Seven’s band is +2

21 09 2010

Did you guess?? I sure didn’t. In fact, when I first saw this band, through trees and around a ridge – a side, a back – I saw colors: light grey, sorrel, dun. The dun with the sorrel and the light grey said “Chrome’s” to me. But when I came around the curve in the trail, face to faraway face with Roja, I instantly knew my mistake! They’re watching Hollywood’s band here, who had just surprised us by trotting into the “meadow,” probably to  give some room to Steeldust’s and Bounce’s and Grey/Traveler’s bands nearby (taking advantage of water in this part of the basin).

The familiar family: Seven, Ze, Spring and Roja. They’re eyeing Mona and baby, and Seven is walking her way. With another stallion/band in the immediate vicinity, Seven decided to focus on the new girl, and Roja decided to let him. She and Spring disappeared over a little rise, and Ze stayed with daddy and the newcomers.

Seven circling his newest additions – Ze at right.

By this point, Roja and Spring had come back into view and were napping under a tree (it was rather warm, and I was following their example!). Seven is whinnying rather insistently for her to join him, and she’s rather steadfastly ignoring him. She did eventually mosey out, and Spring couldn’t resist the magnetic pull of a baby, eventually choosing daddy over mama and proximity to the fascinating new little creature. Spring was baby No. 1 this year, and she’s 5 months old.

Seven watched me watching them. I had a great seat under a wonderful large old juniper that provided lovely shade and seemed to draw a little breeze. The horses were out across a little arroyo, and Hollywood’s were farther left.

And there you go! Seven has (hopefully still) Mona and her cherished baby girl. I’d love to have been a fly in the mane for the journey that took Mona clear across the basin – before, after she had the baby? Seven’s band is one of the most difficult to view, but they were so very terrific to allow me to view the almost-newborn that day!

We are apparently about to get hammered by “heavy rain” and “likely flash floods.” Foremost in my mind at that kind of news is how fast will it fill those newly dug ponds?! Snow in the high country also is likely. There are a few cottonwoods in the basin, in particular in the little arroyo that drains Wildcat canyon and up in the northwest; the NW tree was just fantastically gorgeous last year. So think pond filling … and wish Hayden a happy birthday tomorrow – oops, it’s already today: Sept. 22!


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Categories : Mona, Roja, Seven, Shane, Spring, Ze

Green and grey

15 08 2010

And sorrel and bay and turning-grey.

Grey/Traveler’s band and Seven’s band were grazing/napping companionably close to each other when I saw them and walked out for a visit. My “goal” was Grey/Traveler’s band, and my path took me first toward Seven’s. Always a thrill to visit with these horses, as shy and wary as they are.

Daddy and Ze and Spring and mama. Spring had just nursed, and Roja had just turned to watch my angled approach – Grey/Traveler’s band was to the left.

Interestingly, I had nearly crossed their viewpoint on my way to the other band when Roja decided that as I was going away, it was now time for her to lead the way away as well. I think I’m growing on her. 😉 Here, Seven and Ze are walking their long-strided walks to catch up to where she and Spring wait, just a bit to the right.

Every so often I get glimpses of horses that reveal their resemblance to other horses. Roja here – except her color, which she gave her daughter – is the spitting image of Molly. And look what a big, strapping boy Ze is. Good forage and less competition these last couple of years.

Hold this image of Seven in your minds … wait till you see Grey/Traveler.

They’re standing below the level of the foreground-ground, but I love the vision of them seeming to stand in grass up to their knees.

Now …

Tell me Seven is not related to Grey/Traveler.

Almost certainly his sire, don’t you think? Seven is chunkier. 🙂

Daughter Terra

Daughter Gemma with mama Houdini

Grey’s girls: Terra, Gemma and Houdini

I adore this girl!

Napping at the edge of the road … Terra loves her baby sister.

Road to paradise: Lizard Mesa in the background

Three grey girls

Grey/Traveler with his girls – he does throw beautiful babies, doesn’t he?

