As the summer progressed, I found myself putting my camera down more and just savoring the horses and beauty of the mountain with just my heart and eyes. I still took plenty of photos, but 1000’s of photos shrunk to just a few hundred. The horses were settling into their summer routine with very little conflicts between the bands. There were still a few more foals to be born, but for most part, the foaling season was done by mid-July.
As with the post before this one, I am presenting you with many photos to look at, and along with that a few stories to explain what is going on, but mostly, I believe the photos tell their own stories.
Coronado gradually adjusted to the loss his band to Irial. For now anyway.
I was surprised to discover that Ohanzee had change colors while I was away for about a week. My prediction is that he will end up being a smokey black in color.
I saw Chino and Coronado hanging out several times together. Chino is one of those stallions that has excepted his band stallion retirement well. Except for a few “dogging” incidences this spring and summer, he seems content to be by himself, in the company of another older stallion, or teaching a young bachelor a thing or two.
As the single oldest stallion at the age of 21, he is doing well. Thin this past spring, but nice and fat this late summer. I hope I am blessed to continue seeing him. He is an incredible stallion.
This was the day of Obsidian’s death. A cold windy day that only got more windy after his passing.
The bachelors continued to entertain us. One of my favorite things to watch are the bachelors. I watch every detail of their movements. That being said, I will step out and say that I think Jasper may be the next to gain a mare. He seems ready in every way.
Grijala watches the “boys in training”. You can almost see the approval on his face.
Grijala smiling with approval at the progress Mica has made with his sparring skills. These two were together most of the summer. While they sometimes took a few days off from each other, they were together more often then not.
The dysfunctional Bolder band. Killian is still there and still being a handful. Still nursing his mother Celt and still trying to breed the mares.
During one trip, myself and guests hiked to the “little ice cave”. In 2012 while searching for the wounded Lakota, I spent some time talking with the “cavers” in this area. They informed me that shortly after the entrance to this cave, it dropped down 6 feet, requiring that to safetly enter this cave, you would need ropes and the proper lights. I don’t really like small, cold, slippery, dark areas with bats flying around, so I never plan to enter this cave.
More photos of the “Odd Couple.” Fiesta seems to be a bit further back and not as included as he seemed just a few months ago. I feel sorry for him. He so wants to be included in this band and takes his “Satellite Stallion” position very seriously.
Hernando is proving to be a very caring and stable stallion. Having two wise and older mares has certainly helped him achieve this goal faster than most. Both Phoenix and Warbonnet seem to have settled in to being with this young and handsome stallion.
Another new and favorite band of mine is Hamlet and his band. Consisting of Hamlet, Audubon and the yearling filly Niyaha. They went from an isolated spot past Penn’s cabin in June ( I labeled their band The Prisoners” for a short time) to joining all the bands by July. Many times grazing and walking past Audubon and Niyaha’s former band, Morning Star.
Garay and his band are doing great. I found it interesting that Quelle Colour (who died this past winter), was replaced by Jacinta, another chestnut, white blaze faced mare who has taken on the position of lead mare.
Every summer, I like to be up on the mountain for the full moon. The beauty and energy of it always takes my breath away. This summer was not a disappointment, and I enjoyed every full moon the summer had to offer.
Demure and Jupiter showing some affection to each other. Demure was in heat and Jupiter was very protective of her. In the photos below, you can see Knight trying to flirt with Demure, but Jupiter would stood his ground to protect her.
August brought the birth of the newest Baja band member, Ojai, a beautiful strong and healthy filly born to the 20-year-old mare, Washakie.
An afternoon hike in August, looking for horses and enjoying the beauty of the mountain.
In mid-July of this summer brought the new sign dedication in the Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area. Two of my photos are on the signs. The first one is at the pull off just as you enter the range, the other one is located at Mustang Flats and shares a space with my friend Linda Dombecks photo.
On the same morning that Obsidian died, Cedric, his family and I watched a long play/fight session performed by Cappuccino’s son McKeahnie and Blue Moon’s son Miocene. Both of these two year olds showed how strong they were becoming. Blue Moon and Cappuccino briefly joined in the sparring for a few minutes.
I am going to end this post with a photo sequence of some of Obsidians last moments. I hesitated to share anymore of Obsidian’s death, but while looking through those photos, I felt it would be important to share with you how the horses reacted when he passed. Although it was hard to re-live that day, it also touched my soul how the horses reacted at the time his death.
I am not going to caption the sequence of events, I will let the photos tell their own story.
Sandy
