Hurrricane's Band

Well it has been almost 2 years since I have done any documentation of the Sand Wash Basin Wild Horses. I would like to continue my work and join forces with the other photographers to make sure we are supplying accurate numbers to The BLM.  It is good to be back with my friends, the wild horses. This is Hurricane's Band.

The first thing that catches my eye is a new foal for Pablina, the elder grey/white mare who I first met in 2009 when she was with Lightning. She joined Hurricane, along with her bay friend, Floriano, a couple of yesrs ago. The band has added two additional mares, Dusty and Rudi, both I recognize.

This is Dusty's 2014 filly. She was named Allie. Now a days the photographer who spots the foal first gets to put a name on it. It is then added to a spreadsheet, given a number and reported to The BLM. The link between the documentation and The BLM is a group called SWAT. They came on to the scene a couple of years ago. They mostly focus on PZP and counting foals, much like The HSUS did when they were here.  They have put  our herd over AML (appropriate management level) of 363 wild horses. I believe this number is high as their is no way to determine a death/escape rate. Many of us continue to advocate on The Sand Wash Basin Wild Horse face book page where we are biased towards the horses.

This is my first look at Hurricane's "Twins". I had heard a lot about them through face book and have seen them grow up through other people's photos. They are not actual twins. One is from Dusty , the other from Pablina. They are both colts, have stripes on their legs and are a handful for Hurricane! Please check The SWBWH page under 2013 foal albums for their names. They are just stunning!

Our main documenter is from New Zealand. I took these photos for her and others so we can tell the two apart. The BLM is talking of "chemical vastectomies" for our stallions. I am against this.  

The bay is Floriano. She does not have many foals of her own. She had a beautiful colt in 2010, Cabellero, he stayed with the family for a long time, but has now left. I have not seen a photo of him for a long time. I am more concerned with keeping track of the ones gone missing.  Maybe this winter we can focus on that.

After the round up of 2008 Hurricane was young and ran with the bachelors, but it did not take him long to steal a couple of mares. We have many dun stallions here. Hurricane has a snub nose, a trait admired by mustang lovers like myself.

Dusty is a 2009 mare out of Prince's band. I remember when she left her family band. She was briefly with Picasso before settling in with Hurricane. Back then we tried "sponsor a wild horse" for fun on face book. A person got paired up with a horse and was going to keep track of him and her.

Some folks say we are too emotionally attached to these animals, that from a management point of view that makes no sense. The BLM asked me time and time again "How does the social structure affect the way we mange these wild horses"?
I think it matters a lot and we should interfere as little as possible. I think we should have a say in which mare receives PZP and their should be a public album where we can see which of our mares have been darted.

This beautiful band displays primitive markings.

What does the future hold for this filly?

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.

Rounder's Band (taken over by Hurricane)

Well, I was surprised to see Hurricane, the solid dun, has taken over Rounder's remaining two mares, Pablina and Floriano, plus their youngsters. The mares were leading the way and Rounder was a ways back tailing them.

There is Cabellero, Floriano's (bay) yearling colt. I have a fondness for this little guy, he is so unique with his dark mane, flaxen tail and great big blaze with an apron that wraps around his nose...so cute!

Pablina, the grey mare, has this little 2011 filly by her side. She is named Lozania, such a little princess. She doesn't seem to mind who she is with, just so her mom is near by.

Pablina and Floriano are best mare friends. They originally were together in Lightning's band, which Rounder took over last spring. They are usually right next to each other. This is Floriano.

The elegant, Pablina.

Poor Rounder...he looks run down and a bit thin. Maybe he will be Hurricane's satellite stallion?

On the other hand, I am happy for Hurricane. He has been a bachelor since the 2008 round up.

You can tell Hurricane from the other dun stallions because he has no white and a blocky head. He has the look of a Spanish horse. We will have to wait and see if he keeps these mares.

Rounder's Shrinking Band

The first band I see this morning is the liver chestnut's, Rounder's. I knew Prince had gotten his chestnut mares and their 2 year old fillies back from Rounder and this encounter confirmed that.

 Rounder had one of the largest bands on the range, but now just has two mares and two youngsters. Proving once again how dynamic the herd is...spreading the genetics around. Nature's way.

