The Band on the Hill

The horses in the forground are domestics....look behind them on the hill, those are mustangs!
See them? I can tell right away it is the band stallion White Out with his little family.
Here is the band minus the coming 2 year old, River.
Here is the 2010 colt, Strider. He was one of the first foals born this spring on the range.
The very handsome white band stallion we call White Out. These horses have been in the same area all winter and were in the same place last winter too. They do not seem to move much. They live in about a 2 mile radius near the Hywy.
This is the beautiful sorrel mare. I kinda snuck up on her.  She was quite surprised! Sorry Josie!
I don't know if she is pregnant or not, but if I had to guess I would say she is.
Here are the two mustang brothers and best buds, Strider and River. River was an only foal until Strider came along. They are never very far apart.
The mare got seperated from her family and was quite concerned, but White Out calmly led the brothers right back to her.
They always seem to have something in their mouths although it looks like there is very little forage. They help each other to get to it. They depend on one another for their survival through these severe winter months.
The mare and I stared at each other for quite a long time. She seemed to be as interested in me as I was in her. She never took her eyes off me. I am amazed these horses just don't move off right away. They have some kind of interest in humans for sure. It is like they are willing to trust.
Mother and sons
The mare striking a pose.
I am preety baffled about what color this colt will be. This summer he almost looked like a grulla. This was a wonderful encounter with this beautiful Sand Wash Basin wild horse family.

River with a Mule Deer Friend

One Day

Yellow Man and Pearl

"Oh, Cosmo, Cosmo where art thou?" Sorry, I couldn't resist. The little round grey mare sure looks like she is pining for her old band.
Leave us alone! I made this visit quick...
Yellow's beautiful "new" mare. She is really holding her weight good through this brutal NW Colorado winter. He also has the blacker then black mare, Crow.
Yellow paid the price to get this mare. he seems very pleased with himself. Last winter he was a bachelor stallion.
This is a stocky little mare who has run the range for more then a few years.

Yellow Man

Crow

I wanted to dedicate a whole post to this amazing black mare we call Crow. She is the essence of what a wild horse mare should be. She is wise to the range. She is in Yellow Man's band.
...she is a good mother. Here she is with her late filly, Owl. Teaching her how to find something to eat in this winter desert wilderness.
She also still has her coming 2 yr old with her. He looks and acts a lot like her. He is becoming quite independent, but still looks to Crow for decisions.
I have never seen this mare's eyes through mine...only through my telephoto camera. They are as black as she is. She is very shy and wary of humans.
With her colt, Star. They rarely came up for air. These guys are working for a living...for sure!
Star....I bet he will will blossom this spring. His mane and tail are taking on a silver hue.
Owl...this is one tough little filly!
I wonder how many babies she has raised? Quite a few by the looks of it. Owl looks so healthy, she has the most amazing coat. I am so curious to see how she will shed out this spring.
Doesn't she have amazing eyes? I just love this old black mare. I feel so lucky to be able to get these photos. I hardly could get near her this summer. Things are a whole lot different at Sand Wash in the winter. The horses really slow down, conserving their energy...they are in survival mode. I am thankful they mostly have the place to themselves this winter. Many sheep were pulled out due to the amount of snow and lack of feed. Only the strong will survive this winter. I think this mare will make it!

Demi the Domestic

Meet Demi! She is a domestic mare that showed up around October on 7 mile ridge, close to the Hywy. When I first met her she was with Benson. I could tell she was a domestic by her conformation, her hooves and by the way she came up to me to be petted!
In my opinion she needs to be pulled out, it is cruel to dump horses in this environment!

She has since joined up with the bay stallion we call Greasewood. I saw them on this frigid winters day close to the Hywy, working hard to stay alive. Anyway it was nice to see this band. I had never been able to get so close.
Here is the wiley little mustang mare/mother in the group....Yarrow. She never seems very content. There was a gather in 2008 and I'm sure the dynamics went beserk for awhile....hopefully the HSUS has some information and we could find out where this lovely mare came from. I just think it would be interesting to know...
Here is the chestnut mare's filly, a coming 2 year old we call White Sage, She is wintering really well, she is almost fat! She was very curious and seemed quite content just being. After the Oct 2008 gather the horses bred like crazy and in 2009 58 foals were recorded! This is one of them....
Here is the bulldoggy band stallion. He is also keeping his weight. It was impressive to see him search for food. He is a very strong, athletic stallion. I bet it wasn't too hard for him to get the domestic from Benson, who is a more submissive stallion. His documented name is Greasewood. Of course wild horses don't really have "names". It is just a way to talk about them and to officially document them.
Not everyone is happy about Greasewood's new mare! This little mustang was a little crabby on this day! I really love her Spirit and that big, beautiful blaze! She is a character for sure.
Yarrow has the best pawing skills I have ever seen. She goes way high and very fast! The horses were so focused on eating. I did not stay very long because I did not want to stress them. All the horses have there own personal techniques of pawing. Some are slow, steady and powerful like the stallion and some are like the little mare...whack, whack, whack. Their large platter hooves are built for the task.
There is the filly, White Sage....No worries for this filly. She was coming up with great tufts of something, not stressed at all. She is a true mustang, able to survive in these extreme conditions.

Pearl

I can't believe my eyes! Yellow has stolen one of Cosmo's mares (Pearl) and by the looks of things he fought for her. He still has dried blood on his side along with numorous wounds. I just saw her with Cosmo a few days ago so this has happened recently.
You can't mistake this little round grey mare. She has half a right ear and a smudge mark on her left shoulder. She does not seem completely settled.
She tried to get too close to the band stallion, White Out who Yellow has a love/hate relationship with. I missed the shot, but you get the point?
Here is the baby in the band, Owl. She is a little mustang with attitude!
This is the coming two year old, Star. He was off on his own, I suspect he will be leaving his family soon.
See what I mean by attitude?
Star is turning the most amazing color. He was pure black, but now is getting silver tips. He is going to be a looker. I believe another grey stallion is his sire. His dam has only been with Yellow since this spring.
I'm telling you she was in a mood! Here the band stallion tells her off!
Yellow Man seems tired and rests his weary head on his lead mares rump. He is pretty beat up for sure. I wonder how Cosmo looks?
That's the lead mare. She is the blackest horse I have ever seen. It was hard to get a shot with her head up. She is a determined pawer.....bam, bam, bam, she breaks the crusty snow with her great big mustang hooves.
Yellow with his new mare. Will she stay? Stay tuned for more Sand Wash drama!

White Out's Band

Strider! Get off the Highway! As soon as I stop to pull over he does and goes to be near his family.
That's his beautiful sorrel mom, she is White Out's only mare. Strider is her 2010 colt plus she still has her 2 year old, River, with her. She likes to be near the black mare, Crow, who is with the stallion Yellow man, both stallions are white.
Here is the 2010 colt. He has a stripe just like the filly in Cosmo's band. The femur stripe.
This is the stallion White Out. He is very loyal to his only mare, they have a harmonious relationship.
The two mustang brothers Strider and River. They seemed to have fun together this summer. Whenever I saw them they were being mischevious.. For now it is all work, trying to find enough food to survive.
I think the mare may be pregnant. Strider was an early colt last spring. Time will tell. She got huge last year!
The coming 2 year old in the band. He seems to be greying out slowly. He is at that awkward stage. He will bloom this spring.