Spring Creek Basin Mustangs

‘Tis the season for the little buggies.

And frequent head shaking to get rid of them.

Mountains and desert and mustang and wildflowers and grass all in one image.

Love.

Flash proves to be an excellent wildflower model. 🙂

Larkspur, the blue flowers, are toxic to cattle, “and rarely horses,” according to Colorado State University. Flash and his mates seemed to relish eating the flowers.

According to South Dakota State University, “(low) larkspurs are palatable to cattle and contain high levels of alkaloids, making them especially toxic. Because of this, larkspurs cause the second highest deaths in livestock from poisonous plants across the western United States. Five pounds of larkspur consumed within an hour is a lethal dose for a 1,000-pound cow.”

We almost always have larkspur in the spring. Fortunately, at our elevations, it doesn’t seem to be so thick that it’s an issue.

Randomly, our wild onion also is blooming like crazy right now. Despite the interest of a couple of friends, the horses do NOT eat it and therefore do NOT suffer from “onion breath.” 🙂

Always great to see this beautiful spotted girl. 🙂 She and her band – and a few other bands – were in a beautiful area with a pond that still has water. Though it’s very green now, at least a couple of the ponds are already dry. We’re sure looking forward to hoped-for monsoon rains again this summer!

Handsome Storm was looking at another stallion and band with utmost concentration. He’s fully in his prime, and smart (and younger) stallions don’t mess with him! He doesn’t have the biggest band in the basin … but close.

Sweet Winona … on the move from there to somewhere farther over there.