Spring Creek Basin Mustangs

Immediately after a brief apparent difference of opinion, Skywalker seems to look for his friend Sancho’s forgiveness. What a sweetheart.

A few bands were napping in fairly close proximity to each other a few days ago in the basin, so I took advantages of faces up (not hidden-in-grass grazing) to take some pix of handsome Buckeye and his lovelies, Dundee, Aiyanna and Rowan. They’ve been together almost a full year now (remember, Flash had them for about the first week and a half), and they seem pretty devoted to each other. Things change, of course, but seeing these four together lifts my spirits in a place where my spirits are always high.

Who needs more peace? (Spoiler: That’s a trick question, of course. :))

Aspen moseys on ahead of the band. I love that green on the hills and ridges in the background. Some in the nearer background (there’s a big arroyo in the lower part/mid-ground of the pic) is greasewood and shadscale and four-wing saltbush (salt desert shrubs), but much of the green in the background is grass: grama, galleta, sand dropseed, alkali sacatone, etc. It’s a bountiful summer (thank goodness for even our sporadic monsoon rains!).

Yummy, green, squeaky, delicious (that’s just an observation by a human who watches wild horses graze) sand dropseed. Shane and Hollywood and the rest of the band were blissfully happy. 🙂

Not too old for a full dunk in a pond, our lady Houdini knows how to keep the buggies at bay.

Southwest Colorado’s Spring Creek Basin is a looooooonnnngggg way from any tall-grass prairies … but in some places currently in the basin, it sure looks lush. Our favorite (and only) grey-pinto boy Flash models the knee-high galleta handsomely.

*****

If you’re in the area, please join me and Kathryn Wilder from 5:30 to 6:30 this evening at Wilkinson Public Library in Telluride for her reading and talk about “Desert Chrome: Water, a Woman, and Wild Horse in the West.” We’d love to see any local mustang lovers!