This & That

I am way behind on this blog. I thought I would try to get some photos down before I go back. Here is the bachelor Lightning, still traveling alone, but doing a bit of sparring with the other stallions. Lightning was a band stallion until 2010 when Rounder took them over. Lightning put up a heck of a fight. back then Haze was his satellite stallion, who ended up turning on him...Since then he has been a real loner horse.

Anyway here you can see we are in draught. It is sad to see. We can only hope for rain.

Prince has a beautiful new filly in his band. We call her Hopscotch and every one agrees her color is exotic. She was born to the 3 yr old filly, Oda, who is most likely Prince's daughter, but there is no inbreeding here. Oda and her mom, Sunshine, got split up from Prince spring of 2011 and were not reunited until around November. Oda and her mom were briefly with Blazer and then summered with Rounder.
Oda's dam, Sunshine, (Hopscotch's Grandma) helps with the new filly along with "her twin chestnut sister", Moonlight.. 

Prince (Merlin)

The old black mare in Yellow Man's (Cyclone) band, Crow.  

I still can not figure out who this grey colt is. He is running with bachelors up on The Ridge.

The sorrel is Voodoo. He has mares, but still likes to leave them for a bit and romp with the boys.Hhere he is playing with the palomino, Skip. Skip is the 3 year old colt out of Hazel and Bugs.

Here are Voodoo's two mares. The black one, Streaker, is clearly pregnant. The dun is Yellow Cat..Voodoo acquired these mares last summer (2011)... Streaker is only three.

Tripod is doing good. I observed him rearing up and playing rough with the other stud colts He has been disabled since he was a newborn, but surprises us all with his hardiness.. Here he is with Rooibos, the little sorrel with a small split in his stripe.

Jigsaw is now a yearling. I thought this photo would be good for our ID cards.

Jigsaw's dam, Kira, another one for the ID cards..

I just liked this photo of Robin from "The Bird Herd". She seems like a vivacious filly who is growing up with her two rowdy brothers, Meadowlark and Falcon.

Robin

Eagles Band...."The Bird Herd"

Prince's Band

I was really excited to see Prince's band on this day. I had not seen them for awhile and was glad to see they were all fat and healthy.

The very elegant white stallion, Prince. The horses are having a very easy winter and it shows.

Prince has two chestnut mares with flaxen manes and tails, they look like sisters. This one we call Sunshine. The way I tell her a part from the other mare is that her blaze does not wrap around her cheek.

This is the other mare, Moonlight. Just look at that mane! How do these wild horses stay so clean?? This mare has only had one foal since the 2008 round up. That would be Dusty, who has left the band and joined up with Hurricane.

Posy Mustangs.

 Prince lost his mares last spring...all of them, he also had another mare and filly at the time (Mystic and Madeleine). They got separated... Mystic ended up with Blazer and Madeleine with Bugs band. At first Sunshine was with Rounder and Moonlight with Blazer, but they found their way back to each other and Moonlight (and Dusty) joined her sister with Rounder.

Eventually Prince got his strength back and reclaimed his mares from Rounder.

Here is Oda, Sunshine's 2009 filly. I find it interesting how she stayed and Dusty left...they were the same age and good buddies.

Dusty knew the mares with Hurricane as they were with Rounder when she was. She seems real attached to a yearling filly in that band (Lozania).  The more I get to know these wild horses the more I can see how much power the mares have, the stallions seem to let them choose sometimes.

This was one of the first bands I met out at SWB. They like the southern part of the HMA (Herd Management Area) and are quite tolerant of people.

Prince's Band

On our way out, we see Prince's band. They were right where they should be, by the entrance. I love this band, they are so peaceful and wily at the same time. This is the Moonlight mare. Isn't her mane something? Moonlight's 2 year old daughter, Dusty, is missing and this time I think for good. Someone spotted her with Picasso looking very content. Moonlight has not has a foal since 2009. She is part of the HSUS PZP study and I am sure was easy to dart with the drug last year. She is quite tolerant of people.

Speaking of tolerant...the band stallion, Prince. Oh how I love this little Spanish looking mustang. He has quite a story to tell...This spring he lost his entire band with consisted of all mares and fillies. I have no idea what happened, but he was beat up and looking quite defeated all summer.... He was not easy to approach then.

At the time he had three mares...these two chestnuts and the ghost pinto, Mystic,plus all of their daughters. They all got scattered. Mystic, Moonlight and Dusty ended up with Blazer, Sunshine (the other chestnut mare) and her daughter, Oda, ended up with Rounder. Mystic's yearling daughter, Madeleine, showed up in Bug's band and Prince was left alone.

This is the other chestnut, Sunshine, and her 2 yr old daughter, Oda. They are the ones that were with Rounder initially after the breakup. After about a month Moonlight and Dusty found their way back to these two. It was amazing, especially since Rounder and Blazer do not live in the same part of the HMA. The bonds that these horses have towards each other runs deep.

I'll never forget the day this fall when I saw Prince had gottten his chestnut beauties back from Rounder, along with their daughters. He seemed so content. This is a harmonious band.

Oda, the remaining two year old filly.

When I first met this band in 2009 Prince had these two mares and the fillies were just weanlings. It has been fun to watch them grow up and observe the dynamics of a wild horse band. The whole Prince story has proved to me (once again) how family orientated these animals are. That is why I believe it is important to document them and make sure we do not tear the bands apart if there is a round up in 2013.

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!

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.