Bachelor Stallions Plus Cinder

Today I see this wonderful group of wild horses. They are all bachelor stallions except the little dark grey one. I am almost certain that is Cinder. She is only an yearling and I am wondering why she is not with her family band (Prancer's). This has happened to yearling fillies before, but it is unusual. She has a slight limp.

The stud colt leading the way is Falcon from Eagle's band (The Bird Herd). He is a 2 year old and this is the first time I have seen him with bachelors. His mom, Lark, recently had her 2012 filly, Robin, and Eagle must have told him it was time to fly.

This handsome pinto is the son of Picasso and Mingo. We call him Tango. it has been a long time since I have seen him. He is now a three year old and is really blooming. He seems to be in charge of Cinder, but is scrapping with Hawk over her.

Cinder....her mom is Josie who was last seen with Prancer. White Out is the most likely sire of this greying out filly. I am only 90% sure this is her. I'd have to see Prancer's band to confirm, but the stars match up in older photos of her.

Look at those perfect hooves! This is Hawk. He is a three year old from Centauro's band. Reyna is his dam.

The mustangs go to Sheepherder Springs for a drink.....

The catch pond is empty. We are in severe draught.

Our BLM installed this solar panel pump which is filling this old trough. I have never seen horses drinking from it, but other folks have.

These four do not drink. They move on to the next water hole....Here you can seee how dry it is.

Eagle's Band "The Bird Herd" (Feat Robin)

We drove miles and miles without seeing a horse the we came along Eagle's band. This family is almost always spotted in the same area year round. Eagle has just one mare. The two pintos are her yearling and 2 yr old colts....
 Meadowlark and Falcon.. By the way they are acting we can tell they have a new foal! We see the ears first..

Then the little guy gets up. It is a perfect little sorrel. I can not determine gender.

We just get a glinpse of the newbie and then his mom is a good wild horse mare and leads him off.

His dam is Lark. She is one of two mares I know of that is not part of the PZP study. She is prolific. I am not sure who her 2009 offspring was...either Hoot or Sparrow.

Big brother, Falcon. This is Lark's 2 year old....the mustang with a perfect Thunderbird on his neck.

Pushing off.

This new foal will get used to his rambunctious brother play fighting.

Eagles Band (The Red Balloon)

Eagle's Band (The Bird Herd)

We had the good fortune of  running into Eagle's band today. They were they always are on the range. This band is very territorial and does not seem to roam far. Eagle has one mare and two beautiful pinto sons. This is The Eagle. Many mustang watchers see this band ...they seem to like to be photographed and will often do a "trot by". They did one of those today. I captured it on video and will post to YouTube later today.

I really like this mare. She is always so robust and healthy looking. She seems content being Eagle's only mare. She is not part of the HSUS PZP study. We call her Lark.

There's The Falcon trying to hide. He is something else. He has the best markings. I hope this works to his advantage.

Falcon's little brother, Meadow Lark. They are the best of friends. Nothing cuter then two wild colts together, especially when they are as handsome as these two!

Falcon...born with a perfect Thunder bird on his neck.

Meadow is still a mommas boy....looks like he will be getting a new sister or brother soon. Lark has her foals early.

The mare decides to get a better look and smell of us...Meadow, of course, follows.

He is just so pretty I had to post another photo of him.

There ya go...The Bird Herd.

Winter's Day

I finally decide it is time to head out to the range. I am surprised how good the roads are. After we pass a few sheep camps we spot this band of horses. It is Hurricane's (formally Rounder's). I can see they have added a new horse...the grey one...I am pretty sure it is White Sage from Greasewood's band. The horses are very skittish and no not stick around. I know the BLM did an aerial count and am wondering if the low flying aircraft has spooked them. We decide to push on and maybe catch this band on the way out.

The next band we see is Eagle's. Here are the two rambunctious brothers. Falcon and Meadow Lark.

The magnificent band stallion, Eagle. He is also very spooked and does not hang out for very long.

Eagle's only mare, Lark, looks very pregnant. The pinto brothers are her sons. She is not part of the PZP study.

That's Corona's band in the fog.

On the way back we do see Hurricane's band again and I decide to see if I can approach them. This is how close I came before they ran. L to R White Sage(?), Pablina, Pablina's 2011 filly, Lozania, Floriano (bay) and her yearling son, Cabellero. They all look great! They are having an easy winter compared to last.

The gorgeous white mare, Pablina. It is difficult to determine if she or her friend, Floriano, is lead mare. They seem to share the role. Pablina and Floriano stick together. Before Hurricane they were with Rounder and before that Lightning. As I was observing them I could see Lightning about a mile away. He has been a loner ever since he lost his mares. 

Hurricane, the solid dun. As far as I know these are his first mares since the 2008 round up. I think he is a young stallion. The HSUS has the ages of some of the horses as they were aged at the 2008 round up. E mail hhopkins@humanesociety.org.

Do you think that is White Sage (the grey)? Her mom and former band stallion were both lame last time I saw them. She seems happy here.

The mustangs never really settled with me around.

Lozania with her new sister filly. White Sage is huge like her sire!

I like the little chestnut colt with the big blaze, Cabellero. Floriana did not have a foal this year. Maybe that is why this guy is still with her. Pablina's yearling colt (Diego) left this fall to join the bachelors.

Hurricane.  12/25  The grey filly is actually Dusty from Prince's band. I confirmed that yesterday.

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!