Burnt Timber – Wild in the Pryors

Burnt Timber Day 3. Excitement and Loss.

May 4, 2013May 4, 2013wildinthepryors

After the nights rain, we woke to an almost cloud free sky. I knew the roads would be wet, so we waited a little while longer this morning before heading up Burnt Timber again. We were heading up by 8:30. It was a cold, windy but very sunny day. I was hoping to locate the Mystery Horses from the day before. At this point I had not even had a chance to look at those photos and figure out who it might be.

Heading up and easy section of BT. Photo by Anh. — Heading up an easy section of BT. Photo by Anh.

Not far up the road we encountered Cappuccino and his band, down a hill on our right.

We continued on and once again, I stopped to glass back towards the guzzlers. There were no horses at either one. We continued up to the mine. Down below us was a very protected valley. I commented that if I was a horse I would be down there in the sun and out of the wind.

I spent a couple of minutes looking around the area with my binoculars and then snapped this photo of Anh.

Anh then wanted a photo of me. While she was adjusting her camera a very light horse came up almost where I was standing, from far below. He pretty much just popped up right before my eyes! It was Cloud and he was alone!

Cloud and Sandy's arm. Photo by Anh. — Cloud and Sandy’s arm. Photo by Anh.

I managed to get a quick blurry photo of him before he headed down the hill.

He was in a hurry to get where ever he was going, so we followed quickly behind him. We looked down and saw the rest of his band just below us down the hill.

I concluded that he must have been chasing someone off, but we could not see anyone. We decided to walk down the road a bit closer to them and get some good photos of them.

Cloud with Aztec and Feldspar in the background.

The scene was peaceful. I figured Cloud had been successful in chasing off whomever had been bothering them. Then I saw Cloud turn and look up.

I knew just by the way he was looking that it was probably the horse or horses that he had the encounter with before we arrived. I expected to see Hernando, maybe Hamlet, Irial or Garay. But when I turned to look in the same direction I saw a grullo horse. But this one had both ears, so I knew right away it could not be Garay. He also looked younger to me.

From where I was right then, I could not see his big star and race on his face. When he turned his head towards us more, I realized who it was. Jupiter! I could not believe how grown up he looked. He had really filled out since the last time I saw him late last summer. He must have stood there for 5 minutes or more before Cloud decided he better go up and have another conversation with him.

There was no kicking, hardly any squeals. It all was very quite. Then Cloud turned his head again, while Jupiter kept staring at Cloud’s mares below. (Feldspar is Jupiter’s mother). I do believe he was most interested in Aztec, as she appeared to be in heat.

I am always fascinated by the stallion interaction. I never get tired of watching the exchanges between them. Cloud then started to make his actions a little more aggressive and I saw the reason why. Santa Fe’s head appeared behind Jupiter.

After several minutes of just standing with Jupiter and Santa Fe, Cloud’s focus turned back to his band and he decided to rejoin them. The conversation with the boys must have been successful.

Jupiter continues to watch Cloud's band. — Jupiter continues to watch Cloud’s band.

Cloud, April 29, 2013 — Cloud, April 30, 2013

The mood was very quite and peaceful in Cloud’s band. The mares seemed relaxed and really acted unaware of the two bachelors lurking above.

Juniper continued to stare down at the band.

Jupiter, April 29, 2013 — Jupiter, April 30, 2013

With what seemed to be a peaceful lull in the action, I decided it would be a good time for us to walk back up to the ATV. I did not feel comfortable with our position incase the action go intense. I wanted to be on the uphill side of things. That and I only had 150 shots left in my card and if something started to happen, I was afraid I would run out of shots.

Once we were a comfortable distance past them, we turned to watch again. Jupiter never broke his focus from the band below him. It was hard to believe he was only four years old. His actions seemed older.

Santa Fe was his back-up it appeared to me, as he was focused, but not as intensely and further back.

Santa Fe, April 29, 2013 — Santa Fe, April 30, 2013

The mares started to get up from their nap, and that was when Jupiter nickered at them. That was all Cloud needed. He was coming back up for some more discussion.

It was faster and a bit more intense this time. As soon as he finished with Jupiter, he came up further to find Santa Fe.

It did not take long for Santa Fe to retreat. It seemed he did not want the conflict. So with no physical contact between the two, Santa Fe left quickly.

Cloud then returned to his band below and the boys wandered off in the opposite direction.

Santa Fe and Jupiter heading off in the opposite direction.

I told Anh that this would be the time that he should move the band and get out of that area. It wasn’t long and Cloud decided to do that.

It was almost lunch time by now. We had watched this for several hours. It was hard to believe, the time just stood still for me. As I changed my card in my camera. Jupiter decided to come up and pass close by us. He is such a beautiful stallion. I am looking forward to seeing him gather a band of his own.

