Steeldust | Spring Creek Basin Mustangs

Wonderful wild – Saturday, Nov. 1, 2008

3 11 2008

Copper and the girls with spots

What a beautiful weekend! Too warm for the hunters still, maybe, but perfect for wandering the wild for our wild beasties. I had a report from Durangoans Tom and Amanda that they had seen Seven, Molly and Roja last weekend at the base of Brumley Point, so that’s where I headed first.

The pinto girls with their boys were on top of the hill they favor, but I gave them a wave and headed on to Brumley. I ended up going almost to the southern boundary fence and looked down into the “meadow” area you can see from the county road across from the Black Snag Road. I made extensive use of my binoculars. I sat on a hill at the base of Brumley and enjoyed the world.

Yeah, I never saw the grey boy and his girls.

The pic above was taken on my way back across the hill. Copper is at right, then Chipeta, Reya, Spook and Kiowa.

Girl guard

Here, Chipeta gives me the stare-down while Copper grazes and Corazon sticks close.

Boy guard

And here’s Copper taking his stallion duties seriously with Kiowa, right, and Corazon in the background.

Kiowa and her baby girls

Mama Kiowa, back right, with baby Spook in the middle and yearling Reya at left.

Ignorance is bliss

Baby Spook ignores Copper having a little “stay away, pal” chat with Ty.

Blended family

All together now: from left, Kiowa, Spook, Reya, Chipeta, Ty, Copper behind Ty, Corazon and Mesa. This is looking slightly northeast. The south side of Round Top is just a bit to the left.

A hunter was waiting at my Jeep on the county road when I hiked out. His question surprised me: “Is this private land?” I told him it was the wild horse herd management area. Then he told me he had just let his buddy out a bit farther up the road. Sooo … kind of a belated question if he thought it was private land? He was after “the big one,” but I told him I’d seen just one deer since spring. He went his way, and I headed up to the main part of the basin.

The first thing I noticed after driving in the main entrance was a hunting camp down at the trap site by Spring Creek – right by the creek, which has running water. Then I spotted the new girls, so I decided I wasn’t going to be shy about driving past the camp to park and hike up the hills to see the mares.

In step

Our new girls look comfortable in their new environment. They’re still together, by themselves. (I did tell them there are many handsome stallions to be found in Spring Creek Basin!)

Curious girls

The girls are curious, not afraid. Makes me wonder how many visitors they had in their Sand Wash Basin home.

Grey boys

I didn’t stay too long with the mares; there’s plenty of time to get to know them. Steeldust’s big group was hanging out right near the loop road, close to the Round Top intersection. I stopped the Jeep before I got to them and just watched them from there for a while. They ended up walking right past me, and I never left the Jeep. In the pic above are Kreacher, ignoring me, Chrome looking at something in the distance and Hook peeking over Chrome’s back.

Peek-a-boo Pinon

Pinon wasn’t above playing the peek-a-boo game, using mama Mahogany to hide behind.

Ember, too

Ember had recently submerged herself in mud, so she may have been feeling a little shy!

After the act

One of the weirdest things I’ve seen yet happened Saturday. Butch bred Alpha – with Steeldust standing about 5 feet away. Butch is one of the two young rose-grey stallions (the other is Sundance) in Steeldust’s band. I’ve been wondering when he was going to kick them out. I think, possibly, Luna is their dam, and I think they’re 2-3 years old. Earlier this year, Sundance decided to hang out with the boys for a few hours, but neither of them has really demonstrated any signs of sexual maturity – until now! (Although they got a little jealous when Hollywood bred Piedra in May.) It has been three months and a week since Storm was born. Alpha got the PZP when she was released last August after the roundup, and my understanding is that she will continue to come into heat. The only theory I have is that Steeldust had already bred her so didn’t mind if Butch had his chance?! Alpha was obviously in heat and receptive. In the pic above, you can see Steely Dan straight behind Alpha.

Venting

Then Steeldust chased Hook off. (What did HE do?!)

Nursing

Then Storm decided it was snack time.

As the world turns, eh?

In sync

These little boys are practically inseparable. Storm was obviously playing in the same mud puddle Ember found so inviting.

Baylee and Hollywood

The family dynamics are certainly interesting to watch in this big band. Hollywood and his small harem are with – and separate from – the band. (What a stud! He gets two girls while the bachelors are still, well, bachelors!)

Piedra and Hollywood

Holls and his other girl, Piedra. Busy day at the spa, eh?

When the ponies had ambled on past the Jeep, it looked like they were going to wander down the hill to the arroyo. I drove on to go around the loop. Guess who I spotted from the roller-coaster ridge road, in almost exactly the same spot where Poco, Bones and Roach were last Sunday?

The beautiful Bounce band

Bounce, left, and his lovely ladies, Gaia, center, and Alegre.

Bounce and Gaia

“Daddy” Bounce and baby Gaia.

Gaia and Alegre

Baby and Mama. I think Gaia plans to keep her sorrel color. She’s still bright red; Ember, Iya and Storm, all born sorrel, are all turning grey.

I hiked down to them on the same trail I found last weekend, and glad I did: Grey/Traveler and his band were behind a hill, close to Knife Edge, where I couldn’t see them from the road. It was cool to see them, but I didn’t hike any closer to them so I could stay on the opposite side of the arroyo from Bounce’s band and not worry Alegre. I did drive on around the loop, but I didn’t see any more horses.

Despite the resemblance to Grand Central Station – people, people, everywhere – it was a beautiful day with beautiful horses in a beautiful place.

Comments : Leave a Comment »

Categories : Alegre, Alpha, Bounce, Grey, Hollywood, New girls, Pinon, pintos, Steeldust, Storm

Far afield

28 10 2008

Stop.

If you’re expecting news of the new girls, stop reading now. Though I searched high and low and found all the horses but Bounce’s band and Seven’s band – and, well, the girls – I didn’t find the girls. At all. Not hide nor hair. I’ll tell you who they’re for sure NOT with (as of Sunday): not Steeldust’s band, not Traveler’s band, not Cinch and Bruiser, not the pintos, not Poco, Bones and Roach, not David and Shadow.

Maybe they’re wandering far afield, testing their new boundaries, walking new paths, learning the landscape of their new home. Maybe they’re looking for something familiar – a hill, a smell, something that reminds them of home that used to be. Maybe they’ll stay together; maybe they’ll split up and go their separate ways. Maybe I’ll find them next weekend.

It was a gorgeous weekend, but it’s so, so dry. We need rain. The horses seem to be wandering quite a bit. My human eyes don’t see much vegetation that looks scrumptious, but the horses look pretty good – even fat in some cases.

First up Saturday was the big band: Steeldust and the Bachelor 7. Right around the corner: Cinch and Bruiser. Hollywood is still hoarding his small harem but basically part of the band.

Object of interest

She’s hard to see in this photo, but the doe the horses are looking at is maybe the first deer I’ve seen in the area since early spring. She caught the attention of all the horses, who stood looking … until Storm suddenly bolted down the hill, which sent all the horses galloping.

Gallop

They ran right down to the pond – the same one the new girls drank from Friday – drank, then wandered out into the open to the south and east.

Drink break

Cinch and Bruiser followed them to the pond and had a little chat with some of the Bachelor 7, not visible here.

I drove on into the basin and around the loop and up toward the north, and kept the binoculars practically glued to my eyeballs. From Round Top, I saw David and Shadow, who have been elusive lately. They were at a little puddle – the one Grey and the youngsters and Bruiser were playing in last Sunday, I think – but a little separate. David waited for Shadow, who had wandered east. His patience won; she finally wandered back at a mosey, maybe an amble, and followed him across the trail and down to the little “valley” below (westish of) Flat Top and Round Top and out of sight.

From a hill in the north, I could see that Grey/Traveler was up by the water catchment – along with Steeldust’s band. I didn’t see any other horses that day.

Grey and his band were up by Filly Peak in the shade by the time I drove around to see them. Steeldust and the big band were nearby but east of the road and still in the light. Hanging out close to the bachelors were the pinto boys.

Bruiser and Cinch

I took this picture of the boys from the Jeep. You can still see some mud on Bruiser, but he has shaken off most of what had him looking like a dark boy last weekend.

