Centauro's Band

Centauro's band! I was very excited to see this band of wild horses come streaking across the desert. I just hoped they stopped so I could get a good look at them.

The beautiful dappled grey stallion.

He stops and gives me a big snort. He sees me as no threat and gives me a quick look at his very special family. Centauro has the most 2011 foals on the range....four. They are all beauties.

This is the youngest of the four foals....he is a colt we call Kona.

This little filly, Isis, was born just a week before her brother. She will be a stunning palomino like her mom.

This mare, Sunspot, joined Centauro this spring. She came from Jet's band when they "dismantled". Sunspot loves Centauro. It shows. She was pregnant, but somehow lost her foal.

Here is Sunspot from her "mane" side. She had a foal last year....a colt, Nimbus. He is  with Femur and that gang. I have no idea why she left hm behind, but he is doing OK. He is a beautiful grey like her.

Reyna is a cool mare. She is part of the PZP study, but keeps having foals anyway. This is the first time I have seen her without her 2 yr old filly, Ramona...I wonder if she is alive and who has her? Reyna had the most gorgeous filly early this spring....Her 2 yr old colt, Hawk, is a strong bachelor stallion.

...Tierra. I just love the looks of this filly! I wonder if she will be a rare grulla pinto? Maybe just a grey? She and her brother, Terora, were the first wild foals I saw this spring. They were born a good 3 months before Kona and Isis.

Sofia, the other bay mare, but youn can easily tell her a part from Reyna. She is the most wily and will usually lead the band away.

Centauro's foals.

All four of them together.

The two fillies...Isis and Tierra.

Love her!

Sofia having a roll.

The two palominos are mother/daughter.

This stallion really shows his Spanish ancestory.

Centauro's, Jet's and Cherokee's Bands

I briefly saw Centauro's large band. I confirmed they are all still there...all 11 of them. This is the only band that I know of that has four 2011 foals. The bay mare, Reyna, was very flighty and, as usual, led them off. All membes looked sound and healthy.

Wow was I ever happy to see the black, Jet, streak by with his one mare, Zephyr, and her new foal who we named Zepplin on face book. We have not confirmed the gender. Jet had the largest band when he was rounded up in Oct 2008. He seemed to get his mares back and had quite a large band (9) until this spring when something totally disbanded them. Jet ended up alone. Femur got 2 of his mares and all of his 2009 and 2010 fillies and colt. The white mare (Sunspot...lost foal) is with Centauro and this grulla found her way back to Jet. Look for him to get more mares. He is extremely athletic. Go Jet! I love this stallion, I have seen him race across the desert at turbo speed. I will never forget the power of Jet.

Cherokees Band.... I have only got a close up view of them a few times. Earlier this spring I recorded the grey/white pinto lead mare (Bonita) gave birth to a pinto colt, also a grey. There he (Marty) is running second behind his mom (she looks just white here). The horse behind that 2011 colt is Zander (grey), Bonita's yearling colt. The next horse in line is the only mustang that needs a name in my project "Photo Documentation of the Sand Wash Basin Wild Horses". The HSUS worker told me he is a colt. He is marked very much like the stallion, Cherokee, who is not shown in this photo. The brown mare is Mandalay. I don't know much about her and even less about the horse behind her (also brown). I know it is a filly we named Mirage. I am pretty sure Miracle, who is now with Vegas, is the 2 yr old filly from this mystery sorrel mare..