October 21, 2009 – Mountain Update

On the 21st we headed out to the range. After seeing only Sitting Bull and his harem in the Lower Sykes area, we decided to head up Burnt Timber. The snow had melted a lot since I was last there, and nearly all of the puddles in the mid-slope were dried up. Scoping to the top of the mountain, we could see that there was still a good amount of snow up there still. However, there was also a good amount of horses up there too. Drifts blocked our way, so we had to walk in to the horses.

Going down the cirque, the first horses we saw were Starman’s harem as his daughter Isadora peeked out at us.

Up from them was Two Boots and his harem. The colt foal was still missing, and so I think that he is probably gone. As we continued to walk in, we came upon Lakota and Baja’s harems. The black colt in Baja’s harem is definitely striking, much like Isadora is above.

This foal, like the others, is getting big and is growing in his first fuzzy winter coat. Crossing over the hill, we came upon a number of horses – the harems of White Cloud, Teton, Bolder, Blue Moon, and Mescalero. Custer and Coronado’s harems could be seen in the distance.

There was a little interchange up there. White Cloud’s black mare Pococeno wasn’t with the harem, but his two year old daughter was back from Morning Star. I couldn’t see her with any of the harems I saw.

There really was a good amount of snow on the ground, and there’s not a whole lot of available forage in some of the areas the horses were in due to these seasonal conditions. The snow does provide water for them; and, judging from a lack of water in the mid-slope, I guess that was a big reason the horses were up there. Not all of the horses were up on top, though many were. Some, like Jackson below, had their harems down there still. I’m not exactly sure where they watered, but they are definitely able to take advantage of the great forage that is present in these areas right now.

Also, I have been receiving a number of inquiries on the health of some particular horses. White Cloud and Firestorm are the topic of many of these inquiries. While up on the mountain this day, I took some short video clips of them moving around so you can see how you think they are looking. You’ll also see Exhilaration there walking; there will be more on him in the next post on the Dryhead horses. To view this movie, please click here. (Note: I disabled comments on this video so that any relevant comments can be put here so that it is easier for others to read them.)

September 17, 2009 – Mountain Updates

I have made trips to the mountain on the 11th, 15th, and 16th. There are only two harems I’ve not yet seen up there since before the gather, and they are two harems that weren’t ever gathered. I will continue to look for them. I thought I would post some photographs and information on some of the things I’ve thought are of interest.

As has been mentioned, Baja’s mare Bacardi and her filly foal were not brought in by the helicopter due to the foal’s small size. The two ended up being taken in by Coronado. Below is Bacardi and her foal with Coronado’s harem.

Just a day or two after this, Bacardi and her foal rejoined Baja. I don’t find this too surprising at all really. Halcyon’s foal, who is pictured in above too, is doing pretty well. The first time I saw her after the gather, she was a little tender on her feet; but I think she is doing very well after having saw her last on Tuesday.

Brumby, the mare that tied up, is also doing very well now. Her foal, along with a few other foals, is still a little tender; but I think they will be just fine.

Something I’ve noticed that I find very interesting is a relationship the bachelor Fiesta has developed with Flint’s harem. When I first saw him on the 11th, he was with the other bachelors. However, this week he almost seems to be acting as a satellite bachelor for Flint. Sometimes bachelors will follow a harem around, but Fiesta actually seemed to be working with the harem. Satellite bachelors are one of my favorite things to observe, and so I will be interested to see where this goes with these two.

I’ll be posting specifics on the gather later, likely today; but I’d still like to talk a little about horses that were never gathered. These were horses that the helicopter couldn’t really push down the mountain. From what I understand, they would just slip away. It’s likely that they could have been gathered, but I understand that the BLM did not want to have any accidents occur from pushing the horses as hard as would have been required. Below are Doc and Custer’s harems (Doc’s grulla mare is just out of the photograph). They, along with a number of other horses, never went through Britton Springs. Some of the horses that were never gathered would have been removed had they been gathered. Horses that had been gathered were removed in place of these individuals. The yearlings in each of these photographs would have likely been removed had they been gathered.

I’ll be heading up to the mountain again tomorrow, and I hope to see the two harems I’ve not seen. There was a new foal reported in by the BLM during the gather operations, and so finding this foal is one of my main priorities right now.

September 11, 2009 – Trip to the Mountain

I made a trip to the mountain today before going out of town for the weekend. I will be leaving soon, and so I have to cut this short and hold off putting any photographs up.

I was able to see many horses on the mountain today. Some of these were ones that had been gathered, but I also saw some for the first time since the gather had taken place. Some of the foals are still looking a little tender when they walk, but I really think that they will be fine. I found that Bacardi and her foal, who had been separated from Baja during the gather, are now with Coronado. It will be interesting to see if they end up staying with him or if they will end up back with Baja eventually. I spent some time watching Brumby, and she seems to be all the way back to normal. It’s definitely different being up there with so many horses absent.

I really am sorry for not being able to answer any emails sent to the Center. I just have not had a chance. I have received a number of inquiries on adopting a horse from here. This is great to see this much interest! To get more information on adopting a wild horse from here, there are a couple things I would recommend. Going to the National Wild Horse Adoption Day Web Site (http://www.nationalwildhorseadoptionday.org) will provide you with some specific information on adopting a wild horse from the BLM. Also, you can call the BLM’s adoption coordinator, Nancy Bjelland, at (406) 896-5222 for further information, applications, and the like. 54 horses will be up for adoption. 3 of these are mares that will also have foals with them. The adoption will be on September 26th at Britton Springs, and so there is still time to prepare to adopt a Pryor horse at that time.

I will post more updates next week. Thank you for all of your time and support!

August 28, 2009 – Shaman’s Legacy

This week, the stallion Shaman was found deceased. In recent weeks, he has not looked well; and it appeared he died of either natural causes or by falling from a small ledge. Prior to his death, Shaman was the oldest stallion on the range; he was born in 1988. Shaman was a very successful harem stallion. He had put together his first harem at age six, and it was a pretty large harem considering his age. He continued to be successful throughout his life. In fact, I believe that he currently has at least ten offspring on the range, and he has many other descendants. Shaman definitely lived a good life on the range, and I am happy to have gotten to know him.