Willie Nelson Band

We saw Willie from a distance and decided to hike out and see how he and band are doing. As usual, they were right near Ohitika's band and also close by was Storm's band.
Willie is the grey ( blue roany)/ pinto.
This band is confusing because Willie's two mature mares are a grey and a bay and the two stallions that dog him are a bay and a grey! I'll explain.

There's a proud looking Willie N. with his mature mares Frosty and Sedona.... Frosty is the grey, Sedona is the bay.

These are the young filllies in the band. The bay, Fancy, was born last year to Sedona. The roan is Flare, Frosty's 2 year old.

The yearlings , Satin (Frosty) and Fancy (Sedona). I have Satin ID'd as a colt.

I don't have a lot of photos of Frosty. She is people shy.

The rosy grey is Aragon. He has been dogging this band along with his buddy Solaris (behind him). Solaris once had these mares. He lost them to Willie late last summer (2011) and has been following them ever since.

I was surprised how good Solaris looked. The last time I saw him he had half his face torn off. The mustangs never amaze me with their ability to heal.

L to Right Sedona, Frosty, Flare, Mesa (Sedona's 2 yr old filly), Satin and Willie.

Willie Nelson Band

Willie Nelson, the spectacular blue roan pinto band stallion. This guy was a bachelor stallion until he fought Solaris for his mares late summer of 2011. Solaris put up quite the battle, but Willie has proven he is dominent.

This is a full brother and sister, Flare (2010 roan filly) and Satin(chestnut yearling colt). Their mom is not shown. She is Willie's grey mare.

 Their sire is most likely the sire, Solaris(bay). Solaris still tags this band. I did not get a photo, but he is hanging back with his grey buddy, Aragon.

There is another youngster in this band, Fancy (yearling bay filly out of Sedona). This band has not had a foal in 2012.

The three bays up front are a mom and her two daughters. The mom is Sedona, she has her 3 yr old filly, Mesa and that 2011 filly I mentioned, Fancy. I have them in the face book albums, but kinda relying on the HSUS for their markings.



Here is the handsome Aragon who has been dogging Willie along with with Solaris. He has not had a mare since the 2008 round up, but you can see he is an older stallion. Some studs are just more submissive. Here he is giving the bird a ride while he is cleaned of ticks.

Frosty, the grey mare, was hanging back, she looked a little thin. This ios one of the worst drought's Northwest Colorado has ever seen.

 Willie has been traveling with Ohitika's band this summer. These horses have an amazing, complex, social structure and it is up to us to make sure it stays some what intact if they are to be "gathered" next September.. The mustangs' survival depends on their ties and bonds with one another. It would be cruel to split up the bands knowing what we know about this herd of Colorado horses.

Solaris's Band (Taken Over by Willie Nelson)

I was surprised to see Wilie Nelson, the grey/white stallion, had taken over the bay's, Solaris's, band. Willie has been a bachelor since the round up of 2008.

There is Solaris, he is near by and has not given up getting his family back. He is pretty beat up, but no huge wounds. Most of what you see is dried mud from where Willie has kicked him. Willie has blood on him as well.

He also has that large wound on his back right knee, but he has had that for awhile and it has actually gotten better.

Here is what they are fighting for.  Solaris even had a larger band last summer. Maybe he is getting old? The band is unsettled and the boys still have some fighting to do, but when I was observing them Willie clearly was dominant and was strutting his stuff. I posted a video on my YouTube channel for anyone who is interested.

It is good to see Willie with mares. His color is spectacular.

The strongest stallion will win, but for now we will have to wait and see. I am impressed Willie took over an entire band!

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.