Cody's Band

It was nice to bump into Cody and his small band. We just got a quick glimpse of them. Here is the handsome roan band stallion. One could confuse him for Dolor, another roan with a similar face.

Cody has two, loyal mature look a like mares. There's one of them on the right, Cosima. She is shown next to her daughter, Rosie.Look how similar there stars are!

 The buckskin you can barely make out behind them is the 2 year old filly, Chikala. Chikala came from Tashunka's band. Her mom is the grulla there, Ska Wakan. Cody stole Chikala last fall (2011) when Ska Wakan was a little sick and had a new foal by her side (Lilka). Ska did get better and this little filly seems content here and very pregnant.

The other mature mare that looks just like her sister, Cosima, except her stripe goes right is Hope. Hope has this new filly we named Question. Her stripe looks just like a wrench! Really healthy looking this one...gorgeous.

Off to the waterhole ...here you can see Chikala very pregnant. Also Hope's 2 year old son, Slate, is missing. I am pretty sure I saw him with bachelors by Lake Draw but can't confirm. He is a grey.

Haze's band

I have not been going out as much this summer. The draught is severe and the conditions are brutal. I did manage to make it out last week on a hot and smokey (from near by wildfires) day. The first band we saw was Haze's. This is the band who's former band stallion (Greasewood) was euthanized by The BLM last winter. He has 15" of barbed wire wrapped around his leg and was suffering bad. Anyway the mares mourned for a bit and then were claimed by the handsome sorrel with one blue eye, Haze.

I think of the little foal we call Sagewood as Greasewood's legacy. Sagewood is an only foal like most of the foals out at SWB. Her or she was born to White Sage who is just a 3 year old filly (The HSUS did not PZP the 2009 fillies). Greasewood acquired her and her mom, Yarrow, sometime during winter of 2010.

This is Rooibos. he is dogging Haze. I have never seen him this far south. he was with the unsettled bunch last year (with Eleganza). He is feisty and was running around doing a good job of keeping Haze on his hooves.

That is Demi, the domestic. She was "dropped" off by someone fall of 2010 and has managed to earn the title of mustang. There are no other domestics in here that have survived since the 2008 round up. There was another mare, Monet, but she was jerked out by Sombrero Ranches last month.

The Hazer

Yarrow is the grandma to Sagewood, White Sage is her daughter. Something happened to Yarrow last spring (2011) and she has never been the same since. It started with a limp that gradually got worse which led to her feet growing strange. She still limps , but I witnessed her cantering and keeping up with her band. If this mare was chased by a helicopter she would most likely be put down for having a club foot. She needs to be bait trapped and have her hooves fixed (in my opinion). Why doesn't The H$U$ do anything?

Demi lost her foal this spring. No one knows what happened ...one day she was very pregnant, then she wasn't. Like many of the mature mare she looks after little Sagewood like she was her own. The 3 year old fillies are not the best moms.

Rooibos

Demi and White Sage. You can tell White Sage is Greasewood's daughter by her confirmation. A real easy keeper. Built Range tough.

It was good to finally see this band in person this summer.  I feel very blessed there are folks now on facebook who post their photos for all to see. I can not afford to keep going out as much as I have been and I am also discouraged because The BLM is talking of a helicopter round up next year without considering their social structure.