The first night that Lori and I spent on the mountain was really quiet. No horses running around or whinnying.
Today, they would not be trapping the horses. Lori and I were looking forward to a quiet day.
The next morning, I headed down towards Krueger Pond. I saw several horses in the trees on my way. It is almost August now, and it seems the horses spend a lot of their days in the trees. They start to come out in the later afternoon.
I saw Chino, Topper One and Topper Too. I could almost see the Topper’s rolling their eyes. They looked at me in disgust as if to say “Great, a perfect morning, ruined”. Then turned their back ends towards me and stepped further in the woods. Chino stayed where he was, obviously used to their behavior. I looked to my right and saw Gringo and his band. They were out a little way from the trees eating. Grijala and his smaller group of Special K’s along with Quelle Colour were not too far away from them.
After a few minutes I returned to my camp site, sat and had a second cup of coffee and watched a bear run along the ridge, not too far from Lakota.
An hour later, Lori and I decided to head back down to the pond. We found Tecumseh in one of the pens, eating. Tecumseh looks a little rough. He seems to have some back-end/ hip problems. It is very apparent when he walks, especially going down a hill.
I looked past Tecumseh and saw Topper Too in a pen with Chino. This was as close as I had ever seen them before. She did not notice me right away. But when she did she quickly left the pen. I got the best photo of her ever. But as soon as she regained her composure she and Topper headed quickly down the hill to the pond. Chino continued to eat in the pen.
After a few minutes Chino ran to catch up with them. He is 21 this year, and looks amazing.
We only saw these 4 horses. I knew others were in the trees surrounding the pond. But I did not bother looking for them. I thought they deserved a quiet day too, and I did not want to disturb them. They would show themselves when they were ready.
On our way back down the road I saw Duke’s band tucked in the trees. Little Maverick was sleeping in the sun just out of the trees. We stopped and watched until he got up.
Lori headed back to camp and I continued on to spend some time with Lakota (bear spray in hand). I thought about how great Chino looked, one year older than Lakota was. I knew that if Lakota had not broken his leg, he would have looked just as great. But for whatever reason, it was Lakota’s time to go and I tried to accept it.
We ate lunch and headed back to the pond.
By now it was starting to get pretty active. We watched several bands coming down to drink and play in the pond.
Dove was lagging a bit behind the rest of the band. She looked huge, I thought she might be pregnant.
Several of the horses enjoyed a good roll in the dirt after playing in the pond.
Once they drank, they headed back into the trees.
Bolder’s band was hanging around the pens. Bolder was in one of them eating.
The next band to head down to the pond was Blue Moon’s and Mecalero’s.
Part of Bolder’s band got tired of waiting for him to get out of the pen and decided to head down for some water.
With Bolder no where to be seen, Mescalero decided to visit with the mares and Killian. Celt decided she would have none of that and quickly chased Mescalero off.
Bolder decided to finally head down to his mares and came running. They stopped half way to greet each other and then headed back to the pond.
By now Duke’s Band and Teton’s Band were coming down to the pond too. I got to get a closer look at Missoula. He sure is a beauty!
We saw Morning Star’s band and Doc’s band come down before it got quiet again.
I will miss Jenny, the next day she would be removed. It seemed like she was a bit of an outsider with this band for most of the spring and summer. Broken Bow was pretty hard on her, it seemed, and she always stood a bit off most of the time. In fact I got the feeling Jenny wanted to leave this band. The last time I was here in early July, Doc had to keep snaking her back into the band. But this day she seemed content and one of the band. I was happy for her.
We watched Tecumseh slowly make his way back up the hill from drinking.
As we headed up from the pond we saw White Cloud and his band come running in. In the three weeks since I had seen Mica, he had grown and changed so much. He ran next to his father, and then passed him.
Shortly before sunset that day Lori and I drove back down towards the pond. We saw 4 horses as we approached the fence. They were Two Boots, Jasper, Garay and Santa Fe.