Santa Fe also passed close by us. I found myself feeling sorry for Santa Fe. I hope that he will be able to win another mare back this year. Even though he is 18 (same age as Cloud), he still has time to get a mare. It was by no fault of his that he lost Judith last summer. He worked very hard last year to keep her, only to lose her to the removal.

They could have chosen to go much further from us, but I found it interesting that they chose to take the closer route.

We stayed for a while longer, just in case the action would continue, but Cloud was now out of sight and this boys appeared to be more intent on eating. So we continued up the road.

I spotted Mescalero and band near Cheyenne Flats. They were not comfortable with us being near them, so we quickly left them.

We moved on just enough to make them comfortable. I then spent some time again glassing around from Burnt Timber to Sykes. And again, just like the day before, we hiked down to the water catchment. Not seeing anyone there, we continued up the road until we hit snow.

The wind was starting to pick up. The weather was calling for snow today, so I kept an eye to the sky. Nothing looked to threatening at this point. We turned around and started heading slowly down, stopping and hiking here and there.

In the same place as the day before, was Chino and Topper Too. I did not stop this time, I wanted to give Topper Too some peace and we had gotten our photos of them the day before.

I came over a hill and instantly saw Jackson and his band to my right. They were close by the road. Remembering how they acted just the day before, I chose to continue driving slowly past time and up another small hill before stopping. Jackson looked our way once, but continued grazing. They were comfortable with us there today. They were about a mile from where I had seen them the day before.

Yesterday Nye (the new foal) seemed to be stiff in her back legs, but today, she was walking much better and already seemed so much stronger.

We spent a little while with this band, but I did not want to wear out our welcome, so we continued down the road after a few minutes.

After continuing down the road a ways, I stopped to take a look at the two water catchments. Cloud and band was at the one to the right of me. There was a lone grulla or grullo to my left at the other water catchment. I wondered who it was. Could it be Jupiter going down to dog Cloud’s band? We had passed Santa Fe up about where we had left him a couple of hours before, but we had not seen Jupiter.

It did not take me long to figure out that it was not a stallion, but a mare. While I was looking through the binoculars, Anh snapped these photos. I have uploaded them full size, so you can click on them and make them bigger. There was no other stallion or band in sight.

I watched Blanca go up to her and clearly let her know who was boss. This mare seemed to want to join the band. At times she would turn away, but for the most part she wanted to be there. It seemed very clear to me. Blanca did not want her close, so she would turn away, only to have Cappuccino and his yearling son McKenhnie snake her back closer again. It was so interesting to watch McKenhnie snake with his father. He was doing a pretty good job for just a yearling. They made a good team. We decided we should hurry down there and hike back so we could watch this closer.

It probably took us a total of 20 minutes to drive down there and hike back to the guzzler. I saw Doc (his band was in front of him and I was unable to see them all) heading to the left. He glanced my way, but kept going. When we arrived at the water catchment, there was no one there. I hurried up a nearby hill to look around, nothing. They were gone. I could now see the snow storm heading towards us from on top of the mountain. It was probably at the place we had seen Jackson and band. While we stood there trying to figure out what to do, Doc came running back. Screaming. It was more than a whinny. It was a frantic scream. The rest of his band was right behind him. Wait, one was missing. Demure. It all made sense to me now. The grulla we had seen was Demure. What was going on? It was as if Doc had not realized she was not there, until just then. Had Demure left Doc? It appeared to be the case.

Why did she do that? She was so close to foaling. Had she been leaving to foal and just got taken by Cappuccino? I was unsure of the answer. It was extremely painful to watch Doc screaming and running around looking for her. Little Mandan look confused and sad. Broken Bow was not in a panic, she almost seemed indifferent to the situation. They followed Doc and then begin whinny for her too.

The storm was getting even closer now. I did not know what to do. It seemed every time I made a move, Doc would turn and whinny at me. It was as if he hoped I was Demure. I felt the best thing for us to do was to leave them alone. I did not want to cause him any false hope or interrupt his search for her. So we left them. I turned back a couple of times before they were out of sight and every time I did, Doc was watching and whinnying after me.

I wondered how Demure could have slipped away without Doc, Mandan or Broken Bow noticing. Where had they been?

We reluctantly left the mountain and headed for town. I had a text from Lori asking if we were off the mountain. “There is a big storm coming.” she said. I was happy to have Lori making sure I was down safety. I am lucky to have such a good friend close by the mountain that will make sure of that. Thanks Lori!

Later that evening, I decided I should text Matt and let him know about Demure. I was really worried for her and my heart ached for Doc and little Mandan (Demure is his mother).

Matt got back to me and said that these random things happen quite often. But that Demure is a very strong mare and she has done this before. He told me she leaves and chooses the stallion she wants to be with. So she left Doc for Cappuccino.

It was hard for me to believe that anyone would want to leave Doc. However, Cappuccino is one really great stallion too. I wished I had another day to go up there and find out how it was all playing out. But I had to leave to come home the next morning.

