
It’s really amazing how Mother Nature provides for her creatures in all seasons. The mustangs’ coats are thick and luxurious, and their lips are nimble as they search through the snow for the goodies.

It’s really amazing how Mother Nature provides for her creatures in all seasons. The mustangs’ coats are thick and luxurious, and their lips are nimble as they search through the snow for the goodies.

Technical issues have been challenging lately, as well as mud from melting snow in 52-degree late-December Colorado weather. Comanche, pictured above on Christmas Eve with Spring Creek canyon in the background, was enjoying the grazing – sans snow but with mud that packed his hooves and covered my boots.
Then we got snow again.
Then it melted again.
Then it snowed again.
And now it’s melting again. 🙂
That means Santa and Ma Nature have given us a whole lotta moisture for Christmas, and we love it!

From (part of) our family to (all of) yours, we wish you all the joy and beauty of the season. It’s a time of peace and love and reflection on all that has gone on in 2016.
We have had another good year in Spring Creek Basin, and we’re thankful to many people for their support as we support our mustangs in this beautiful little part of the greater, wild world.
As we continue our work to cherish and protect these amazing animals, we work indirectly to pay it forward to other volunteers and mustangs throughout the West and the country. Our goal is to keep Spring Creek Basin mustangs wild in Spring Creek Basin, and with the progressive partnership of our Tres Rios BLM team, Mike Jensen and Justin Hunt and Garth Nelson, we are succeeding.
Our hearts and our voices are raised in joy. 🙂

Who’s a good-lookin’ mustang girl?
Mariah’s a good-lookin’ mustang girl!
And maybe surprised that we were able to see her right through her natural camouflage. 🙂
*******************************************************************
Is it Christmas Eve already?!
Beautiful night to all who value our wild things in their wild places!

Corazon makes a funny face during a pause in his grazing in snow that was a few inches deep.

Reya shows off her fuzzy spots against a wintry backdrop of Round Top and the far blue mountains, the La Sals.

This is why I mountain bike (well, and because I love to mountain bike) – to stay in shape to track mustangs. 🙂
Add a couple to a few inches of snow to that 5.62 miles, and 1,116 calories burned seems pretty measly. The temperature is a bit skewed because I carried the GPS in an inner jacket pocket; I don’t think the temp rose out of the 20s.
The green tag shows where I started: on Spring Creek Basin’s boundary along Disappointment Road. From there, I hiked north, then to the northwest. The farthest northwest point is the point at which I realized horses were waaaay over at that easternmost point. (Of course!) So I backtracked my tracks, then followed horse trails and avoided arroyos, heading southeastish, to the little flat loop – which is where the horses were.
The ziggy-zaggy line is where I walked (this was all on snowshoes) the bottom of an arroyo until I cut my original trail and followed it back to the Jeep.

Seeing this handsome youngster (Killian) makes it alllllllll worth it!

Fresh, fluffy, pillowy snow highlights glowing golden buckskin Winon. She’s such a pale shade of buckskin that usually she looks grey from a distance. Against that snow-white snow, though, her lovely coat gleams!
***********************************************************************
Happy birthday to mustang angel Kat Wilder! 🙂

This view looks across Spring Creek Basin toward Spring Creek canyon and beyond to the northern ridges of lower Disappointment Valley.

Clouds clear from the La Sal Mountains on the evening of our big snowfall.
It’s easy to imagine mustangs out there in big country, isn’t it? They were nearby but were more focused on finding and uncovering and eating than in taking photographic direction from the light- and background-obsessed paparazzo. 🙂
Shazamawowie!

Our fabulous new snow resembles a white-sand beach against a coastal-blue sky.
Except that it was pretty chilly. 🙂 And tremendously beautiful!