JimmyDarkSand/Chief Band

This unique band has two bay band stallions, three lovely grey mares a dogging dun and some good looking youngsters. Here you see Jimmy leading the mares. Chief is out of sight but claims the lighter greys, Vermillion and Darcy. Jimmy has the dark, dappled grey, Barbie.

The foal in the middle is Jane. She has really shed out dark. Her newborn fuzz was a tawny color, but no mistaking her distinctive horizontal star. The goofy yellow yearling is Dreamer, he is Jane's full brother out of Darcy and Chief. The HSUS will not tell me which mares they darted with PZP in 2010, but I would suspect these mares got some of the contaceptive.

Actually, the star is a small slit of a moon. She is sturdy and has a good family band to look after her in this brutal environment. Temperatures could go below 40 degrees below 0 in the winter.

Jimmy with the grey mares ...L to R  Barbie, Darcy and Vermillion. Vermillion has a colt that was born late (Nov) of 201, Kanoa. I did not get any good photos of him, but he is a beautiful guy, kinda grulla with a nice conformation. He was hanging out with the satellite stallion, Roper. You can see him in the facebook albums.

Jimmy claims this mare, Barbie, and she seems to adore him.

Vermillion"s three year old filly, Spook.

Roper, the cocky little dun who has been dogging this band for over 2 years. To me he is the essence of a wild horse.

Chief/JimmyDarkSand Band



Chief out front and the other bay, Jimmy, behind him. These two stallions coexist. I think it is because their mares want to be together. This is always an interesting band to observe plus they have the foal that was born in October. I really wanted to see how the little guy (Kanoa) was wintering.

There he is (on the left) with his big brother, Dreamer. The two colts are about 6 months apart.

Dreamer gets up first....

....followed by Kanoa. They bee line it to their moms.

He is molting! He looks so funny...what color will he be? For now he looks good and strong ( and a little goofy!).

The grey mare making the funny face is Vermillion, Kanoa's mom.

The chestnut filly is Vermillion's 2 year old daughter, Spook. Kanoa is her half brother. Vermillion was with Brave last year, so that is the most likely sire of the late foal.

This is the yearling filly, Megan. Her dam is the one with Dreamer. She is usually hanging out towards the back with the cocky little dun stallion....

.....Roper.

All of the mustangs here look fat and healthy. It is a good thing to see.

Chief/JimmyDarkSand Band (feat Kanoa)

I had seen the new foal in The Chief/Jimmy band a couple of weeks ago, but not this close. We originally thought it was a filly, but "she" is a little colt....perfect in every way. A friend of the mustangs has named him Kanoa meaning "One Who Runs Free".

This band actually has three stallions...JimmyDarkSand, Roper and , this gorgeous bay, Chief. He has claimed Kanoa and his mom ...it is clear. He acts like a proud father. Last year Vermillion, Kanoa's dam, ran with Brave, but they were always close to Chief's band. The three grey mature mares in this band are very bonded. The stallios put up with each other for the mares (I think).

There's Jimmy, another bay. This summer he claimed Barbie, the dark grey, but now I am not sure which mares are his, this band is a bit confusing!

This is a very late foal. I am glad he has a mature mom and a strong band ....without them he would not have a chance in these brutal range conditions. Soon The Basin will be covered with snow , the water sources will freeze and the forage is thin. Winter is so tough out here. I would say "Ole Man Winter" is the number one predator around here.

The 2 yr old filly, Spook. Kanoa is her brother. We call the pretty white mom, Vermillion. There was another 2 yr old filly in this band, but she is with Dan. I would say about half of the 2009 fillies (2 yr olds) have left their families. Some have left and come back...no inbreeding here.

There is another 2011 foal in this interesting band...this one...Dreamer. It has been fun to watch him change colors. For now he is a red head grey. His mom is quite aloof with him and he hangs back with his yearling sister ,Megan ,and the cocky little dun stallion, Roper.

