
For whatever reason, I love this image of Ty. Just an everyday motion to rub a fly off his leg or reach for a mouthful of grass, but there’s beauty in all those little movements of the task of living in the wild moment.

For whatever reason, I love this image of Ty. Just an everyday motion to rub a fly off his leg or reach for a mouthful of grass, but there’s beauty in all those little movements of the task of living in the wild moment.

Maiku is looking for love.
Advice to a young stallion: When targeting a mare, try not to pick a band that already has a lieutenant stallion.

How do ya’ll like that grass? 🙂
The horses look wet because they ARE wet; they’d been drinking and playing in a recently filled pond. They were headed (away) up a trail when I walked out to check the status of the pond. They stopped and looked back … and then I had to scramble to dump my backpack and fumble my camera out and get it turned on and hope the settings were any kind of decent when they ran down and circled around me.
Well, hello to you beautiful ponies, too!
Friend and mustang lover Bebe June Mantooth created this AMAZING scale model of Spring Creek Basin mustangs, and my folks brought it to me during a visit from Texas (where they and Bebe live). It was the first time I’d seen it (not even pictures), and to say it was a “pleasant surprise” is the understatement of the year!
The photos really don’t do it justice. It’s simply spectacular. Specific mustangs in Spring Creek Basin – including horses in two bands and several bachelor stallions – are memorialized in this model (contained in a box that is painted inside – also by Bebe) that I will treasure forever.

This is the view through the looking glass (window) in one end of the box. Bachelors are in the foreground, and two bands are in the distance (middle ground and back). Can you identify anybody? 🙂

Looking straight into the box of beautiful. You can see the window at right. Not shown in any of the pictures is the lid, which is lined with tiny lights, so when the lid is closed, you can look in on the mustangs’ tiny little magical world. 🙂

Another view that shows some of the topographic detail. Don’t miss the grey mares under the juniper trees.

A closer view of the bands – and look! They’re going to water! Which is awesomely awesome because we’ve just had some more incredible rain, which was a pond-filling gift from heaven!

A better look at the bachelor boys. Surely readers will recognize some of the horses? 🙂

Through the looking glass again. Below the window is the little plaque my mom and dad had made for it. 🙂
HUGE THANKS to artist Bebe for the skill and love that went into creating this one-of-a-kind mustang masterpiece! I can’t even begin to tell you all how meaningful and incredible this is!

Beauty.
Period.

Who doesn’t love a bay mustang??!!?

Have I mentioned how much I love the dreamy quality of backlighting?
Dreamy Hollywood models it to perfection. 🙂

My mom’s 70th (!) birthday is in October.
Because she and my dad – and my uncle (her little brother) and cousin – are visiting now (from Texas and from California, respectively), we decided to celebrate early. … Today, in fact!
Their visit will be celebrated with horses and family and friends and love. And we’ll have a big birthday in July!

Sweet Juniper with the elegant mustang ears and tangly, dredly mane. 🙂

Storm’s band is just below the rise where he’s standing, and he’s looking back at a nearby band being followed by a bachelor.
Really, it’s impossible to describe such feelings of beauty- and peace-in-the-moment. It was a magical evening of wild horses and wild places and wild beauty and such blazing, stunning contentment. And it’s available to everyone because these are OUR wild horses and OUR wild beautiful places; OUR public lands.