A Dryhead report from Lori! Thank you Lori!
On another one of my many trips to the DH this month I was pleasantly surprised to see Medicine Bow, who I have not seen in quite some time.
I was about halfway through the range when I saw a car pulled over to the side of the road. I met two other horse enthusiast’s who I had met two years ago while at the Center. They told me that a grullo horse had run along the road and was having a little tiff with another horse. They really could not see the other horse except that he was “palomino” colored. I got my binoculars out and discovered that it was Medicine Bow standing alongside Johnston. They did not seem to be fighting, but just then they took off and Medicine Bow went to the other side of the ridge, out of our sight. Johnston went to the top of the ridge and we could only see his head peeking over the brush.
We heard some horse noises coming from the other side of the ridge and decided to hike around to the other side to see what was going on.
As the horses came into our sight I saw that it was Fiero and Medicine Bow. We very carefully stayed a distance from them as we did not want to get in the way in case they were going to run. I hoped that they didn’t though because the ground was very rocky and there were many crevices where they could injure themselves.
I can understand how many of the horses end up injuring their legs and hooves running on this ground. As it was, they just stood there a distance from each other, and then Johnston came up over the top of the ridge. He kept his eye on both Medicine Bow and Fiero. The action had ended as quick as it had started.
We watched them for a while and then decided to hike back to our vehicles and let them “do their thing.” All three horses look great, and I wondered if any of them would get his own harem this year. Johnston has turned out to be a very handsome stallion, and beautiful too. I hoped that Medicine Bow would not get injured like he did last year fighting with other stallions. He sure is a survivor!
I said goodbye to the two horse enthusiast and made my way to the end of the range. I did not see anyone else.
On my way out of the range I saw the “Greeters” way off in the distance, again on the east side of the road. They were peacefully grazing and slipped out of sight in the gully’s and high grasses. It was amazing that I could not even see them anymore and if I had been just five minutes later I would not have seen them at all!
Somewhere out on the range I saw these mule deer as has often been the case during this winter.
I hope to get out to the range again this week and maybe I will see even more of the Dry Head horses!
The range has been getting a good amount of moisture these past few weeks and I am seeing more green grasses for the horses to graze upon. I hope this weather pattern continues for a while.
Lori
Medicine Bow looks really good. Looks like this winter was kind to him. Fiero looks good too. It doesn’t seem to bother him to be without his former band, it makes me wonder if he’ll try to get them back sometime this summer. And wow, Johnston has matured so much! Definitely looking like a stallion!! Lori I know somewhat recently you were going to try to get up BT. Were you able to? Thanks for the update!
Thanks Sarah! No, I was not able to get up there with my “Mercury Mariner”. It has great tires, but is not high enough to drive over the huge rocks. I got up about 1 1/2 miles then came upon a section of “road” that would have damaged the underside of my vehicle. People have tried to go up and destroyed the oil pan’s, gas tanks and axel’s of their vehicles. We now have an old 49 Willys Jeep that we will fix up and it will be able to climb those rocks with ease. It will take some time and money to fix it up so that it is safe to take up any of those mountain roads, but it will be some time before it is all ready to go!!!
Yes…Johnston has grown into a beautiful stallion!!
Thank you Sandy for posting my report!!!
You’re welcome Lori! 🙂
Love seeing all the horses! They do look good, altho Medicine Bow’s knees look kind of swollen and as though they may be painful. Poor guy. That serious injury to his left hind leg/hip sure hasn’t helped his chances of winning a fight either. Your post about him reminds me of when Hidatsa was in such a bad mood after winning Merlin’s mares, having them for about 24 hours, and then losing them to Corona. He challenged and pursued Medicine Bow (everytime they met) from one side of the Range to the other at least once daily the whole week I was there last time. Those people you encountered were fortunate to have seen him with his unique color. I sure wish he could get himself a mare and that they would have a little sabino foal so the color carries on after he’s gone. Guess I should research how the color sabino happens and if there’s likely to be another in future generations. 🙂
Anyway, thanks much for the report. 🙂
Hi Linda. Medicine Bows color is actually a Red Dun. The color pattern is called Sabino.(like Pinto is a color pattern) I am not sure how color patterns are transferred (genetically), but his color pattern is definitely very rare for the Pryor Horses.
Here is a description taken from the PMWMC website:”Sabino is an overo pattern, which is a pinto pattern. Sabino can be described as a base color with white on the face, legs, and belly. These white markings can be solid but can also look roan. Sabino is a rare color (pattern) in the herd.”
Yes, a little Medicine Boy would be nice! 🙂
Thanks for that info. I’m sure I’ve read it before but I don’t retain so good anymore. 🙁 Seems like all the red duns hang out in the Dryhead. Maybe because they camouflage so well with the red dirt. 🙂
Your welcome Linda! I agree with you about Medicine Bow…he seems to always be fighting but never wins. He was dealt a tough hand with all of his injuries and being attacked by the mountain lion at a young age.
Poor guy, wish he would contribute to the genetics of the herd!!
I’d love to see little Medicine Bow babies too! 🙂
Thank you Lori. You have made my day with your beautiful photos of the horses. It is so nice to see Medicine Bow’s photos . He is my special guy. The first time I visited the Pryors (the Dryhead area) he showed up and walked in front of me. I took a few photos of him with the beautiful back ground of the mountains with white cloud sailing in the blue sky. I will never forget that moment. I am glad that range has more green grass for the horses. Fiero looks good. Johnston is a little skinny. Hopefully, he will be better soon. I really miss the Pryor Mountains and the horses.Thanks again Lori for the report and the photos.
Thanks to you Sandy for the post.
You are welcome Anh!
You bet Anh!!!
I think of the “skinny” young stallions as normal at his age and this time of year.I would call him thin. Similar to humans, it seems that the more active one is, then the thinner they are. So, I think that Johnston is a very young and active stallion!! ( :
I agree with you Lori. Johnston is thin. He looks robust. I think he will become a strong stallion.
I hope your jeep soon will be ready to take you up to BT. I am looking forward to your next post.
Hi Sandy
A question completely out of context with the post here but I wondering if Duke´s foal has been named?
Hi Thora, Yes, I just read today on the BHCRA Facebook page that they named him Noble. I am assuming it must be a colt with that name! 🙂
YAY!!! I like the name! Thanks for the information Sandy!
Thank you Lori! Medicine Bow looks very healthy and as gorgeous as ever. I always drool over how stunning he is whenever I see him 😉 Also so glad to see Fiero in good shape. It always warms my heart to see him doing well, I mean he is my favorite. Johnston looks a little lean but I’m sire he’ll fatten up over summer.
Your welcome Maleah! yes..Fiero is looking real good and last Fall his mares just left, or he left them. It seems every year he does this. I wonder if he will get any of them back. It is interesting to watch the dynamics of this herd….always changing and lots of Drama!! ( :
I am sure the horses will put on some weight with the spring forage coming up. It seems that March is when they look the worse because of the lack of forage in the winter months, but now the Pryor’s have had some much needed moisture and the range will regenerate.
Medicine Bow is a beautiful horse and I love to see him too!
I’m not at all surprised everyone looks a little lean. It was a very dry, cold winter. Hopefully Fiero can get a herd to keep this year.