WildWind's Band



It is always fun to see WildWind's beautiful band. They can be quite elusive and it is no guarantee they will stick around. I am alone on this day so I know I have a good chance they will let me view them. Through a friend's photos I knew something was wrong with the elegant sorrel's right ear...we all assumed it had been bitten off in battle.
Lto R WildFire, WildSoul,WildStar,Maggie, Sugar, WildHeart, WildFlower, WildThing, and WildBoy

Well, when I saw this I knew something else was going on. It looks like some kind of growth? I went through my photos and a couple of months ago he had it, but it was smaller (but a lot more blood) and I never even took  notice. Now it is huge! But he seems in good health otherwise.

Close up view of the "growth". It has really damaged his ear and is still leaking a little blood. Maybe it is an abscess?

Don't feel too sorry for him..in the meantime he acquired Maggie, a 2 year old filly from Copper's Band (The Dark Ones). She is still settling into this band, but seems to have made a few friends and WildWind adores her.

She is the only mustang I can think of that has this coloring. I think of it as "muley", but is it called
"seal brown?' She is in good nick.

This white mare we call WildHeart. She is easy to tell apart from the other white mares by her "smudge mark" over her heart. She is one of the lead mares. She did not have a foal this year, but has her yearling colt and 2 year old daughter by her side still. She was clearly lead mare until Sugar came along (below). Now it seems like they share that duty.

The grey in the middle is WildHeart's 2 year old daughter, WildStar. She had a foal this year and boy is he cute! Aleta named him WildSoul. WildStar gets a lot of help raising him. The three mature mares are always near by, especially the grulla pinto, who also did not foal this year.

WildWind has two yearling colts...WildFire (grey) and WildBoy (sorrel). They are best of friends.

The youngest member....a little filly...WildFlower. Her mom is the sorrel who is also the mom of WildBoy.

The grulla pinto, Sugar, helps the young filly raise her colt. Sugar was not always in this band. When I first met her she was with Centauro with her 2009 filly, Gypsy. She left that band (and her filly) and then joined Copper. I first saw her with this stallion this spring. So she knows Maggie well who was with Copper.

The young mom is a little thin and not too interested in her foal, but lets him nurse. I was shocked this spring when I saw a few two year olds with foals. I honestly did not know a yearling filly could be bred, but it is rare. Anyway our little guy looks healthy and has a strong family to see him around the range. I hope this little mare does not get pregnant again.

The stand out yearling colt...WildFire. Is he not a beaut?

WildWind snakes his harem away.  A few minutes later they bolted and it was a sight to see them run like that! It will be interesting to see what happens to that ear! Let me know if you know what it is...thanks. N

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!