The Mystery Horses from the day before would continue to remain a Mystery. It is going to be a long wait until my next trip.

Sandy

Logo designed by Amber Bushnell

A Day On The Mountain, February 17, 2013

February 18, 2013February 25, 2013wildinthepryors

It was great to be back in the Pryors. Anh and I arrived Saturday afternoon and made a quick trip up the Dryhead to see if we could find anyone. The road was covered with 4-5 inches of snow. The snow made the road slick, but it was helpful to be able to see the horse foots prints. We almost immediately saw the ever faithful Greeters, up on one of their favorite hill sides.

We drove the length of the range slowy. I wondered why they did not plow this road. We did not see a single horse or anymore prints. They were tucked away in the trees somewhere.

From there we stopped by the Center to meet Lori and Brianna along with Kiabab and Liesl. Liesl and Kiabab were not interested in posing for us, they were more interested in their food. Liesl’s wound looked good. They both looked good.

After a great dinner at Lori’s we headed back to get a good night sleep. We were both anxious to see more horses. My thoughts were with my October trip and I hoped I would have better luck this time. The weather was looking okay. 30% chance of snow, not bad. We would just keep our eye on the sky for any sudden changes coming our way.

We were heading towards Burnt Timber Road by 7:30 the next morning. When I turned off the paved road unto the dirt, I was surprised to see the amount of snow on the road. I wondered if Big Horn County owned any snow plows.

We drove through 5-8 inches of snow to the bottom of Burnt Timber. When I stepped out of the truck to unload the ATV, I realized that the depth of the snow was more like a foot. Would we even be able to drive the ATV up the road?

We were joined by a third person today, Monica. I was happy to have another person for the moral support. I have to admit, I was a bit stressed. Driving Burnt Timber on a good day is hard enough, adding a foot of snow was even more daunting.

We made it to the entrance of the range with very little problem. The wind had blown here, and made the snow quite a bit shallower. I was feeling encouraged that we would be able to make it further.

Just as we were about to cross the cattle guard onto the range, I looked up and saw Cappuccino and his band. Cappuccino and another horse ran over a ridge. I could not make out who the other horse was. We left the ATV and hiked the short way to get a better look at the remaining band members. We wanted to disturb them as little as possible and decided the best way would be to leave the ATV parked and hike closer.

A way off to the left, I saw Two Boots. It seems I always see him here in the winter months.

Further away on the same side as Two Boots, I saw Quelle Colour with Kohl. Grijala by them, but not close.

The first horses from Cappuccino’s band that I saw were Blanca and next to her was Galena’s filly, Moenkopi. Moenkopi had somehow gotten separated from Jackson’s band. I had learned of this from TCF newsletter. I was happy to see her, and she seemed to okay. Blanca seemed to be in charge of taking care of her. I think she is in good hands.

Gabrielle and McKeahnie were not to far from them.

Gabrielle looked pregnant to me. She also seemed a bit thin.

We stood quietly and watch them.

We would not have to wait long to find out where Cappuccino had been. I looked up the hill from were we stood and saw a blaze face looking down on me. It was a very round Jacinta. She did not look happy. Cappuccino had to work to keep her going closer to the rest of the band. Jacinta is from Gringo’s band.

I decided that the horses were used to us by now and would probably not be disturbed if we restarted the ATV and kept going up the road. I was right, we slipped right past them without them moving.

We traveled up the road for another mile before the snow got deep, really deep. I stopped the ATV and we all got off and unanimously decided we should not risk going another foot. We Monica dug out the tires (yes, we were stuck) and I backed up and turned around. We wanted it heading back down the hill so we did not have to deal with it later.

We put our backpacks on and started hiking…slowly. The snow was almost up to our knees and it was not a light fluffy snow, more like the constancy of too thick mash potatoes. At times it was up to our knees. I should have packed the snow shoes.

Our goal was to hike to the first guzzler on the left. We started to trudge up the road. It was pretty much all up hill.

The wind started to blow and we all silently hoped that all this effort would be rewarded when we reach our destination.

Finally, we reached the guzzler. From the road it looked like there were no horses there. But we walked closer and saw Jackson’s band tucked away against the blowing snow.

Jackson's Band, 2-17-13 — Jackson’s Band, 2-17-13

We sat down next to a bush away from the wind and snow and ate lunch. I was trying to count horse heads and see how many were there. I knew that Jasmine had been missing from his band just a few weeks ago. I thought I saw her there, but it was too hard to tell and I did not want to go closer until they got used to us being there.

After lunch the wind and blowing snow calmed down and we moved closer. Jackson kept a close eye on us, but other wise seemed unconcerned with us being there. It seemed his mares were staying very close to him, closer than I had ever seen. I wondered what the cause of it was, but decided it must be the weather.

Just as we moved closer something caught my eye to the right, up the hill. I turned and saw Cloud standing above us.

The rest of the band was not far behind him.

I worked my way slowly towards Jacksons band. They were beginning to come out and move around some.

