Sponsor A Wild Horse

Hi, I am looking for more sponsors for my "Sponsor a Wild Horse" program. For $50.00 you will recieve one of these mugs plus membership to The SWBWH Club which I am running as a legitimate Colorado business until we can get 501C status. Please send Check or Money order to The SWBWH Club PO Box 1728 Hayden, CO 81639. Let me know if you would like to be partnered with a certain horse. One horse can have multiple sponsors... It is your job to help me keep track of him or her...

By doing this you are supporting my efforts to document this herd and get a non profit up and going! Thank You to every one who has helped me along my journey....I could have not come this far without all of your help!

I think we are moving towards bait trapping. My hope is by knowing the individual horses they will have a better chance at humane management...

Nancy (-:

Bug's Band

Here is Bug's Band. Rita, the red dun mare is out front followed by the only 2011 colt, Titanium. Titanium is followed by the other mare in the band, the sorrel, Hazel. Behind Hazel is her 2011 son, Sundance, who looks a lot like his brother, Titanium...Then comes Madeleine, a 2 yr old filly who got separated form her dam last spring. Then Bugs, the buckskin band stallion with Rita's 2010 colt Butch. All of these pale horses will be palominos ( I am pretty sure...) Anyway dogging the band is the ever persistent black, Buddy who is also their satellite stallion.

Corona's Band

Here is Corona's band, You can see the sorrel mare with the 4 white socks is very pregnant. Yampatika, the grey mare's 2010 filly, has been missing for about a month.

Jet's Band

The black, Jet, has his pinto mares back! ... they spent last summer with Femur, the Chrome. I have no idea why. They seem much more content with Jet.

He also has these two, three year old fillies...Makani (grey) and Gypsy(split face). These two were separated from their dams when Jet's band broke up last spring. Makani's dam is Sunspot who is now with Centauro and Gypsy's dam, Zephyr, is with Benson.

Makani.... like I've said before the greys are really hard to ID. It is fine if they are with their bands , but once they move on it is difficult. There are a couple of grey bachelor stallions I can't figure out. It is my hopes this year we can combine the HSUS data with mine (ours) to get a really great documentation of this herd. That way we can have accurate numbers and know how the individual horses fit into the complex social structure of this herd of genetically viable wild horses. This will help them in this modern world.

This stallion had the biggest band when the mustangs were last rounded up in 2008. The HSUS calls him Sheeten (we would have used that name, but it leaked out too late... public folks liked "Jet"). I know naming wild horses is a touchy subject to many...for me the most important thing is we all use the same ones. It is a way for us humans to communicate about them, they do not make the horses any less "wild".

 I just love his conformation, wiley spirit and the way he moves! I will post a video of him on my YouTube channel for all to see!

The mother/ daughter (Razzle/Dazzle) combo in the middle have an incredibly tight bond. The mare on the right (Scenic) had a beautiful black foal in 2009.,but it "vanished" in 2010. It is in the "MIA or died" album on facebook along with about 10 other horses. Sand Wash Basin is an extreme place for a horses to live...many perish. In my opinion, it is important to have a death rate when calculating numbers.

Bugs Band

You can tell Bug's band by all the pale colored youngsters.

The beautiful buckskin, Bugs. I had not seen this band for awhile. They all look great and a little grown up!

Here is the only 2011 colt in this band, Titanium. Shown with his mom, Hazel, who has had three palo colts in a row!

The other mare, a red dun, we call Rita. By the looks of her my guess is she is older.

Rita's 2010 colt, Butch. You can see how he will shed out darker.

Here is the "odd ball" in the band....Madeleine. She came from Princes band last spring when they "disbanded". She got separated from her mom (Mystic). The mares in Bug's band really like her as do the young colts. It is not unheard of, but it is unusual for a yearling fillly to not be with her mom. Madeleine is now a coming two year old.

Titanium with his full brother Sundance. It is hard to tell Butch and Sundance  apart. I think Sundance is paler and a bit smaller.

As usual....perfect hooves. That is a mustang trait.

Buddy, the black, is still dogging Bugs. He was all last year too and has been seen with Madeleine.

These two are constantly going at it. Long may they run...

Rowdy Bachelor Stallions ( East Side)

It is gale force winds out...the bachelor stallions are frisky. It is a joy to watch!

They are in a constant state of motion...play fighting.

There is Sir Duke (grey) having fum with Skerik (black). Skerik came from Silverado's band. I never could figure out if he was the 2009 colt in that band or a satellite stallion. I am leaning towards the 3 yr old colt by the way he acts.

