Day Three, Mountain Top (Morning and Afternoon)

This morning I slept in.  I did not leave the truck until 5:15 a.m.  I had woke a bit earlier and seeing no horses yet, decided to sleep in a bit more.  Linda is an early riser too.

When I did get out, I saw Garay with his new band.  Quelle Colour and Kohl.  Kohl seemed a little more settled today.  Maybe she was just tired, or maybe she had settled  in to being with Garay.  I wasn’t sure which it was.   She must have been tired, because she would keep Garay moving just a little while later!  I will be looking forward to seeing how she is in two weeks when I return to the mountain.

The bachelors Jupiter and Hernando were by us again this morning.  I was beginning to think that this was a regular pattern for them to come down to this side of the range at night.  It was good to see them again.

I do love the light in the morning for photos.  But my priority for my photos are for documentation of the herd.  There are some that come to the mountain that only take photos in the early morning and late afternoon.  That is fine, but for me it is more about a visual recording of the happenings on the mountain.  I enjoy taking photos all day long.

I spotted a few horses not too far down the road.  I looked through the binoculars and saw a dark bay horse.  Was it Grijala again?  I could not see the face front one, but I knew it was not Grijala.  I would recognize that roman nose anywhere!  It was Jasper!!  Another horse that had not been seen for a while.  I could not remember when someone last saw him.  It was really great to see him and boy had he filled out.  He was gorgeous!

He was with Irial.  It did not take long for Jupiter and Hernando to go over and join them.  More boy play and it was only 6:30 am!

It was great to watch these boys.  After a brief discussion with Teton, they were on their way to see what other trouble they could stir up.

I looked up and saw Gringo’s band standing peacefully.  Never once this trip did I see Gringo tear into Tecumseh.  I sure hope Tecumseh has some time to let his wounds heal.

I wanted to go check on Gracianna from Duke’s band.  She looked so close to foaling, so I headed down towards Penns.

There are some mud holes on the way that have a lot of water in them right now.  I was hoping to be able to catch some horses drinking from them in this great morning light.  I was lucky this time.  There were several bands using them this morning and there was a lot of action to witness as well.  Blue Moon Breeding Isadora, Tecumseh stirring it up with Blue Moon. Santa Fe action.  Horizon and Fiesta action.  It was fun to watch.

We continued heading down the road.  I saw Jackson’s band in the trees and Duke’s band up the meadow.  No new foal yet.  We stayed there for several hours watching the interaction between the many bands that were heading down towards us.  Some of the photos are a bit blurry, but I decided to post them anyway, so you can see the interaction.

We made our way back up the road to see what was going on elsewhere.  By now I had seen all mountain top bands except Garcia’s and Cappuccino’s.  Cappuccino usually seems to keep his band down lower on Burnt Timber for longer.  I wasn’t worried.  He did the same thing last year.  Likewise, Garcia seems to keep his band down lower on the Turkey Flats area for longer.  I still had not seen Prince, Starman, Two Boots or Kindra.  I would not see them this trip.  I hope someone else does.  Or there is always next time.

We sat up above Mystic for a while watching the horses nap and interact.

Heading back to our campsite, I encountered Jackson and some other bands.  I just got my camera out fast enough to catch Niabra trying to engage Nodin in play.  Fiesta did not care for that and sent her running back to her band!

As a yearling, Moorcroft is seeming a little too intersted in the bands mares.  Jackson seems to be very patient with him.

Missoula from Teton’s band and Lobo from Bolder’s have a little fun play fighting.

It was late afternoon by now, and time for a little break at the campsite.  We sat in the chairs and watched the horses working their way down towards us.  It looked like tonight they would all be surrounding us.  One of the best things I like about camping on top is hearing the whinnies and the thundering of hoofs on the ground running by us.   I knew it would be a good evening for watching and a good night for hearing.  It was also great to be able to share it with my daughter and some really good friends.

Sandy