I never know what to expect when I come to the mountain, so every horse that I see is a gift.

It took us a while to discover why Jackson’s band was so attentive to him. I kept seeing Galena and Moorcroft licking Jackson. I thought it was a bit odd. Then I saw the wound.

Moorcroft licks Jacksons wound. — Moorcroft licks Jackson. (wound is on his lower chest)

Maelstrom, Jackson and Galena licking Jackson.

It explained what was going on. I found it very touching. I continued to watch this close family band. Still unsure if that was Jasmine lying behind him.

This peaceful setting was about to change as I watched Cloud and Aztec inching their way closer to Jackson and his band.

Hertiage was digging in the snow and moving away from Jackson a bit. Cloud took this opportunity to move in. Aztec wanted to be part of it, but Cloud quickly told her to go back. He approached Hertiage, who politely greeted him and told him she had the stallion she wanted and turned her back to him.

Despite his injury, Jackson approached Cloud and told him to back off. It was over in a minute. With a little posturing and a scream.

Aztec and Innocentes head back away from Jackson's band. — Aztec and Innocentes head back away from Jackson’s band.

The peace returned and the bands went back to digging in the deep snow for any forage they could find, or taking a nap in the sun that had finally came out. I able to confirm that it was Jasmine once again in the band.

Jasmine and Hertiage — Jasmine and Heritage

Brumby and Jackson’s son Moorcroft was quickly becoming a new favorite of mine.

Then Jackson decided it was time for the band to move on. I think he was tired of having Cloud’s eye on him. I hoped that Cloud would give Jackson a break and let him heal without causing any turmoil. Shortly after Jackson and his band moved on Cloud and his band moved into the nap spot.

Cloud stayed for only a short time in the napping area before he turned to watch Jackson. It was not long after that that both bands started to work themselves up the hill and over the ridge.

Jackson's Band and Cloud's band work they way toward the ridge. — Jackson’s Band and Cloud’s band work they way toward the ridge.

I tried not to worry to0 much about Jackson’s wound. He was moving a little stiffly, but otherwise seemed good. I tried not to worry that this was only the middle of February and there were still several months left before spring. I tired not to worry that Cloud was dogging Jackson and taking advantage of Jacksons small weakness.

The wind started to blow and the sky behind us was turning dark. We decided to start heading back down the mountain before the weather set in. And so we turned one last time to see the bands, then started trudging for an hour and a half back down the mountain in the deep snow and the blowing wind.

We were just about to exit the range when I saw a blaze face to my left. It was Jacinta again. But this time she was alone. She saw us and headed right towards us. I turned off the ATV and let her cross in front of us. She seemed to know where she was heading. I wondered if it was back to Gringo and the rest of her former band.

We watched her go and continued down the range. Looking forward to what the next day might bring.

Sandy

Logo designed by Amber Bushnell

Thanksgiving in the Pryors: Report from Shawn Ivie

November 29, 2012November 29, 2012wildinthepryors

This is the last report from Shawn on his trip last week. Enjoy! I sure did! Thanks again Shawn for sharing!

Sandy

Thanksgiving morning started cloudy, so I decided I should run out to the dryhead and see who I could find to let it clear before heading back up the mountain. The first horse I ran across was… no one. No greeters at the gate, no horses hanging out on the hills around the overlook, and mustang flats was empty.

I scanned often, but did not get out and hike to some of the areas down draws or behind hills where I have seen horses. While I had driven through the dryhead, I had realized that the only clouds were right around where I had camped and the rest of the sky was clear and blue. I decided to head back up and hike over to where I had seen the horses on Sykes.

The only horses I saw from the day before were the Forest Boys and Knight eating more of the road. I scanned the opposite hillside from Cheyenne flats, and then looked up higher on Burnt Timber. A little higher in the light, new snow I could see some horses. Maybe in an effort to prolong the hike or maybe because a band in the hand is worth 2 across the chasm, I decided to check on them.

I thought I had seen Missoula’s bright colors from below, and as I entered their opening I saw Phoenix and War Bonnet moving into the trees.

I started to move toward another opening in the trees, hoping to catch them as they entered, when I heard some action and they came back out. The band moved past me, and Teton brought up the rear in his common snaking mode. A few seconds later, Jaser popped out of the trees and looked a little surprised to see me. Garay came out with him and Teton made a hurried little rush to keep them back near the trees.

As Teton and group moved down the ridge, Jasper and Garay followed as close as Teton would allow them before jogging over to make sure they knew he was there. I made my way back to the flats as the horses all moved down over the edge.

From the flats I was able to relocate some horses on one of the Sykes arms. I knew the snow up top would make that route dicey, if it had even been open before. The horses were high enough up Sykes to not want to drive up from the bottom. There is only one way I know of to make it to Sykes without adding a lot of wear on your vehicle, and it involves a nasty hike down burnt timber and then back up the other side.

