I know I said that I was only going to post one post before I left for the adoption. I have a million things I probably should be doing. But I could not stop looking at my photos that I took and decided I might as well let everyone else see them too! So here you go.
The morning of day two of our trip was a pretty quiet morning. There were not many horses out. Teton’s band walked by us in the early morning. They were joined by Mescalero and his band. We saw these two bands together the rest of our trip. They would graze together and then when one group decided to move on, the other did as well.
Missoula really seemed to like this band and hung around them fairly close. They seemed to like him too. I thought Polaris looked better than I had seen her for a long time. She has put on some weight and looks good.
Not far behind were Topper, Topper Too and Chino. The Toppers seemed to pause a tiny bit longer this time. Were they starting to get used to me? Probably not.
After watching them head towards the pond, I decided to go check on Lakota. The memorial was still intact and I added another Red Tail Hawk feather that I had found.
Amber and I saw Blue Moon and Custer’s band not too far away, napping. Instead of going down to see them we decided to head for the pond and see who we might see there.
When we arrived at the pond, there were other people there, so we decided we would rather go back and see Blue Moon and Custer. So, we saw Blue Moon on a Blue Moon, it seemed fitting!
We hiked closer to them. Here were two more bands together. Custer and Blue Moon are full brothers. I had never seen these two bands together before. I always said that they were such opposites. Custer is a devoted band stallion and very caring towards his family. Blue Moon on the other hand seems to be the exact opposite. He is the “carefree” band stallion, leaving his band often to go goof off with whatever bachelors that might be near. However, this year I felt that maybe finely Blue Moon was starting to grow up and perhaps that is why his older brother Custer choose to be near him.
We watched them for a while. Then both bands decided it was time to head towards the pond.
We watched Custer follow Blue Moon until they were out of sight in the trees. I wanted to see what Mystic Pond looked like, so we continued down the road to see it. I knew it would probably be dried up, and I was right.
Amber and I spent a few hours hiking around. Most of the horses seemed to be in the trees. It was a pretty warm day. We hiked back to Krueger Pond. The people were still there, I wondered if they were planning on staying there all day. I hated the thought of them interfering with the horses drinking so long. We decided to hike to the other pond across the road. We saw White Cloud’s band in the trees on our way there. I wished I had taken a photo of the pond, but neither Amber or I did. It was really only a big mud puddle now. We sat above it for a while, but nothing came to drink from it. After stopping to take a couple photos of Mica and Feldspar, we headed back towards our camp.
The quiet morning continued into a quiet afternoon. We did not see the other people all day. We had most of the mountain to ourselves. They must have stayed at the pond. We decided to stay away from the pond, to give the horses more space to drink from their only water source. It did not seem right to make it any more crowded.
It was early evening before we saw more horses. It was Teton’s band and Mescalero’s band, still together, heading towards us. Little Missoula was really interacting with Mescalero and Mescalero was being very patient with him. Teton did not seem to mind the interaction and kept grazing. Half Moon was not concerned either.
Coronado Band was next to come by. This time they were without Baja and his band.
It was starting to rain and almost dark when I saw Garcia, Greta and Millicent. Little Millicent was pretty far behind them and it seemed they did not care. I was worried about her. As Garcia and Greta headed into the trees, I wondered if Millicent would find them. About an hour later in the dark we heard a very long shrill whinny. It sound like a foal. I got out of the truck to look and less than a minute later I saw Garcia, Greta and Millicent, walking together. This time Garcia was staying where he should have been an hour before, behind Millicent making sure she kept up. I was sure that they had been separated. Hopefully Garcia has learned his lesson and will be more attentive.
The wind and rain started to come down harder. I hoped that it would really pour. It did rain for a couple of hours, sometimes hard, but not enough to form mud puddles.
The next day our plan was to go down Burnt Timber, visit the horses at Britton Springs and then head back up Sykes.
I will share that day with you soon.
Sandy
Loving the pictures…as always! Good luck on Saturday. I’ll be thinking good thoughts your way! And for Lori too!
Thanks Lola!
I love to see horses from other bands being sweet to foals that come by to say hi, especially with the band stallions. Does Mescalero have any offspring of his own now that Lincoln and Lemhi are gone? And I just love Custer’s coloring. He seems to be the only one with such a rich bay coloring underneath all of the roaning. Do you still think Fiasco may be pregnant? It would be nice for them to have another little one. I hope any mares who are still pregnant foal ASAP as it is getting so late. And again thanks and GOOD LUCK at the adoption Saturday! Whoever you end up adopting will be very lucky!!
Thanks Sarah! I am not sure about Fiasco. I am thinking no. I would have thought she would have had the foal by now. The last two were born in August. I sure would love to be wrong about that one though! 🙂
It would be nice for her and Custer to have another little one since they both no longer have offspring on the range. Maybe next year! It seems there were quite a few this year that didn’t recieve PZP but didn’t foal either.
What a special treat to come home to — thanks, Sandy, for the extra update. Did it seem like something was wrong with Millicent that she was lagging so far behind? Thanks for the good shots of Amethyst and Sequoyah, bursting my bubbles a little bit there… Enjoyed very much seeing Custer and Blue Moon bands together and Missoula playing with Custer. The foals never seem afraid of anything. And love that hair in the setting sun!
Thanks Joy! I hope Millicent is okay, but I couldn’t help think about Liesl when I saw her.. That was Mescalero with Missoula, not Custer, they do look similar! Yes, my hair was on fire. Fits my personality well right now! LOL
Should have gone back and looked again before I pressed “post” — brain can’t even remember a short story!