Rounder's mares Pablina and Floriano. They are best of friends. They came from Lightning's band when that family broke up in 2010. They never seemed to accept Prince's mares. It looked like Rounder had two separate families when he had the other two mares.

Florinao, she did not have a foal this year. She still has her yearling colt by her side, the big blazed chestnut we call Cabellero.

Pablina has had three foals in a row. Her 2 year old colt, Flash (now with bachelor), her yearling grey colt, Diego, who recently "vanished"...I am hoping he shows up... and this year she has a beautiful 2011 filly .... this little one. Lozania. She is a very elegant mustang mare and a proven mother.

The bay's yearling colt, Cabellero. His sire could be Haze . Haze was with Lightning's band as a satellite stallion when Floriano would have gotten bred. Love this guy, he has a flaxen tail and a dark mane and that wonderful blaze!

The only 2011 foal in this band, Lozanio (Rose Bud).

There is the stallion on the left. The liver chestnut with the prominent stripe. He looks more relaxed now that his band is smaller. I think Prince was running him down, stalking him. He looks much better then last time I saw him. He is a high strung stallion.

The HSUS girl told me she had never seen him until he took over Lightning's band and she had bee documenting for two summers. He is a beautiful stallion with wonderful conformation.

I wanted to show you that wire on the tree. The wire is everywhere in the Basin. We need a clean up day to get rid of it! It is a hazard to the mustangs and an eye sore . Every time I go out there I try to pick up a bit of wire...it is everywhere! We are in need of a non profit group who looks after this herd and the range. These modern day mustangs need guardians to ensure they can stay out here on their rightful home.

Rounder leads his band off.

The wild horses seemed relaxed and harmonious on this day. They were on their own. They had been hanging out with Corona's band the last time I had seen them (about a week ago). Everything changes out here, there is no science to it...just wild horse behavior.

Rounder's Band

Lucky me....on this day I am fortunate enough to run into Rounder's band. I had heard there were some changes to his harem and it was nice to see for myself.

Pablina, the flea bitten mare, has lost her yearling son, Diego. Hopefully he has struck off on his own and has found some bachelor stallions to roam the range with. This is about the time of the year the first yearling colts leave their families. Diego was born early last spring so he would have been old enough to strike off on his own.

Rounder now has both of Prince's chestnut mares plus both of their 2 year old fillies. For awhile the mares got seperated when Prince's band got "disbanded". Moonlight was with Blazer for a short while, but found her way back to her "twin sister" and best friend, Sunshine. They have a very tight bond. Here you see the mares with their fillies.

Rounder, the impressive liver chestnut band stallion.

That's Juniper, she joined this band sometime between last fall and this spring. She is a 2 year old filly from Cosmo's band.

The only 2011 foal in this band, little Lozania. She is growing healthy and strong and is well taken care of by her family band.

Here are Rounder's original mares, Pablina and her bay friend, Floriano. They came from Lightning's band. They have a very tight bond and are not real accepting of Moonlight and Sunshine yet.

I love this sweet little colt. We call him Cabellero. He is Floriano's yearling. He was born later then his brother, Diego, the one that is missing. Often the colts will leave when their dams have their new foal. I don't think Floriano was bred this year, but I could be wrong. If she doesn't have a 2011 foal, most likely Cabellero will stay with his dam, but nothing is certain out here.

Cabellero is getting to know his new sister, Dusty. She is Moonlight's 2 yr old filly.

Dusty, most likely Prince is her sire.

That's Oda, Sunshine's daughter and Dusty's best friend. I am so glad they somehow got reunited.

The family bonds between these mustangs are strong. We should take this into consideraton if we have a "gather". It is inhumane to chase them with helicopters and rip the families apart. In this day and age we can do better. We should be working on a bait system where we could pull out a few adoptable youngsters if there is a population problem.

Juniper, Cosmo's daughter, Rounder's young mare. She seems content here.

Rounder with his new mares.

Kiowa, the pinto bachelor stallion is challenging Rounder, he would like some mares of his own. He has been "babysitting" two 2 year old colts all summer, but seems ready to have mares. He is strong and fit and it giving Rounder a real threat.

Rounder is a lean machine. He is off to face off with Corona, who is near by.

Nothing much becomes of it and he backs down from the dunalino. Rounder will have to work hard to keep all these mares. He has no satellite stallion to help him. We will have to wait and see what happens.