Family within the family

Hollywood with his girls, Baylee and Piedra, who was taking a cat nap in the late sunshine.

What about me?

Last fall, I don’t remember seeing any of the foals nursing this late, but this year’s babies are still nursing. Ember, nursing in the photo above, is the oldest of this year’s foals. Pinon is the curious youngster at left.

Seemed like a good idea

And there’s little Storm, youngest baby in the basin.

All the babies – and big babies, too! – are getting fuzzy. The days are practically perfect, but sunset comes early, sunrise comes late, and it gets chilly under that endless night sky over Spring Creek Basin.

Late sunrises are good for a non-early-riser like me. Sunday, Steeldust and his entourage were down in the broad “valley” east of the water catchment. They stayed out there – generally speaking – most of the day. I drove around the loop and spotted Bones’ white face from the roller-coaster ridge road. I hiked down to make sure they were all there.

Spring Creek

They were lounging by Spring Creek, which actually has flowing water! Not much, and shallow, but it has to be better than drinking from puddles.

On guard

These guys are pretty easy going, but I was lucky again to find them across an arroyo (Spring Creek).

Poco and Roach

It’s nice when they’re so worried they get a little shut-eye while I hang out with them. 😉

I headed on out, passing Steeldust again on my way, and drove down the county road to hike in and look for the pintos – and see if the new girls were with them. They weren’t, but the pintos, still with Copper and the boys, were back in the vicinity of their “favorite” hill. The weirdest thing was that they moved between my first sighting of them and when I actually found them, so it took a little looking. So close, so hard to find. Probably more to that than I even know.

When I did find them, they were on a hill across a gap from where I was. As careful as I am with all the horses, I’m especially careful with this group because Kiowa has been so protective of Spook, this year’s baby. I’ve been trying to get her to know I can share their environment without being a danger to them. The weirdest thing about this encounter with them was that I “snuck” up on them in the open. I stood on my hill, occasionally taking a step or two forward, waiting for one of the eight to notice me. I finally got to the edge of my hill where it started to slope down to the arroyo between “my” hill and “their” hill and sat down, and hung out, and enjoyed watching them graze across the hill.

The horses were pretty well spread out, and I tried to look at them with fresh eyes: If I didn’t know them, what would be my first impression of the eight horses on the far hill? On the left side of the hill: Mesa and Copper. To the right of them: Chipeta and Corazon. Sort of in the middle: sisters Reya and Spook. On the right side of the hill: Kiowa and Ty. Because of their size, yearling Reya and baby Spook would be easy to identify. At one point, Spook marched over to Kiowa and started nursing. Pretty obvious relationship there.

Two bay boys

Both the above are stallions; one I have identified as more in the band stallion position than any of the others. Which one do you think is most likely that stallion? The stallion on the left is bigger, his coat is sleek and shiny; he’s in good condition. The stallion on the left is smaller, he looks scrawnier; he may be a bit muddy, but he’s definitely scruffier. Fifty-fifty chance … guess? OK, it’s kind of a trick question. The stallion that looks like the king is at the bottom of the heap. What can I say? Mesa at left; Copper at right.

Corazon and Chipeta

Here’s Corazon, left, and Chipeta, not far up the hill from Mesa and Copper. Copper wasn’t worried.

Back to the what-if-I-didn’t-know-them question. My first thought probably wouldn’t be a mare and a foal and a yearling with a bunch of stallions – or even another mare. Maybe I’d think most of the others also were mares. But which one was the stallion?

Of all things, I think it was my camera shutter that gave me away, and it was Mesa’s little fox ears that heard it. He’s the one that finally saw me. That led to Copper, Corazon and Chipeta becoming aware of me. They started walking toward Kiowa and the others, and finally, a little “stallion” behavior:

Snaky

Once they were all together, they settled down again. At this point, neither Kiowa, Ty nor the babies had looked up or seemed to notice me.

On a mission

This pic of the sisters was taken before the above photo, and Spook walked right over to mama to nurse. She was so funny afterward – almost “drunk” on her mother’s milk, she immediately fell asleep on her feet!

I watched for a few minutes longer, then got up to leave.

Later, ponies!

And this is what I saw when I turned for a last look. Only Mesa is missing from this family portrait.

The glam big band was still out in the open when I returned to the main part of the basin for another trip around the loop. Guess who I found out for a Sunday drive? Photographer Claude Steelman, his wife, Katie, and friends Steve and Lisa Mackey. They were excited to see Steeldust and company, and they reported seeing “your boy” (Grey/Traveler), drinking at the pond below the roller-coaster ridge, and Poco, Bones and Roach! I was happy they saw all those ponies. But they hadn’t seen anybody else, either.

Traveler and the fam were napping between the pond and Round Top when I got around to that area. Northish from the twin ponds, I spotted Bones again, with Roach or Poco under a nearby tree. I looked especially hard back in the east pocket for Bounce and/or Seven, but those ponies had other ideas this weekend.

On the way out, Steeldust and groupies again.

Wild and beautiful

There’s my last glimpse of the wild beauties before I headed out of the basin around 5 p.m. To the far left, you can see Bruiser and Cinch.

Better luck next time! But how can you go wrong seeing so many horses? I did see Bounce, Alegre and Gaia last Sunday, but it’s been a few weeks now – since the tour – since I’ve seen Seven, Molly and Roja. I’d like to see Molly to check her condition.

If you didn’t stop reading, thank you on behalf of the horses. 🙂 I can’t even say I’m disappointed, not seeing the new girls – I had anything but a disappointing weekend! They are elusive, but maybe it makes finding them all the more wonderful … and full of wonder. And there’s always next weekend!

Comments : 10 Comments »

Categories : Bones, Bruiser, Cinch, Corazon, Grey, Hollywood, Mesa, pintos, Poco, Roach, Steeldust, Storm

First look!

25 10 2008

Hello!

At long last, our three new mares, introduced to increase our herd’s genetic variability, are in their new home in Spring Creek Basin.

The last three introduced mares came in 2000 or 2001, I think, but only Luna remains (Slate died over the winter; what happened to the other mare is unknown). Because our herd is too small to maintain genetic viability on its own, the BLM introduces mares from other, similar type herds every few years. These three mares, like the last three, are from Sand Wash Basin in northern Colorado. A roundup there started last Friday (Oct. 17). This introduction had been planned at least since last fall.

Bob Ball, our BLM herd manager, went to Craig this week to select the mares, which have all been aged at 2 years old. He called me today on the way, and Jamie Sellar-Baker, associate manager of the Dolores Public Lands Office, was out patrolling and greeting hunters in the area, and had the near-perfect timing to stop in just before Bob and the mares arrived.

First steps

This apricot dun mare was the first out of the trailer, followed closely by the black pinto mare.

Apricot dun and pinto

These two came out of the trailer very close to each other, so I didn’t get clear first shots of the pinto. She’s not an obvious pinto; she has just three small white “slashes” on her left side. One is on her barrel, just behind her elbow, and the other two are smaller and toward her flank. From some angles, the smaller slashes are hard or impossible to see.

Dun girl

This mare’s coloring is similar to Hollywood’s, maybe not quite as “orangey.” Look at that big trot! Too bad about the “unnatural background,” but you can see the big green water tank and the two drinking tanks that provide water from the catchment.

Company

Bob pulled in and released the mares from the trailer right by the water catchment. Grey/Traveler was right down the hill! I was terribly excited, but as it turned out, I don’t think he ever saw the new mares. They’re pretty hard to see in this photo, but pinto bachelors Cinch and Bruiser are in the background, directly above the apricot dun (above the first group of trees, above a little ridge, below the second swath of trees). Jamie also had earlier spotted Alpha, in Steeldust’s band, in the far northwestern hills (not in this photo). Eagle eyes!

First drink

The mares started grazing pretty quickly after they got out of the trailer, but they also kept moving, and they completely bypassed the water tanks. They ended up by the small water hole by the entrance and the trap site. In the background here, you can see the canyon that rises above Spring Creek.

At the pond

Here you can see the black mare’s biggest white marking – which is not very big at all – and you can also see the shaved spot on the apricot dun’s hip. They all have that with an “FA” brand. (I’m not sure what exactly that denotes, but they all did get the PZP-22 immunocontraceptive.)

