I didn’t find the girls. At all. Not hide nor hair. I’ll tell you who they’re for sure NOT with (as of Sunday): not Steeldust’s band, not Traveler’s band, not Cinch and Bruiser, not the pintos, not Poco, Bones and Roach, not David and Shadow.

Maybe they’re wandering far afield, testing their new boundaries, walking new paths, learning the landscape of their new home. Maybe they’re looking for something familiar – a hill, a smell, something that reminds them of home that used to be. Maybe they’ll stay together; maybe they’ll split up and go their separate ways. Maybe I’ll find them next weekend.

It was a gorgeous weekend, but it’s so, so dry. We need rain. The horses seem to be wandering quite a bit. My human eyes don’t see much vegetation that looks scrumptious, but the horses look pretty good – even fat in some cases.

First up Saturday was the big band: Steeldust and the Bachelor 7. Right around the corner: Cinch and Bruiser. Hollywood is still hoarding his small harem but basically part of the band.

Object of interest

She’s hard to see in this photo, but the doe the horses are looking at is maybe the first deer I’ve seen in the area since early spring. She caught the attention of all the horses, who stood looking … until Storm suddenly bolted down the hill, which sent all the horses galloping.

Gallop

They ran right down to the pond – the same one the new girls drank from Friday – drank, then wandered out into the open to the south and east.

Drink break

Cinch and Bruiser followed them to the pond and had a little chat with some of the Bachelor 7, not visible here.

I drove on into the basin and around the loop and up toward the north, and kept the binoculars practically glued to my eyeballs. From Round Top, I saw David and Shadow, who have been elusive lately. They were at a little puddle – the one Grey and the youngsters and Bruiser were playing in last Sunday, I think – but a little separate. David waited for Shadow, who had wandered east. His patience won; she finally wandered back at a mosey, maybe an amble, and followed him across the trail and down to the little “valley” below (westish of) Flat Top and Round Top and out of sight.

From a hill in the north, I could see that Grey/Traveler was up by the water catchment – along with Steeldust’s band. I didn’t see any other horses that day.

Grey and his band were up by Filly Peak in the shade by the time I drove around to see them. Steeldust and the big band were nearby but east of the road and still in the light. Hanging out close to the bachelors were the pinto boys.

Bruiser and Cinch

I took this picture of the boys from the Jeep. You can still see some mud on Bruiser, but he has shaken off most of what had him looking like a dark boy last weekend.

Family within the family

Hollywood with his girls, Baylee and Piedra, who was taking a cat nap in the late sunshine.

What about me?

Last fall, I don’t remember seeing any of the foals nursing this late, but this year’s babies are still nursing. Ember, nursing in the photo above, is the oldest of this year’s foals. Pinon is the curious youngster at left.

Seemed like a good idea

And there’s little Storm, youngest baby in the basin.

All the babies – and big babies, too! – are getting fuzzy. The days are practically perfect, but sunset comes early, sunrise comes late, and it gets chilly under that endless night sky over Spring Creek Basin.

Late sunrises are good for a non-early-riser like me. Sunday, Steeldust and his entourage were down in the broad “valley” east of the water catchment. They stayed out there – generally speaking – most of the day. I drove around the loop and spotted Bones’ white face from the roller-coaster ridge road. I hiked down to make sure they were all there.

Spring Creek

They were lounging by Spring Creek, which actually has flowing water! Not much, and shallow, but it has to be better than drinking from puddles.

On guard

These guys are pretty easy going, but I was lucky again to find them across an arroyo (Spring Creek).

Poco and Roach

It’s nice when they’re so worried they get a little shut-eye while I hang out with them. 😉

I headed on out, passing Steeldust again on my way, and drove down the county road to hike in and look for the pintos – and see if the new girls were with them. They weren’t, but the pintos, still with Copper and the boys, were back in the vicinity of their “favorite” hill. The weirdest thing was that they moved between my first sighting of them and when I actually found them, so it took a little looking. So close, so hard to find. Probably more to that than I even know.

When I did find them, they were on a hill across a gap from where I was. As careful as I am with all the horses, I’m especially careful with this group because Kiowa has been so protective of Spook, this year’s baby. I’ve been trying to get her to know I can share their environment without being a danger to them. The weirdest thing about this encounter with them was that I “snuck” up on them in the open. I stood on my hill, occasionally taking a step or two forward, waiting for one of the eight to notice me. I finally got to the edge of my hill where it started to slope down to the arroyo between “my” hill and “their” hill and sat down, and hung out, and enjoyed watching them graze across the hill.

The horses were pretty well spread out, and I tried to look at them with fresh eyes: If I didn’t know them, what would be my first impression of the eight horses on the far hill? On the left side of the hill: Mesa and Copper. To the right of them: Chipeta and Corazon. Sort of in the middle: sisters Reya and Spook. On the right side of the hill: Kiowa and Ty. Because of their size, yearling Reya and baby Spook would be easy to identify. At one point, Spook marched over to Kiowa and started nursing. Pretty obvious relationship there.

Two bay boys

Both the above are stallions; one I have identified as more in the band stallion position than any of the others. Which one do you think is most likely that stallion? The stallion on the left is bigger, his coat is sleek and shiny; he’s in good condition. The stallion on the left is smaller, he looks scrawnier; he may be a bit muddy, but he’s definitely scruffier. Fifty-fifty chance … guess? OK, it’s kind of a trick question. The stallion that looks like the king is at the bottom of the heap. What can I say? Mesa at left; Copper at right.

Corazon and Chipeta

Here’s Corazon, left, and Chipeta, not far up the hill from Mesa and Copper. Copper wasn’t worried.

Back to the what-if-I-didn’t-know-them question. My first thought probably wouldn’t be a mare and a foal and a yearling with a bunch of stallions – or even another mare. Maybe I’d think most of the others also were mares. But which one was the stallion?