You usually get hot as you hike, and cold when the wind hits you on the other side. While it is easy to see the horses and what to do from BT, once you get to the bottom it can be hard to find where you need to head up the other side properly. If you go up the wrong hill, like I did in my first attempt last spring, you end up on an island or the wrong arm and have to go down and up again. I avoided that this time, but did need to make one short detour along the bottom of rimrock before I could find a draw leading to the “top”. Even that is misleading on the Sykes side. It was finally what looks like the “level” ground from the other side, but they are long, skinny, sloped arms with a lot of steep draws between smaller fingers. I hiked up longer than I thought it had looked from the other side before I finally saw some horses across a smaller draw.

Irial and Mescalero were hanging out together, with Polaris and Rosarita eating above them and Jupiter and London eating below them. I found a spot slightly out of the wind and ate a Thanksgiving lunch pb and j sandwich as I watched them all eat.

London looks like he has been scrapping a little, and while I didn’t notice it there, I noticed while looking through the photos that Jupiter may have a small red wound near his right hip. All 6 horses seemed fairly comfortable together. I knew I had seen other horses, so after I finished eating I began walking up the arm in search of more.

Just as I was beginning to think that the other horses were on a different ridge arm, I saw a few moving higher up the arm. I took off after them and finally caught up. Coronado’s band was in front of me and Morning Star’s was a little more to my right. Of course I ignored Morning Star’s and went right for pictures of Manuelita. She looks healthy, but after seeing how big some of the early foals are she does seem so small.

After getting pictures of her and her family, I moved back down the arm but over the edge in the draw. This allowed me to put Morning Star and his band above me so I could set-up and wait for them to walk by as they were heading down, and get some shots with the blue sky behind. I prepared to head back down as Irial and the others came up. There must be water or some attraction in the area that draws the horses up to it.

Gaelic Princess with Hailstorm in the background.

I made my way back to burnt timber and since I didn’t see any other horses I decided to try the park again before I made my way to Cabelas and then Yellowstone. I didn’t see any horses on the way to the end of the range, and was heading out when I finally ran across a blazed grulla at the Ranger’s Delight trailhead. I was a little excited at first, hoping I had found the lone Merlin. I pulled into the parking area and was able to get a better look. It was just Fiero, but I had not seen him in a while, and not since he had lost his harem.

I snapped a picture of him as the light began to fade, and left the range knowing I will have o get back soon to continue the search for some of the missing horses and to see the ones I had missed this trip.

Shawn

Burnt Timber. A Mountain Report From Shawn Ivie.

November 27, 2012November 27, 2012wildinthepryors

Here is part two of Shawn’s trip last week. Thanks again Shawn! It almost feels like being there!

Sandy

Sykes view to BT — Looking towards Burnt Timber going up Sykes.

Wednesday – Burnt Timber
I know it gets a bad report, maybe deservedly so, but Burnt Timber is my favorite road up the mountain. It causes my tires to wear down a lot quicker than they should. Everyone that drives it is promised a flat at some point. There are parts where the bentonite-laden clay turn into a slip-and-slide if a few raindrops fall, which sometimes causes you to come down early to avoid getting stuck.

Yet somehow it is different from the other roads to me and feels like home. Crooked Creek takes you outside the range and takes about twice as long. Sykes, well, that is a great road for when you want to get your heart pumping on an adventure. I have never had as much luck with horses on Sykes, either. On Burnt Timber you can run across a horse throughout almost the whole run of it. In fact, the few places I have not seen a horse on BT have sign, so it is just a matter of time before I do see one in those spots.
I was pleased to see how dry the road was, and worked my way up the red canyon climb without much worry about the road conditions. My first group of mountain horses was on a hill behind the first water guzzler on the right. I am not sure of this one’s name. I was pretty sure it was Jackson on the left and the large group size almost assured it had to be him. At first I focused on the foals, because they would have changed more than the older horses since I had last seen them.

The first I found was Maelstrom. His really dark legs with the 1 white sock are really striking. I did notice Jasmine near him, and hoped that it meant Dancer was just with someone else, too. Next I moved down the ridge a little to where Moenkopi, Galena, Brumby and Moorcroft were feeding. I don’t know if they will last into next summer, but right now the dark wither bars on Moenkopi remind me so much of her father.

Jacksons — Moenkopi and Moorcroft, November 21, 2012

As I was trying to get just the right light and angle for some pictures of Moenkopi and Moorcroft together, Jackson whinnied and ran up the hill. At first I thought I had worn out my welcome, but he was interested in some of his mares which were working the other way. After clicking some shots of him as he ran, I turned my attention back to the foals. As Jackson and the rest moved towards us, he was paying close attention to a grulla mare, and every time he did Jasmine would run over and get close to them. I didn’t really connect things at the time, but it all made sense later. Despite Jasmine being a third wheel, Jackson did mount the mare and do his thing.

