Bachelor Stallions

I wanted to show you a few of our wonderful bachelor stallions. Here are L to R....Hoot, Tango and Nick. I can't confirm, but I am almost sure Hoot is from Eagle's band. Tango is one of Picasso's 2 yr old colts and Nick, the palomino, is a mystery.

Usually if I see a group of bachelors there is an older stallion amongst the younger ones. This is Haze. He was with Lightning's band in 2009/2010 then has been on his own since. Last year he hung out with Hurricane. Earlier this year he stole Kangee, the black mare from Tashunka's band, right after she gave birth to Ladore, her 2011 filly. But that did not last long as Kangee found her way back to her band stallion. Look for this stallion to have mares of his own in the near future. For now he shows the young colts the ways of a wild horse.

Hazre has one blue eye.

This is Picasso's other 2 year old colt, Snip. He is Olga's son. He struck out on his own late last fall after his brother, PJ, was born.

The mustang in the foreground is Flash. He is Pablina's and Lightning's 2 yr old. He knows Haze well as Haze was his satellite stallion when he was a born into Lightning's band.

Hoot and Tango, beautiful pinto colts.

Tango, a Picasso baby. Hard to mistake him as he has those freckles that set him apart.

Here is yet another 2 year old that was with this group. This is Ziggy. He is from Bug's band. There are many 2 year olds out here because they were all born in 2009 after the Oct 2008 round up. Round ups cause the mustangs to breed more.

This is another day, another band of bachelor stallions. Hurricane(dun), River(grey), Capitano(bay) and Skip(palomino).

All of these colts are 2 year olds except for the solid dun, Hurricane. The bay is Capitano from Centauro's band. The grey is River from White Out's and Skip, the palomino, is from Bug's band.

This is KIowa. He is an older stallion really trying to find some mares of his own. He has been babysitting River and Capitano all summer, but on this day was on his own challenging Corona, Greasewood and Rounder. He is strong and fit. It would be nice to have another breeding pinto out here.

Challenging Rounder.

Greasewood says "Stay away from my mares!"

Greasewood proves he is dominant and escorts Kiowa away from his mares in the rain.

Corona's Band

Finally! It hs been a long time since I have seen Corona's band, but today they are right off the road. Everyone is there since the last time I obseved them, which was last June.

Corona looks fabulous. He is in his prime and I consider him "the King of Sand Wash Basin". He takes my breath away!

He seems proud of his 20011 foals, Indiana Jones and Can Wakan. They are just perfect in every way. They love to play together. Indiana is a colt and Can Wakan is a filly. Can Wakan was born first.

So cute!

They are both happy, playful mustangs.

The grey mare, Indian Rose, is Indiana's mom and she also has her yearling filly, Yampatika, by her side.

It is hard to mistake Cheyenne, Corona's lead mare. She is the only pinto/palomino on the range. No foal for her this year, nor last year. Not every mare is prolific.

Cheyene from the side.

These three are Lona's offspring. She has had three in a row. Maybell is her 2 year old filly, Bobby, her yearling son and little Can Wakan. Lona is a wonderful mom. She is a tough, wiley mustang that shows her youngsters the ways of a wild mustang.

Maybell, one of the many 2 year old fillies who is still with their families. There is another 2 year old filly in this band, the bay, One Spirit.

Corona on the run...

He meets up with Rounder. They exchange a few postures, and Corona proves he is dominant.

Kiowa, the pinto with fish for markings, is anxious to get a mare. He puts up a real challenge for Corona. I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up with one or both of Corona's 2 year old fillies. it would be nice to have a breeding pinto. We only have a couple this year....Eagle and Cherokee come to mind.

After Corona confronts the other stallion he snakes his band and runs them in a great big circle. It was a sight to behold.

To see wild mustangs running free as they were meant is an honor.

I am amazed how healthy and fit these wild horses are. They can really run! This was a fun encounter, one I will not forget.

