I have never gone to the mountain top alone.  Each year I take someone special with me.  This year I had the pleasure of taking my sister with me on this grand adventure.  She has always heard me talk about the mountain, the wild horses and the sheer joy I feel when I am there.  I could hardly wait to share this Montana wilderness experience with her.  I wanted her to soak it all in.  To understand what draws me to this magnificent piece of heaven here on earth.  I wanted her to take in the sights, the smells and the sounds of this intriguing place.  I wanted her to feel the exhileration at seeing her first wild horse in person.  As we left her driveway, loaded down with our tent, sleeping bags, cooler of food and clothes for every temperature, we asked our Lord and Savior to be our Guide on this journey.  We asked that He help us to keep our eyes and our hearts open to His will, not ours.  We asked Him for guidance and leadership.

We had always talked about taking a trip together, just the two of us.  We were finally  doing it.  By the time we reached South Dakota, reality was finally sinking in that we were actually doing this!  Even though I have gone on this journey many times, each time has it’s own unique experiences that make it fresh, new and thoroughly exciting.  And it was fun to see it through my sisters eyes.  On the drive over the Bighorn mountains through Eastern Wyoming, we started to see some of the traits that the Pryor Mountains have.  There was meadow after meadow of mountain lupine.  We stopped to take in the view when the snow capped Bighorns came in to view.

My original plan for this trip was to go to the Pryor Mountains to see Image and Ember’s families first.  But I also have to keep an open mind and be flexible for possible obstacles along the way.  I had been in contact with the local Park Rangers to check on the road conditions on the mountain.  With the heavy snow of the winter, the roads were taking longer to clear and dry up than they had in past years.  I learned that one of the ‘safer’ roads was under repairs for the entire summer.  And the safest road to the top of the mountain was rather iffy due to deep ruts made by careless drivers when they were wet and muddy.  That left Burnt Timber Road.  Hmm.  That road (it is called a road, but it resembles more of a rough rocky path) has just continued to deteriorate over the years and has not been as safe to travel on.  My gut (I have learned to trust my gut and my instincts over the years.  I truly believe that is Gods way of telling me what He wants me to do or not do, along with reading His Word) was telling me to give the safer roads a few more days to dry out before heading to the top.  I listened and we changed our plans to spend the first couple of days at the McCullough Peaks Wild Horse Range outside of Cody, WY.  I love these horses, with their different pinto patterns, beautiful sorrel colors and bulky bodies.  The terrain of the Peaks is much different than the top of the Pryors.  It is more of a desert with sage brush, cacti and snakes.  There is a main road that runs through the center of the horse range.  Then there are 2-tracks that run off of this main road.  It is advisable to have a higher clearance and a 4WD vehicle for these 2-tracks.  As Sandy and I headed into the Peaks, we glassed over the terrain that always confuses me.  The many hills blend into one as you look out over the vast range.  During the time we were there, we saw many cows that are allowed to graze on public lands.

When the cows are there, the BLM closes some of the many fences that are intertwined within the wild horse range to keep the cows in certain areas.  This, in turn, alters the movements of the wild horses as they are not able to move freely throughout the entire range.

We made our way past the cows and a little deeper in the wild horse range, looking for the horses.  As we bumped along on the 2-track, we strained our eyes, looking over the tops of the sage brush for horses.  It seemed like we had gone forever when Sandy said excitedly “There are horses over there!”  We stopped the car and looked through our binoculars over the landscape to where she saw the horses.

Sure enough there were tiny dots in the far distance.  Now, how do we get to them?  The tracks do not make straight paths, but tend to wind their way around and around.  With the tall sage brush it is impossible to know where they will lead unless you travel down them.  With paper and pen, Sandy started to make a map as we traveled the trails, noting when we intersected another 2-track.  She was careful to note any landmarks that would help us find our way back out of the maze of tracks.  We finally got a closer look at the horses.

We were very careful to not make any sudden noises and movements that would scare the horses off.  It was fun to watch this large band.  They had just finished watering and were heading out to have a mid-morning snooze.  I just love these pintos with their intricate shaped patterns that resemble jigsaw puzzle pieces.  We spent some time with this band of gorgeous horses, watching their behaviors.  All the while I was keeping an eye on the weather.  Having gone fishing with my Dad on the Great Lakes many times while growing up, he taught me how to read the weather in the clouds and listen to them.  So with one eye on a growing storm that was brewing to our southeast, we started to make our way back to the car and to work our way back out of the horse range.  I figured it would be about an hour before the storm hit the East entrance to the horse range.  And it would take us a good 45 minutes to work our way back out of there.  Even though we hated to leave the horses that we had just found, I am a firm believer that safety comes first.  We made our way back out, following Sandy’s carefully drawn map with wonderful details.