Of all things, I think it was my camera shutter that gave me away, and it was Mesa’s little fox ears that heard it. He’s the one that finally saw me. That led to Copper, Corazon and Chipeta becoming aware of me. They started walking toward Kiowa and the others, and finally, a little “stallion” behavior:

Snaky

Once they were all together, they settled down again. At this point, neither Kiowa, Ty nor the babies had looked up or seemed to notice me.

On a mission

This pic of the sisters was taken before the above photo, and Spook walked right over to mama to nurse. She was so funny afterward – almost “drunk” on her mother’s milk, she immediately fell asleep on her feet!

I watched for a few minutes longer, then got up to leave.

Later, ponies!

And this is what I saw when I turned for a last look. Only Mesa is missing from this family portrait.

The glam big band was still out in the open when I returned to the main part of the basin for another trip around the loop. Guess who I found out for a Sunday drive? Photographer Claude Steelman, his wife, Katie, and friends Steve and Lisa Mackey. They were excited to see Steeldust and company, and they reported seeing “your boy” (Grey/Traveler), drinking at the pond below the roller-coaster ridge, and Poco, Bones and Roach! I was happy they saw all those ponies. But they hadn’t seen anybody else, either.

Traveler and the fam were napping between the pond and Round Top when I got around to that area. Northish from the twin ponds, I spotted Bones again, with Roach or Poco under a nearby tree. I looked especially hard back in the east pocket for Bounce and/or Seven, but those ponies had other ideas this weekend.

On the way out, Steeldust and groupies again.

Wild and beautiful

There’s my last glimpse of the wild beauties before I headed out of the basin around 5 p.m. To the far left, you can see Bruiser and Cinch.

Better luck next time! But how can you go wrong seeing so many horses? I did see Bounce, Alegre and Gaia last Sunday, but it’s been a few weeks now – since the tour – since I’ve seen Seven, Molly and Roja. I’d like to see Molly to check her condition.

If you didn’t stop reading, thank you on behalf of the horses. 🙂 I can’t even say I’m disappointed, not seeing the new girls – I had anything but a disappointing weekend! They are elusive, but maybe it makes finding them all the more wonderful … and full of wonder. And there’s always next weekend!

Comments : 10 Comments »

Categories : Bones, Bruiser, Cinch, Corazon, Grey, Hollywood, Mesa, pintos, Poco, Roach, Steeldust, Storm

Glorious rain – Aug. 31, 2008

31 08 2008

Spring Creek running

We start this weekend’s story in the middle of the story. From the wilderness study area in the southern part of the herd area, I got chased out twice by monstrous black clouds and threatening thunder. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen clouds that downright ugly. Walking around with a personalized lightning-bolt-attractor in the form of a metal monopod … not the smartest thing I’ve been accused of. The storms dropped rain in a very localized area – they came in sort of stationary “waves” and never passed out of the very east “pocket” of the basin, right inside the boundary ridgeline.

Fast forward to my drive into the main part of the basin. So far so good – until I hit the Spring Creek crossing! OK, so it’s not exactly clear, but it has to be indicative of more and possibly better water upstream (the point of this is that I think Spring Creek originates in the east). Any water in the basin is a good thing. All that grass in the east is going to benefit from the rain, too, and that benefits the ponies! So I got out of the Jeep and did a happy dance before I took some pix for documentation purposes.

No cross here

This photo, like the one above, was taken from about the same spot – about mid-stream just downstream of the crossing. This one isn’t as dramatic as the first, but from the two pictures, you can tell that water is running in two “streams.” What you might not be able to tell is how gushy the mud gets when it becomes mud!

In the first photo, the darker soil right above the water is the high-water mark! It was about 2.5-3 feet above the arroyo. The water went about 8-10 feet away from the flat of the crossing, which is at the top of the photo. Before I went to the basin this weekend, I decided to take my mountain bike. I walked through the creek in my sandals, carrying my bike, and rode from there. Awesome!

But … I’m getting ahead of myself.

My weekend visit to the horses started at the county road across from the south meadow, where I spotted Cinch, then Bruiser. Hoping to find the others (band and bachelors) also in the meadow, I parked and hiked in. (A quick re-cap: David Glynn alerted me to the change in status of the pinto band and the “southside boys” bachelor band. I found them all last weekend, and Bruiser – band stallion – was definitely out, but it was hard to tell who had become king of the hill, err, band.) This Saturday, Cinch and Bruiser were on the south side of the arroyo that runs out to the road and just at the base of a little hill the horses pass to get into the meadow. So I hiked in on the north side of the arroyo, which provides more tree cover. My main goal was more observation of the new combined band, not photography, so I stayed out of their view until I reached the discreet little deer trail that leads up to the top of the hill north of the meadow. The rest of the horses were not in the meadow, so I went on up.

When I didn’t see the other horses from up top, I headed back down on one of at least two routes that takes the horses to the meadow – the “high” route that crosses the arroyo earlier (farther east) and skirts the hill on the south side of that arroyo. (Both trails take the horses to the better grazing on the south side of the arroyo.) The trail I took has a heights-defying spot that seems in imminent danger of eroding into oblivion. Any fall from there – maybe 15 feet? – would hurt horse or human.

At the edge of the trees above the meadow, I stopped to ready my camera in case the boys were still there. Ready to go and looked up to see two curious dark faces – Cinch and Bruiser. 🙂 Cinch pranced around a little, but Bruiser was so calm, Cinch calmed down as well, and they posed for some pretty pictures. I took pix as I walked around them, and the thunder chased me back to the road.

Sweet boys

It does help the more wary horses to have a calm compadre nearby. Bruiser walks OK, but I noted last weekend that he limps on his left front if he tries to trot. Cinch is sporting a “roached” look here. It’s longer and wispier than Roach’s was when his was roached, probably caused by his pals chewing on it.

