Greasewood's Band

Well, I had not been out to The Basin for awhile, but some friends had been getting in and I thought would give it a try. We have been having some warm, dry weather which is just great for the mustangs. Last year they got buried in snow early on and had a really tough winter... The only band I saw on this day was Greasewood's.

This is the domestic mare, Demi. She came right up to us for a scratch. She seemed healthy. I got a really good look at her hooves and they were great, especially since she has all white feet. I felt like throwing a halter on her and pulling her out. Most of the local domestic horses have started to be fed.....Demi will get no hand outs here. For now she is lead mare here. I hope she is not pregnant! I couldn't tell for sure.

Believe it or not the chunky grey is the chestnut's two year old daughter.....Yarrow and White Sage. Yarrow has been lame since early this summer and probably will never be 100% sound, but she looks much better then she did. She is a true mustang. Her daughter stays by her side and Greasewood watches out for her.

Wind Knots. This filly we call White Sage is really beautiful and big. She has the softest doe eyes. I really like her.

The mare's front hoof has become deformed, but she has adopted and gets around fine. It will be a good time for her to heal while there is snow...she will not have to make the trip to the water hole for now. I am really rooting for this girl. I would like to make sure she is not chased by a helicopter, it would surely kill her.

Greasewood himself is a little lame...back right. I think he will be OK.  In the last couple of months he has a couple of two year old fillies (Gypsy and Dusty), but they are gone. Dusty is with Picasso and Gypsy went back to the Razzle/Dazzle bunch, who is now being led by Chrome. This information is from other folks visiting the range. Also word that Twister and WildWind's band are doing good up north (thanks Martin). My car could not handle these roads. I will go back when it freezes..

Prince and Picasso's Bands

Well, it is confirmed...Prince, the elegant white stallion, got his chestnut mares back along with their 2 year old daughters. Last week I caught a glimpse of them sneaking across the desert, then I saw Rounder without them. It took Prince all summer, but he has his girls back. It is great to see.

 This was one of the first bands I saw when I began observing the herd the autumn of 2009. They were just like this with the fillies being little weanlings. Then Prince added the ghost pinto, Mystic, and her newborn daughter, Madeleine spring of 2010 (they came from Lightning's band). He came out of winter with his band intact, but all hell broke loose (I have no idea what happened), but  Rounder ended up with Sunshine and Blazer got Mystic and Moonlight, the other mare. Prince ended up alone... Then Moonlight found her way back to Sunshine and joined Rounder's band. Just recently Prince got them back...So now things are how they started. The dynamics out here are complex and fascinating.

I hiked over a mile to get these shots. I really wanted to see Prince back with his mares. He did not look so good when he was alone. To me he is an old friend.

This is the grey 2 year old filly. She was the one that was with Blazer, then ended up joining Rounder. They never seemed to mix in Rounder's band. Rounder's mares never seemed to accept them.

I call them "the twin chestnut mares"...Sunshine and Moonlight. Named after Steamboat ski runs. I really think they are sisters. They have not had foals since 2009.

The other two year old filly, Oda. She really takes after her mom in the good looks and color departments. She is best friends with Dusty, that is for sure! Such mama's girls. I wonder how long they will stay with their dams? The mother/daughter relationships are some of the strongest out here.

So I'm looking at Prince and his family and look who appears? Picasso! He looks great and seems to be chasing Prince's band. Does he have his eye on Dusty and Oda? I was worried about the Icon as a fellow photographer had shots of a banged up knee, probably from when Vegas stole his yearling daughter, but on this day he was 100% sound and "feeling his oats"!

Picasso's loyal mares...Mingo and Monet.

Picasso's band.....a band with no youngsters.

A fine looking pair!

While I was watching Prince and Picasso, Greasewood came from a mile away to say hi. I could see his mare Yarrow through my binoculars and I saw her run! This is good news...the little mare has been very lame for most of the summer, but I saw her leading her band. More proof how tough these mustangs are!

It was well worth the hike to see this beautiful band of mustangs reunited with each other. And seeing Picasso was a bonus!

Greasewood's Band

More Bugs

I sure have been seeing a lot of this band this spring. Last year it was the same and then they "vanished" and I did not see them again until the next fall. Anyway there's Bugs, the buckskin. The little pale colored horse on his right is Mystics's yearling, Madeleine. For some reason she ended up with this band when Prince's band broke up.
That's Sundance, one of the two "palomino" yearling colts. The other one we call Butch. This one is much lighter and sometimes think he might just stay white? I'm not a color expert. Butch is more clearly a palomino.
The new colt, Titanium. This is the third palomino colt the dam (Hazel) has had in the last three years....Skip, Sundance and now this little guy.
Bugs, a good loyal band stallion.
That's Titanium's full two year old brother, Skip. He is in the process of leaving his band, but is still near by. There was another two year old colt, Ziggy, in this band, but he is already off running with the bachelors. Ziggy and Skip had a tight brother bond. For now Skip is interested in a two year old filly near by....White Sage... Greasewood's daughter.
Bugs and fellow band stallion, Greasewood. This was the first time I had seen Greasewood since last November. He looks good and still has his one mare, Yarrow, and her two year old grey, White Sage. Greasewood had Demi, the domestic, up until this spring, but Demi has left him and I last saw her on the ridge with Benson. Look for White Sage to be leaving her parents soon.
Sundance sniffing his new brother. Hazel is a super good mustang mom.
So if you see a band with four little light colored wild horses that is Bug's band! I think Madeleine will be well taken care of here.

Greasewood.. athletic and proud!

That's Greasewood picking on Roany. The other 2 horses are Cowboy (lead) and Rudi. Many of the impressive stallions I have met are bays, Corona's bay foal also looks like he is going to have nice build. This is GREASEWOOD!

Greasewood , the impressive bay bachelor

Greasewood seems like an up and coming band stallion. I saw him with Cowboy, Rudi, and Roany. He does not like Roany in his space!