Cherokee's Band

front to back: Mirage, Mystery, Bonita, Cayenne, Mandalay, Freedom, Zander, Pico, Marty, Cherokee, Cayenne 

It is not often I see Cherokee's band and when I do they usually do  not stick around for long. Other people see them too and between us we have ID'd four, 2012 foals in  this elusive band of wild horses that reside in The Sand Wash Basin.

The grey/pinto mare, Bonita, has an unknown gender foal we call Cayenne.

The three year old filly on the right, Dolly, has this also unknown gender foal, Mica. Dolly originally came from Tuscarora's band. Her dam is Gaia. Gaia was the mare that was found dead by Lake Draw a couple of months ago. Mica will carry on her genes.

The little pinto foal we call Freedom. His dam is Mandalay...I believe Mandalay shares the duties of lead mare with  Bonita.

There is the band stallion, Cherokee, on the right with his two yearling colts out of Bonita and Mandalay...Marty and Pico. Marty is the grey and Pico is the sorrel. Marty has blue eyes. These two yearling colts are the best of friends!



Cherokee and his son, Freedom. No other band of horses out here has four foals! I would not be surprised if The HSUS had a hard time darting these mares in 2010.

Pico really inherited the good looks of his sire. Usually you can not say with certainty, but in this case I think we know for sure where Pico's genes came from!



There's Cayenne, Bonita's new foal! Other people have better photos of this band then I. By working together we are establishing an accurate public documentation. The BLM tryed to do an aerial count and once again concluded the only way to count this herd is from the ground.

Off they go! I love the wildness about this band. It's always a treat to see Cherokee's band! Long may they run.

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!

Copper's Band (The Dark Ones)

Not a lot of white in Copper's band.

The bay band stallion. This band is very elusive and not real tolerant of people.

There are 2 2011 colts in this band, Boomer and Red. This is Boomer.

This is Red.

Two very shy wild horses...yet curious. I have these all ID'd and genders confirmed, but I am getting to the point I would have to go back and look at my records. This place is huge! No one person could ever document a range this big. It would have to be a GROUP EFFORT. Time to unite and not be "Johnny come lately" if they decide to round up our friends...I am advocating for bait trapping, enlarging the HMA to the east. Feeding some of the horses and get them used to corrals..... PZP select mares....To me the most important thing is getting accurate numbers and record what it going on. For the modern day mustang, documentation is key to their management. My dream would be to never use helicopters again out at SWB. We could humanely bait trap a few youngsters if we need to adopt any out...For now I am concerned with them making it through the winter...

I just love this big, solid bay mare...she has no offspring off her own, but is an excellent "auntie" horse to the youngsters. We call her Scarlett.

Copper with his yearling colt, Coal.

The black mare, Evita, looks pregnant again. She is a prolific mare, but many out here are not.

After a mud bath.

It is always special when I see "the dark band". They are really difficult to document because of the lack of white markings, but I think I have got it down (for now)!

Copper's Band

I was driving along in the middle of nowhere and passed an old two track. I drove by, but for some reason turned around and turned down  it. It was the right thing to do as I ran into "the dark ones"....Copper's band. This band is easy to tell apart as they are all dark, no greys, pintos or roans here. This amazing band is composed of beautiful bays, blacks and liver chestnuts.

The band is led by Copper, the bay with three white socks. He really susses me out. I am afraid he will run, but he lets me have a quick look at his harem. I am more then thrilled.

Here is the impressive stallion with a mare we call Maggie. I suspect she is a 2 yr old, but can't confirm.

The little colt we named Red a couple of months ago has really grown. He has a little fox tail. So sturdy and strong!

Red

Here is the other 2011 colt, Boomer. His mom is the black with no white....Ebony.

Boomer and his gorgeous mom, Ebony.

Copper never takes his eyes off of me. I know my time is limited...

Maggie the muley mare. She is an American Mustang.

This is the solid bay, Scarlett. I think of her as an "auntie" mare. She has no offspring of her own, but looks after the youngsters.

One of the two yearling colts, Coal. I do not know who his dam is, but would guess Evita....

....because I know this guy's dam is Ebony. The chestnut we named Flame. This band is challenging for a wild horse documenter. Not a lot of distinctive markings here.

One more thing. I was happy to see Dolly, Tuscarora's 2 year old, with Copper. She was on my MIA list, but is now found. She is good friends with Maggie. Long live Copper's band! This was an awesome encounter with this shy, elusive band of rare Colorado wild horses. Thank you Copper!