Sounds like good news!

Here is a link that you should check out. Sounds like a win-win situation for all.

http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/info/newsroom/2012/march/nr_03_22_2012.html

All the HMA’s in Colorado are getting a piece of this money! This would be a good time to sign up with your local BLM as a volunteer.  Get out there, help the land, help the horses and make yourself feel better too! People always ask, “what can I do to help”.  Well, here is a good way to help. No matter what your age or limitations, there is always something for you to do.  So come on everyone, let’s get out there and volunteer!

Correction

I have made corrections to the post titled “Bachelor Antics”.  I was mistaken in identifying Yuma. Turns out it is really Rimrock!  I haven’t seen him in a while and did not recognize him. I apologize for the error.

Bachelor Antics

Oh what a day! It was warm and sunny with a bit of wind, but totally glorious!

Hiked to the potholes and was surprised to see a horse I hadn’t seen for a while and did not recognize right away. I thought it was Yuma, but someone else figured out that it was Rimrock!  That is what happens when you don’t see these horses all the time.  He was hanging out with Adobe and Briscoe. They were slowly grazing their way towards the potholes when Diamond Rio, Choca and Ajax appeared from the other side of the potholes. Things quickly escalated from there. Both groups met on the trail and there was so much squealing, stomping, pushing and shoving going on! Being in a canyon it sure echoed. They carried on for a bit and finally headed to water. It didn’t stop there though.  They still had the whole shoving, pushing, squealing, stomping and they added splashing to the mix. What fun to watch and hear! Even after they left you could hear them squealing in the distance.

Rimrock running from Choca and Ajax

the whole group. Briscoe, Choca, Adobe, Ajax, Rimrock and Diamond Rio

Bachelors in a chain reaction.

Race to the waterhole

Choca, Rimrock, Ajax

Still carrying on at the waterhole

March 5,2012

I went to Main Canyon yesterday and was lucky enough to find Laramie and Gideon’s bands. They were close together so I just found myself a rock and sat with them. Beautiful day, gorgeous blue skies, no clouds, no breeze and temperatures in the upper 40′s to lower 50′s. Darn near perfect!

Most of the snow is gone, but still enough melting that the ground was pretty muddy in places. Lots of water in Jerry Creek, tiny shoots of green beginning to appear as well.

As I was sitting with these bands, just enjoying them, the sunshine, the silence and solitude, along came a flock of Mountain Bluebirds. They were such a deep, vivid blue! Absolutely gorgeous. Even the finches seemed brighter and more vivid. Could also hear chukkars too, but did not ever see them.

Laramie and his band were pretty photogenic, but Gideon has Fish in his band and she is not very friendly usually. So, not very good pictures of Gideon’s band. No matter, it was still great to see them and just share their company.

On the way out, I was lucky enough to spot 10 big horn sheep, thanks to a friend who told me where she had just seen them!  I stopped and sat and watched them for almost an hour. What a great experience that was. They ate, played, butted heads a few times (behind a bush where I couldn’t get a good picture though, darn it!) and just stood around. I love when they feel relaxed enough around me to eat and play without being too wary.

All in all, I would have to say it was a pretty special day. It’s not every day that the big horns show themselves and the birds fly in like they did. Definitely a day to remember.

Laramie's band. Laramie, Medicine Bow and Lady

Laramie

Lady

Medicine Bow

Gideon's band. Gideon, Solo, and Fish

Gideon

Fish

Solo

Mountain Bluebird

Desert Bighorn

Desert Bighorn

Desert Bighorn

2011 in review

I just want to thank all of you  for reading and following this blog. I hope to be a bit better about posting entries this year.  Please continue to come back often! Here’s to a great 2012!  Happy New Year everyone!

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 6,700 times in 2011. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 6 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

New face/old friends

There is a new face in the lower canyons. We saw this little filly on the stealth cams but have never seen her in person. Now, I am not positive this is Acorn, but pretty sure.  It could be Yuma though. I don’t know if we will ever know for sure. I will post pictures of both of them from last year and you can tell me what you think. Anyway, she is with Snoopy Jr. and his group. His group consists of him, Jaggs, Acorn, Miracle and another stallion, Ajax.

If this is Acorn, her parents are Kite and Durango, although, she and her mother, Kite, were last seen with Whitewash.  If it is Yuma, her parents are Sunkist and Lucky.  We will probably never know for sure which one it is, but we will just love her and watch her grow, not matter who she is!

Here are the photos. We were unable to get a full face photo of Acorn, but I don’t think the face mark on Yuma is quite right for this new face to be her. They just look so much alike!  What do you all think?

Yuma and her mother Sunkist

Acorn, Kite and Whitewash

Ajax,Acorn, Miracle and Snoopy Jr.

Snoopy Jr. and Acorn with Miracle in the back

Jaggs

Snoopy Jr. and Acorn

Acorn, Miracle and Snoopy Jr. sharing a pocket of water

He’s alive!!

Imagine my surprise when I look across a small valley and see a “ghost”.   Well, I thought it must be a ghost and it was Halloween, but he turned out not to be a ghost after all. This horse was last seen at the end of last winter/early spring and he looked bad. It was said that he was painfully thin and did not look well at all. Then, we have not seen him all summer long.  This is a horse that, while not highly visible, is at least seen several times a year. He is alone, which is not good, but he is alive and looking well.  Can you guess who it is? Do you give up? Okay, I will tell you ……….GUNSMOKE!!!

Now, he still looks every one of his 19 years, still a little thin, but does not look bad at all.  He is getting his shaggy winter coat and you can see a few ribs but, all in all, he looks pretty darn good. I was really excited to see him.  There is a tree that he likes to stand under and every time I went by it this year, I would say how sad it was that Gunsmoke wasn’t under his tree.  Then I would wonder who would eventually take his place under that tree.  While, I didn’t find him under that tree, he was close by. He was on the gas pad, which is another place he likes to hang out.

As I said before, he is 19 years old and not sure who his dam was, but pretty sure that Buckskin Jake was his sire.  He is missing the tip of his left ear and his right eye has gotten “cloudy”.  He has a daughter who looks a whole lot like him and he has sired many others through the years. His genes are pretty well represented on the range.  Below are some photos of him and his most recent band that he has lost. One of his favorite mares, Spook, is missing and I would not be surprised to find that they find one another again.

Gunsmoke from a few years ago

Gunsmoke and Spook

Gunsmoke and some of the mares he has had

Gunsmoke surprising us in Main Canyon one winter

Gunsmoke (taken on Halloween)

Gunsmoke now

Josie (on the left) and Jolie(on the right)- Jolie sure looks like Gunsmoke