The year of 2018 is very quickly coming to a close, and like the past several years, I am doing this post to honor the horses that have died in 2018. The list is shorter then it was last year, but no less painful. Even though several of those that passed in 2018 were very young, their memory will not be forgotten.
We didn’t get the chance to watch them grow and develop a strong presence on the mountain, but the lucky few that saw them and recorded their existence can remind us all of who they were. Thank you to those that allowed me to use their photos.
Below are the horses that have died (or are missing) in 2018.
1. Blue Moon (Flint). 2001 son of Shaman and Sitka. While Blue Moon has not been gone the official length of time to be declared deceased, all of that witnessed his deteriorated condition this past summer, can recognize that he most likely is gone. He not only lost his band last winter/spring, but he somehow got injured. He seemed to have a back/spinal injury that appeared to be very painful. Not only the physical injury, but it was also very clear that his spirit to live had greatly compromised. He was one of those stallions that just couldn’t settle into bachelorhood again. His heart was broken at the loss of his band.
I have many, many fond memories of Blue Moon. He and his band were frequent early morning/late evening visitors to my campsite. They seemed to recognize my truck, Abbie and myself. Blue Moon was the type of horse that if he could, he would have pulled up a chair and asked for a cup of coffee, and talked to us for hours about life. And his life was full of stories, he struggled as a young bachelor to devote full attention to his band. That lead for some painful memories for him, but in the more recent years, he became a devoted caring band stallion that gave his every minute to the care of his band.
He will be deeply missed.
2. Morning Star. 1996 son of Washakie and Plenty Coups. Morning Star lost his band one final time in the fall of 2017. (After losing them and winning them back in the spring of 2017). I don’t believe he was seen after that. He was looking quite thin in the summer of 2017, so without his band and his strength, he was not able to make it. Morning Star was a strong band stallion, who kept his band together. His death lead to the separation of his band, and as current as last week, it has been reported that they are still in constant turmoil. Morning Star was a strong presence on the mountain and will be greatly missed.
3. Sacajawea. 1996 daughter of Three Bars and Calamity. Sacajeawea has not been seen since June 2018. She has always been a strong independent mare, often setting out on her own and changing bands. She was by far one of the oldest and strongest bloodlines that the Pryors had. Her beautiful primative markings and gorgous Grulla color always took my breath away.
4. Sparrow. 2018 son of Pele (Penny) and Irial. Born the week of May 14, missing May 20, 2018. No photo available.
5. Stargazer. 2018 son of Quartz, father unknown. Born week of June 3. Died June 6.
6. Shamrock. 2018 son of Pegasus, father unknown. Born the week of May 20. Discovered missing by Abbie and Sandy, June 21, 2018.
Abbie and I were both so excited to look for Shamrock and so shocked and disappointed when we discovered her missing. Shamrock was a beautiful foal and seemed strong. But Pegasus (whom I discovered and named!) was with an unexperienced new band stallion (Missoula, whom I discovered and named!).
I am uncertain about what happened to the Sparrow and Stargazer, but I am quite certain that Shamrock was taken by a mountain lion. A few days after we discovered her missing, Abbie and I came across a large blood patch and drag marks with blood. While we can’t be certain, we concluded that it was most likely that of Shamrock.
7. Santiago. Son of Labrava and Irial. A beautiful strong colt, Santiago should have survived. Abbie, I and my last guests of the season discovered this little beauty early on the morning of our last day.
We can only speculate what happened to this beautiful foal, born to a large strong and stable band. There was and is a lot of young bachelors pushing for a band of their own. Abbie and I witnessed several very dangerous pursuits involving several bands at a time. There were also several people on the mountain at the time. Did Santiago get separated and injured from a bachelor confrontation? Did he get separated from people approaching too close ( like a foal from 2017?) There were conflicting reports of what happened. Only the mountain knows for sure, either way, this colts life ended way too soon. His death haunts me.
Rest in Peace wild ones. Your spirit still runs free on the mountain.
Sandy
Thankyou very much!
Your welcome!!
This is not a list I look forward to seeing but always want to pay tribute to them. Thanks Sandy for sharing!
Your welcome!
Thanks Sandy for your words on the horses that have passed. As always your words are heart felt and beautiful
Thank you Jeanne!❤️
So sad about the little ones,but to lose Blue Moon/Flint is sad too! He had such a vibrant and beautiful history and life.They all will be early missed and loved by all!
It’s sad that so many young ones were lost this year. I think we may have seen Blue Moon when we were there a few years ago. He was striking. So sorry for the loss of all these beautiful horses.
Hello Sandy
I’ve been reading you for a few years now (with the help of a translator).
Do you think that malicious people come to poison or steal horses (to sell them for meat) or use them for themselves?
<<< unacceptable things
Hi! Thank you for following me all these years! I think it would be nearly impossible for someone to drive off the mountain top with a trailer undetected. Could they capture them in other parts of the lower mountain, maybe, but still difficult. There was a case many, many years ago where someone shot a stallion. I guess the answer to your question would be “not likely”. But I can not say that with 100% certainty.
That’s such a bittersweet post. You were right about Blue moon, he struggled at first but ended up having a large family in his later years and was very gentle with enough offsprings to continue his line. But i always thought he would wait for Bolder to hang out with, now Bolder will be alone when he loses his band.
As for the young ones at least they lived a free wild life no matter how short it was,they never faced the fear of removal. Also it is comforting that predators have a presence in the mountain perhaps in time the population control will be on the mountain lion’s hands and we will have fewer drugs.
Happy New year and can’t wait for your next guessing and T naming posts, it will be hard to come up with names haha
Thank you!
Hi ! thank you for this post it was very rewarding and well write as always. All foal deaths during the year really saddened me even though I never came to the pryors. I think that Shamrock is dead because of a cougar ,during her short life Pegasus was a great mother for Shamrock (can we estimate the number of mountains lions in pryors ?). I’m still confused about the Irial band, this band is made up of very experienced mare but the foals do not survive … I think there is a lot of movement in this band and Santiago was certainly killed by bachelors who wanted to play with him. I read many times that this band will be very interesting to observe in 2019! The death of Blue Moon saddens me too I hope he has not suffered too much … maybe he’s only hiding some of the things and he’ll be back like Baja and Corona did this year. Morning star will miss the mountain too but I think he had the best life he could have had. In conclusion I find that this year has been much more positive than 2017 and the number of deaths is lower and the demographic growth positive. This year was very unexpected and I hope that 2019 will be even better
Thank you!
Sorry for this comment but will you make the who will have foals in 2019? Because none of the mares were sterilized with PZP this year so all of them could have foal no ?
The mares were given PZP last year, as scheduled.