Nice, long drink

They didn’t go right into the water, which worked well for me because I couldn’t see them very well when they first approached the pond. They walked along high ground from the water catchment almost until they got to the pond, and I took a wide-arc approach until I got to a ridge just west of their ridge. I took these photos from the end of the ridge so I wouldn’t bother them. When they left the pond, I headed back to the catchment.

First impressions: I like these girls! The apricot dun, although she was first out of the trailer, seems to be low on the totem pole, based on the black mare’s attitude toward her. At least twice, the black mare pinned her ears and warned the little mare away. The other dun mare led the way down off the ridge and right to the water, with the black mare following right behind her.

They all have blazes, but the apricot dun and black mare have very wide blazes, and the other dun mare’s is narrower. The black mare’s hooks over her left eye, and the apricot dun has a spot at the bottom of her blaze, above her right nostril. Both dun mares have dorsal stripes, and zebra stripes are obvious on the apricot dun (though not black like Hollywood’s), not so obvious on the other. The black mare has a left front stocking, the dun has a left hind pastern (and possibly some low white marking on her left front), and the apricot dun seems to have a left hind fetlock that may be distinctly visible just from the inside (see the pic of her getting out of the trailer). When they walked toward the pond, I didn’t notice any distinct markings. The dun mare and black mare both have white chins (at least partially)!

Traveler and his band were just finished drinking from the smaller water tank when I approached on my way back to my parked Jeep. Ahh … I had really hoped he’d come right up the hill, see the new girls and go “welcome” them! Alas, it was not to be. They were very calm; I don’t think they ever saw the mares.

Lookie loos

From left, Houdini, Iya, Jif and Two Boots.

Good night

Jif, Twister and Traveler.

So there’s your first look at our new girls. Unfortunately, I had to return to civilization, but tomorrow will see me back in the wild. I can’t wait to see who – if anyone yet – they’ve hooked up with. Maybe one or some of the bachelors will get lucky!

Comments : 4 Comments »

Categories : Bruiser, Cinch, Grey, New girls, Steeldust

Guess who!

20 10 2008

Roach and Poco

Although I hadn’t seen this little band for several weeks, it was worth the wait. Poco, Bones and Roach all look great. After the past year of getting to know my ponies, I’m close to a guarantee: The harder I look for particular horses, the more likely it will be that when I find them they’ll be right out in the open.

Last weekend, I hiked to the top of Round Top – always enjoyable to get a unique, almost “from-the-air” perspective of the basin – and still didn’t spot Roach’s distinctive red coat (he’s one of only two sorrels in the basin). This weekend, I hiked out between Flat Top and Round Top (and saw horses, but you’ll have to read on to find out who) and down to the south side of Round Top. Then I hiked south from the “twin ponds” and walked a narrow spiny ridge. Nada. Then north of the ponds. Nichts. Fun hiking, but where on Earth were those crazy equines? (You know the saying “God only knows”? Every time I ask myself where the horses are, I remind myself that THEY know where they are!)

A little after those hikes, in the Jeep, on the road, sun inching closer to the horizon hills, badda-bing: Through the binoculars, I saw a dark spot that turned out to be Poco’s back. Very close: Bones. They were in that little valley between Knife Edge and Lizard Mesa. I drove on and scanned; drove on, stopped to scan … Hello! Steeldust’s band just a short distance off the road in a grove of pinons. I interrupted the hunt for Poco’s band to take some pix of Steeldust’s group.

But before I get to them, here are a couple more of the “found” girl and boys:

Rear view

Here’s a pic of Bones’ healed fractured pelvis that probably shows it better than any other pic I’ve taken. But don’t just look at that – look at her little belly! She’s not what I’d call a fat girl, but she looks WAY better than she did at this time last year, and I’m encouraged to see her going into this winter with some fat on her, err, bones.

Poco and Bones

Poco was all shy and spent most of his time napping at the far edge of the little “island” they were on. I shot from various points on the other side of the not-so-deep, fairly broad arroyo that curved around their little island/oxbow. Bones was closest to Roach when I approached, then she wandered over to Poco to feast on that greasewood bush.

Bye-bye

One last look from Bones before I left these wanderers to their grazing and naps.

So where was I? Before I get back to Steeldust’s band, let me go back to Round Top. It’s hunting season, of course, and it’s Colorado, and we have a high percentage of out-of-state plates in the areas with drivers and passengers sporting blaze orange. So far, like last year, I’ve seen plenty of traffic along the Dolores-Norwood Road and the Disappointment Road but not too much in the basin. Based on tire-track evidence, a few vehicles have been through since I was there last. I did pass a pickup Sunday with a man and woman, but I think they might have been looking for horses more than deer or elk.

I drove the loop counter-clockwise again, and from the road, I spotted a shiny spot and a horse shape that eventually moved right between Flat Top and Round Top. During the tour with Kathe and Bob a couple of weeks ago, we saw Seven’s band there. So I thought it might be him again, with Molly or Roja as the “horse shape,” and the other one in the trees. And another surprise: Cinch and Bruiser farther west.

I parked at Round Top’s base and took the trail around the west side. There were some faint signs of horse traffic and a few coyote prints – and one sadly deflated and worse-for-wear “Happy Birthday” balloon (which made its way into my ever-present trash bag back in the Jeep) – but it didn’t look like it has seen much use lately.

When I got farther around the hill on the trail, I could see that there were a couple of horses toward Flat Top, but they were blocked by trees and I couldn’t make an ID. Then, what to my wondering eyes should appear but Grey/Traveler! He was following Jif and the yearlings toward the horses in the trees. Whoa. So the tree horses were Houdini and Iya, but it was still a slight mystery why they were separated by such a distance … Until I saw through the binocs that Jif’s entire right side was dark glistening, and wait, had Grey suddenly gone pinto?? Now I know you moms out there are thinking it should have been mama Houdini taking advantage of the mud spa, but in this case, she was spending some alone time with baby Iya while Daddy took the youngsters to play in the, ahem, mud bath. 🙂

Iya and Houdini

Looks like Iya had done a little splashing in the mud. They were waiting for the other horses to reach them.

Daddy and the gang

Clearing the coast before returning to Mama. Disclaimer: Houdini is Two Boots’ and Iya’s dam, but Grey/Traveler is not the actual sire of any of these horses.

Once they reunited, they walked closer to Flat Top, where they drank from a pretty yucky, white-salty, muddy little puddle.

Have thirst, will drink

Grey got there first, and he left last. I guess the boy was thirsty. This pic doesn’t show them well, but notice the black splotch on his shoulder. He had another one on his chest.

Yucky!

Houdini shows what she thinks of the water puddle.

Somebody’s been playing with the finger (hoof?) paints! Notice the little streak on his face.

Tender touch

Iya and Houdini

The next time I saw the band, I was on the spiny ridge and the horses were on the road heading toward the water catchment for some rainwater-pure, fresh H2O.

Two other horses were beyond Traveler’s band, but from the distance and light glare, although one looked like pinto bachelor Cinch and the other one was very dark, and I wondered if Cinch had stolen yearling filly Shadow from David and ditched Bruiser for family life. It was a good lesson in what our BLM guy, Bob Ball, has to deal with in terms of identifying horses. The other horse was, in fact, Bruiser. See for yourself:

Bruiser and Cinch

Cinch is at right, and Bruiser is the dark mudball on the left, demonstrating the wild horse version of “look! what’s that over there?!” Too bad for the ponies, I have eyes only for them.

Compare that photo of Bruiser with this one (taken last fall) from the “Find a horse” page:

Bruiser

Yes! I promise that’s the same horse! Apparently he found the same tar-baby pit Grey/Traveler and the youngsters were playing in.

After the boys went back to grazing, I went around the south side of Round Top a short distance to check on the still-dry water hole. No more horses.

So now we’re back to the point where I “found” Steeldust’s band, “hiding” in the trees right by the road.

Peek-a-boo

This photo was taken right from the driver’s seat. Look at my long-legged little Storm-boy at right, with the light turning his spiky mane to gold. Can you believe he’s just a few days shy of three months in our Spring Creek Basin on this beautiful planet? And over on the left, his head just sticking out of the trees is Mouse, standing just in front of Hollywood’s girls, Piedra and Baylee. They and Hollywood seem to have reached a comfortable balance of friendship lately, and Holls doesn’t seem too worried about keeping them apart.

