Greasewood sea

8 02 2012

Usually, the pintos are horses I see every now and then, usually when I see them from the road and can hike directly to them. But lately I’ve been looking for them because they’ve been a bit easier to find than the horses “interior” where I haven’t gone fearing mud (and potential Jeep-stuck-ness). I am getting terribly anxious to see the other horses, but for now, I am content with spots.

From about a week ago. Reya (front) and Puzzle grazing among the greasewood. Except for the lack-o-green, it doesn’t look very wintry, does it? And the greasewood is not really as thick and dense as it seems from the lens compression. But I thought it was an interesting perspective, as tall as it is, the horses seeming to wade through it like through water.





More spots

2 02 2012

Some more random images from last week’s visit:

Puzzle, Reya and Corazon

Maiku

Corazon

Chipeta and Puzzle

Reya and Corazon

Reya and Chipeta

Chipeta and Puzzle

Ty and Chipeta

Chipeta and Puzzle

Ty

Reya

Corazon (love the little twitch of his muzzle)

Chipeta

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





Sleepies

30 01 2012

Last week, I caught the spots at nap time.

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

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

Chipeta and Puzzle

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

Even Copper laid down …

… right before he rolled!

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





Family resemblance

23 01 2012

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

Mama Chipeta

Not-so-baby anymore Puzzle

Very alike, yes?

Puzzle and half-brother Maiku

Maiku’s half-sister Reya

Reya and possible-brother Corazon

Copper, daddy of Maiku and Puzzle

Ty, daddy of Asher





Spots in a row

10 01 2012

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

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





Welcome sighting

8 01 2012

They can hide, but they can’t vanish!

Puzzle and mama Chipeta on a gorgeous January morning.

The blog has been quiet, yes. My resolutions this year didn’t include taking it easy. 🙂

The horses are awesome. The snow – or lack thereof – is worrisome.

Dancing, anyone?





Collected

21 11 2011

Another collection of fairly random photos, related only by the horses and the basin.

Chipeta and Puzzle

Puzzle

Grey/Traveler and Houdini

Corona

Mona, Shane and Killian

Closer of Mona and Shane

Shane and Roja

Aspen and Killian

Mona

Aspen

Mona

Enjoy! 🙂





Dynamics of spots and solids

19 11 2011

Ah, the pintos.

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

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

Chipeta showing off her dredlocks.

Chipeta and her yearling daughter, Puzzle.

Band stallion Ty.

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

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

Ty and Copper

Copper being chased up the hill by Ty …

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

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

Maiku and Chipeta

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

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

Gorgeous.





Pinto band (Ty’s band)

29 09 2011

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

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

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

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

Darn greasewood. 🙂 Ty with Maiku and Reya.

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





Looking ahead

25 09 2011

With everything that has happened, the adoption behind us, people working for the horses at Canon City, the horses in the basin are now foremost in my thoughts. Getting back to them is what I look forward to now.

We’ve all been on an emotional roller coaster, but just like last time, we’re already at work evaluating what happened and what we can change, what worked, what didn’t, ways we can offer our help.

Lots of positives, starting with these:

Copper

Chipeta and Puzzle – they’re with Ty, still, and back with Reya and Maiku. Copper is with them.

Maiku

Ty, trotting out to have a chat with Copper. After so long in Copper’s shadow, Ty has asserted his dominance.

Reya, Puzzle, Chipeta in back and Maiku

Gaia … might be expecting a spotted baby in the spring …

Aurora

Alegre (Aurora is nursing – see her ear?) and Gaia.

Traveler … looks pretty good for an “old” man, eh? He was aged at “aged.” How I love him.

Always stunning.

Tenaz and Corona

Corona