With all his girls …

Terra sees a visitor, the one whose approach earlier caused Houdini to head toward the road before she decided to go back to grazing in the meadow. But this time, he came all the way down, and that was the end of my visit with Grey’s family and the beginning of a wonderful sighting of …

Duke!

Doesn’t he just shine with vim and vigor??

Houdini was long gone by now, and he’s stopped to watch. Looks almost wistful, doesn’t he? His trend has been to seek company … then shun it again … then seek it … for reasons known only to him.

Loved-loved-loved seeing him … bittersweet to see him alone again. He was with Twister and Cinch the last time I saw him, as they were kind of hanging out with Hollywood’s band. Those youngsters – Twister and Cuatro now – could learn a lot from this elder statesman.

When I headed back toward the Jeep, he followed me at a distance … but then I lost him in the rolling folds, and I didn’t see him again this trip. Always happy to see my boy Duke. 🙂


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Categories : Duke, Gemma, Grey, Houdini, Roja, Seven, Spring, Terra, Ze

Overflowing

4 07 2010

Talk about symbolism: Here you see sort-of-leafy, sort-of-green things … not lush, exactly, but browsable things. What you don’t see is what Comanche has his head down for, sipping in trickles the tiny bit of water that seeps up to ground level and is *available* for sipping. What you also see in the background – the green, feathery thing tufted with bits of pink – is tamarisk, also known as saltcedar. Until recently, the government has told us it’s the scourge of the West’s limited water sources, and eradication efforts (yes, even within the basin) have been wide-ranging and dedicated. Now, however, the government says it’s no more a scourge – sucks up no more precious water – than cottonwood or willow and is precious bird habitat to boot, and we’re to let the poor things be.

When I say the water where Comanche is drinking – and Kestrel is waiting to drink – is coming out in a trickle, if you take that to mean drip by drop where it doesn’t collect so much as glistens over top of rocky, sandy soil, I’m not exaggerating.

Well, I never said he was a particularly careful drinker. 🙂 See it dribbling from his tongue? Kestrel takes the opportunity to take her turn at the source.

Now Comanche waits patiently (seemingly so) while Kestrel sips. And Winona decides it’s time for some liquid nourishment as well. ‘Nona looks small again from this angle, but I tell you, I think she’s grown between last week and this!

We’re finally starting to get some rain again, and I know some of it has reached the basin with its lovely purple fingers. But it never seems to be enough. The ponds are dry. Wildcat Spring has water (liquid but stinky), and seeps like this produce it at a maddeningly slow trickle, but the ponds are dry, including the two dug out last year. We’re hoping the rest will be dug out later this summer, but there has to be rain to fill them. Despite the snowfall of last winter, the rain earlier this spring, the ground proved itself as thirsty as any living thing and just sucked it all up. Other ranges enhance their springs and provide guzzlers. We have what’s called a water “catchment” that provides good, clean, fresh (non-alkaline) water … but it’s on the dry west side, and most of the bands seem to avoid that area. We’re working on ideas for more and better quality water sources. On a managed range like this, water cannot be un-managed.

Tamarisk-control? Well, that’s another subject – related.

And look who else was nearby – and as calm and relaxed as I’ve seen them lately?

Roja and Seven

This picture isn’t “glamorous,” but it’s my favorite in this particular collection because of the horses’ behavior – relaxed, heads down (Spring-baby-girl was keeping an eye on me), grazing, unconcerned. This sight made my heart soar. With these particular horses, it’s a huge moment to be this close (almost 200 yards, across a little arroyo) with them so relaxed.

They finally did look up, of course – left to right: Spring, Roja, Ze (look how big!) and Seven. And they did eventually walk down off the top of this little hill and out of sight. What a marvelous, quiet, visit!

And one more of a beautiful pair:

Beautiful baby Winona and her lovely mama, Kestrel.

Overflow of: love, appreciation, marvel, wonder. Not so much: Water.


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Categories : Comanche, Kestrel, Roja, Seven, Spring, Winona, Ze

Curve of the day

27 06 2010

Some more pix from the first day of our visit last week.

Hayden and Jif. They were relaxed but shy and grazing.