Bachelor boys

The wayward boys are all “home.” Duke, Hook, Kreacher and Chrome had split away from the band for a few weeks. Last weekend, Duke was back with the band, and now all the boys are back. From bottom to top: Duke, Kreacher, Chrome, Hook and Aspen. Am I alone in being glad that the boys are back? Ha! I spent all summer wondering when they were going to strike out on their own – again – and now I like seeing them with the family. A side note to this photo: The boys were working their way up to the band (I was out of the Jeep by this point), but curious Kreacher was either determined to get another last bite or was so focused on me that he didn’t notice when all the other boys disappeared over the top of the hill. He finally did when I walked back toward the Jeep, then trotted away after his pals. Wait for me!

I drove on a short way, through another arroyo, then got out again and walked out to Poco, Bones and Roach’s “island” and took pix of them. Boy was I glad to see them! Not worried about them, particularly, but I miss them when too many weeks go by without seeing any of the horses.

When I got back to the Jeep, I looked over toward the water hole that sits back to the east off the unmarked doubletrack, wondering if Bounce and his girls were still back in the east “pocket,” where they were last Sunday. When I was beside Lizard Mesa, I stopped and looked again – bingo! Bounce, Alegre and Gaia had just walked up on the edge of the pond! They started walking farther east on the doubletrack, so I sat in the Jeep and watched them through the binoculars. I hadn’t been close to them since the tour, but it was getting late, and I didn’t want to pursue them. But while I was watching them, guess who was walking out of the trees and making their way toward the water hole? While I was googling over Poco, Bones and Roach, Alpha marched her company around toward the pond. See the progression? Nap time, chow time, pub time! I have to say, the pond “pub” has a wonderful ambiance.

Steeldust’s band has become pretty used to me over the months, do I decided to park and walk down to the pond (which is in the wilderness study area, I think?) and wait for the horses to come drink. If the horses walking toward the water had been Bounce’s band, say, I might not have risked being at the water when they came to drink. Bounce is pretty tolerant, and young Alegre takes cues from him pretty well, but I wouldn’t want to risk them not drinking because I was there. Steeldust’s band, on the other hand, would drink even if I was there, I figured, and I was right.

Thirst abatement

I sat on the end of the pond opposite the way the horses approached and was glad the light was from behind me. I sat in full view, and they knew I was there. They waded right in, and drank and drank. I was glad of the opportunity to see them wade into the water because it gave me an idea how deep the pond is – almost up to their elbows! This pond dried up over the summer and refilled a couple of months ago after at least two intense cloudbursts in that eastern area. From left: Piedra, Baylee, Hollywood, Aspen and Chrome. Another couple of bachelors were to the right (including Duke), but the two young stallions, Luna, Alpha, Mahogany, Ember, Kestrel and Steeldust were around to the left and closer to me.

Wind drinker?

Steeldust drinking alone while his band spread along the banks of the pond to the right.

Play time

In the “progression” I wrote about earlier, I forgot one very important element: play time! Storm doesn’t seem to be drinking water much yet, but the older foals are drinking water as well as their mothers’ milk.

Three musketeers

Don’t these boys make ya smile? From left: Aspen, Mouse and Comanche.

By then it was about 6:15 p.m., and the sun was below the far-west ridge, a reminder of the quickly changing seasons. It was a gorgeous day – a light-jacket morning but a short-sleeve afternoon. Just after the sun had gilded the clouds in the western sky, I was driving past Filly Peak and Grey’s band. Most of the band was on the mesa side of the road, but Houdini was below the road, so I waited for her to cross the road – because Iya was there! – then headed out and home.

“If you’re lucky enough” to spend the day in Spring Creek Basin … you’re (I’m) lucky enough. Eh? For sure.

Comments : Leave a Comment »

Categories : Bones, Bounce, Bruiser, Cinch, Grey, Houdini, Roach, Steeldust

Hide ‘n’ seek

13 10 2008

Brr! Who turned down the thermostat? We have been enjoying a beautiful Indian summer, and the aspen this autumn have been fabulous. But an arctic wind blew in this weekend, and I think it brought a little bit of winter. We didn’t get as much rain as we were hoping for yesterday, but today was gorgeous – if chilly. In the basin, we hit a high temperature of just 48 degrees today.

The ponies are playing hide ‘n’ seek lately, in the search for grazing, I think. I looked pretty hard for Poco, Bones and Roach, but I didn’t see them. Neither did I see Seven’s band or David and Shadow. Did see everybody else! But it took some looking.

My first outing was lucky. I parked at my favorite hike-in spot along the county road and just walked in hoping to see something. Voila! The pintos were on the “bench” of their favorite hill. Mr. Mesa is limping a bit on his left front leg, but he was keeping up with the band just fine. Corazon was right in among the mares, but Copper still seems to be kinda sorta in charge …? One big happy family!

Kiowa

There may or may not be a clear leader among the boys, but Kiowa – of course! – is first lady.

I went up the hill, found a tree and waited for them to graze their way up on top.

Corazon and girls

There’s Corazon at left with Chipeta and Kiowa in back. This was right after they realized I was sitting by the tree.

Chipeta

Brave Chipeta checks me out while Spook and Kiowa graze in the background.

Reya and Chipeta

Yearling Reya seems so big now. She looks just like mama Kiowa.

Spook

Baby Spook is growing fast!

Boys and girls

This is the closest I’ve seen Mesa, left, to the other horses; the other boys usually keep him at a distance. Copper is closest to the girls, then Kiowa and Reya and Spook.

All together now

This is how I left the ponies; Ty finally decided to be in the picture. From left: Ty, Chipeta in front of Corazon, Reya in front of Mesa, and Spook, Copper and Kiowa at right.

Later, from the summit of Round Top, I saw these guys right in the same exact spot. I felt pretty good about that, that I left them undisturbed.

I have only a couple more pictures because I didn’t see any other horses from other than a distance. Grey/Traveler and his band were south of Filly Peak on the east side of the hill east of the corrals. The recent rain was obvious in some standing water here and there, but the road was easily drivable like last week. It was VERY windy, and that wind had an edge to it. It was a gorgeous day but chilly.

On the way to Round Top, I saw Duke reunited with Aspen and Comanche, and by their body language, I thought Steeldust’s band was near, but they must have been tucked up against the hill where I couldn’t see them.

I decided to hike up on Round Top with the hope of spotting Poco, Bones and Roach, who have been MIA for several weeks now. But they remain so. I did find Bruiser and Cinch, slightly northeast of Round Top. When I drove around the loop, I got out a couple of times and did short hikes to see over hills … nada. Dunno where those ponies are. I’d really like to find Bones to see if she has good weight going into the winter or if she has gotten real thin again like last fall.

Bounce, Alegre and Gaia were back in the east pocket beyond the water hole (oh, the pond south of Round Top is still dry, just like the pond by Flat Top). They’ve traveled a bit since we saw them up in the north Tuesday.

Chrome, Kreacher and Hook were on a hill above the north road. I saw them from about halfway between the two intersections heading toward the dugout, but I decided to go back toward where I had seen Duke, Aspen and Comanche earlier to see if Steeldust’s band was actually down there. Sure enough, a couple of minutes later, they all started walking around the base of the finger hills.

Steeldust and Co.

Hollywood is still defending Piedra and Baylee. Mouse tried to sniff noses with Baylee, but Hollywood stepped in and put an end to that!

On the way out, Grey/Traveler and his band were in the “valley” south of the water catchment.

Late light

A beautiful, nearly full moon was rising above the eastern hills as I left.

I wanted to add a thank you to Sara Coulter of Ridgway. She’s with the San Juan Corridors Coalition, and after a suggestion from artist Karen Keene Day, who spends summers in Ouray with husband Floyd (one of their daughters and grandsons live in Ridgway), Pati and David Temple with the National Mustang Association and I were invited to speak at one of their “Living with Wildlife” lectures last week. (See Karen’s link under the blog roll for examples of her beautiful artwork.)