Rounder's Band

Lucky me....on this day I am fortunate enough to run into Rounder's band. I had heard there were some changes to his harem and it was nice to see for myself.

Pablina, the flea bitten mare, has lost her yearling son, Diego. Hopefully he has struck off on his own and has found some bachelor stallions to roam the range with. This is about the time of the year the first yearling colts leave their families. Diego was born early last spring so he would have been old enough to strike off on his own.

Rounder now has both of Prince's chestnut mares plus both of their 2 year old fillies. For awhile the mares got seperated when Prince's band got "disbanded". Moonlight was with Blazer for a short while, but found her way back to her "twin sister" and best friend, Sunshine. They have a very tight bond. Here you see the mares with their fillies.

Rounder, the impressive liver chestnut band stallion.

That's Juniper, she joined this band sometime between last fall and this spring. She is a 2 year old filly from Cosmo's band.

The only 2011 foal in this band, little Lozania. She is growing healthy and strong and is well taken care of by her family band.

Here are Rounder's original mares, Pablina and her bay friend, Floriano. They came from Lightning's band. They have a very tight bond and are not real accepting of Moonlight and Sunshine yet.

I love this sweet little colt. We call him Cabellero. He is Floriano's yearling. He was born later then his brother, Diego, the one that is missing. Often the colts will leave when their dams have their new foal. I don't think Floriano was bred this year, but I could be wrong. If she doesn't have a 2011 foal, most likely Cabellero will stay with his dam, but nothing is certain out here.

Cabellero is getting to know his new sister, Dusty. She is Moonlight's 2 yr old filly.

Dusty, most likely Prince is her sire.

That's Oda, Sunshine's daughter and Dusty's best friend. I am so glad they somehow got reunited.

The family bonds between these mustangs are strong. We should take this into consideraton if we have a "gather". It is inhumane to chase them with helicopters and rip the families apart. In this day and age we can do better. We should be working on a bait system where we could pull out a few adoptable youngsters if there is a population problem.

Juniper, Cosmo's daughter, Rounder's young mare. She seems content here.

Rounder with his new mares.

Kiowa, the pinto bachelor stallion is challenging Rounder, he would like some mares of his own. He has been "babysitting" two 2 year old colts all summer, but seems ready to have mares. He is strong and fit and it giving Rounder a real threat.

Rounder is a lean machine. He is off to face off with Corona, who is near by.

Nothing much becomes of it and he backs down from the dunalino. Rounder will have to work hard to keep all these mares. He has no satellite stallion to help him. We will have to wait and see what happens.

Eagle's Band

This is the first time I have seen Eagle's band this summmer, but I have seen other people's photos of them and knew they had a new foal with them. I'm pretty excited to see them. They are an exceptional band of wild horses. Well, they all are.

Here is the stallion..we call him The Eagle. He is a big bay with a few unusual pinto markings that set him apart. He usually is in the same general area. Some bands are like that, others move around the range more. Nothing is normal behavior when you talk about mustangs.

The new foal is a colt. Here he is with his yearling brother, the Falcon. The person who first saw him thought he was a filly (easy to do) and ID'd him as Meadow Lark. He is a cutie and loves to play with his big brother.

Mustang brothers.

The Eagle

They were on their way to the water hole and chased and played the whole way. So much fun to watch!

Eagle just has one gorgeous mare, Lark. Luckily she is not part of the PZP study. She is a nice mare and has really good looking babies.

Last year there was a little filly with this group that never looked quite right. She was a little bay we called Sparrrow. I am pretty sure she passed this past winter. I never figured out how she fit into this band, because she looked to be Falcon's age. My theory is she was an orphan. I am pretty sure the bachelor stallion, Hoot, is a 2 yr old out of Lark. It is a mystery.

Meadow Lark

Good looking Sand Wash colts.

I love these little pinto boys.

Lark streaks by, she is wary of me like a good mustang mom. Thanks Eagle!