29596_10151253265606730_481588519_n — Jackson, November 21,2012

481814_10151253265486730_631944761_n — Jackson

526349_10151253265646730_595178563_n — Jasmine, Aztec and Jackson with Galena in the background.

67887_10151253265676730_1059238560_n — Jasmine

I left the group and moved up toward the wilderness lick area where I thought I had seen Cloud, or Echo (Killian). It turns out it was Cloud. Not that I want Damsel back with him as I hope she is with a non-related stallion, but I was still hoping that maybe she was there just to know she was safe. Inocentes was closest to me, so I moved well around her and up past Cloud to see the rest of his harem. Feldspar and Mica were in the open area above… and that was it. I watched a while and no one joined, so I went out through the trees on the other side of the hill and scoured through the brush.

cloud and Inn — Inocentes and Cloud, November 21, 2012

603980_10151253265996730_2022901193_n — Mica, November 21, 2012

Later that evening I saw Cloud down near the guzzler, and he still only had these 3 with him. After realizing Aztec was missing, it made sense to me who the grulla with Jackson was and why Jasmine kept getting close to her.

Aztec was the 10th member of Jackson’s band. That doesn’t explain where Baileys is, and it is another horse that I worry something has happened to at this point. I did not see her with anyone else on the trip.

From Cloud’s band, I continued up the road until my way was blocked at the start of Cheyenne Flats. Hernando, Inali and Hamlet were eating the road with Knight to the side. I don’t mean eating in the road, they are eating a good-sized hole of the red clay from the road. I watched them for a while, and since they weren’t moving I scanned Sykes to see if I could find any horses. I did locate a group of 6, then 2 more. I knew what I had to do on Thursday if the weather was nice.

The boys — The Former Forest Service Boys, Hernando, Hamlet and Inali, November 21, 2012

542948_10151253265271730_897275465_n — Hamlet

315723_10151253265331730_1837350705_n — Inali, November 21, 2012

61899_10151251893836730_1669399557_n — Hernando

526349_10151253265266730_331037377_n — Hernando

After waiting a while, I went off the road and around the bachelors so that they could continue eating. The last group I found was Galaxy’s band just a little further up. I love his wavy hair, but I am not sure how he even sees some times. He looks like he may have been in a scrap, and was a little more statuesque and a little less bouncy than normal. Maybe that is part of going from an active challenger to becoming a stern band leader. It was also hard to believe that Maia was a foal this spring. She seems too big for that to be true.

483448_10151253265371730_974883626_n — Ireland

27904_10151253265936730_946898185_n — Maia, November 21, 2012

While I did not see anyone else, at this late a date in November, I was still able to drive all the way to where I camp on the top without seeing hardly any snow. As I drove back to the horses, it was cloudy and the forecast called for snow. I decided to camp at the very bottom, so I would not have to worry about getting stuck in the already mentioned clay if it did snow. While it didn’t stick, I woke up about 10 to the sound of hard snow on my FJ, and I was glad that I didn’t have to worry about it and went back to sleep.

Shawn

WildinthePryors_logoColor_small_revised — Logo designed by Amber Bushnell

Finding Lakota, May 19, 2012

May 22, 2012May 22, 2012wildinthepryors

Sorry for not posting for a while. I just got back from several days in the Pryors. It was a wonderful trip and I have a lot to share. I saw several foals and I promise to update you on all of that and more. But right now I want to tell you of a special encounter that I had with my favorite horse Lakota. You can read more about Lakota on my posts : LAKOTA and also THE GIFT. Click on either of those and it will take you to those posts.

I hesitated sharing this story. It was a very emotional and moving experience and I was not sure I wanted to share it. But I decided I should.

The last time I saw Lakota was in March. I did not see him when I was there in April. He looked good when I saw him in March, so I knew he had made it through the winter. I was not worried about him. But I was relieved to see him. He will be 20 this year, so I know my time with him may be limited. I hope he ends up being one of those horses that everyone refers to as ” the oldest horse on the range”. But I want to cherish every encounter with him and not assume that he will be one of those horses.

I don’t know what it is that makes our connection special. If anyone has horses or any animals, you may know what I mean. We are lucky to have these connections with some of the many animals that pass through our lives. But there are a few that are more special than others. A “heart” animal, is what some call it. I have never experienced this with a wild animal, but I believe that Lakota is one of those.

My husband Bill was joining me for this trip. This would be his third trip to the Pryors. I was excited to show him Burnt Timber road. He had never gone up it before. I will share in another post who else we saw that day.

We parked the ATV and set out to hike down to one of the water guzzlers off of Burnt Timber Road. I was leading the way. Just as we started out I heard Bill whispered loudly “Sandy”. I turned and he pointed to a horse that was just up the road from where we had parked. I am not sure how I missed seeing him. But I turned and there stood Lakota.

What I am about to tell you, many may think it is not true. But I swear to you it happened as I am about to describe.

Lakota appeared to be napping in the sun. He did not move his head or look in my direction for the first few minutes.