The place was packed with people coming to hear about the Spring Creek Basin herd – their herd! As Karen notes, sometimes people have no idea there are wild horses so close to home. Pati talked about the National Mustang Association, particularly about our Colorado chapter, and what they’ve done for mustangs in the West and, particularly, our Spring Creek Basin horses. I’m amazed every time I hear Pati talk about all the group has done! The water catchment I’ve talked about recently on the blog, where at least Traveler’s band is drinking, is one of their projects. This group has been a valuable friend to the horses for more than a decade now.

After Pati got people excited about the horses (all the NMA membership forms and other informational/BLM brochures she and David took were gone afterward!), I got to step up and talk people’s ears off about my favorite subject! If I got long-winded, I’m sorry, and if I “talked to the horses” on the screen more than the people in the audience, I apologize for that, too. I get so excited telling people about each horse (I get to tell funny stories on them; I hope the ponies forgive me!), and I want them to love the horses as much as I do!

After the program, it was so cool to have so many people come up and share stories about THEIR mustangs (!), ask where Spring Creek Basin is located, how to get there and if they can just drive right in and see horses! I think the horses made 60+ new friends (and admirers) that night.

The Living with Wildlife lecture series has had speakers on such other topics as mountain lions, bears and beavers, and I think the next one is about bighorn sheep. We were very thrilled to be asked to talk about our wild horses!

For more information about the San Juan Corridors Coalition, visit the Web site at http://www.sanjuancorridors.org/.

Comments : 5 Comments »

Categories : Bounce, Bruiser, Cinch, Corazon, Grey, Mesa, pintos, Steeldust

Pony Up tour

9 10 2008

Tuesday, I had the pleasure to meet up with Kathe Hayes, with the San Juan Mountains Association, Bob Ball, BLM manager of the Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, and Mimi and Ken and Wendy, high bidders for the tours offered during the silent auction at the main Pony Up event in Durango back in August (I think there also was another, second high bidder for another tour). Bar none, Kathe provided the best lunch I’ve had in the basin. Our lunch bags were almost bottomless! We also got great lessons in plant identification from Bob.

I camped in the basin overnight so I could scout some bands for the group.

Iya and Houdini

Grey/Traveler’s band was northeast of Filly Peak when I arrived in the evening.

Babes in the wild

Big girl Iya, left, is nearly as big as her big sister Two Boots and big adopted brother Twister, both yearlings. Iya is 5+ months old.

I was racing the setting sun, so I left them grazing on a hillside below the road and drove on into the interior of the basin to see who else I could find before dark. Steeldust’s band was back by Wildcat Spring. Bachelors Mouse, Comanche and Aspen are still with the band, and the “breakaway boys,” Duke, Hook, Kreacher and Chrome, are still hanging out in the north (we saw them Tuesday). Shadows had filled the basin clear to the eastern hills, so I found a rock and sat with the band for a little while until it got almost too dark to see them. It’s so fun to watch the babies of that band – Ember, Pinon and Storm! They’re curious about everything!

The next morning, Steeldust’s band was fairly close to Traveler’s band, just down the hill from the water catchment, napping and taking advantage of the warm sun (frost on the windshield that morning!). Maybe both bands are using the water tanks?! The vegetation is kinda “slim pickin’s” back in the east, so I went north looking for Duke’s group. I hiked the trail around the hill from the water hole but didn’t spot them. But from that area, I spied Seven and the girls, Molly and Roja, far yonder south, north of Round Top. By the time I drove out on the loop, they were headed south between Flat Top and Round Top, Steeldust’s group was on the road toward Flat Top (possibly the water hole there?), and Traveler’s band had run down the hill toward Steeldust’s into the broad “valley” south of the catchment.

I spotted Chrome and Co. on the north hills before I got to Kathe and the tour folks at the interpretive sign, but the boys had slipped out of sight again by the time we got rolling. Unfortunately, Traveler’s band was way out toward Flat Top, and Steeldust’s band headed over the loop road toward the east-west hill by the time we got to the catchment. Steeldust’s band stopped to graze in the big open area west of Knife Edge by the time we got in position on the road. Hollywood and his girls – Piedra and Baylee – do seem to be with but slightly apart from the band. They show no inclination to wander off on their own, but Steeldust seems to have decided they’re with Hollywood; he actually snaked them away from his band Monday night while I watched.

Right around the intersection to Round Top, we spotted Seven in the trees in the area between Round and Flat tops. Ken may have seen the mares, but I don’t think the rest of us did. We had lunch on the roller-coaster ridge overlooking the only pond that didn’t go dry this summer and found what seemed to be a gravesite for “Molly” marked “05-07.” She has a pretty incredible view. Thanks again to Kathe for the most excellent lunch.

We made it all the way around the loop in Kathe’s Land Cruiser. I had hoped to spot Poco, Bones and Roach because I haven’t seen them for several weeks now, but it wasn’t to be. In fact, we didn’t spot horses again until Ken cried horse on the road to the north entrance – it was Bounce! I hadn’t seen him, Alegre or Gaia for a few weeks, either, so I was happy to see them … except that we saw just Bounce and baby Gaia. We were in the pinon-juniper, but we all got out and looked – nada. We drove on and spotted the boys, right near the north pond. They ran farther north, so we didn’t get a good look at them, but I’m glad they’re all still together.

On the way back toward the intersection, we stopped, and Bob and I hiked up the hill toward Bounce and Gaia to see if we could find Alegre. I was pretty nervous by that point, memories of not finding Starla with Molly, Seven and Roja a month or so ago still fresh. We headed up toward Bounce, then lost him in the trees and veered off to come up to the side of him and the filly. Then Bob, who was back to my left, spotted a tail swishing in the trees. I thought I’d misjudged or the horses had moved and we had come up the hill right below Bounce, which wasn’t what I wanted to do … but then Alegre streaked across a gap in the trees! Good grief. I could strangle her for scaring me so badly, thinking something might have happened to her … 🙂 She and Gaia reunited, then they trotted off with Bounce.

Alegre and Gaia

When we first saw Gaia and Bounce, everyone commented on how big Gaia is. She’s about 3 days younger than Ember, the oldest of this year’s foals, and about five days older than Iya, who is enormous. I told Bob I was really worried when we didn’t see Alegre because “she’s one of my favorites.” Bob correctly summarized that they all seem to be my favorites, but, really, Alegre and Gaia are among my *favorite* favorites!

And that was about our day. We drove back to Dolores via the county and Dolores-Norwood roads. I looked for the southern horses on the way past but didn’t spot anybody. It was a gorgeous day – just about perfect as far as weather. The basin got some rain from the weekend’s rain/snow storms, but none of the roads were enough to deter Kathe or her Cruiser.

It was nice to meet you, Ken, Mimi and Wendy! I hope you had a wonderful day seeing our wild horses of Spring Creek Basin!

Comments : 2 Comments »

Categories : Alegre, Bounce, Grey, Hollywood, Houdini, Seven, Steeldust

Makin’ the rounds; checkin’ ’em twice

29 09 2008

Almost every weekend in the basin this year, I thought I had it covered: the June gnats, the July cheat grass, the September nasty-prickles (I don’t know what it’s called, but it’s everywhere). But there’s something else to September that I learned last year, after a day and night in the McCullough Peaks Herd Management Area (outside Cody, Wyo.): I am apparently allergic/uber-sensitive to September sage. Zowie. It hit me like a bull.

Grey/Traveler and his band were way up on the north fenceline/ridgeline in the morning. There’s water in the pond down near last August’s gather site, so they might be getting water there. It makes me happy to see the boy back on home ground.

I had seen Steeldust’s band to the east on a saddle north of Lizard Mesa the night before, so I reasoned they might be in the same area. I wondered if Duke, Hook, Chrome and Kreacher were back with them or still off on their own adventures. Also haven’t seen Poco, Bones and Roach for a while, and it’s been a couple of trips since I’ve seen Bounce’s or Seven’s bands. Cutting to the chase, I still didn’t see Roach’s, Seven’s or Bounce’s bands, but the four wayward boys are still off on their excellent adventures (way up in the north hills), and everybody else in Steeldust’s band looks fabulous. Mouse, Comanche and Aspen are still with the band, but they must be going crazy – or be completely resigned. Hollywood, meanwhile, seems to have added to his harem; Baylee is still hanging out close to Piedra and, coincidentally, Holls. Consider this theory: Piedra may be Mahogany’s daughter (it’s all in the ears), and if so, she’s Baylee’s big sister.

