Kootenai, left, and Raven, the other one with the big belly, are counting the days – or they would if they could count. They’re big mamas-to-be.
Big-belly mamas
14 06 2013Comments : 3 Comments »
Categories : Kootenai, Raven, Skywalker, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Spring Creek Basin mustangs, Sundance
Sibling spots
13 06 2013
Big brother S’aka is protective of his little sister, Spirit.
I found them – via the Jeep – in just about the same spot (heh) as when I hiked in and spotted them from Round Top.
How cute are they?
Comments : 4 Comments »
Categories : S'aka, Spirit, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Spring Creek Basin mustangs
Shady Shane
12 06 2013
Shane is a young mare in Hollywood’s band. She (apparently) had great fun with her mud treatment at the spa. That’s Mr. Bounce in the background, admiring from afar.
Comments : 3 Comments »
Categories : Bounce, Shane, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Spring Creek Basin mustangs
Glimpse through the greasewood
11 06 2013
Tesora and her family were grazing on a greasewood flat above a big arroyo below Sorrel Flats the other day. The big ponies were hard enough to see, but baby was just about hidden!
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Categories : Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Spring Creek Basin mustangs, Tesora
There to there and back again
10 06 2013
So here’s the deal with the pintos: They are self-segregating (if not self-regulating) and are not very often seen unless you work hard to see them. The last couple of times I’ve seen them, I have, in fact walked worked very hard to see them. Readers might recognize the above pic as a zoomed-in version of a photo I posted when I announced Reya had had her filly. I post it in lieu of the pic I would have taken the night before last if a) I hadn’t been on top of Round Top, b) they hadn’t been way out yonder and c) they/I would have been, you know, closer to each other.
I thought I was smart by hiking in from my favorite spot (no roads in McKenna Peak Wilderness Study Area – aka, “the WSA”). They were smarter (no comments!) by being where they would have been easily accessible had I driven in to my favorite drive-in spot from which to access the WSA. Naturally.
Early in the hike, I thought I might come back with pix of Ty, Chipeta and Seneca to share with you all, but, as the song goes, they might have been just an illusion, as completely, thoroughly and totally as they disappeared. I saw them, went to check on David, whose back I saw briefly, and when I went back to where I had seen Ty’s band: nada. Not even from the top of Round Top could I spot them again.
Even from a distance, through the binoculars, baby looked fine and healthy.
By the way, baby’s name is Spirit. Thanks to Corrie for the suggestion. 🙂
Comments : 3 Comments »
Categories : Reya, S'aka, Spirit, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Spring Creek Basin mustangs
Mud monster
9 06 2013
Bounce is a bachelor since the 2011 roundup, and he has been hanging out with Hollywood’s and Comanche’s bands for quite a while now. The boys have distinctly separate bands, but they stay very close to each other. The mares mingle a little, and Madison and Temple seem to hang out as much as Madison and her sister Juniper.
The bands had been drinking from the trickle – along with bachelors Duke, Kreacher, Aspen and the young monsters bachelors. Most of the horses had splashes of mud on them – even across their faces. I thought Hollywood had acquired some new face scars until I saw the pix closer on the computer and realized they were streaks of mud. So they’re still finding water enough to drink – and play in! With gnat season in Disappointment Valley under way, that’s a good thing.
Comments : 3 Comments »
Categories : Bounce, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Spring Creek Basin mustangs
Kwana & mama
8 06 2013
Kwana gives mama Terra a baby-schnuzzle. Isn’t he the cutest thing going? I can’t believe his eyes still are blue!
Comments : 4 Comments »
Categories : Kwana, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Spring Creek Basin mustangs, Terra
National Academy of Sciences report on BLM’s management of wild horses and burros
7 06 2013It’s out. The National Academy of Sciences has completed its report about wild horses and burros, and BLM’s management of them.
Some links to reports about the study:
“New report offers science-based strategies for management of Western free-ranging horses and burros; ‘business-as-usual’ practices will be increasingly expensive and unproductive for BLM”: http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=13511
Th National Academy of Sciences link (above) includes a link to the brief summary of the report: http://dels.nas.edu/resources/static-assets/materials-based-on-reports/reports-in-brief/wild-horses-report-brief-final.pdf
*** Updated to add this link, by the always-thought-provoking Andrew Cohen of The Atlantic: http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/06/after-wild-horse-report-jewell-faces-first-moment-of-truth-at-interior/276545/
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/independent-panel-readies-review-blm-mustangs
http://m.sltrib.com/sltrib/mobile3/56416617-219/horse-report-wild-horses.html.csp
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/06/05/horse-burro-blm-nrc/2388947/
http://hsus.typepad.com/wayne/2013/06/nrc-gets-it-right-in-panning-blm-wild-horse-program.html
Practically speaking, what will it mean? Time will tell.
Comments : 7 Comments »
Categories : Advocacy, Apollo, Education, Fertility control, Killian, Mustangs, Partnership, PZP, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Spring Creek Basin mustangs, Tenaz, Wild horses in the news
Red – it’s the new gold
6 06 2013
Gaia and Roja glow golden in the last light of another beautiful evening in Spring Creek Basin. And yes, that’s a getting-close belly on the little red girl.
Comments : 3 Comments »
Categories : Gaia, Roja, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Spring Creek Basin mustangs
Pati Temple Memorial Benefit Bash
5 06 2013Monday’s event to honor the National Mustang Association, Colorado chapter’s Pati Temple was a great success! A huge, heart-felt thank you to all the friends and family of Pati – and David – Temple who donated items to the silent auction and/or attended the bash. Your attendance and contributions go a long way toward helping us continue our advocacy on behalf of our Spring Creek Basin mustangs!
Durango photographer Claude Steelman donated a print of his outstanding photo of our handsome Traveler (left) and two of his photography books, including Wildshots, pictured. Bayfield artist Sarah Rose donated a print of her beautiful painting of Spring Creek Basin’s Aspen, right.
NMA/CO board member Karen Keene Day donated this stunning painting of Traveler. It’s based on a photo she took of him and his band in 2004.
Susan Thomas and NMA/CO board member Nancy Schaufele (in purple) check out silent auction items.
Nancy marks the final bids at the end of the silent auction. Kennebec Cafe, one of Pati’s favorite restaurants, provided a really beautiful setting for our event; many thanks for the great food and wonderful setup!
Kathe Hayes with San Juan Mountains Association shows off Alice Billings’ donated painting of Temple, wild filly in Spring Creek Basin named in honor of Pati and David. Kathe was the high bidder on the painting!
In addition to Nancy and Karen, many thanks to NMA/CO board members Tif Rodriguez and Lynda Larsen – and, always, David Temple – as well as our event planner, Tina Roth, for making this such a memorable and successful event in Pati’s memory.
Pati was an exceptional woman who fought for the well-being of animals and people whenever she saw a wrong. We think she would have loved this party. The worst part of it was that she wasn’t there to enjoy it with us.
Comments : 3 Comments »
Categories : Advocacy, Education, National Mustang Association/CO, Partnership, Pati Temple, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Spring Creek Basin mustangs, Work projects
Spring Creek Basin Mustangs 