It’s sad news I have. Bound to happen, I tell myself – and you – but it’s wild reality. I’m pretty sure Roja had and lost her foal.
Above is a pic of the girl taken April 23.
And here she is the evening of April 30.
I noticed that she didn’t seem nearly as heavy … and then I noticed that her tail was all stringy. When I got home and compared pix on the computer, I’m pretty sure. She wasn’t actually due until May 15.
Alegre had her baby!
Do you see what I see?
Now?
Shy baby.
There’s the little miss!
She is the spitting image of her big sister Aurora and their daddy, Bounce – except! Maia has two hind pasterns to ‘Rora’s and Bounce’s right hind pastern! I still don’t know whether Aurora will eventually turn grey like mama or stay black like daddy. Sable was jet black until her second summer, when she started to turn grey, and I first documented Ty as black – and look at him now!
Napping biggest sister Gaia watches her mama and new little sister.
Gaia is an Earth Day baby; Maia is a May Day baby!
Another feisty little girl, she kept her mama hopping to keep up with her!
Running …
running …
running …
running! 🙂
Mariah and Maia, Houdini and Alegre.
Mariah is 3 weeks old now.
Grey/Traveler is Mariah’s daddy and Maia’s stepdaddy.
Another sweetheart for Spring Creek Basin!
Every little wild girl should have a little mountains in her background. 🙂
More of the spotted ponies seen about a week ago close to the Disappointment Road:
Peek-a-ponies! Chipeta and daughter Puzzle, trying to hide behind the greasewood.
Corazon was being standoffish. He’s usually right in with the band.
Big guy Copper was very relaxed and comfortable.
Mr. Ty, easy-going. The storm brewing to the south never made it to Disappointment, but it made for a nice background over the far cliffs!
Little Maiku is such a sweetheart. He likes to stick close to big sister Reya.
Pretty Puzzle, striking her glamour pose!
Chipeta. Isn’t she lovely?
Leaving you with a shot of the expectant girl, Reya.
This beautiful buckskin girl is getting close, too.
Kestrel, looking at Comanche, with her almost-yearling daughter, Juniper. I love that spattering of dark dapples on Kes.
Stunning Comanche, gorgeous in any light. Keeping watch over his girls. He is the sire of Juniper and Kestrel’s baby-to-come.
And yes, the girl’s udder is big. Much bigger than Raven’s, even though she’s actually due a week after Raven – in mid-May.
You can see a bit of her udder in this one.
This will be her fourth foal, all sired by Seven. Speaking of whom, though he managed to get her back from Aspen, he lost her (and Killian) to Storm … who also has Mona, stolen from Seven by Aspen.
Friends spotted the spots yesterday, right above the Disappointment Road. After seeing quite a bit of them this winter, I’ve barely seen them this spring. Reya was heavy pregnant last year during the Four Corners Back Country Horsemen’s annual wild horse count, but then she lost the foal (her first), so I don’t have an exact due date on her. Late May/early June is my guesstimate. That’s her grazing with band stallion Ty. Bachelors Corazon and Copper are still with the band.
Better o’ da belly. (OT: Isn’t it interesting how most of the the pintos’ tails are mostly white at top then go to black and Ty’s tail is dark (greying) at top and goes light ? :))
She’s definitely in the mode of nap more, move less!
Oh, the girl is tired. She is ready. She is due in just a few weeks.
Napping in the warm sunshine.
Can’t resist throwing in a pic of this handsome mister:
Apollo, Raven’s big yearling boy, is a full brother to baby-to-be, sired by Kreacher.
Most readers of this blog aren’t local to this neck of the woods, but if you are, I’d like to invite you to the “Southwest Colorado Spring Creek Basin Wild Horse Management Program” at the Center of Southwest Studies at Fort Lewis College in Durango. It’s part of the center’s “2012 Program Series: Celebrating the Preservation of our Natural and Cultural Heritage.”
Guest speakers will be Fran Ackley from Canon City; Tom Rice from the Tres Rios Field Office in Dolores; and Kathe Hayes with the San Juan Mountains Association. Our Disappointment Wild Bunch Partners will represent our member groups – National Mustang Association/Colorado, Mesa Verde Back Country Horsemen, Four Corners Back Country Horsemen and SJMA – during the event. It’s a great way to let the public know about our groups individually and Wild Bunch as a whole, and educate people about our Spring Creek Basin mustangs and how we help, including being part of the Director’s Challenge award that netted our BLM office $25,000 for projects for the horses. We’re excited to be part of this educational series hosted by the Center of Southwest Studies!
The event will start with a reception at 5:30 followed by the program at 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 24, in the center’s Lyceum on the Fort Lewis College campus.
If you are local, or even passing through, we hope to see you there!
No words, just love.