Boy, these greys are hard to ID! My best guss is Sir Duke. I make an educated guess by where he is and who he is with.

Sir Duke was an orphan when I first met him in the spring of 2010. He was on the road running the east fence line. I wonder if his band crossed over to the east side?

L to R Hank (dun), Renegade (grulla), Skerik and Sir Duke.

The sorrel is Clyde the other black is Harlan.

Hank is such a beautiful horse, I was disappointed I did not get more flattering shots of him...just the way it goes. I like him for his multi colored mane against his dun background....really stunning.

The bachelors continue to play down by the water hole. Wow, are they ever frisky! It is really something to see. Their energy makes Sand Wash Basin light up!

Clyde was also an orphan colt in 2010. This was soon after the 2008 round up which really mixed up their complex social order. I think we can do better. Maybe by knowing who the horses are and how they fit into the herd will help them. I am hoping so!

Handsome Hank

The bay on the right is Sundown. He is a submissive, older stallion.

Running from the waterhole.

Clyde is relentless...he goes around and around with the big black.

....and up

I think the roan is Half Moon, but once again, can't confirm. There are other roans that look similar. This is the one I saw with the blacks and Renegade the other day.

The wild horses are rapidly losing their winter coats. It weas almost 70 degrees on this early spring day.

One word for this amazing encounter...FUN!

East Side Bachelor Stallions

Cherokee's Band (Feat Cherokee's Mystery) First Foal!

Well, as I was watching these bachelor stallions play, I notice a horse in the background. Do you see him? I start to walk towards him..

....and he starts walking towards me..It is Cherokee! I am so excited, I have not seen this stallion and his lovely band of wild horses for a very long time.

My heart starts racing...there is a new foal! The first foal I have seen this season and it is a beaut!

There are three other mares with Cherokee. I am confused. I know the grey and white pinto is Bonita and the big chestnut with the diamond star is Mandalay.

The other two sorrel mares I am not so sure about. I just can't seeem to place them. I did not see this band enough last year to have accurate records. I think Miracle, who is with Vegas, was Bonita's 2009 filly. The sorrel with the new foal might be Mirage?

This is Dolly, Tuscarora's and Talia's 2009 filly. Thank you Felicia for researching this!! Dolly was last seen with Copper last fall.

Here are the youngsters... all colts. The pintos are yearlings and the grey is a 2 year old.

Zander, the grey, is Bonita's.

This is Zander's little brother, Marty. He has turned out fantasitic! He has lovely blue eyes and a very curious personality.

Finally! I get to see the 2011 sorrel pinto foal up close, this is Pico. We have him recorded and named, but this is the first close shot. Looks a lot like his handsome sire.

The new guy (I am pretty sue his is a colt) has been named Cherokee's Mystery by facebook friends. He will also be put on a spreadsheet and be assigned a number for our public documentation (thanks Aleta).

He is a healthy little fellow and carries the genes of his proud ancesters before him. All of these mares look pregnant. We are trying to get the ID's of the mares the HSUS darted in 2010 with PZP (50), but  are being ignored. It would be in the horses' best interest to work together. I wonder if they are looking at my data for their experimental PZP study. I wouldn't care if they shared their data too!

Volcano's Band

It was really good to see Volcano's band. I had not seen them since early last summer. They appear in the spring and seem to vanish. There are two new members...Sugar, the grulla pinto and this little grey filly she looks after. I can not confirm the fillies ID, but it good be the coming 2 yr old from Jib's band, Jewel.

There are two stallions in this band, this one seems to be the leader....Volcano....a beautiful solid chestnut.

This is the other stallion, Phoenix. He is the satellite from what I can determine. These wild horses are very flighty and do not stick around for long!

Last year the stallions just had this one gorgeous grey mare, Lilly. Lilly had a filly (shown) last year we called Arrow. She also has her 2010 dun colt by her side, Buck.

The grulla mare gets around. When I first met her in the spring of 2010 she was with Centauro. She had a 2009 filly by her side, but left her with Centauro when she went off to be with Copper. She stayed with Copper for a while and then spent the summer of 2011 with WildWind. She is a babysitting mare ...she usually takes a youngster and treats it like her own.

Left to Right...Phoenix, Volcano, Sugar, Lilly, Arrow, Buck and Jewel (?)

It is only March, but most of the snow is gone and the wild horses are starting to use their waterholes.

Sugar with her new "adopted" daughter.

Phoenix

Arrow and Buck. When Arrow was born her stripe looked very much like an arrow. Hopefully I will see more of this elusive band...