Copper's Band

I drove up north hoping I would bump into Twister's (Deuce's/HSUS name) band. The HSUS lady and I had seen them earlier this week from afar. We could tell by looking through glass Copper Girl had a foal by her side..

But out at SWB you never know who you are going to see, as fate had it I did not see Twister, but lucky, lucky me I spot Copper and his harem.....also known as "The Dark Ones" I had seen them once before this spring, but not close enough to get photos.

That's Copper front and center. he has four white socks, but hard to see these horses' legs in this thick sage. To the right is Scarlett, his solid bay mare. The black behind is his 2 yr old son, Coal, and the little muley guy on the right is an yearling colt, Boomer.

This grey mare is new to Copper's band. I think t may be Wi Wakan from Ohitika's band, but can not confirm. She has no youngsters with her. Copper has also lost a mare to WildWind....These wild horses really know how to mix up their genes!

Copper has these two amazing black mares. they are very wiley and our good moms. This one with no white on her face we call Ebony.

The other one has a small dot star. We call her Evita.  Both mares have two colts with them. I can not tell if they are pregnant again. Last year they both foaled in May.

Scarlett.... to me she looks like a domestic, but she sure acts wild. Plus she made it through the brutal winter of 2011. Not just any horse could have done that. 

Here are the two 2011 colts ... Red and Boomer out of the black mares.

To me Flame is a stand out, he is a 2 year old colt and a full brother to Red.

The other 2 year old colt out of Ebony, Coal.

The band stallion, Copper.

"The Dark Ones"

Ohitika's Band

Ohitika's band. You can not see the 2011 filly, Butte, here. She is laying in the grass.

Ohitika is impressive to say the least!

These two mares came from Tashunka's band, who Ohitika was joined up with last year and for some of this year too. The grey is a mature mare, the bay is Mina. Moda's 2 year old filly.

Butte is really neat looking. A chunky grulla filly. Here she stands next to her band stallion. She is the only foal in her band.

Butte with her beautiful sorrel dam. Chippewa. Chippewa did not have a foal last year. She was Ohitika's only mare. She has a 2 year old daughter that is now with Cobolt.

Butte, named after Twin Buttes, a prominent land mark out at Sand Wash.

Ohitika, the orange roan.

Tashunka and Ohitika's Bands

Often times the two roan band stallions, Ohitika and Tashunka, are seen hanging out near each other. They have done a bunch of swapping around and Wakan Ska, Tashunk's grulla mare is missing. I'll try to explain...

Ohitika's band front to back...Chippewa (sorrel, his original mare), Chippewa's new filly, Wi Wakan (formely with Tashunka), Mina (Tashunka's 2 yr old filly out of Moda), and the stallion. What color roan is he??

Front to back....Moda, Nahmana (Moda's yearling filly, Kangee (black mare), Chikala (Wi Wakan's yearling filly) and Tecomseh (orphan)

Tashunka

Ohitika

The fillies watching the wise old mare, Moda, have a roll.

While I was watching Tashunka ran to meet up with Willie Nelson and Snip, two near by bachelor stallions. Here he is running back to his band. I love it when the stallions do this. Usually when they are gone the youngsters get curious and approach me to investigate.

Mina, the bay, is Tashunka's and Moda's 2 yr old filly who has clearly moved over to Ohitka's band along with the grey mare. There was another 2 yr old in Tashunka's band last year...Takoda. He is now running with the bachelors. he is a stunning blue roan. I have not seen him lately, but confirmed he had made it through the brutal winter.

This is Tecomseh. I first met her about a month ago when she was a newborn. Her grulla mom, Wakan Ska, was with her. I am sorry to report Ska is missing....she was not with her band, nor Ohitika's on this day. This is the youngest foal I have witnessed being orphaned. We will have to wait and see what happens. For now she is clinging to Chikala, her yearling half sister.

You can tell Chikala by her horizonal star and unique coloring. She is the yearling daughter to the grey, Wi Wakan, who is now with Ohitika. She is a yearling. She was born a good three months ahead of Nahmana last spring. She was an early foal.

Last year Ohitika only had one mare, this sorrel we call Chippewa. She had a 2 yr old filly (Skye) by her side, but the filly is gone replaced by this new one. Isn't she a little beauty? This is the first foal I have seen out at Sand Wash with this coloring.

Ohitika is having a scuffle (nothing became of it except a lot of noise) with Cimmaron, who is near by with his one mare (Spice) and her 2011 colt (Pepe). Doesn't Cimmaron look good this year? Last summer he spent quite a bit of time with Bear, Ellie and Flirt as a satellite stallion.

The black mare, Kangee, joined this band late last summer. She has no youngsters of her own, but makes a nice "auntie" horse for the little orphaned roan filly.

Moda (Little Bear) with her yearling filly, Nahmana.

Tashunka's fillies  L to R Nahmana, Chikala and Tecomseh