Renegade and Destiny

I am so excited! I finally see the elusive (to me) grullla stud, Renegade, with his very pregnant mare , Mia, and her two year old. This mare was with Jib's band last spring. She had a foal last year which she lost. The only time I had seen Renegade was when he was alone last year by a water hole. I am sorry I need not get more photos. This photo does not do him justice....he has an amazing mane and the most beautiful coloring. Hopefully I will see more of him this viewing season...
There is Destiny, our little medicine hat filly with the black forelock and tail. She is less then a year old and has left her family (Viggo's band). She has joined up with the grey yearling, Sir Duke, and the 2 year old chestnut stud colt, Clyde. She seems healthy and is full of spirit! On this day she was playing the role of lead mare. A HSUS woman told me it is not unusual for a yearling filly to leave her band, but I disagree. Destiny and Sparrow, from Eagle's band, are the only two I can think of that are "on their own" at such a young age. Most of the yearling and two year old fillies are still with their bands.

Cherokee's Band

I spot this band from a distance. I can tell it is the pinto's, Cherokee's, band. I hike out to get a closer look. I know these horses are shy so I approach slowly and in plain view of them.
Here is the alpha mare, very pregnant. She is one of our lovely grey/white pintos. We named her Bonita last year.
The grey is Bonita's 2 year old (need a name), but I do not recognize this sorrel. I never confirmed its gender.
Cherokee is one of our few breeding pintos. He is a beaut! He has got all the characteristics of an American mustang. He has wintered well. Here is moving Bonita along.
See the little nose in between the two greys? That is Bonota's yearling colt, Zander. He is extremely shy and the band does their best to keep him hidden.
Bonita has one blue eye. She is exquisite. This new foal should be a looker!
Who is this?? Looks like a filly, but I don't know. I am always thankful the HSUS is out there doing there own documentation. Hopefully they have this horse ID"d.
Here is the only photo I got with the elusive little Zander in it. He looks a lot like his mom.
Off they go. They do not let me view them for long. These are true wild horses and I respect their space. This is their home.

Prince's Band

Today I get lucky and get a nice close up encounter with Prince, the white stallion, and his beautiful band of greys and chestnuts...all mares and fillies.
Here is one of the three chestnuts, she is one of his two, 2 year old daughters. She has a beautiful mane full of braids created by nature. I love her wrap around blaze called an "apron".
Here is the only yearling in Prince's band, Madeleine. She was born into Lightning's band late last April. Her dam moved in with Prince shortly after giving birth to the little "pink" filly.
Here is the other 2 year old, Dusty. She is greying out much slower then little Madeleine.
Here are the "twin" chestnut mares. for the life of me I can not remember who is who. One mare's blaze wraps around a bit while the other one is more of a stripe. Anyway they are ID'd as Sunshine and Moonlight.
Here they are heading out. I can tell they are on their way to somewhere! Maybe the waterhole... Prince in all of his glory.
At the top of the hill is Bug's band. A band with mostly young stud colts. Here is Butch and his Skip. I have often wondered what would happen if Prince's and Bug's bands were to get together. Prince has all those mares and Bugs has all those studs.....
There's Skip....they decide to move in the same direction as Prince's band. There is no interaction, besides a lot of looks.
As they approach the water hole the two bands split off.
Here they are at the water. They have taken opposite sides..
From this distance they observe each other across the water hole. The boys seem to show off for Prince's "ladies". There are also two mares with Bugs and both of them look pregnant.
Prince's mares seem very interested. It will be interesting to see how long Oda and Dusty stay with their band. I hope a round up doesn't mess everything up. In this day and age we should be more humane and not tear family bands apart. I agree we need to "gather" a few horses, but we could do it in a more humane, respectful manner.
That's the buckskin stallion, Bugs, with his 2 year old Palomino son, Skip. It seems to be cold to be in the water! But the horses seem to be enjoying themselves...brrrr.
Madeleine looks on in awe of Skip. "What a brave stallion he is to be rolling in that water!"
"Brave...or stupid!" says one of the chestnut mares ...Prince's band decides they have had enough and leave, but first pass Bugs and his band.
The "ghost pinto" is Mystic, Madeleine's mom. If you look closely you will see the pinto pattern on her coat. She does not look pregnant, but one of the chestnut mares does.
These horses are so harmonious! You would never think a group of stallions could get so close to these mares (some in heat) and still mind their manners. But they do.
The only one that caused a little bit of trouble was this guy, Butch, but one look by Prince told him to stay away! He was also scolded by his two year old brother, Ziggy. He soon gets back into line next to his wise old mom.
Bugs with his two 2 year old colts, Skip and Ziggy. They act like satellite stallions to him. I believe Bugs to be a more submissive stallion...Prince is a more dominant stallion.
I can never get enough of these two playful half brothers.
Here are the two bands heading out to graze.
Here, Prince decides to go in another direction and turns his beautiful harem of mares in another direction. This was a fun encounter. I don't believe I had ever see these two bands interact before.