Grey/Traveler’s band. Gemma is going grey first right over her butt and from a distance looks a little like an Appaloosa with a blanket pattern.

We saw a collared lizard on our walk back to Wildcat Spring, but it wasn’t interested in visiting with us. This guy, however, defended his rock – right in the middle of the road – while I drove right by him! He looks fierce, eh? But I think this was his way of venting some heat – although getting off that cooker of a rock may have helped, too! We had a nice breeze (not enough to rid us of the gnats), but it was warm – up to 92 by the Jeep’s gauge. I love these lizards’ bright colors and muscley little legs!

Hook’s band was only mildly interested in us. Right to left: Hannah, Sable, Hook, Ember and Pinon.

Toward the end of the day, we decided to take one more pass past Wildcat and had a nice surprise: Bounce’s and Kreacher’s bands, right off the road.

From left: Raven, Corona, Kootenai, Kreacher and Mona

Whisper and Liberty. They’re not as close as they appear, and Liberty is standing a bit farther up the hill. They look pretty similar in size here because of lens compression of the scene, but Liberty is still noticeably smaller than Whisper.

Whisper in the foreground and Alegre at right.

T spotted the almost-full moon coming up over the eastern ridges. This is looking out toward the east pocket. A little farther to the right would be McKenna Peak and the unnamed promontory.

Mona and Kootenai caught in a rare moment of affection. Usually Kootenai bugs Mona, who is very laidback, and Raven usually comes to her rescue by pinning her ears at Koot.

Kreacher, Raven and Kootenai walking toward us.

Kreacher, Raven and Corona. You can really see Corona’s wide blaze here in her mother’s shadow. She’s also still nursing.

We were able to sit with them for a bit in the evening light – wonderful! There’s Bounce in the background … and they’re watching some newcomers.

Seven and his band – Roja, Ze and Spring – were coming up toward Wildcat for an evening drink. They hadn’t been visible when we parked and walked out to sit just off the road with Bounce’s and Kreacher’s bands, but as it turned out, I had parked a bit “ahead” of where the trail comes out, and Seven was not pleased. (As a side note, can you see the extreme resemblance to Grey/Traveler??)

He trotted back and forth, looking hard and blowing at the Jeep while Roja stayed some distance back with Ze and Spring. I keep coming back to this, but they haven’t forgotten and so neither have I. It was almost two years ago that they were chased by a man in a truck. They remain extremely wary of not only people but also vehicles. It’s important to know here that although I was parked in their line of sight, the Jeep was not blocking their wayS to water. But because of their extreme sensitivity, it might as well have been. Most of the other bands respond very well to quiet, careful viewing, but Seven’s have never gotten over that incident – maybe others? This is their home, so we quietly walked back to the Jeep and drove away, taking the “danger” with us.

Roja and Spring – pic taken from the Jeep. Look how big Spring is! (I haven’t taken many pictures of her *because* of their wariness.) She looks so much like Molly. She has little black spots on her knees, and I’m sure her legs will darken. Check out Roja’s loooooong dredlock!

And Seven and Ze … now much calmer and at ease. A great sight to leave with.


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Categories : Alegre, Bounce, Corona, Ember, Gemma, Grey, Hannah, Hayden, Hook, Houdini, Jif, Kootenai, Kreacher, Liberty, Mona, New girls, Pinon, Raven, Roja, Sable, Seven, Spring, Terra, Whisper, Ze

Spring Wind

23 04 2010

And moisture!

So – oddly enough – for the first time in weeks, I have a full trip report! (Because I had to wait out the rain at friends’ fantastic cabin nearby, I had time to go through the day’s limited photos!)

I saw just a few horses – and NOT Steeldust’s band. It’s odd that I don’t see them, and with Luna PAST due to have her baby, the worst thing I can say about the rain was my timing in not getting to the basin soon enough to find her. I did dream about her a few nights ago – and her foal. I’ll let ya’ll know if I’m about to list “medium” on my resume. 🙂

When I got to the basin, I had time to go once ’round the loop. The horses are starting to move toward what I call the “east pocket” – it’s usually the first to green up. It’s a lot of cheat grass, and once it’s grazed and/or spent, the horses generally leave the area for the rest of the year. This is a trend I’ve noticed during the past three seasons. The timing of their migration back to the pocket varies. It was around March in 2008, I think, as early as February last year, and end of April this year!