My next likely area to search for horses is a big open area just south of the San Miguel/Dolores County line, also right off the county road. On first pass, I didn’t see any horses. But on the hillside just north of the big open: Seven’s band. They’ve done some traveling since the loss of the filly, from the east to the southwest part of the herd area.

Seven's band

Seven with Molly, center, and Roja. Old Molly is still a thin girl, but she’s sure to gain some weight without the filly nursing.

From where I stopped to see them, I spotted Corazon back in the big open (which does have hills and trees and arroyos). Perfect. Another big cloud was brewing in the east, but I was covered in sunshine, and the rain from the previous cloud hadn’t made it to my part of the herd area. So in I walked.

David and Shadow

Hello! It’s always nice when the ponies find you! I was glad to see that once-bachelor David has been able to hold on to yearling filly Shadow, but I was a little worried about them being so close to the other band. And I worried that he’d tip my presence to the band. Not to fear on either account. They must have skirted past the band because I later saw them farther east, and the “new band” was still where I had originally spotted them.

All in the family

Left to right noses at top: Spook, Kiowa, Reya, Chipeta and … drum roll, please … Copper, the mud-encrusted new king. Then Corazon (pinto), Mesa (bay) and Ty.

New family

With top-of-the-heap status comes great responsibility. Copper’s guarding his new family from the bachelors, out of frame to the left.

Pinto girls

Girls with spots. From left, mama Kiowa, her 2008 filly, Spook, 3-year-old Chipeta and Kiowa’s yearling filly, Reya. Very calm; very cool. And it was time to beat the thunder, so I walked away, leaving them very calm and very cool.

And that brings us back to raging Spring Creek.

I had spotted Steeldust’s band and the Bachelor 7 way around in the east at about the curve where the road heads south, so I headed that way by bike. It was way cool to get out of the Jeep and on the bike in the basin. I got off the bike at the washout. You could definitely see by the soil that it had rained hard back there. The horses didn’t seem to see me ride up, so I stood on the road on the other side of the washout until the bachelors saw me and alerted the band, then walked on down the road. They were up the hill away from the road … checked me out, then went back to grazing. A good problem to have, I guess!

Baby Storm was hammin’ it up, though, so I got some good pictures of the little boy.

Pinon nursing

Storm nursing

By the time I got out to them, it was around 7ish – dinner time!

Baby boys

Pinon, left, is about 3 and a half months old, and Storm is about a month and a week old. Pinon has gotten a lot darker in the past few weeks.

Posin'

No words necessary. 🙂

What kind of flowers?

I thought I figured out what kind of flowers these are when they were blooming earlier this summer, but now I can’t remember and can’t find them in my wildflower book(s). They’re blooming – again – all over. (Notice the flowers in the previous pic with Storm. The flowers in this pic were at the edge of the little wash that leads out to the road washout. My bike was just on the other side of them.)

While I was watching Steeldust’s band grazing on the hillside, I spotted Bones, Poco and Bounce farther to the south. And that was Saturday. Really a fabulous day. The loss of the filly still bothers me, but humans who watch wild horses must adapt as they do. Always more to learn.

Sunday’s story is all about rain! I slept in the Jeep right inside the herd area boundary. Woke up around 1 a.m. after a dream that I woke up in the Jeep the next morning and it had snowed and a guy was skiing up the road into the basin! Reality: At 1 a.m., lightning was flashing sporadically to the west, but the sky was filled with stars (you really haven’t lived till you’ve seen that night sky – phenomenal), so I went back to sleep.

Woke up at 3:15 to rain tapping on the Jeep’s roof. I don’t recommend this, but I spent the rest of the night at the intersection at the county road … and woke up just before daylight to steady rain. If I hadn’t wanted to see my Grey-boy so badly, I’d have called it a day at 7 a.m. and headed for home. Yeah …

Long story short, I inched my way back into the basin but got stopped before the first “V” arroyo. The road was good till that point, but it took me awhile because I kept stopping to scan for horses. I stopped for good above that arroyo. By then, I had already spotted Steeldust’s band and the B7, and I had found Bounce, Alegre and Gaia way back in east park. So I had seen all but the one horse (and band) I wanted to see. It had stopped raining, and the sun had peeked through the clouds a couple of times, but huge dark clouds still loomed over the east ridge of the basin and back to the west. The length of looming almost had me convinced I could bike from there to see if I could find Grey/Traveler’s band around the far side of Lizard Mesa (east of Knife Ridge). Then I happened to spot something white far to the north.

Nine times out of 10, a white spot is a rock. The 10th time, you get lucky, and it’s Alpha, Houdini or Traveler. I grabbed the binoculars, and bingo, baby; there was my boy … and Houdini and Jif and Twister, and Two Boots and Iya, standing together under a tree. Did I say far to the north? I mean WAY far to the north. I mean way far northeastish of last August’s trap site. I mean so way far away I couldn’t see a way to get to them without a (really) long (long) hike.

About three minutes after I took some reference pictures, I checked the west clouds – uh oh. Big black cloud had become a grey sheet of rain. I really can’t stress enough to visitors that if it rains, you do NOT want to be in the basin OR on the road across private land that leads to the basin. You want to be on the good county road. I wouldn’t have so totally ignored my own advice – and believe me that it made me really nervous to be in the basin. But today is my birthday, and my birthday wish was to see my favorite boy. Wish granted. 🙂

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Categories : Alpha, Bachelor 7, Bounce, Cinch, Corazon, David, Grey, Houdini, Molly, Pinon, Poco, Roach, Roja, Seven, Steeldust, Storm, Ty

Before and after

3 08 2008

Friday was one of the worst experiences I’ve ever had in the basin – up there with not finding Slate after the winter, worrying about Duke when he was lame and I couldn’t find him and wondering about Jif when she went missing. Read the next post for more information, but suffice to say I had the misfortune to come across a guy so clueless about wild horses he not only chased away the two bands (Poco’s and Seven’s) I was photographing by approaching them too close on foot with a short lens and a cell phone (a cell phone!!), but later I watched through binoculars as he chased Seven’s band, Grey/Traveler’s band, Steeldust’s band AND the Bachelor 7 down the road ahead of his pickup.