Bugs and His Band

I wanted to show to you Bug's band.
There's Bugs, the band stallion. When he sheds out he becomes a sleek buckskin. I met these horses last spring. Then they disappeared for most of last summer. I did see them once going into winter.
The sorrel with the Blaze is one of the two 2 year old colts in this band. We call him Ziggy.
Here is Ziggy with the other 2 year old, Skip. They are the best of friends. Even when Nomad stole Ziggy's mom and her yearling colt, Butch, earlier on this year, Ziggy chose to stay with Skip. Eventually his mom (Rita) returned to the band.
This is Ziggy's full brother, Butch, flemming. He is a yearling who was born in May last year. He came before his half brother, Sundance, who is also going to be a palomino. Butch is a little larger and darker then Sundance.
Butch and Sundance.
Here are the full brothers...
It is that time of year...itchy sason!
Ziggy with his scruffy little palomino brothers. I don't know of a band out at SWB that has more colts in it then this one.
More play. All these mustangs were in great shape. I think the two mares are pregnant. I was sorry to learn that they did not get darted this fall. They both could use a break from having foals. They do have beautiful babies though!

My adopted mustang looks a lot like Ziggy, an easy keeper.
Smiles for the camera. You just gotta love this fun loving band of mustangs!
Something has happened to Sundance's left eye! It looks like it is healing, but seems like it was a major injury. No vets out on the range.
So there is Bugs and his band...stay tuned. I have a feeling the dynamics of this band will change after the two mares have their new foals.

Picasso and Mingo's Little White Foal

The day has come! I spot Picasso's band from a distance and see Mingo, the Medicine Hat mare, has had her new foal. He or she is pure white. From a far it looks like he is traveling fairly normally with his family, although his legs seem to be a litte awkward.
I had to hike quite a ways in and when I spot them this is what see.
He goes into a little ravine and just kind of collapses. I know there is something wrong.
This is Mingo's yearling filly, Mango. She seems concerned when she see her little brother/sister is acting strangley. She comes over the the scene to investigate.
Here is Picasso, the older loyal band stallion. He stays a bit of a distance from the mare with her foal.
The other member of the band is Monet, a Sombrero mare escapee. She is looking really good. She seems to enjoy this wild way of life. She is lucky to have Picasso's wisdom to guide her around the range. She stays out of Mingo's way as well.
Mingo is a devoted mustang mom and stays close to her foal. I know foals just drop and take naps, but this was different. He seemed in an unnatural position down in that little ditch.
See what I mean?
Picasso paces a bit. Prince and his band are near by and they have started to push off....Picasso seems like he would like to leave too..
But the mare waits and then the foal pops up!
He gets up, but does not look strong. He wobbles and weaves on those great big legs.
I could not determine if it is a filly or colt...
His back legs never got to working properly and he finally goes down again.
...and he does not get up. We wait.
Mango gets in a little nap, but does not last long...
hum de dum when is he going to get up and play with me?
Mingo is very calm, but concerned. Ditto with Mango...always learning from her wise old mom.
Mango gives him a little sniff and a couple of nudges. He does not get up.
I had to make sure he was alive. He was. I am hoping he is a newborn....there was dried blood on Mingo's legs...and that is just exhaused. But in my heart I feel like something is wrong.
Here comes Picasso to the rescue!
He has put on weight and looking full of vim and vinigar.He is ready to go (probably to the water hole), but of course will not leave without his lead mare and her babies.
Here they are looking over at Prince's band. There were no new foals in Prince's band. Madeleine had really greyed out and all members looked healthy.
Through this encounter I really got to love the little yearling filly, Mango. She seems super smart and sturdy. She was an early filly last spring. She was strong from the very start.
Here is the handsome band. Monet is listening to the whine of dirt bikes in the distance.
Patiently waiting...
Icon
....and here is how I left them. Nature will decide the fate of the little white foal.