Mystery Solved (Mountain Update!)

I woke up yesterday morning with an email waiting for me from Alex.  It said:  “Well we know who the mystery horses are.  I think something happened to Doc!”

That was all it said.  WHAT?!?!?!?  Not a good thing to read before my first cup of coffee!!!  Alex, could you please give me more detail next time! (thank you so much!!)  I thought I had missed a post somewhere, so I was frantically searching for it and emailing Alex.  I finally found Shawn Ivy’s post (Wyoman Photography) and saw the photos!

Let me back up a bit and explain.  I had a photo of some horses on one of my past posts (Mountain Update, Burnt Timber, March 3 and 4) that I could not identify. I was pretty sure that one of them was Jasper (Jack), Jackson’s son.  I talked about him in my post (The Boys of Summer).  I had seen Jackson chase him away from his band in September when I was there and knew he was now officially a bachelor.

I now know their identity.  Thanks to Shawn Ivy.  The horses I saw were: Jasper (Jack),  Garay (another Boys of Summer stallion), Gold Rush and her foal by Doc, London.  I thought there were only 3 horses, when I saw them a couple weeks ago.  But when I saw Shawn’s post I went to have a second look at my photo.  Gold Rush IS there.  Her back is to me and she is by a bush.  She is slightly left of Jasper (Jack)(horse on the far left) and up almost to the top of the hill.  If you zoom in on the photo (by clicking it) you can find her!

Shawn was also kind enough to give me their exact location via Goggle Earth.  They were on the opposite side of the road from where I saw them.  Gold Rush looks very round.  I think maybe by my next trip she may have foaled.  You can read more about Gold Rush in my posts (Who will Foal this year? Part 1) and also learn a lot about her in my post “Moving On“.  She is the full sister of Cabaret, so she is special to me.

When I first learned who theses horses were,  I instantly became concerned about Doc.  Alex and I  were concerned that something may have happened to him.  I emailed Matt Dillon (PMWMC) and asked if he had seen Doc.  He had, and said he was fine and that Doc has Santa Fe’s band (Demure, Kindra, Broken Bow and Jenny).   I am hoping maybe Matt will have a post soon on the PMWMC blog and fill us in on that some more.  I will let you know if he does and re-blog it here.  I was relieved that Doc was OK.  However Gold Rush’s foal will be Docs!

There are several young bachelors waiting to have a band of their own and they seem to be getting right down to it this winter.   I told you about these stallions in my “Boys of Summer” post.  Here is another photo I found of some of those boys challenging Red Raven (Coronado) in July.  I wonder if he will be able to keep them away this winter.

Here are some photos of the new band that Shawn took on March the 12th.

How long will Garay allow the 3-year-old Jasper(Jack) to remain with his new band?  Right now I think that Jasper can help Garay protect his band from other stallions.  It will be interesting to see how long it lasts.

I am looking forward to my next visit to see what else has unfolded on the mountain.  I also am glad that I have so many people who are willing to share with me what they see while I am not there.

Thank you Shawn Ivy for the use of your photos!  Thank you Alex for alerting me to your discovery!