Before he chased them away, I did get some nice pictures of Seven’s band, and particularly Molly’s filly. Although I waited almost an hour before I drove on after the guy left, I saw only Steeldust’s band and the B7 from a distance – and they ran as soon as I stopped to look at them with the binoculars – and Seven’s hiding under some trees way back past the dry water hole east of “east park.”

Roach, Poco and Bones

Roach, Poco and Bones watching the guy approach them. At this point, he hadn’t gone back yet for his cell phone. I thought about including pictures of him but decided not to. I did send photos to the BLM herd area manager.

Seven's band

Seven, the filly, Molly and Roja, who apparently has been to the Wildcat Springs Spa for her mud bath! The filly doesn’t have a name yet; I’m waiting to see if David Glynn, who saw her first, wants to name her. Isn’t she a cutie? They all are, I know. 🙂

Until the guy showed up, I was counting my blessings to see Seven’s band like this. Molly, bless her old heart, is a very protective mama, and I haven’t had very many chances to take some good identification photos of her baby. This day, they were very calm, and I stayed a good distance away from them across the road and an arroyo – I’ve learned that in a lot of cases, the horses seem to regard arroyos as protective barriers. You can see Molly’s very prominent withers in the picture, but I think a lot of that is her basic conformation. She does seem to have gained a little weight, and she’s obviously feeding her filly well.

Running

Poco, Roach and Bones after they ran past me and on south (behind me as I had been taking pictures). They paused momentarily, and I told Roach how sorry I was, then they galloped on down to the arroyo that runs along the base of that long hill. I never saw them again Friday or Saturday; at least they didn’t end up on the road with Seven’s and the others.

Chased away

This is Seven’s band a few minutes later. After the guy chased Roach and Co. away, he turned his attention on Seven’s band, but those horses are not NEARLY as accommodating as Roach, and they immediately ran away. Unfortunately, they ran down farther to the road, and the guy ended up chasing them with his truck.

I didn’t see Bounce, Alegre or Gaia that day, so I hope they escaped. It has taken a long time to gain Alegre’s trust that I can drive by her without making her run. I did see them Saturday, up in the low hills a little farther south from where I photographed Seven’s and Poco’s on Friday.

Threatening skies and rumbles chased me back around and out of the basin, and as I was leaving, I saw a single column of dark smoke away to the west outside the herd area. By the time I got to the county road, it was raining nicely, and I had a cell signal, so I called the public lands office. How cool are those guys?! The woman I talked to was pretty sure they (Forest Service, BLM, etc.(?)) were already on it.

Based on the tracks I saw leaving, I’m pretty sure he went out ahead of me (his tracks in, my tracks in; a third set as I was leaving).

One of my biggest disappointments – aside from the obvious – was that I still didn’t see Grey except from a very far distance. That’s two weeks I’ve gone without seeing him close enough to check his condition and that of his mares, the yearlings and Iya. I’m leaving the end of the week for vacation, so it will be a month of weekends before I see him again, and that’s hoping I see him when I go back out after I get back! I don’t worry too much when I don’t see the pintos or the southside boys, but it surely helps my soul to see my favorite boy regularly and know he’s OK.

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Categories : Bones, Molly, Poco, Roach, Roja, Seven

Well …

20 07 2008

Somebody's pregnant ...

… I think? Our girl’s still holding on. Here’s something weird for ya: Today is 11 months to the day from the first day of the roundup last year. Alpha was gathered Aug. 21. Even if she’s not pregnant, the basin is never a bad place to spend the weekend (unless it rains and the road turns to slime).

Luna, the buckskin butterball in the photo above, has a filly that’s 3 months old now. She should be pregnant for next year.

Most of the ponies look really good. Jif still seems thin; I wouldn’t say she’s 100 percent sound. Molly’s also thin as an older mama nursing a baby, but she’s doing OK. I didn’t see Seven and the girls this weekend except from a distance. I had the good fortune to come across Poco, Bones and Roach both days, and despite her weird hip, she has filled out and looks pretty good.

Bones

She’s really a cutie, but it’s hard to get a flattering photo of her.

Poco and Bones

Here she’s looking better. Both times I saw the band, Bones was closer to Roach than to Poco, but Poco is definitely the leader of the pack.

Poco

That prominent outcropping in the background can be seen from almost everywhere in the basin. I’ve never been sure if that’s McKenna Peak or if another, sort of flat-topped “peak” nearby is McKenna. I probably ought to look at a map sometime – who needs a map when you know where you’re going or how to get where you want to go on the wild pony super-highways? McKenna Peak also lends its name to the wilderness study area that fills the southernmost end of the herd area. Poco got rid of most of his spines, it looks like – most importantly, the one right below his eye.

Roach

I love this guy. He just never gets ruffled. I’m always happy to spot his copper coat against the sage green of some distant hill.

Sundance

Mr. Sundance, just off the road between the two intersections. The ponies were easier to find this weekend and were in the same general area both days. Sundance and Butch look very similar with just subtle differences. The dapples are a dead give-away that identify this rose-grey boy as Sundance.

Steeldust and Ember

Daddy’s little girl – Steeldust and Ember. Steeldust is a pretty good band sire. Even though he’s had to be constantly vigilant since April or so, when the bachelors started hanging around, he seems to take it all in stride. He doesn’t hound his mares, but he’s quick to discourage a bachelor that may get too close to his girls.

Peek-a-boo

Pinon, down for a nap, seen through Mouse’s legs. Mouse was waiting his turn at a water seep (being hogged by Butch, Sundance and Luna), and I sneaked this photo from just off the road.

Say cheese!

