Spring Creek Basin Mustangs

Houdini

She’s a wonderful grand dame, full of wisdom to pass on to younger generations – four-legged and two-. 🙂

Seneca

Has anyone heard the phrase “knee high by the Fourth of July”? To the Ohio farmers in my family tree, that refers to corn.

We’re a little past the Fourth now, but here in Spring Creek Basin, some of the grass is as high as a mustang’s knee. We’re kinda likin’ that a whole bunch. 🙂

Ty

Stately boy under a stormy sky.

We have been getting rain! Different areas of Disappointment Valley get different amounts of rain – sometimes wildly different. The horses are in pretty darn good shape for grass and water this year.

R-E-L-I-E-F. And mucho gratitude. 🙂

… handsome fellow …

Hollywood

Do they *know* how gorgeous they are? He’s also really good to his mares.

Comanche

Oh, to be a mare. 🙂 He’s really good to his girls, too.

Alegre and Houdini

These grey girls are golden. As Americans celebrate 239 years of freedom and independence today, remember the horses we rode in on, and celebrate their enduring spirits of wildness!

**********

Monsoon season may have started! We got some isolated storms around Disappointment Valley yesterday evening, capped by a spectacular and long-lasting rainbow that “embraced” Spring Creek Basin and its mustangs, as friend Kat said. Those storms, some within the basin’s borders and some above, were enough to raise Disappointment Creek a few FEET in just a few hours and send it roaring downstream. Not only that, but Spring Creek ran – again! The water already was *down* 2.5 feet from its high point by the time we saw it! That gorgeous sight stopped us from going deeper into the basin, but that was perfectly OK; horses in a couple of bands came over a ridge to watch us curiously while we danced and laughed and cried like madwomen.

Water is life. After weeks of (normal) hot, dry weather, to listen to the sound of rushing water – watching mustangs while listening to the music of a chortling creek?! – is absolute magic upon magic.

“Thank you. Thank you, for the horses, for the water,” I whispered to the giant sky, over wide, rushing Spring Creek.

My gratitude knows no bounds.

Pretty pinto ponies pondering life and bugs at the Round Top pond.

Apollo and S’aka

How sweet are they? Wee S’aka is just the right height for big Apollo to use for bug relief. Such pals. 🙂

Mmm, greasewood. Yummy!

Though prickly greasewood looks rather unappetizing to humans, the horses eat it like candy – in all seasons, even with grass at the ready.

Speaking of ready, we’re ready for monsoon season to start.

S’aka

Wee mustang lad is not much taller than the greasewood.