Spring Creek Basin Mustangs

On my way to the basin last week, I spotted spots. I had just seen David’s, closer to the road (but not as close as last time), but I hadn’t seen Chipeta for a while and wanted to check on her (due Sept. 1). I can hardly just “go for a hike” anymore, the basin has so spoiled me for the “rainbow pot of gold” at the “end” of each wonderful hike there.

Chipeta and daughter Puzzle.

I found another of those crazy balloons while I was with them. They’re let go from some birthday party or celebration somewhere, and the wind carries them to western Colorado and plunks ’em down amid the greasewood or saltbush, where I find them, deflated and sad and waiting to muck up the gut of some unsuspecting animal. My back was to the horses when I walked over and picked it up, balled it up and shoved it in my pocket … when I turned around, the horses were trotting right toward me! The sound of the crinkly material when I balled it up? The fact that they couldn’t see what I was doing? I thought I was picking it up in such a way that wouldn’t spook them, and here it brought them right to me.

The bugs weren’t bugging me at all, but the horses were almost constantly shaking their heads, stamping their hooves, swishing their tails … So I like this one anyway, despite Ty’s tail “gettin’ in the way.” 🙂

Ty giving Chipeta some lovin’ … She’s a flirt, but a quick-tempered flirt. I like how he’s staying well back as he gives her a schnuzzle.

Here they are trotting toward me after I turned back around from collecting the balloon.

Ty in the lead … I’m not sure why I like this photo … but I do.

Waiting for whatever came next … which was me walking away. I want them to know they have nothing to fear from me, that I’m OK walking away from them – it’s their home, after all.

Most of the above photos are zoomed-in and/or cropped; this one shows the belly. 🙂 No matter how they stand, Puzzle looks taller than mama – or at least as tall. I’ve always thought daddy Copper is fairly tall, but now I’m wondering how *short* is everybody else! Ha. Still, it looks like she has some decent size to her. I also finally realized that Puzzle has black around each coronet, right above each hoof.

Later, I was mentally comparing Chipeta and Kootenai. Chipeta doesn’t seem over-large, but her udder is definitely filling. Kootenai seemed pretty big (she’s also a bigger mare), but her udder is still tiny. Then again, this will be Chipeta’s third foal at least (Joven died at about 2 weeks), and it will be Kootenai’s first. Chipeta is likely about 6 or 7 years old, and Kootenai is 5 (if she was, in fact, 2 when she came in 2008, which seemed to fit). Chipeta’s due date (based on Puzzle’s birth date) is Sept. 1, but she may foal a little earlier, I’m thinking. Kootenai’s due date is known only to her, but I don’t think it will be before September.

In fact, now I’m kinda thinking about a guess-Kootenai’s-foaling-date contest … whaddya’ll think? I’ll put up photos of her next, and you can leave your guesses in the comments section of that post. I’ll close guesses, say, Sept. 1. You’ll have to trust my guesstimation of her eventual foaling date (sometimes I’m pretty sure about the date, sometimes, it’s a guesstimation). I’m semi kinda sorta probably maybe planning to do a calendar again this year (2012) – maybe different design/style than last year (2011). But I’ll guarantee a calendar to the winning guesser – how’s that? Something happy to offset the coming roundup … It would be nicer to have Kootenai and her foal grace September rather than a scene from the roundup … (I hate to say this, but it occurs to me, and so it likely has occurred to all of you: This depends, of course, on the survival of Koot’s foal.)

On my way to the interior basin, there are a couple of places I always look for horses from the Disappointment Road, which runs along the southwestern border until just past the Perkins corrals. This year, with the Round Top pond holding water and the horses able to drink there instead of searching for elusive salty seeps, I haven’t very often seen horses from the road, which means hikes into the McKenna Peaks Wilderness Study Area (non-motorized) to look for them – and why I don’t often see David’s band, the pinto band led by Kiowa or the new band of Ty, Chipeta and Puzzle. A couple of weeks ago, I saw David’s from afar and hiked in to see them (it’s always easier when you know their location, though it’s not a far “speculation hike” to get to a point where there’s a decent view), and that was the day I found Kiowa’s new baby. But I hadn’t seen Ty, Chipeta and Puzzle since earlier this spring, shortly after they made the split from the pinto band.

So when I spotted Ty and Chipeta from the road, that was a good enough excuse to park and climb through the fence and walk out to see them – plus, I couldn’t see Puzzle and wanted to make sure she was there. She was – napping.

Boy, has she grown!

If I didn’t know she was 9 – almost 10 – months old, I’d never guess (well, and if I didn’t know, I’d never guess she’d been born in September).

Would *you* ever believe she’s only 9.5 months old?! I never thought Chipeta was all that short until I saw her with her own less-than-year-old daughter!

Ty. He is a lesson in persistence, he is. He would seem to claim Chipeta only to lose her back to the band and Copper. But he seems to be keeping his little family far away from any temptations. He has also always had that short tail – I have no idea why.

Chipeta is clearly pregnant. Due Sept. 1, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she foals into August … and would be happier for her to have a slightly older foal by the time of the roundup. Mona, by contrast, is due the day the roundup starts – Sept. 15 – and yes, we have already talked about that with our BLM folks – and will continue to. Jif also is due anywhere from about late August to late September.

Because the Spring Creek Basin mustangs are documented and easily identified (individually AND by band), and because I know we have at least three mares due to foal very close to the roundup, and because, per BLM, we plan to be in radio contact with the helicopter pilot, we hope to convince him to ignore those horses and their very-young foals. Bait trapping would make this kind of selective removal much easier … but hopefully we’re moving in that direction now for next time.

Pretty Puzzle and mama Chipeta

We had company …

For Pat A: This was WAY south of where we saw the buck and does during the count – same guy? I keep seeing the does in the same general area – no fawns yet – and no buck, either.

I like the illusion of this photo, but in reality, there’s at least 2 feet of space between Puzzle and stepdaddy Ty. 🙂

Mama picked up a sprig of greasewood. She wasn’t terribly impressed with or worried about me, and I had a devil of a time getting both ears. 😉

That Puzzle is a pretty little (big!) girl, isn’t she?