Family is the most important thing to wild horses. Sure, they have their disagreements – when Luna thought Butch and Sundance had had enough from the seep, she pawed at them to move them along – but what I love the most is that the youngsters – yearlings Baylee and Kestrel and babies Ember and Pinon – are as comfortable with any horse in the band as with their own mothers.

Grey/Traveler and his band are roaming around his old home territory, and they seem to keep the water catchment at the center of their wanderings. Bounce and Alegre were elusive Saturday, but they were out in the open today back in the east. The pintos were down in the meadow by the county road near dark, and at least a couple of the bachelors – Ty and Mesa? – were nearby.

No rain yesterday, but it was crazy-windy last night. Lightning flashed sporadically to the west and south, but nary a drop of rain did we receive in the basin. Today, I stood in the sunshine while random drops of rain fell from a huge dark cloud directly above us! By around 2, the clouds were building, and I judged it might be time to head out. I was going to go the back way – to the Dolores-Norwood Road to Dolores – but it looked pretty wicked that way, so I went the highway instead. I mention this because as I was driving up the switchbacks from Slickrock and the Dolores River canyon, I looked back toward the basin. In the middle of a vast purple curtain of rain, a giant spotlight beamed through the clouds – right onto my beloved Spring Creek Basin. God must love the wild ones as much as I do. As if I needed such a blatant sign.

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Categories : Alpha, Bones, Grey, Poco, Roach, Seven, Steeldust

The wait goes on – Sunday, July 6, 2008

6 07 2008

Any month now …

Alpha with Steeldust, Luna, Butch and Ember

Hey, check it out – automatic captions now below the pix. Cool.

So there’s the big girl, looking like she could hold out until August (hopefully not!).

As the Fourth of July approached, I was hoping, hoping, hoping Alpha would do us all the honor of foaling on or near Independence Day. I’ve already – just recently – named her foal … though if it turns out she’s really just monstrously fat, the joke will be on me. I’m going to keep you waiting on that name.

When I first got out to the band Saturday, three things hit me in quick succession, in the space of about three seconds: Where are the bachelors? Where’s Sundance? Where’s Hollywood?

But before I could panic unnecessarily, Hollywood strolled up out of a nearby draw, which contained, you guessed it, Sundance hanging out with the bachelors – minus Mouse, who followed hot on Hollywood’s heels, and minus Chrome and Hook, who were still hanging out close to Wildcat Spring, off to the east. I wondered if Sundance had been kicked out of the band or if he had wandered over to the boy band of his own accord … but there will be plenty of time to speculate about the young man because when I saw the band later – after I had gone partially around the loop, he was back and secure with the family band.

Let me go off on a partially related tangent: Butch was hanging out close to Luna, but he and Sundance hang out – at various times – close to all the other horses. I’ve tried to pay attention and see if I noticed them hanging out more with Luna or Mahogany, but they’re family. Even Pinon and Ember don’t stick right to their mothers’ sides anymore. In the past, I’ve wondered if Luna and Mahogany were the mothers of Butch and/or Sundance. It seemed weird that two mares would produce such twin-type colts in one year. But how about this for a new working theory: What if Sundance is 3, Butch is 2 (they’re almost identical in size), Kestrel is 1 (she really is), and Ember, of course, is the baby. What if both Sundance and Butch are Luna’s? Maybe they were born sorrel – like Ember.

It was partly sunny – mostly sunny – when I got out to them, around noon, which becomes important to the story later.

$Steeldust\'s band in big country$

Steeldust

Home sweet home on the range. The above photo was taken from the road just up from the dugout intersection, looking eastish.

$Grey/Traveler\'s band$

Grey/Traveler

Jif is still with Traveler’s band … I suppose I’ll keep looking for her for a while, given her recent disappearance. She walked slowly, but she didn’t seem to be limping.

Alegre and Gaia

Gaia stamped a foot just as I took this photo. The gnats are still buzzing, but they seem to be *less.* I stamped and swatted and fidgeted, too, but I was never driven so insane that I had to go for the head net.

Bounce

Bounce, trotting after Alegre and Gaia. When I first saw them as I was driving, Alegre and Gaia trotted away, so I stopped, turned off the Jeep and made some notes about Steeldust’s and Grey’s bands and Chrome and Hook. Then I drove on, where, just around the next curve, there they were. She must like me; she used to go a lot farther than that! 🙂 I snapped the above pic of her and Gaia and drove on to the split where the doubletrack goes back to the water hole. I checked it – totally dry – then drove on south. But when I looked back, I saw Bounce leading Alegre and Gaia toward the water hole. Didn’t he know it was dry? The horses – all the northern bands – had been in the area, but they had seemed to move on in the past couple of weeks as the pond became a stinky puddle. As I watched, Bounce led the little procession, then stopped, dropped and rolled on his right side, got up, dropped and rolled on his left side, then got up and TROTTED to the dry pond! Oh, mister. He obviously didn’t know it was dry and was anticipating a drink. If there’s so much as a puddle of water in any of the arroyos that cut through there just south of that pond, I certainly don’t know about them. I wondered if he (or Alegre) knows about Wildcat Spring … I’ve never seen him up in that area, but Steeldust’s, Grey’s, Seven’s and the bachelors know it’s there because they’ve been frequenting that area recently. When I went back past that area later, they were gone. I hope they found water. The pond below the roller-coaster ridge road is the only *pond* now with water.

Not too far away, guess who found me? My boy Roach and company. I was happy to see them because I hadn’t for a few visits. But my happiness at seeing them turned into concern. Poco managed to find himself a prickly pear patch, and I guess they had a close encounter. I’m sure the cactus got the better end of that deal – it left at least three spines in Poco’s face (including one directly below his right eye) and a small cluster under his right jaw. ARGH. Didn’t his mama teach him about cacti!?