I slowly walked around him and went across the road on the other side.

I spent several minutes taking photos of him. It was so good to see him. He looked great. What happened next will always stay fresh in my mind. I can hardly believe it happened.

I whispered very softly, “Lakota it’s me”. I did not really expect him to react to that. But he turned his head towards me and opened his eyes.

Then, he slowly walked across the road towards me

And then he did something that really surprised me…he laid down.

He seemed to go back to sleep. I relaxed and enjoyed the time I was given with him.

There were no other horses or people around. It was a very quiet and peaceful time.

After a little while ( I never looked at my watch), he even flopped over on his side.

I stopped taking photos and just sat on the ground and soaked up what was happening.

Lakota only stayed on his side for a few minutes. Very briefly the thought occurred to me that maybe he was sick. It seemed so unusual for a wild stallion to lie down in the presence of humans. But he looked good and did not appear to be sick.

After a while he finally got up.

This time when I looked at Lakota I saw that not only had his outside battle wounds from last summer healed completely but it appeared that his inside ones had too. As you will read in my Lakota post, he lost his entire band to a young stallion named Grijala.

Lakota seemed to be content and relaxed with his new quiet and uneventful life. Maybe after 15 or more years protecting and fighting for his band it felt good to be on his own with no other horse to worry about except for himself. It was nice to think that, and I was not sad for him like I was when I saw him in October of last year.

I spent a while longer watching him. We then decided that we should leave him alone and move on. I then realized that I was in the wrong spot to hike to the guzzler. We got in the ATV and slowly moved past Lakota. He continued to nap in the sun.

I parked the ATV again and we hiked down to the guzzler. There were no horses there. It had been so dry here, that most of the water was gone in the guzzler. There were only a few inches at the very bottom. I hoped it would rain some more before the hot summer months arrived.

When we got back up to the ATV, I turned and there was Lakota. Slowly working his way towards us, grazing along the way. He briefly left and greeted the 4 bachelor boys, Hamlet, Hernado, Inali and Knight. Then continued down the road. We once again passed him. Every time we stopped, I turned back and I could see Lakota making his way towards us. This went on for a few miles. I stopped and took some more photos of him and we continued on our way. We were gone for a couple of hours and were headed back down the road.

As we came to the open area, there was Lakota again. It seemed like he was waiting for me. I stopped the ATV and got off. We looked at each other for about a minute and then he turned and took a path into the woods.

I was extremely grateful to have the time I had with Lakota. He seemed relaxed and I think he enjoyed spending some time with me. Once again, (I said this in my first Lakota post), I try not to humanize these horses, but sometimes (and it always seems to be with Lakota), I can not help it. I was filled with love and emotion for this stallion. I was moved to tears.

I don’t know when I will see Lakota again. I hope it is soon.

Sandy

ps: Just wanted to let everyone know that at all times I remained at a respectful distance from him. He is a wild stallion and I respect him and always give him his space.

Burnt Timber Update, April 15, 2012

April 19, 2012April 19, 2012wildinthepryors

I let you know what I saw at the end of the day on Sunday up Burnt Timber ( New Foal), so I thought I would fill you in on the rest of that day.

We started each day up the Dryhead, starting at 7:00 am. I will let you know what I saw in the Dryhead on another post. After spending some time there, we headed for Burnt Timber and were heading up Burnt Timber Road on Sunday by 10:00. I was surprised at the lack of snow. There was none. On my last trip in March we encountered several feet on the road and could only go a few miles up the road. (See my post: Burnt Timber March 3 and 4, 2012). We traveled up the road about 7 or more miles before we saw any, and then it was just patches in the trees. I hope the mountains get some late spring snow fall.

We were almost to the area where we had to turn around in March (because of the deep snow), when we saw Jackson’s band. Most of the band was starting to go up a very bushy draw. Firestorm and Brumby were down the road a little ways from the rest of the band.

They were heading up the draw pretty quickly, so I did not have a lot of time to snap these shots.

Galena and L. — Galena and LeDoux, April 15, 2012

I have had a few people (who have never been on the range) ask me why I did not follow them to get more photos. Well, it goes back to my post about Camping in the Pryors. Please read this if you have not. It is about respecting the horses. It simply was not worth disrespecting them for a few more photo opportunities. These people also felt I should have walked out and taken more photos of the new foal. Again there are two things here. If you have never been to the Pryors you don’t realize the lay out of the land. If I had chosen to hike closer, they could have been gone in a draw or ravine and I would not have seen them. If they had been there, they most likely would not have liked me being there with such a young foal. But, again, it goes back to respecting the horses. I feel lucky that I am allowed to spend time with them and I take whatever they choose to give me at the time. Sometimes they give me a lot and I need to move away from them, sometimes they want to move away from me. I have horses, I think over the years I have learned how to read their body language. I transfer what my horses have taught me with how I act around these horses. You learn to read their body language and follow that the best you can.