I am happy that Jasper was not removed. He is the son of Galena and Jackson, Lakota’s grandson. He has been hanging out with Two Boots (his grandfather) for a few months now. I hope he continues to do so. Two Boots is 24 this year. He will be able to teach the three year old Jasper a lot.
Jasper was a “Tier Two A” removal. I am not sure why he was not removed. But if I was to take a guess, because Jasper was with Two Boots, I would bet that they never even saw them.
Jasper has a lot going for him, Jackson’s son, Lakota and Two Boot’s grandson, being shown the ropes by an old and wise stallion. I am looking forward to watching him grow old on the mountain.
That night Lori and I had a band of horses lie down right by our trucks. It was too dark to see who they were, but it was a comfort and a peace to have them there.
Sandy
What happened to Kicks A Lot’s foal? I wonder if Dove really is pregnant or just put on some weight. Who knows? We might have a surprise soon
Hi Jonathan, I don’t know what happened to Kiva’s colt. When I saw him about 3 weeks ago, he had a pretty bad limp.
Yes, we will just have to wait and see about Dove!
I think Dancer(Damsel) is pregnant as well
I just can’t get over how beautiful Chino is, he’s like a fairytale horse:) Do you by any chance have a closer shot of his eyes? The color is so amazing. Loving the attitude of his ladies too, seems like they have a good dose of personality;) Thanks a bunch for putting one up of Blue Moon and band as well.. Always eases me a little bit when I see they are ok:)
Now I only hope thay Tecumseh are gonna be ok.. Do you know how old he is now? Seems like he’s been spending a lot of time this summer fighting to get his herd back:/
Hi Anne, Tecumseh is 14 this year. Still time to get another band.
I will switch that image of Chino with a bigger format, so if you click on the photo it will get bigger, then click again and it will really get big! Just give me a few minutes to do it! 🙂
Wow.. It’s easy to get lost in those eyes! *sigh* 😉
Do you know of more horses on the range with this eyecolor? And does he have any offsprings out there? Sorry for the million questions, I know you’re busy:) And thank you so much for taking the time to post the bigger photo, I really really appreciate it 😀
Yes, Chino has a daughter, Fiasco (in Custer’s Band). She is the daughter of Chino and Topper Too. Greta is also another daughter of Chino. She is the daughter of Belle Star and Chino.
I think there are several horses that have this eye color. The light has to hit them just right for you to notice the color. Bolder is one that comes to mind.
Hopefully Chance’s injury won’t keep him down for long. I know Diamond suffered a hip injury during the last bait trap while fighting in the pens. I wonder if that happened to Chance or if it’s simply from fighting with Gringo. Chino is so gorgeous! His girls make me laugh. I wonder if Topper Too would be so reclusive if she hadn’t learned it from her mother. I also think it’s funny that Chino just ignores their “antisocial” behavior. I really really hope Dove is pregnant, that would be a nice surprise! Haha LOVE Audobon sticking her tounge out! And of Hailstorm floating across the ground. I’m looking forward to some babies from her! I also love to see the girls be bossy and set their unwanted suitors straight! And Mica is so adorable in his determination to beat his Dad to the pond. Cloud seems to produce babies with bold personalities. I had wondered if Garay would stick with London because it seemed he did for awhile. Garay seems to wander now and hang out with multiple groups of bachelors. Thanks again!
Tecumseh has been fighting with Gringo since the middle of June. I saw them get into some pretty bad battles, so I suspect that is probably how he keeps getting injured.
Opps…I think I got Hailstorm and Audobon mislabeled… Just corrected it. I get those two confused!
Dove really does look pregnant! Woohoo!! Did the BLM give her PZP as a yearling which resulted in all these barren years? I know she had a foal in ’08 or ’09, but it didn’t live.
Celt shows Mescalero who she belongs with! That’s pretty funny!
I love how the horses play in the pool and roll in the dirt!