Although I spent probably less than 30 minutes in the basin – because of the rain – I am THRILLED with the moisture! Maybe the ponds that already have gone dry and the ones close to going dry have a bit more time to serve the ponies.

Hollywood and his band were the first ones I saw, followed closely by Seven’s band. But Holls isn’t looking at Seven here …

Can you see? The boys in the trees are Roach and Poco. Remember when they set to following Holls’ band last year? But now they are “home,” and everybody else is visiting.

Baby Spring following brother Ze and mama Roja.

A flash of white caught my eye, and my first thought was Alpha … but it wasn’t. It was clever Houdini.

Around the trees, Terra and Grey/Traveler came into view. Given how windy it was, they were smart to seek the relative shelter of the trees!

Roja and Spring. I think Spring is a filly, but I’m not guaranteeing that yet! No markings that I can see.

Spring’s tail is very light at the upper edges.

Ze and Seven following along … but who do you see in the background? Do you see all three?

Spring sees them … 🙂

Now do you see who was nearby?

There was a little of this …

… and a little of this …

… and a little more of this … before Bounce – with a great toss of his head, trotted back to his band.

Seven gathered his troops …

… then they were away with Bounce hot on their trail!

I’m not sure why he pursued them. They went the way I was going around the loop, but even though I was starting to get particularly nervous about the western darkening sky, I thought it more prudent to wait. Sure enough, Bounce came trotting back like a victorious king. I inched on up the road … and saw Seven’s grazing not far from the road not too far on. To pass or not to pass? They were quiet, and that sky … so I crept forward … and past … and they weren’t bothered! That was pretty awesome.

But it turned out that they were almost the last horses I saw that day. To be safe, I drove out of the basin to the county road. Sure enough, the rain came – and hail – then it stopped, but curtains of grey still were coming … more rain … more hail … I waited for a couple of hours, then decided to call it quits and headed on south.

Guess who I saw right inside the fence just past the county line?

I couldn’t believe they were back down by the road! Mister David is taking his daddy duties very seriously.

Luckily for me, Shadow must have thought the arroyo, at least, was a comforting barrier. Wind is his name, so blessed by the person who first saw him, who said it was very windy that day. Appropriate! I don’t know whether it’s coincidence that every time I’ve seen him nurse it has been from this angle … Whatever works, eh?!

He’s not very big, but he’s a cutie! You can see his left hind sock (I thought it was a stocking on my first sighting and from the other side …?), and he also has a small star.

To make a short story shorter, I awakened the next morning to about 2 inches of snow! And sunshine! It rained and rained the rest of the day and night … The sunshine was a welcome sight, but conditions were still too wet to drive in, so I walked in. But given where the horses are now, I just didn’t get that far. I did spot Chrome’s band – way too far for pictures – but I always enjoy a sighting of little red Hayden. And the others, of course!

The clouds were coming up over the eastern ridges as I hiked out, and if the skies from home were any indication, the basin got even more moisture later in the day. All welcome and much needed!


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Categories : Alegre, Baylee, Bounce, David, Gaia, Grey, Hollywood, Houdini, Seven, Shadow, Spring, Terra, Whisper, Wind, Ze

Roja and Spring

16 04 2010

Roja’s baby has a name: Spring, suggested by very long-time advocates of Spring Creek Basin mustangs. There’s karma in that, I think. 🙂

Taken from the Jeep up on the roller-coaster ridge. Look at those little black fetlocks! Maybe baby will stay bay?

Walking up is Ze, Roja and Seven’s yearling son. I think he’ll turn grey.

Seven was hanging back, not worried; this is the mama and her babes.

From a distance on a different occasion, I got to see all three of them act like spring foals, galloping and kicking up their heels – even Roja (who never needs much of an excuse) – just for the joy of it!


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Categories : Roja, Spring, Ze

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