Adding to the harem?

The rest of the band – and the three bachelors – were over to the right. A situation that bears watching.

Bachelor 3

Bachelor boys, playing calm and detached. Comanche, left, Mouse and Aspen.

Who's who?

Name those boys … Butch, left, and Sundance, right. (Pinon playing peek-a-boo!)

Double trouble!

These boys just make me smile every time I think about them. 🙂 Even Ember was getting into the act of playing with them the other day. She’s usually the “grown-up” one! Good thing both Mahogany and Alpha are seasoned mamas. These two characters are bound to keep them busy.

Daddy's girl

Speaking of Ember, there’s the girl, looking remarkably innocent after provoking Daddy Steeldust into nipping at her (!). She’s holding her dark red color, but you can see (maybe not in this small image) the greying all around the edges of her ice-cream-cone star and strip.

Parting shot

Left to right, little to big: Storm, Pinon and Baylee.

A rumble of thunder hustled me out of the basin, but I don’t know if the ponies actually got rain. Hope so; it’s dry out there.

On my way south on the county road, I stopped to scan the big open area south of the county line, and voila! There were the spotted girls with their beaus on the far hill, on the bench that runs around the west side. Mama Kiowa and yearling filly Reya were so clean I barely recognized them! I hope that means they’ve had a “shower,” but I hope it doesn’t mean their mud spa has dried up. Didn’t see David and Shadow or Cinch and Bruiser again.

Comments : 4 Comments »

Categories : Alpha, Bachelor 7, Grey, Hollywood, Mahogany, Pinon, pintos, Steeldust, Storm

Wild magic

16 09 2008

Some days I go to the basin and enter this sort of magic bubble. (OK, a lot of days that happens.) Part of the magic is that I KNOW it’s magic as I’m experiencing it. Sometimes, I can come right home and go through photos and post them to share the horses with all of you … sometimes, it’s an experience I just want to keep all to myself.

On the surface, there was nothing particularly special about Sunday. It was sunny, with a light breeze; hardly a cloud in the sky. But the light was enveloping rather than harsh, even in the middle of the day. At one point, I sat on a rock, Grey and Two Boots and Jif peaceful right in front of me, and I just marveled at the bliss of it all. I’m still overwhelmed by it.

What a year this has been, and it’s far from over. Blessed am I to be able to feel that wild magic on a regular basis. How can I possibly bring to the horses what they bring to me? Maybe a little protection … maybe sharing their stories helps. If you can spend time with wild horses, whether in Spring Creek Basin or elsewhere, do it. You will never forget their special magic.

New family

What to call this new family? Copper’s band, which he stole from pinto stallion Bruiser, includes Kiowa, Reya, Spook and Chipeta … and his bachelor pals Corazon, Ty and Mesa. Copper does seem to be still in charge. I hiked in from the road without seeing them and found them where they were a couple of weeks ago. Copper is a little ribby but looks otherwise fine. The mares don’t seem too impressed with him …

Spook, Kiowa and Copper

What a mudball! But just on this side. The only ones NOT covered in mud were Spook and the bachelors, Corazon, Ty and Mesa. Yearling filly Reya was so covered in mud she looked grey.

Can't be bothered

Chipeta, in particular, didn’t hustle to obey her new stallion. Copper was trying to snake her back to the band, to the left, but her attitude here clearly shows her indifference. She stood there, even as he walked right up to her with his nose practically on the ground; she snoozed; she looked at me; she wiggled her ears at him. …

If you insist

Finally she decided to go back to the band. I doubt Copper is a whole lot older than she is.

I didn’t see Bruiser and Cinch; I hope they’re still together. Neither did I see David and Shadow.

Right after I drove in the main entrance to the basin, I found filmmaker James Kleinert and a friend saying their good-byes after a weekend camping trip. James told me Grey/Traveler and his band were out in the open near the water catchment. After most of the day looking for them last Sunday, this past Sunday, they were waiting to welcome me!

They were just at the southeast corner of Filly Peak. Most of the band were just west of the road, but baby Iya was on the other side of the road, rubbing and chewing on one of the uranium claim stakes (you go, girl!). I stopped and walked up to almost the base of the butte, where I found the perfect rock to sit on. There I sat and watched and happily composed photos while they (Grey and Two Boots at first, then Jif) wandered quite close, grazing all the while.

Iya at lunch time

Iya finally abandoned the stake for a snack.

Grazing

Water was close by (the road and water catchment are down to the left), and they had good grass there.

Scratching post, err, rock

Iya investigated this big boulder and decided it was most perfectly suited for heiny itches.

Peek-a-boo

Big sister Two Boots also investigated this big boulder and decided it was best suited for a game of hide-n-seek.

Beautiful from any angle

You wouldn’t know unless I told you, but this is one shot in a short series where he looks normal; in most of the others, he was chewing, which gave him a pretty funny expression. He looks up so briefly, it’s hard to catch him at it.

Watchful

I had been sitting with them about 15 to 20 minutes when this truck appeared on the road. Two Boots saw it first and turned around to watch. Grey/Traveler walked down to her, and Houdini, Iya and Twister walked away from the road a short distance toward them (they’re to the right). I was worried they’d bolt away, but the guy drove slowly, and I talked to them, and after the truck passed, they went back to grazing. Jif had come around the boulder toward me while grazing, then looked up at me, then walked down and around Grey and Two Boots where they had turned back toward me, then looked at me again, then went back to grazing. Funny girl. She has filled out and looks pretty good. After another 15 minutes or so, Grey started grazing back down toward Houdini. TwoB and Jif followed him, and when they had gone back past the big boulder, I got up and went back down to the Jeep. Wow.

Luna and Mahogany

Two great broads for wildness.

I found Steeldust’s band around the loop in the east, right off the road, napping in the end-of-day sunlight. Mouse (eternally yearning for Piedra) and his buddies Comanche and Aspen were with the band, but Duke and Hook, Kreacher and Chrome were off on some adventure of their own.

Sleepy time

Comanche and Aspen napping near the band.

More sleepy boys

The little dark butt Butch is rubbing on is Pinon’s. He wandered over to take a nap with his big buddies and his daddy.

Big softie

Don’t let the tough-guy act fool ya. Steely Dan is a sweetheart! I imagine Butch is one of his sons, 2 or 3 years old, and I’ve been waiting to see if he was going to kick him and Sundance out of the band. Maybe with the other bachelor boys hanging around, those two youngsters will enjoy the family a little longer. You can see Kestrel at back left and Ember’s face.

Boys 'n' babies

From left, Steeldust, Mouse in the background, Butch, Sundance, Pinon and Ember (the only girl in the pic!).

Pinon, Storm and Alpha

Here’s Alpha looking after the boys. I keep marveling at how gracious she has been, allowing me such access to her baby. Not only does she graze (with her head down, not always watching me), like she moved off to do right after I took this photo, but she doesn’t seem to worry about keeping Storm right with her. Thank you, my beautiful girl!

Little man

Our baby Storm is growing like the proverbial weed!

Queen of the hill

When everybody woke up, they walked down into an arroyo and up the hill on the other side. Sisters Kestrel and Ember liked this little outcropping.

Storm on the ridge

I didn’t even realize I had this photo until I was going through them on the computer. Although it looks like I’m right next to him, I’m down the hill and across the arroyo. Power of the (long) lens.

They wandered up the side of the hill onto the top, and I bid them farewell and went back to check on Grey’s band. James had said he got some fantastic footage of the horses the previous night with the moon coming up behind them. Wow?!! So I thought I’d hang around a little and see if I could get that lucky.

Curious girl!

Iya is one curious baby! She likes to check everything out, including the water tank by the water catchment. She walked all the way around it, sniffing and licking the edges and checking out the water.

Jif

I don’t think you can see it in this small photo, but she was looking in the direction of the setting sun, and she had a little sparkle in her eye. Does she look serene or what? She may be sporting the world’s longest dreadlock there.

Basin moonrise

Sometimes you just have to let the magic speak for itself.