Poco and Bones

This photo may be too small to pick out the spine under his eye. Of all the pricklers he’s stuck with, that one’s the longest – naturally. When he’d shake his head to ward off the gnats, he’d do so gently, so I know it was bothering him. I haven’t seen them for a while, so I have no idea how long he’s been stuck. And I have no idea how he’s going to rid himself of the spines. Too bad I can’t just walk right up and help him out!

Dear, sweet boy Roach snuck up on me behind a tree (in front of me) while I was photographing Poco’s spines, then casually came out from behind it, just grazing. He never seemed surprised, and even though I was stamping and swatting, he never spooked. He went around the tree, and I thought he was heading back to Poco and Bones, who had gone back to grazing, but then he turned around broadside and decided to take a nap under the tree. Guess he’s not too worried … or he figured now that he’d successfully snuck up on me, he was in perfect position to keep a close eye on me. He’s one of my favorites; personality plus.

Thunder was rumbling, and I was about as far away from the basin entrance as possible at that point, so I bid farewell to the boys and girl – I hope Poco sheds those spines soon?! – and headed back around. This is a good time to note that the basin has been getting rain, somewhere between enough to dampen the dust and enough to change a bit of geography in the first major arroyo crossing (Spring Creek) before the first intersection. If it rained, I didn’t want to be on the interior side of that arroyo. (And here’s an interesting side-note to this note: The horses don’t seem to be down in that area at all for water – it’s there, however thin a trickle.)

Bounce, Alegre and Gaia were gone from the dry pond when I passed … Grey was still hanging out near the road with his family. Twister must have rolled in the spring just before I saw them the first time because he was as dark as Two Boots, but when I came back around, he had dried into his (muddy) rosy grey color again. Chrome and Hook were still guarding the trail to the spring.

When I got back around to where Steeldust’s band and the other bachelors had been, they weren’t anywhere to be found. I walked off the road in both directions in case they were just below the drops – nope. I had been gone for about three hours, so I figured they might have gone to water … but where? The spring or the arroyo?

The sky didn’t look terribly threatening (but it was completely cloudy by then), and I hadn’t been on the middle part of the loop road in a while since the horses had been back in the east, so I decided to go that way and see what I could see.

Note to self: Voice of intuition not always right. As I drove, I kept thinking, they’re not down here; no way they’re down here. Damned if they didn’t show up on top of the finger hills almost directly across from me! They grazed their way up from an unseen-to-me draw in the hilltop and into the open, then gradually made their way to the top and over. The skies didn’t look threatening, remember, so I wasn’t too worried. Besides, I was still pretty close to the intersection. I hung out there for a while, actually enjoying the wind that kept the gnats away, then went back to the intersection and north. The horses were at the base of the northeast side of the hill and not very visible. I decided it might be OK to call it a day and head back across Spring Creek for the evening.

It started sprinkling. Nothing to worry about.

The sprinkling got steady. I crossed the arroyo and headed – slowly – toward the entrance, trying to decide whether to just stop somewhere and wait it out or call it a day.

Another note to self: Voice of intuition not always loud but sometimes right on the money. I kept going, and about halfway out on the road through private land, my tires started kicking up mud. Uh oh. By the time I got to the curve by the dilapidated cattle corral, I could barely steer, and braking wasn’t much better. I made it around that curve and put it in four-wheel-low. The Jeep doesn’t like it when I don’t come to a complete stop before putting it in low, but I didn’t dare stop. My heart has pounded that hard during mountain bike races but never while sitting still.

Note to readers: If it starts to sprinkle in the basin, get out. Now.

I’ve never been so happy to make it to the county road – an all-weather, graveled road. I came home via the highway, and when I got to the highway, the rain had stopped there, but behind me, the basin was a single curtain of grey shroud. I couldn’t see so much as a single landform.

Gotta be happy about that – for the ponies’ sake!

(Other horses: I also saw three of the “southside boys”: David, Cinch and Mesa. They were just inside the herd area from the county road. And a couple of days ago, I saw Seven’s band by the spring.)

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Categories : Alpha, Bachelor 7, Bounce, Grey, Hollywood, Poco, Roach, Steeldust

Welcome, No. 5 – Thursday, May 15, 2008

18 05 2008

Aww, Mom! Not in front of company!

If you placed your bet for Mahogany to foal this week, you hit it right on the money. The bay girl has this beautiful “bay” foal (maybe a colt). Legs aren’t black, so I’m kinda expecting him to turn grey like Comanche, Mouse and Piedra … although all of them have black legs …? His left hock is slightly swollen, but he’s already dancing, so it doesn’t seem to bother him. Based on his level of balance, I’m guessing him to be about two days old here, which gives him a birthday of May 13.

The Four Corners Back Country Horsemen’s annual spring count was this weekend, and I drove out Thursday to see the horses, participate in the count and write a story, both for my paper and for The Durango Herald. Durango photographer Claude Steelman was there already with Durango videographer Rich Fletcher, with Inside Durango TV, and they were photographing/filming the horses, who were grazing high up on the north side of the “finger hills” (just northeast of the dugout intersection).

$Steeldust\'s band$

This pic was taken from the road, just north of the dugout intersection. I had seen Claude’s vehicle from way back at the entrance to the herd area, and I had spotted Grey/Traveler and Houdini, shining like spotlights farther east on the north hills. I figured Claude’s vehicle was close to horses, but they were tucked away on this hillside, so it wasn’t until I was around the west side that I spotted them. Claude and Rich were below the road filming, and I didn’t want to risk causing the horses to move away from them, so I drove on around to where Grey’s band was grazing. I asked Claude to name the baby, as he was the first one to see him!