I was thinking about Liesl when I read that about Garcia and Greta being pretty unconcerned, too. I guess it’s the same with horses as people, in some ways—it would just be better if some weren’t parents. : ( A little one alone can fall prey very easily if a predator is near.
Your photos always are so amazing, and the story telling of these horses and herds and so heartfelt. Some of these photos seem as if you’re so close ! What type of camera equipment do you use? In the rain, what do you do to protect it?
Thank you! I have a 100×400 Lens. Well, I throw my raincoat over the camera. It just started raining, so I just gave it a few seconds and put my camera up!
Amazing ! You inspire me. Did you have to build up your muscles to handhold that lens? I keep shaking mine and getting fuzzy shots. LOL!
One word: Monopod! LOL 🙂
I just re-read this! I inspire you?!! You photos are so incredible! Thank you for such a beautiful comment!
Love the post, and that you took time to do it before you left for the adoption. THANK YOU! 🙂 🙂 🙂
Those orange sunset pics are breathtaking, and I love all the rest for various reasons, too. I wish Phoenix’s PZP spot would get all healed up, but otherwise she looks so good for her age. Interesting that she’s not darkening like Bolder and Blanca. I was also struck by how dark Miocene looks, or was it maybe the lighting? Anyway, I hope all goes very well for you, and for the horses this weekend. I’ll be there with you in spirit.
Thanks Linda! I think it may have been the lighting with Miocene. He has some shadows on him. He is pretty much a mini version of Blue Moon in coloring.
Adore the photo of Millicent in the egg yolk sunset! Award winning in my book!
Thank you!
Awww, thank you sooooo so much for the update and photos of Blue Moon’s:) You made my day=) Although his carefree attitude was charming in a way I do love to see him becoming a better band stallion. He’s had both Halcyon and Sequoyah for some time now, and is winning new mares as well (although he had to give Amethyst a few tries:)). Has she taken over as lead mare now? It’s also good to see him interact more with Custer. What an amazing coat that one has:) Is Mescalero also their full brother? Gonna be lovely having a mini blue moon running around;)
On a not so bright note I am troubled to hear about Millicent.. With the snow and cold not far away I really hope they will step up and take responsibility for the little one..
Anne — I’m not sure when Sandy will be able to check in here, but I can tell you Mescalero’s father was also Shaman, but I don’t think he had the same mother. Someone will correct me later if I’m wrong 🙂
Yes, Mescalero is also their full brother 🙂
Thanks Joy and Sarah=) Sandy soon needs to hire a secretary to answer all these questions for us in learning;)
They all three are some beautiful and strong boys. I wonder what age Custer and Mescalero are? They must be older than Blue Moon? Before 2000 I’m thinking?
I’m not sure exactly when they were born but their full sister Adona was born in 2000 so Custer and Mescalero had to have been born sometime before that. I agree about the secretary haha! I like that this comment section allows us to have discussions though while we’re waiting for answers from Sandy 🙂
Custer I believe is 17, I remeber he is the same age as White Cloud.
HA! I love looking at my blog when I am away and seeing you all take over! 🙂 I am in a hotel in Lovell, just had dinner with Lori. Can’t wait until Saturday! (for so many reasons) Custer was born in 1996 and Blue Moon was born in 2001. Mescalero is their full brother too, born in 1999. He is another stallion that I am a bit “reserved” about. So far he has not been able to keep any of his foals alive. I wonder why?? Both Lemhi (although not his) and Lincoln died in his care last winter. Also Dove was with him when she lost her first foal… Not a good track record.
Nope not a very good track record… I understood Lincoln going missing but I didn’t expect Lemhi to go missing since she was seemingly doing well and it was April when the worst was over. The differences between Custer and Mescalero are interesting though since they were both raised by their father Shaman. And Shaman was such a caring, nurturing, and protective father. It seems Custer learned that from him 🙂
I have a theory about the missing horses… Matt last saw them April 1st – everyone looked fine, Isadora and Lemhi, Polaris and Lincoln were still with Mescalero. About a week earlier, he had seen Gold Rush and London with Garay. By the first week of June, GR, Lincoln and Lemhi were missing and Isadora was with Flint; Garay had Juneau with Mendenhall from Baja and London alone. So some time in the six weeks between, there was an interchange in which Flint took Isadora, Garay took Juneau, and Lincoln and Lemhi, along with Gold Rush, were scattered, running who knows where – I don’t like the thought of where – but I don’t think it was illness or bad weather or even a predator that took them. Just a theory…
I guess that would be more like 9 weeks…
Beautiful!!!
Thank you Wayside!
Beautiful as always!!!!! Prayers for a successful homing of all the Pryor Horses that were taken off their land!!!!! Wonder who will end up with the one Mare that is with baby, either way all I pray for is for each and everyone of them to go to a truly loving and Forever home….
I hope they all end up with good homes too!!! I’ve been wondering since Jicarilla is SO pregnant, but hasn’t foaled yet if they’ll wait to move her to her new home until after she’s foaled.
Sarah, Jicarilla had her foal last Sunday! It is a beautiful Grulla filly. I just saw her this morning.
That’s good to hear!!! I look forward to seeing pictures 🙂
I love to go back and reading these again and while doing so I realized that I thought you were there for more than just two days during this trip. Or have you just not had time to post about other days yet? I’m sure you’re spending lots of time with Kootenai and Kiowa, that’s what I would be doing!