Reflections

30 12 2023

See what I did there?

This is a pond in the eastern-ish part of Spring Creek Basin, and on this lovely winter day, there was some skim ice on the surface. The reflection of McKenna Peak and Temple Butte (see it, just barely, behind McKenna?) and submarine ridge was perfect on a day without breeze.

At the end of the year, of course, we like to *reflect* on the past year before we look ahead to the coming year.

We had no big projects (or any projects) for the mustangs in Spring Creek Basin this year. The new catchments were a huge relief to yours truly, especially as last winter wasn’t too snowy for us in mid-to-lower Disappointment Valley, and the rest of the year was pretty warm and fairly dry. We did start the year with good ponds, and though they all went dry as summer dragged on, later rain filled the ponds and kept the catchment troughs filling with water for the mustangs.

Our foals are growing and thriving; they’re the light of their mamas’ and daddy’s and aunties’ eyes – and this human’s, too.

We potentially have some projects coming up, and I’ll let ya’ll know about those as they come to fruition. Otherwise, it looks like another quiet year for the mustangs. As always, we’ll need snow and rain – as much as Mother Nature wants to pour out (and then some, but when asking, we don’t like to seem greedy!).





Glorious bay, part 2

9 12 2023

I mean, really!





Bonus gifts

4 12 2023

Not only did we get the gift of snow Friday, I saw Hollywood on Saturday. 🙂

He’s thin (much more thin than I’d like to see him at this time of year (or any time of year)), but he seems to be relatively OK. He drank at the edge of a frozen pond, then walked away on a trail to the spot where I found him napping in the (relatively) warm sunlight. He didn’t acknowledge my presence much at all (which was OK as it meant he wasn’t bothered), and I was able to walk around and get a good look at him. I couldn’t tell about his eye (napping, he had both of them mostly closed), but other than being thin, he doesn’t seem to have any particular injuries.

He did pick a very scenic location to stop for a midday nap. 🙂

Bonus: Hollywood’s scenery looking across Spring Creek Basin and Disappointment Valley to Utah’s La Sal Mountains, looking pristine under a cover of fresh snow.





Golden tones

2 12 2023

Sundance, looking handsome as ever during a recent golden, glorious evening.

I mean, really, what else is there to say!?





Walkin’ on

24 11 2023

End of the day … the horses were already in the shade of the western ridges while McKenna Peak and Temple Butte were still catching the last light. Tenaz was marching along, and I took a grab-shot from the window of my Jeep.





My, oh my

21 11 2023

Cassidy Rain is notoriously hard to photograph. As gorgeous as she is, she doesn’t like to pose; she’s too busy eating or ignoring the photographer. 🙂 But with snow lingering on Temple Butte and McKenna Peak (out of frame to the right), I had good incentive to try to catch her, you know, looking gorgeous. Unfortunately, the sun had winked behind a cloud just at this moment, so with her in the shade, the background blew out a little. But you get the idea. Gorgeous and gorgeous-er!





Much needed

20 11 2023

Yesterday, while the lower part of Disappointment Valley was getting rain (yay!), some of the upper northern and eastern ridges got snow!

This is from Disappointment Road looking east-ish across Spring Creek Basin.

McKenna Peak across Round Top. That’s some decent snow!

Temple Butte, obscured by low snow clouds.

We needed this moisture badly.





View of views

29 10 2023

From Spring Creek Basin’s “north hills,” the views are tremendous:

Do you see the mustangs? Admittedly, they’re a long way away. 🙂 (Look between the tallest fingers of the dead tree in the foreground.)

I. LOVE. THAT. VIEW!

And in the right light, it’s more painting than reality … except that the very best thing is that it IS reality! I realize that the above three pix are very similar; I couldn’t decide among them to pick just one. 🙂

From nearly the same vantage point, looking in the other direction, off the top:

Wild country. Available to the mustangs, but I’ve never seen any down/back there … of course, it would be a lucky combination to be in the right place at the right time (both/all of us!).





Water line

27 10 2023

Baby Odin leads the way (following a pair that hangs out with his band) to water at Spring Creek, just about in the middle of Spring Creek Basin, with that fabulous, fantastic, recognizable-anywhere backdrop of eastern boundary behind them.

We haven’t had a spit of rain since the very first couple of days of the month, so it’s pretty dusty out there. Fortunately, most of the ponds still have water, the catchments are good water sources, and there are seeps in the arroyos that still have water. We’ve had another absolutely gorgeous autumn, and now the temps are about to start dropping, with our first really cold nights/mornings coming very soon.

Whooooooeeeee!





Perfectly posted

25 10 2023

From her vantage point on a slight rise, Reya was in the perfect post from which to observe the comings and goings (OK, mostly also nappings) of her fellow ponies (another band and a lone, wandering bachelor).

I’m loving her mud coat and her fairy-knotted braids.