A note: I got to preview Claude’s new book, which I’ve mentioned before on the blog. It comes out in August, and it’s just gorgeous. I cried, OK? Got to the first pic of my boy Grey inside and just burst out bawling with pride. (He’s also on the back cover! And there are several pix inside of him, too, including the glowing photo Claude took on the day he was released back into the wild.) The book is titled Colorado’s Wild Horses, and it features photos of horses from every one of Colorado’s four wild horse herds. It also includes sections about gathers and adoptions, the training facility at the Canon City correctional facility where inmates train mustangs for the BLM, and interviews and portraits of people who have strong connections to wild horses. A Telluride poet contributed a spiritual poem, trainer Leslie Neuman contributed one that is sure to bring the tears and touch everyone’s heart, whether you’ve been privileged to touch a mustang or not, and Claude even overflows with verse in a wonderful poem at the end of the book. Consider this a shameless plug for my friend Claude and our magnificent wild horses, which he captures so beautifully with his camera! Check out his Web site – Wildshots – by clicking the link to the right under the blogroll.

Rich left that evening, but Claude was out all weekend, and even rode a borrowed horse during the count!

This pic was actually taken Saturday morning, as Claude and Tanglefoot, Kathe Hayes’ big Tennessee Walking Horse, were whizzing around the parking area at the corrals ready to go!

Grey/Traveler had his band way to the eastern side of the north hills. He has been migrating ever farther that direction. Until this spring, I had never seen him that far east. There’s grass up there, though, and I think they’re still going back to the arroyo north of the finger hills for water.

Here, he’s looking back at Jif, Houdini and Iya and Twister. Check out who’s playing peek-a-boo in the background.

I drove on around the loop road and saw Alegre and Gaia and Bounce. Alegre’s being a great mama. They ran at the sight of the Jeep – she’s one of the ones that doesn’t like vehicles – so I waited for a little while, then went on. They had gone into the canyon north of the ridge I just learned the name of this weekend: Knife Ridge. Farther south, near the dry double ponds, Roach was standing in the middle of the road. Poco and Bones were just on the east side of the road. Bones was between Roach and Poco, and everything was calm until Roach nickered at Bones, which brought Poco flying. They scattered behind some trees, and I drove on.

It had poured rain in Cortez earlier in the day, and the day was what I’d call mostly cloudy. Clear sky was waiting under the cloud bank to the west, though, and I figured it was just a matter of time before we got the gorgeous light (it was around 7-ish by then).

Seven and the girls were back in old stomping grounds south of the southeast loop road, and they stood quietly as I rolled past. The *other* bachelor band was on the east end of the east-west hill that starts in the west with the finger hills: Corazon and Cinch, Ty and Mesa and David and the muley bay. Muley has a name, as of Saturday. Rachelle Davis, a member of the 4CBCH, said he looked copper. We were in the group of “walkers” on Round Top helping to spot horses, and the bachelors were right below us south of Round Top. So the muley bay is now Copper.

I drove back around to Steeldust’s band. They were all up just to the west of the second intersection – with Duke. Duke has been by himself for three weekends now, and when I saw him on my first trip around, he was limping on his right hind. People who saw him Saturday said he was NOT limping or BARELY limping. He has been in the same place, so I guess he has food and water within easy reach. Steeldust’s band seems to come and go from his location. I hope his forced rest will heal whatever ails him and that he’s following after the band soon.

The sun did fall out of the clouds, but the timing and location didn’t help me. But it also didn’t stop me from leaving the basin with a Cheshire-Cat-grin. What a beautiful day!

Curious Ember doesn’t seem to be bothered by much. In the background, you can see the new foal just dancing out of the frame …

This little guy is going to be a handful for mama, I think.

I’m not sure if Mahogany was walking away or she was just following after baby, but Steeldust eventually went after them and “asked” them to return to the band.

He doesn’t have any problem with balance! That’s Piedra and Alpha at left.

Alpha, left, is still pregnant (bets?!), and Ember, right, is the oldest foal in the basin – now a month old.

When the band headed down toward the intersection to go back out into the big valley, the bachelors went running. This is Aspen.

And this is Hook.

Wonderful day.

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Categories : Alpha, Bachelor 7, Bounce, Grey, Houdini, Mahogany, Poco, Roach, Seven, Steeldust

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

Slate is MIA – Saturday, March 22, 2008

26 03 2008

Despite everything I said in the previous post about it being a glorious weekend – and it was – I do have to report a puzzling mystery (is there any other kind?) regarding Slate, the grulla mare.

I saw Bounce and Alegre both Saturday and Sunday, and Slate still is not with them. I saw Grey, Houdini and the foals; Steeldust’s band – still with Hollywood and Jif tagging along; the Bachelor 6; Seven, still with Roja and Molly; Roach, Poco and Bones; and Kreacher. And that was all Saturday. Slate was nowhere to be found.

Sunday, I saw all the above-mentioned horses except Roach’s and Seven’s – in addition to Bruiser and family (still with Shadow) and Kreacher tagging along after the “southside boys” – Corazon, etc. Slate was nowhere to be found.

I am assuming the worst, and her loss is really painful to me because she was fairly young (about 10), she was pregnant, and I recently found out she was introduced as a young mare from the Sand Wash Basin herd in 2001 to enhance our herd’s genetics. She also was a nicely built mare, and based on photos from Barb Headley, she threw nice colts. Barb and I think Hollywood may be her son. Until or unless we find her body, we won’t know for sure, but where on Earth is she?? The last time I saw her was Dec. 29, 2007, with Bounce and Alegre.

The first horse I saw Saturday morning was Kreacher, by himself on “bachelor ridge,” which is across the low area southeast of the water catchment. Too far for photos.

Then I saw some of the Bachelor 6. They all came into view when I turned southeast at the first intersection – along with Steeldust’s band, with Hollywood still hanging out nearby. It was late enough that the light was pretty harsh, so I stayed west of them, parked up on the road, and walked out to the edge of the hill – the topography drops down from the road. They were pretty tolerant of me, especially Alpha and Luna. They knew I was there because I was on top of the hill, and my scent should have been blowing right to them. My experience during the past few years is that Alpha is just about the most protective mama I’ve ever seen, so her tolerance may wane considerably in the next month or so (she should go until early May – if she’s pregnant).