Comments : 5 Comments »

Categories : Alpha, Corazon, Grey, Houdini, Jif, Luna, Mahogany, Pinon, Steeldust, Storm

Magnetism

10 09 2008

Piedra and Hollywood

Maybe something in the air, maybe some good karma. It took me all day Sunday to find Grey/Traveler’s band, but when I did, they came right up to me, just like Piedra and Hollywood here. Actually, Mr. Tough there just followed his gal; Piedra was Little Miss Curiosity.

I got into the basin early Sunday morning. It was a beautiful, clear day, but signs of rain a week ago were abundant. Spring Creek was down enough to drive across, but the two biggest rain-related things to report are that the water hole off the doubletrack in “east park” is full again (yay!), and the loop road is no longer passable by a full-size vehicle like my Jeep. If not for a big rock too solid for me to budge, you’d be able to hug the hillside and get by, but the hole created by water running down the wash there makes it just too narrow because of the rock. If you’re going around the loop clockwise, it’s the third bad spot past the washout (which is, ironically, still just barely passable).

Alegre, Gaia and Bounce

Bounce was the first horse I saw through the binoculars after I drove into the basin – way up in the north but right by the road. The grass is marvelous up there, and a water hole nearby has some muddy water in it. I’m pretty sure Grey/Traveler and his band were just a hill or two to the west last Sunday when I spotted them. It was kinda cool to go over there because the horses hadn’t been in that area most of the year, so I haven’t been in that area most of the year.

Pretty girls

Alegre and Gaia. I was standing on the road, shooting through a couple of trees. They were in a little meadow not far from the northern boundary. They were so accommodating for photos that I left them after a short time and took the trail away from the water hole, around the nearby hill, hoping to find Grey/Traveler. I didn’t find his band, but I had a great time exploring the hills and valleys in that part of the herd area. I ended up back on the ridge above the valley where I had first seen Bounce’s band, and to my surprise they were still there. By that time, it was close to noon, and I wondered if they were still there because it was close to the water. I found a seat in the shade of a juniper and watched them through the binoculars for a while. Sure enough, Bounce finally trotted over to the water, where he drank, then stood on the “dam” side and waited for Alegre. It took her a little while, but she finally walked over with Gaia. She drank while Gaia stood with Bounce. I guess Gaia gets enough water in her mother’s milk. One thing I’ve noticed with wild horses is how long they drink. Both Bounce and Gaia did spend a lot of time drinking. Then they took the trail I took earlier. I waited until they’d disappeared, then walked down the hill toward the trail. I spied on them to make sure they wouldn’t see me, then dropped down onto the trail and took it back to the pond and the road and the Jeep. I’d see them later in the day all the way back over at the second intersection.

Steeldust's band

Next stop: Steely Dan. I’ve started calling him that as a sort of nickname. It’s sort of a joke because he’s really a big softie. I actually took this pic as I was leaving the band (they look disturbed, don’t they?), mostly to show our terrain as compared with that of the Little Book Cliffs range. In the background is Filly Peak. The horses were up on top of the east side of the east-west hill, which starts as the “finger hills” to the west, right near the dugout intersection. I hiked out to them from the east side to check Storm and make sure everybody was present and accounted for. I still kinda expect the bachelors to “shrug off” sometime?

Bachelor boys

From left: Kreacher, Hook, Duke and Chrome. They also walked toward me before they stopped there where I took their picture. Comanche and Mouse – as usual – were hanging out closer to Piedra and Hollywood, and Aspen was behind these guys.

Chrome

In the next post about the Little Book Cliffs horses, I showed a photo of Chrome, a sorrel and white pinto mare in Phantom’s band. This – above – is our Chrome!

Ember-girl and Pinon

The babies were curious enough to walk toward me, too. Ember’s closest in the photo. She, like Gaia, is still holding onto her reddish baby coat, but she has started to get a little darker while Gaia is still pretty bright.

Pinon and Storm

Cutest baby boys in the basin! OK, they’re the only baby boys in the basin, but how cute are they?! It’s so amazing to watch them grow up!

Storm and Alpha

Curious Storm checks me out from the protection of mama while Alpha pretends to ignore me.

Mouse and Comanche

When I walked away, these two boys came in for a closer look. Or, I should say, Comanche did. Mouse followed and tried to distract him. A few weeks ago, I watched Mouse take out on best-bud Comanche his frustration over not getting past Hollywood to Piedra. Sunday, he was all sweetness. In the background is Aspen.

While I was watching these guys, I saw Seven, Molly and Roja walking downhill toward the arroyo that runs below the south part of the loop road. Too far for pictures. They look good, but it seems so odd not to see the filly with them. Speaking of her, posthumously, I gave her the name Starla. A long time ago, I heard about a Native American legend or tradition that says the stars are the campfires of our ancestors who have gone before us. I like to think baby Starla is one of those bright stars now.

I was on my way out of the basin toward the end of the day, then, profoundly disappointed that I hadn’t found Grey. In a perfect world, I’d braid some tiny GPS unit into his raven mane so I could find him! But it’s not a perfect world, and I try to remind myself that finding him is part of the fun (when it doesn’t wrack my nerves!).

I did finally see him heading toward the water hole (or so I thought) near Flat Top. I had planned to drive past it on my way out to see if it, too, had filled up from last weekend’s rain, but I didn’t want to get between the band and their evening drink. I waited out on the main road, hoping they’d come that way on their way up to grazing by Filly Peak as they have in the past. They did, but I later realized they weren’t coming FROM water. They must not have found water in that pond because they ended up going TO the water tank at the catchment!

Coming toward me

Because I thought they had just all had a drink, I couldn’t figure out why they were coming right toward me. I had parked back from where I thought they would come out, and I was standing out in the open, not on a trail and not on the road. And because I’d had a couple of encounters already that day where the horses came toward me and Grey’s band is pretty tolerant of me, I wasn’t too worried. They broke off right before they go to me and went past me, to the road … then up a trail to the water tank. Uh oh.

Drinking at the water tank

They went right to the water tank and drank. That’s when I realized they must not have found water at the pond. That was dumb of me, to be between them and their path to another water source. Fortunately, they didn’t hold it against me.

Beautiful boy

Diamond Rio, bay stallion in the Little Book Cliffs, is about 15 years old and looking handsome. I thought about him while I was watching Sir Grey, my formal name for Traveler, who I believe also is around 15. So full of vim and vigor, these boys!

A face everyone can love

It’s getting harder to get photos of this boy looking up; he’s so worried about me, half the time I can’t even see his face because he’s grazing and ignoring me.

Unconcerned

In fact, this view is becoming more and more common. And I love taking pictures like this. 🙂 My beauties; calm, cool and wild. And this is the view with which I left the basin. Left to right: Jif, Two Boots, Twister, Iya and Houdini. You can just see Grey/Traveler through Two Boots’ front legs in the background.

Remarkable day. Remarkable weekend. Remarkable horses.

Comments : 3 Comments »

Categories : Alpha, Bachelor 7, Bounce, Grey, Hollywood, Houdini, Pinon, Seven, Steeldust, Storm

Glorious rain – Aug. 31, 2008

31 08 2008

Spring Creek running

We start this weekend’s story in the middle of the story. From the wilderness study area in the southern part of the herd area, I got chased out twice by monstrous black clouds and threatening thunder. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen clouds that downright ugly. Walking around with a personalized lightning-bolt-attractor in the form of a metal monopod … not the smartest thing I’ve been accused of. The storms dropped rain in a very localized area – they came in sort of stationary “waves” and never passed out of the very east “pocket” of the basin, right inside the boundary ridgeline.

Fast forward to my drive into the main part of the basin. So far so good – until I hit the Spring Creek crossing! OK, so it’s not exactly clear, but it has to be indicative of more and possibly better water upstream (the point of this is that I think Spring Creek originates in the east). Any water in the basin is a good thing. All that grass in the east is going to benefit from the rain, too, and that benefits the ponies! So I got out of the Jeep and did a happy dance before I took some pix for documentation purposes.

No cross here

This photo, like the one above, was taken from about the same spot – about mid-stream just downstream of the crossing. This one isn’t as dramatic as the first, but from the two pictures, you can tell that water is running in two “streams.” What you might not be able to tell is how gushy the mud gets when it becomes mud!