I am not sure about that Clarissa. I do know that she has had one or two foals that have not survived.
I didn’t know Dove has had several foals, I assumed she was barren since she had only one foal that I know of and hasn’t foaled for a few years.
Thanks for clearing that up! 🙂
Well, I hope I am right about that! Maybe is someone reads this they can help us out on that! 😉
Gotcha! 😉
I do remember something from the Pryor Wild wordpress that Dove had a foal in 2008 and it was a buckskin foal but i wonder what happened to it. Also Cascade(Celt)had a buckskin foal also but I still also want to know what happened to her foal. Also Sandy, I think maybe Kicks A Lot’s foal died because I remember High Noon(Heritage) and Cloud’s 1997 pale buckskin sister had a foal as two year olds but the foals died. Maybe the same thing happened to Kicks A Lot’s foal as well
Well, we will never know what happened to Kiva’s foal. I do know I saw her try to be a good mom, but she was only 2, so I think it was hard for her.
Heritage is not cloud’s sister, I think you mean Blanca/Mariah, The foal is most probably dead and I think it is because of his injury
Alex, I didnt say High Noon is Cloud’s sister. I said High Noon and Cloud’s 1997 buckskin sister. I wasnt saying High Noon(Heritage) is Cloud’s sister.
Nice to see the fresh body of water there. Does Tecumseh have a wound on his right flank? Sandy, how do the horses get named?
Yes, that is a wound on Techumseh’a flank. Looks to be a puncture wound. I zooomed up on it and it looks like it is healing.
The Pryor Mountain Wild Mustang Center has been naming them. Some of us that are lucky enough to find a new foal before anyone else does, gets to name it! 🙂 That is how Missoula got his name (I found him, so I got to name him!). 🙂
Hope the wound is not the reason for his gimp. Now I want to know how you keep all the names straight! 😉
Lots of studying! After a while you just get to know them like you would a good friend! 😉
Not sure, but it seemed to be both hips/back legs that were causing him some trouble.
Another great update! Love the pics, as usual!
Thanks Lola!
Sandy, I also wanted to know if you found Gold Rush, Longshot and Lemhi. I wonder what happened to them also
Jonathan, I have not found them. I think they have probably died. But you never know, they may turn up, like Kerry and Kitalpha did.
Maybe they could be in a different area that we can’t find them in like the area Kitalpha was in. I hope you can find them or if they’ll turn up somehow
Love all the pics, Sandy, and I’m so glad to see Celt! About Tecumseh, I noticed what appeared to me to be a pretty serious “gash” on the inside of one of his hind legs when I was there. Don’t think I got any pics that show it tho, and it didn’t seem to be causing him any real difficulty and was not really swollen or anything. I hope it hasn’t gotten infected or something. I know he is a having a tough time, he keeps trying so hard to get his family back. Thanks for the post 🙂
Thanks Linda. Yes, poor guy. I think he needs to take it easy and try and heal for a while.
The photos are very nice. Thank you so much for all the work you have done.
Thank you Anh!
Yes Sandy…we had several gifts given to us on the Mountain and the one I will remember so much is the horses sleeping next to our trucks! It was as if they knew they were safe there, and to soothe our spirits! Amazing experience!
thanks for all of your postings..beautiful pictures!!!!
I love your posts sooo much Sandy! You always have the best pictures, and I was just telling Lori yesterday that reading your blog makes it easy to feel like you were actually there, so thanks for that! Between your posts and Lori’s stories it’s easy to feel like I’ve been there (:
Thank you Brianna! I hope I get to meet you one of these days! 🙂
Sandy, I so enjoy your updates (even the tough and sad ones are important to know) and the “feel” of the mountains you so readily portray. Thanks! 😀
Nanina
Thank you Nanina!
Oh my gosh, Chino has the most amazing eyes, stunningly beautiful, reading more, just wanted to post that for now, sharing too 🙂
Thanks Jeannie!