She does seem thick in the middle, but she’s nowhere near as huge as I’ve seen her in the past. Doesn’t she have the prettiest face? In this photo, too, finally, you can see the DG brand on her hip. She got it last August before she was released – after the got the PZP-22 immunocontraceptive. Well, I say you can see the brand, but at this size, maybe it’s still a little hard to see.

Look at these two cuties! About to celebrate their first birthdays, that’s Kestrel at left and Baylee at right. Baylee is definitely a filly; I think Kestrel also is a filly. Luna is Kestrel’s dam, and the bay mare is Baylee’s dam. Here I was sitting on the edge of the hill; that blur at right is vegetation, in the way as I was shooting down at them. I wish I could identify all the plants out there.

Gorgeous girl Luna. Coupla weeks for her? I found out recently that Luna was introduced in 2001 – with Slate and a dun mare. I guessed her at about 10, and if she was 2 or 3 when she was released, that would make her 8 or 9. Not bad, eh?

Miss Piedra. I’m starting to wonder if she’s pregnant – or just eating well this spring? Like Alpha, she looks a bit thick through the middle … and that got me to wondering about where she came from. I was assuming she’s Steeldust’s daughter, but what if she’s not?

Hollywood, left, and Jif.

I just love this guy, and I love thinking he’s Slate’s son. He’s been busy this spring, defending Jif, eh?

Kestrel, kicking up her heels as the band went across the road east of my little hill. Spring is in the air!

Twenty-two thousand acres, and the ponies think they all have to hang out in the same area. In the bottom corner are Bounce, right, and Alegre, and at the top of the photo are the Bachelor 6. At far left are actually two of them. When I took this, Grey/Traveler, Houdini and the foals were just a tiny bit to the southeast (right, out of the frame), and Steeldust’s big group was back up to the northwest, just east of the first intersection.

Just past the fork in the road where you go right to Round Top or left to go up into the northeast and around to the north T intersection, going all the way around, you come pretty quickly to a shallow arroyo. It’s still wet enough that I’m still nervous about driving through it. If I get stuck, I’m pretty well, well, stuck. So I’ve been parking there and walking. A couple of weeks ago, I found Bounce and Alegre and Roach, Poco and Bones on the other side of that ridge. Saturday, Seven, Molly and Roja were south of the ridge near that water hole. The light was pretty harsh from the road looking down on them, so I kept on. I wanted to find Roach and Co. to see if, possibly, Slate was with them. She wasn’t, but they were, predictably, by what seems to be their favorite water hole. There are two, but one is already dry (mud), and the other is kinda stinky, small and shallow. In the photo above, Poco is circling Bones to keep her from leaving. Strange behavior, and I can’t quite explain it other than Roach was standing a bit closer to me and to the right as I took that photo. He’s probably the horse most unconcerned about me in the entire basin, and I don’t know if that’s just his personality or, possibly, because he might have prior experience with we two-leggeds.

He ain’t scairt. I may already have written this in a previous post, but when I first saw him, as a brazen youngster in May 2004, his forelock and mane were perfectly roached (hence, his name). Now, call me crazy, but I’ve never found a barber in the basin, if you know what I mean.

Even though Bones would stand for a few minutes, she’d then start to walk away. Poco would lay back his ears and circle her – to keep her close to Roach? It’s also my theory that Roach is a lieutenant stallion to Poco. They were together back in 2004. For some of us, that’s a rather long-term relationship!

Another handsome boy – Seven still has Molly and Roja. I was told recently that Molly was aged at older than 20 at the gather. She got the PZP, but maybe it doesn’t matter for her anymore? She came through the winter thin but otherwise looks fine. Molly looks pregnant and in good condition. The pic was taken from the road, on a ridge.

The sun was dropping as I headed out from the arroyo. Grey and his little family had crossed the big arroyo that runs along the east side of the road there and were heading up the hill toward the road. Thinking they might be sort of making their way toward the water hole by Flat Top, I drove past them, then stopped and waited to see if they’d come up to where I could photograph them. They grazed around then ended up disappearing behind a hill or ridge, so I called it a day.

Sometimes I just watch the horses from the Jeep/road, and sometimes I park and walk. My reasons vary, and sometimes I don’t really have a reason other than not wanting to bother them or wanting to get a closer look. I was thinking about that Saturday. By now, I have most of what I need for identification photos (although I could probably use some better photos of the southside boys), so it’s mostly a matter of good light, photogenic backgrounds, things like that, if I decide to get closer. The new foals will require photos, but we’re starting to get to critical timing, and I don’t plan to or expect to get close enough for good ID photos for at least a couple of months. I can’t wait to see them – even from afar!

Last one:

When I was taking pix of Grey and Houdini, I put my 1.4x extender on my camera with my 100-400 mm lens. With the 1.6x magnification of my digital camera, it gives me effectively an 896 mm lens. The problem is that it makes my auto-focus lens a manual-focus lens. As a relative newcomer to photography, I still count my blessings for auto focus. I have pretty good eyes, but I haven’t had much luck trying to manual focus on wildlife. The hawk flew by while I was photographing Grey, and they must have been about the same distance away, because I just aimed and shot, and the hawk is fairly well in focus! Ha! I’m not sure it would have been as sharp if I had been trying to track it with my auto focus.

We find all kinds of treasures in the basin.

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Categories : Alpha, Bachelor 7, Bones, Bounce, Grey, Hollywood, March, Poco, Roach, Seven, Steeldust

Spring Creek Basin Mustangs

Still waters – Saturday, Nov. 8, 2008

Tumblin’ tumbleweeds – Sunday, Nov. 2, 2008

Far afield

Glorious rain – Aug. 31, 2008

Before and after

Well …

The wait goes on – Sunday, July 6, 2008

Welcome, No. 5 – Thursday, May 15, 2008

April flowers

Slate is MIA – Saturday, March 22, 2008

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