Pretty Aiyanna stopped in just the right place to show off the big, complementarily colored (!) boulders at the base of Filly Peak on New Year’s Day. … Notice the piñon tree growing between the two boulders behind her. It doesn’t look super healthy, but that’s probably more the ongoing drought than having sprouted up between two giant sandstones. Still, pretty cool … and it makes you (OK, at least me) wonder about the eons of history there.
I tell Chipeta all the time (well, when I’m with her) that she really can’t hide. She’s too much of a standout!
Plus, she’s the only pinto in her band of greys. 🙂
It doesn’t stop her from trying (to hide) … and it doesn’t stop me from trying to get creative in “finding” her!
Oh, I just adore this little guy.
None of the pintos are very big (even in comparison to the other not-so-big mustangs), but they all have big personalities (and not just the pintos!).
A deep blue dry winter sky highlights both Temple and Temple Butte and McKenna Peak behind her. All in alignment as we kick off the new year.
Speaking of “alignments,” if you haven’t seen somewhere that the Year of the Fire Horse is upon us in the Chinese calendar, you might not be up to date on all the data that’s data to be seen, according to your phones and/or social media and/or whatever algorithms are at work (!). It starts Feb. 17, and according to Google’s AI feature, it symbolizes “intense energy, passion, and transformation, following the previous Wood Horse in 2014. People born in Horse years are often seen as independent, adventurous, strong, and enthusiastic, embodying the animal’s spirit of freedom, vitality, and perseverance, making these years auspicious for bold action and new growth.”
I’m pretty sure I was born in the wrong year; sorry, Mom and Dad. 🙂 That said, I think one of my grandmothers (the horsey one) WAS born in a year of the horse, so I’ll blame her – err, claim her – for my incredibly horse-like traits!
I’ll try to find more information about this exciting development for horse lovers as the start of that zodiac calendar begins. We sure have a lot of models to illustrate all the ways mustangs embody the above!
Kind-eyed Seneca indulges me with a look while her band mates browse back (way back!) at the end of last year and way back deep in Spring Creek Basin.
Miss Bia, looking lovely in the layers and snow. 🙂
(Note: At this point, the snow has been gone for several days, but I wanted to post a few mustang images taking advantage of the little snow we had! After this morning, though, the blog will return to current conditions, which is to say, NO snow.)
Odin. Odalicious. Oh-delicious!
Get it? 🙂
What a handsome youngster.
Kestrel is ready for the snow, but she’s giving me a look that seems to wonder whether *I* am ready for the snow. In fairness, she lives there, but I had a bit of a distance to cover to get out to the main county road.
This was a few days ago, when I was out with Terra’s family. It had snowed a bit over the basin early that morning, but as you can see in the background, the “big” snow that evening was coming.
As I mentioned in the post with Cassidy Rain, it wasn’t more than about half an inch total, but it sure looked promising when it was incoming!
The snow is gone now (mostly), but it got cold, making for gorgeous, clear night skies under the waning moon and sparkling stars.
Spring Creek Basin and Disappointment Valley didn’t get a lot of snow out of yesterday’s blow-in – maaaaaaaaybe half an inch? – but it’s such a novelty this “winter” to have snow at all. We’ll take it!
The morning after (yesterday, as you’re reading this), I went out to see what I could see and found Cassidy Rain and her band. Another novelty: She stood and “posed” for me in the snow!
Spring Creek Basin Mustangs 