I did not see Jackson or Kaycee. Kalahari was there, but I realized that my ATV was parked in such a way to make Brumby and Firestorm uncomfortable and unable to get to the rest of their band easily. So while I was backing up the ATV out of their way, I missed getting a photo of Kalahari.

We continued up Burnt Timber to the first water guzzler. This opened up to a big meadow. The sun was shining and it was protected from the wind. It was a perfect place to be on a cold and windy day. We saw Cloud and his band there. I parked and we hiked in towards them. I had someone ask me today if I felt the horses learn to know me. I think the answer is yes. I do feel that as much as I go they do remember me and know I am OK. This was the case of this band. Once they realized who I was and we would cause them no harm, they settled in to just being horses and enjoying the day. We spent over two hours with them. While most of the adults napped in the shade of the bushes, the young horses enjoyed some play time.

The first horses I saw were Damsel (Dancer) and Innocentes (Ingrid).

Damsel and Innocents — Innocentes and Damsel, April 15, 2012

I thought Innocentes look better than the last time I saw.

The next horse I saw was Feldspar. She never stopped eating while I was there. She looks very pregnant.

While the adults grazed or napped, the younger members played. Young Lynx was the first to try to get Kierra to play with him. Watching him, he reminded me of a pesky younger brother. When I first saw him that day I wondered why he was missing so much hair on his butt. After watching his behavior, I quickly realized why!

Lynx and K 1 — Lynx, Kierra and Jasmine, April 15, 2012

Kierra decided to take a break and investigate something on the ground.

While she did that, Lynx decided it was time to bug Jasmine.

Then suddenly Kierra picked up something on the ground and flung it up in the air!

It surprised all three of them and they stopped and just stared!

Then Kierra decided to pick on Lynx. This is how he was losing his hair!

Then it was on to investigate a bush and then to the water guzzler to hear the cool sounds it made when a hoof hit it.

While these 3 played, Feldspar and her daughter Krystal grazed.

Krystal 2 — Krystal (Agate), April 15, 2012

After the 3 youngsters drank from the water guzzler, they headed over to nap with the adults.

Then suddenly, for some reason only known to her, Krystal decided to run full speed from where she was towards the sleeping group. That caused everyone to run for their lives. I just happened to have my camera pointed in the right direction at the time and was able to capture the moment.

Cloud was the only one that did not run and looked for what might have scared her.

Clouds sees what the fuss is — Cloud, April 15, 2012

Not finding anything, everyone settled down. They were all awake now, so they started grazing and moving on to another area.

innocents and Lynx — Mother and Son. Innocentes and Lynx, April, 2012

As they moved further away, we decided we would continue up Burnt Timber. We had not gone up the road far, when around a bend in the road we found Doc and his band.

Doc band — Demure, Jenny and Broken Bow, April, 2012

Broken Bow kept a very close eye on us while we were there. Doc barely lifted his head from eating. At first I thought he had several wounds that were healing on him. But after looking closer it appears that it is mostly dried mud on his side and neck.

Clouds band in background — You can see Cloud's band in the background. The water guzzler is on the right.

We continued up the road several miles before we saw more horses. They were pretty far away. It was Custer and his band. Everyone was there.

We continued further up the road. There were patches of snow under some of the trees. We would have liked to gone all the way to the top, but there was a storm coming in pretty fast. So we headed back down the mountain.

As it turned out, it was a good thing we did. That was when we saw the new foal. If you missed that post you can click here: New Foal.

It was a good day. But it was not over yet. We were out of the range and heading down the dirt road. As I came around a bend in the road there was a little baby calf. He had somehow gotten through the fence away from the others and was trying to get back in. I don’t know how he got out. The barbed wire fence was really tight. I did not know how he would get back in on his own. So we stopped. I thought about going to the house to let them know, but in order to do that it would have involved a few miles to go around the roads to get there. I was afraid that this little guy would panic and hurt himself on the fence. I have worked with cows several times on horseback, but never with a truck. I took what I knew from that to help herd this little guy to safety. I thought I saw a gate up the road a short way, so I drove up there. I had Brigitte get out and open the gate, staying there so no more got out. Then turned around and went back to the baby. Cows have a “bubble” around them. Some are more sensitive than others. I wanted him to go slowly towards the gate, not panic and run the opposite way. So I went slowly and watched his moves. He did just as I hoped and headed towards the gate. He went down in a ditch along the road once, so I had to get out of the truck and go over towards him and move him back up on the road. It really went easier than I thought it would. I motioned Brigitte to go to the other side of the road, away from the gate. I was pretty sure this guy would not go in with her standing right by the gate. I inched the truck forward. Just as planned he scooted right in the gate and back to his mom! Boy was he happy! Boy were we happy!

It was a good day.

More updates on the Dryhead, Sykes and another time up Burnt Timber soon!

Remember you can click on the photos to make them larger!

Tag: Burnt Timber

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