Au naturel

29 04 2021

It doesn’t look like it here (Cassidy Rain did NOT hang around to model her beautiful self with the wind screaming at us), but this was one of the windiest days in the basin this spring (and as windy as it always is in the spring, and as WINDY as it has been even the last few days, that’s saying something). I got a kick out of a pic I saw recently of a Quarter Horse, posed saddled and bridled, on what the photographer said had been a windy day in Texas. They used two cans of hair spray to keep the horse’s mane neat for the photo.

Well, our secret mustang stylists don’t use hair spray, but there’s lots of wind spraying about … and I think it makes for the most LOVELY horses imaginable! 🙂 And fortunately, they’re finding wet spots in which to drink and roll. … And do you see the green? Yes, look hard … but it’s there.

(Note: I greatly respect the photographer mentioned above. It was just a funny thing to think about for someone (moi) who photographs way more mustangs than perfectly coiffed domestic horses. :))





Almost full

26 04 2021

How do you fill a heart full to bursting? How do you fill a heart already so full you think there’s no room left?

That’s the crazy thing about love, isn’t it? This little teeny muscle inside the human chest is just a little magical in its ability to hold all the love you can pour into it.

Every mustang, every visit, I love them all, every time, all the time. It’s simply impossible to feel otherwise. 🙂

So, really, there must always be at least a little bitty bit of room left? For all the days and all the love to feel?





Spring bling

20 04 2021

While Killian was browsing among the greening greasewood the other day, he emerged with a whole branch down his face, hanging from his forelock. I chuckled and asked if he’d model his “spring bling” for the folks back home. Alas, by the time I got into position to take his portrait, he had re-emerged from the greasewood sans branch.

As he ambled out of the greasewood thickets to graze the emerging grass (!), I realized that, with the true wisdom of mustangs, Killian was showing me the true bling of spring, and it was – thankfully – all around us.

Now, this was in the higher elevation southern part of the basin, which gets more moisture (note the presence of trees in the background). But there IS honest-to-goodness actual grass in them thar hills.

Also, from this position, I spotted another band. When I hiked over to visit them, I spotted yet another band. And that’s some real goodness in them thar hills. 🙂





Windblown

19 04 2021

Hey, it’s hard to look fabulous when the wind is howling. Good looks and a hair-do like that doesn’t just happen naturally. … Oh, wait! Yes, it does!

Tenaz – rockin’ Colorado’s spring winds. You go, guy!





Rose glow

8 04 2021

Always a handsome way to end a day: Skywalker. 🙂





That look

1 04 2021

Sweet, lovely Piedra wonders where all the snow has gone.

Well, it’s practically spring, lady. Sure, the calendar says so, but ponies are shedding and we’re looking for green. And maybe some more rain.

More rain would be awesome. And that’s no joke! (Happy April Fools’ Day!)





Devil’s in the details

30 03 2021

Do you see it?

You might have to click on the pic to enlarge it.

Would it help to know that *I* didn’t see it until I saw it on the computer screen? What I saw was Hayden shaking his head and then wandering off to graze.

It was T-shirt weather, a day after I didn’t think I could wear enough layers to keep out the biting north wind.

Spring is coming … and with it, the flying buzzers.





The look of far away

19 03 2021

You envision an enticing view stretching away to the far horizon of Utah, don’t you? Or, perhaps, in the other direction, the Glade (where the aspen grow).

I hate to burst your visionary bubbles. 🙂 There was a hill just there, and we couldn’t see Round Top let alone all the way to Utah. But Maiku sure looks handsome, with his cute little pony ears and his winter beard and scruffy roughy coat … and that lip. … That lip! I’m undone by the lip. 🙂





Buckskin beauty in white

15 03 2021

Another 2.5 inches of snow (at least) fell overnight and Sunday morning in Disappointment Valley, bringing more much-needed moisture. Lots of melting happened Saturday, and the temperature is hovering right at freezing, so lots of melting is happenING.

Interestingly, snowshoes work pretty well when mud is close to the surface under the mud by doing the same thing as on snow: spreading weight over a surface. Of course, the mud isn’t as easy to knock off, but your boots are happier.





A tale of two days

14 03 2021

This is Temple on Friday evening:

This is Temple on Saturday afternoon:

Oh, what a difference a day (less than 24 hours) makes. 🙂

We got at least 3.5 inches of snow, so the pic taken Saturday afternoon shows a considerable amount of melting – which means water in the ground.