That's Barbie in the center, it is her 2 yr old filly that has left the band (Britta). She really looks stunning right now. A true Sand Wash gem.  Here you can see the three different shades of grey mares. Are they related?

Dreamer and Megan.

That's Roper. He has been dogging Jimmy and Chief all summer.

Isn't she a beauty? This is the one called Barbie...no foal for her this year, nor last.

Darcy...mom to Dreamer and Megan. She also has a 2 yr old colt running around with the bachelor stallions (Hawk).

Soaking up some rays...it is getting cold out there!

Dreamer and Megan...again.

Kanoa with his dam and his band stallion, Chief.

The little guy with his sister and primitive looking mom. She has some nice striping on her legs.

He will keep his newborn fuzz through the winter...what color is under there is anyones guess. For now he almost looks grulla.

Never alone for too long.

All of the mares help to watch over him.

We leave in peace.

Misc News and Photos from the Range

I can't believe it! Demi, the domestic mare who got dumped on the ridge last fall, has survived the winter and has somehow made it back to where she started and is with Benson, the stallion she originally started out with. She looks great!
Here is the handsome overo black and white, Benson. Demi was last seen with Greasewood going into the winter, he is a more dominent band stallion then this guy. Greasewood had another mustang mare that did not like Demi. I wonder if she was the reason the mare left? Demi, in my opinion, would like out and have a nice home with humans that would care for her. She let me and some kids pet her and looked like she was waiting for a ride out. I can only hope the HSUS does something about this situation. For now she is on her own.
Tripod is parked on the ridge alone. Sure wish he would find a friend soon. I observed him trotting and cantering with bad leg and all.
Well, I found Prince's missing chestnut (Moonlight), her grey 2 yr old (Dusty) and his ghost pinto (Mystic). They are with Blazer and his original mare, Yellow Cat.... Mystic does not have her yearling filly, Madeleine. I found her near by with Bugs..... The chestnut mare looks pissed off! She does not like Yellow Cat and Blazer telling her what to do!
Here is a shot of Cinder...Josie and White out's filly. She is pretty shy and her mom has never been the same since she was darted last fall. I was grateful to get this close. She is a beaut.
White Out's band. This is one of the bands I observe in the winter. They are all doing good. As I suspected River, the 2 yr old colt, has left the band. I saw him a few days before with Centauro's 2 yr old colt, Capitano, and the elder stallion, Kiowa.
Chief telling Roper to GO AWAY!! Chief is working in tandem with JimmyDarkSand to keep three mares and some of their youngsters.
There is Darcy's new foal. She is in the Jimmy/Chief band. They seem unsettled and just hurried by.
Miss Owl.
There is Apache. I had not seen him all year. He is tailing Jimmy's band....from a distance.
Willie Nelson was with three 2 yr old colts on this day, showing them the ways of the range.
Nomad and Feather have "lost" their 2 yr old filly, Streaker. For now they are just a couple. They have a strong, harmonious bond.
...if looks could kill. Brave and Ellie.
The black is one of Picasso's 2 yr old colts (Snip) and the chestnut is one of Corona's (Craig). Both colts got kicked out of their bands early last year. They seem to be good friends now.
Craig....a Corona baby out of his grey, Indian Rose.
Little miss Madeleine..."the pink horse". She seemed relaxed with Bug's band. This is the third Sand Wash filly I have seen as a yearling leave her band. It will be interesting to see what happens in situatons like this...She sure semed content and relaxed.
Craig flemming...lots of mares in heat this time of year..
There is Nomad having a word with Willie Nelson...nothing became of it, just a bunch of postering and noise.
I can't tell you how happy I was to see this guy, Sterling. He was one of the first stallions I met on the range. At the time he had the mare Crow. I am pretty sure this is Owl's sire. His coat always looks like that. He is the type that shows all of his battle scars. He was alone on this day.