Spring Creek Basin Mustangs

Snowy white girls Mysterium and Juniper (don’t mind the mud bits – at least they’re finding it!) have a bit of a nap under a cloudy sky recently. The only white between here and there is – literally – the salt of the earth – alkali – coming to the surface of the dry soil.

The handsome fellow has been elusive for the last couple of months, and I hadn’t seen him either alone or with the other (mostly young) bachelors.

Finally a friend alerted me that she was “85 percent sure” she’d seen him from Disappointment Road on the southern side of Spring Creek Basin. … I looked for him in that area on a couple of drives but didn’t spot him (or any other horses). From interior, with another band, when they turned as one to look at *something*, I did, too, and there he was, glowing orangey-dun on a drab taupe hillside. 🙂 The decision to hike out to him was MUCH faster than the actual hike.

He’s still pretty lean, bordering on downright thin, but he’s OK. His hip gouge has healed, and his right eye is open but squinty.

He couldn’t have made it more plain that he didn’t want to be bothered by an overly-happy-to-see-him human, so I didn’t visit with him long. I really was very happy to see him.

Mountain areas – Utah’s La Sals above – have lovely snow, but we don’t. And there’s a lot of brown expanse between here and there.

It’s an easy winter for the wild ones (so far?!), but it’s gonna be a tough summer (unless something changes PDQ).