In the first photo, the darker soil right above the water is the high-water mark! It was about 2.5-3 feet above the arroyo. The water went about 8-10 feet away from the flat of the crossing, which is at the top of the photo. Before I went to the basin this weekend, I decided to take my mountain bike. I walked through the creek in my sandals, carrying my bike, and rode from there. Awesome!

But … I’m getting ahead of myself.

My weekend visit to the horses started at the county road across from the south meadow, where I spotted Cinch, then Bruiser. Hoping to find the others (band and bachelors) also in the meadow, I parked and hiked in. (A quick re-cap: David Glynn alerted me to the change in status of the pinto band and the “southside boys” bachelor band. I found them all last weekend, and Bruiser – band stallion – was definitely out, but it was hard to tell who had become king of the hill, err, band.) This Saturday, Cinch and Bruiser were on the south side of the arroyo that runs out to the road and just at the base of a little hill the horses pass to get into the meadow. So I hiked in on the north side of the arroyo, which provides more tree cover. My main goal was more observation of the new combined band, not photography, so I stayed out of their view until I reached the discreet little deer trail that leads up to the top of the hill north of the meadow. The rest of the horses were not in the meadow, so I went on up.

When I didn’t see the other horses from up top, I headed back down on one of at least two routes that takes the horses to the meadow – the “high” route that crosses the arroyo earlier (farther east) and skirts the hill on the south side of that arroyo. (Both trails take the horses to the better grazing on the south side of the arroyo.) The trail I took has a heights-defying spot that seems in imminent danger of eroding into oblivion. Any fall from there – maybe 15 feet? – would hurt horse or human.

At the edge of the trees above the meadow, I stopped to ready my camera in case the boys were still there. Ready to go and looked up to see two curious dark faces – Cinch and Bruiser. 🙂 Cinch pranced around a little, but Bruiser was so calm, Cinch calmed down as well, and they posed for some pretty pictures. I took pix as I walked around them, and the thunder chased me back to the road.

Sweet boys

It does help the more wary horses to have a calm compadre nearby. Bruiser walks OK, but I noted last weekend that he limps on his left front if he tries to trot. Cinch is sporting a “roached” look here. It’s longer and wispier than Roach’s was when his was roached, probably caused by his pals chewing on it.

My next likely area to search for horses is a big open area just south of the San Miguel/Dolores County line, also right off the county road. On first pass, I didn’t see any horses. But on the hillside just north of the big open: Seven’s band. They’ve done some traveling since the loss of the filly, from the east to the southwest part of the herd area.

Seven's band

Seven with Molly, center, and Roja. Old Molly is still a thin girl, but she’s sure to gain some weight without the filly nursing.

From where I stopped to see them, I spotted Corazon back in the big open (which does have hills and trees and arroyos). Perfect. Another big cloud was brewing in the east, but I was covered in sunshine, and the rain from the previous cloud hadn’t made it to my part of the herd area. So in I walked.

David and Shadow

Hello! It’s always nice when the ponies find you! I was glad to see that once-bachelor David has been able to hold on to yearling filly Shadow, but I was a little worried about them being so close to the other band. And I worried that he’d tip my presence to the band. Not to fear on either account. They must have skirted past the band because I later saw them farther east, and the “new band” was still where I had originally spotted them.

All in the family

Left to right noses at top: Spook, Kiowa, Reya, Chipeta and … drum roll, please … Copper, the mud-encrusted new king. Then Corazon (pinto), Mesa (bay) and Ty.

New family

With top-of-the-heap status comes great responsibility. Copper’s guarding his new family from the bachelors, out of frame to the left.

Pinto girls

Girls with spots. From left, mama Kiowa, her 2008 filly, Spook, 3-year-old Chipeta and Kiowa’s yearling filly, Reya. Very calm; very cool. And it was time to beat the thunder, so I walked away, leaving them very calm and very cool.

And that brings us back to raging Spring Creek.

I had spotted Steeldust’s band and the Bachelor 7 way around in the east at about the curve where the road heads south, so I headed that way by bike. It was way cool to get out of the Jeep and on the bike in the basin. I got off the bike at the washout. You could definitely see by the soil that it had rained hard back there. The horses didn’t seem to see me ride up, so I stood on the road on the other side of the washout until the bachelors saw me and alerted the band, then walked on down the road. They were up the hill away from the road … checked me out, then went back to grazing. A good problem to have, I guess!

Baby Storm was hammin’ it up, though, so I got some good pictures of the little boy.

Pinon nursing

Storm nursing

By the time I got out to them, it was around 7ish – dinner time!

Baby boys

Pinon, left, is about 3 and a half months old, and Storm is about a month and a week old. Pinon has gotten a lot darker in the past few weeks.

Posin'

No words necessary. 🙂

What kind of flowers?

I thought I figured out what kind of flowers these are when they were blooming earlier this summer, but now I can’t remember and can’t find them in my wildflower book(s). They’re blooming – again – all over. (Notice the flowers in the previous pic with Storm. The flowers in this pic were at the edge of the little wash that leads out to the road washout. My bike was just on the other side of them.)

While I was watching Steeldust’s band grazing on the hillside, I spotted Bones, Poco and Bounce farther to the south. And that was Saturday. Really a fabulous day. The loss of the filly still bothers me, but humans who watch wild horses must adapt as they do. Always more to learn.

Sunday’s story is all about rain! I slept in the Jeep right inside the herd area boundary. Woke up around 1 a.m. after a dream that I woke up in the Jeep the next morning and it had snowed and a guy was skiing up the road into the basin! Reality: At 1 a.m., lightning was flashing sporadically to the west, but the sky was filled with stars (you really haven’t lived till you’ve seen that night sky – phenomenal), so I went back to sleep.

Woke up at 3:15 to rain tapping on the Jeep’s roof. I don’t recommend this, but I spent the rest of the night at the intersection at the county road … and woke up just before daylight to steady rain. If I hadn’t wanted to see my Grey-boy so badly, I’d have called it a day at 7 a.m. and headed for home. Yeah …

Long story short, I inched my way back into the basin but got stopped before the first “V” arroyo. The road was good till that point, but it took me awhile because I kept stopping to scan for horses. I stopped for good above that arroyo. By then, I had already spotted Steeldust’s band and the B7, and I had found Bounce, Alegre and Gaia way back in east park. So I had seen all but the one horse (and band) I wanted to see. It had stopped raining, and the sun had peeked through the clouds a couple of times, but huge dark clouds still loomed over the east ridge of the basin and back to the west. The length of looming almost had me convinced I could bike from there to see if I could find Grey/Traveler’s band around the far side of Lizard Mesa (east of Knife Ridge). Then I happened to spot something white far to the north.

Nine times out of 10, a white spot is a rock. The 10th time, you get lucky, and it’s Alpha, Houdini or Traveler. I grabbed the binoculars, and bingo, baby; there was my boy … and Houdini and Jif and Twister, and Two Boots and Iya, standing together under a tree. Did I say far to the north? I mean WAY far to the north. I mean way far northeastish of last August’s trap site. I mean so way far away I couldn’t see a way to get to them without a (really) long (long) hike.

About three minutes after I took some reference pictures, I checked the west clouds – uh oh. Big black cloud had become a grey sheet of rain. I really can’t stress enough to visitors that if it rains, you do NOT want to be in the basin OR on the road across private land that leads to the basin. You want to be on the good county road. I wouldn’t have so totally ignored my own advice – and believe me that it made me really nervous to be in the basin. But today is my birthday, and my birthday wish was to see my favorite boy. Wish granted. 🙂

Comments : 4 Comments »

Categories : Alpha, Bachelor 7, Bounce, Cinch, Corazon, David, Grey, Houdini, Molly, Pinon, Poco, Roach, Roja, Seven, Steeldust, Storm, Ty

Spring Creek Basin Mustangs

Wonderful wild – Saturday, Nov. 1, 2008

Far afield

First look!

Guess who!

Hide ‘n’ seek

Pony Up tour

Makin’ the rounds; checkin’ ’em twice

Wild magic

Magnetism

Glorious rain – Aug. 31, 2008

Archives

Blogroll