I next see the only mare, Josie, with her weanling colt, Strider. Right away I can confirm she is pregnant! Josie is also River's mom.
At first they do not see me and I observe as they help each other find forage. There is very little, they must work hard for every bite!
Strider eventually looks up and sees me. Such a handsome little colt. He was one of the first born on the range last spring. He looks healthy and fat.
Here is the white stallion. He has lost quite a bit of weight and was putting all his energy into pawing. These horses have stayed in the same area all winter. They seem to "manage their "pasture" really good. They poop in certain places, graze in others. They have access to The Little Snake River here, but I did not see a lot of tracks there.
See? She is defiently pregnant! I love this little mustang mare, she is such a wiley thing. You can not confuse her with a domestic horses.
There they are together. I wonder where Yellow and his band are? They are often seen hanging out with this group, but not today.
Finally River realizes he is a little too far away from his family and has to get past me to reunite with them...
He does the mustang trot by. I get a good look at him and wonder what color he will shed out to be? Last summer he was a beautiful grullla shade. He has the primitive dorsal stripe. He looks super healthy and is getting more inependent.
Hey Boy!
He puts it into high gear for a bit.
This is my mom.
White Out is a good loyal band stallion...freedom and family come first for this guy!
River with his family.
It has been a long, extreme winter out at Sand Wash Basin. Not all of the mustangs will make it. I feel sadness as I leave this little wild horse family. They are really in survival mode along with all the other critters of The Basin. This is not an easy place to survive. But the true mestengos know how to survive.
We are expecting a warming trend. Maybe winter is losing it's grip? I hope so.