As I had figured, just a few minutes after we were back on the safety of the paved highway, the storm hit the horse range where had just been.  We watched the storm for awhile, watching to see what path it would take.  It did not look like it was going to hit the main portion of the wild horse range, so we headed to the main paved road that runs through the center of the range.  We found a small band of bachelors that were hanging out together.

They shared a bond that was pretty special to watch.  I contemplated the friendship that these guys had formed.  We watched as the last bit of sun slowly dipped down below the horizon.  As the sky lit up in gorgeous tones of red and orange, I was inspired to create this piece of “photo fusion”.

I call it “Trail of the Setting Sun” in honor these magnificent wild horses.

The next morning we headed back out to the Peaks.  We found a different small band of bachelors.  They were content to graze on top of a hill where they could take in the sights all around them.  This magnificent brown and white pinto stallion had his family ripped from him during the 2009 round up.  He has not been able to win a mare since then.  So he hangs out with a couple of other bachelors.  My heart cried out to him in all that he had lost.  But at least he still had his freedom….

We headed deeper into the vast wild horse range and could see a little movement in the distance, so we looked for a 2-track that would take us closer to them.  At closer look it was another group of bachelors at a water hole.  To my surprise Washakie was there too and he had a family with him!  Washakie is another stallion who had lost his entire band in the round up of 2009.

He had a family again!  Washakie is one of those wild stallions you can’t help but admire.  He is a stunning presence in his wild environment.  We watched him for some time.  He had a mare with him that looked different.  We kept looking at this sorrel mare, thinking she did not quite fit in.  We found out later than she was a domestic horse that someone had dumped off at the wild horse range…..

It was soon time to leave the McCullough Peaks and head north to the Pryor Mountains.  We arrived at the base of the mountain in late afternoon with the intent to head up very early the next morning.  Our plan was to start up via Pryor Mountain Rd heading out of Bridger, MT.  The deep ruts in the road were within the Crow Indian Reservation close to the bottom of the mountain.  If the ruts were too deep for the clearance on my SUV, we would simply turn around and head up via Burnt Timber Rd.  (Not an option I was thrilled with, but it was doable if I took my time and calculated every move up the sharp rocks of the road.)  Very early the next morning, we started on this next stage of our great adventure.  As we started out, we again asked God for guidance and wisdom to make the right decisions.  As we approached the section of the road that was suppose to be bad with ruts, I was a little surprised at how easy it was to drive on.  Thank you Lord!  (I later found out that they had just graded the road the day before we headed up the mountain.  Again, thank you Lord for Your wisdom and my willingness to listen to You and wait on Your timing.)  We slowly made our way up Pryor Mountain Rd through the Custer National Forest.  We marveled at the beauty that surrounded us at every turn of the road.  As we ascended the mountain, the wildflowers started to dot the road side and the meadows off the road.  It was truly a glorious site.

As we reached the top of the mountain near the Dryhead Overlook, it was sad that we had not seen any wild horses yet.  The Custer National Forest does not want the wild horses on the land they manage and orchestrated that the fence, that had been in disrepair for decades with openings for the horses to travel through, bordering the Pryor Mountain Horse Range and the Forest Service Land be reconstructed to keep the wild horses on the Eastern side of the mountain.  It was not taken into consideration that these wild horses have roamed the Forest Service Land for decades, dating back to before the 1971 Wild Horse and Burro Act was put into place.  As we continued on the road, there were some sharp rocks to maneuver around, but nothing too bad.  Again, if taken the time to carefully work the tires around them or over them, all was fine.  We soon came to a gorgeous wildflower covered meadow that had always had wild horses grazing in it in the past.  It was an eerie feeling that they were not there.  Is this a sign of things to come?  A landscape with no wild horses?

As we continued, we came upon the new fence that had been constructed the summer before.  My heart sank at the reality that the wild horses that I have come to know and love were cut off from their late summer grazing land.  My mind raced with thoughts of how will they react to not being able to graze where their ancestors had always grazed?  Will they push the boundaries?  Will they struggle to get to the other side of the fence?  Will any of them be hurt in the process?   What does this mean for their future?  These were all thoughts I had contemplated before as I had known about the plan to construct the fence.  But seeing it in person put it into complete perspective of what this means to the wild horses of the Pryor Mountains.

We started to scan the meadows for horses and as soon as we neared the junction of Pryor Mountain Rd with Burnt Timber Rd. we saw a band of bachelors grazing.  As we watched them, out of the trees came Cloud.  He had come to play with the bachelors and to let them know they were not allowed anywhere near his family!

We headed on down the road, slowly making our way over the sharp rocks that jut out of the road, keeping a look out for more horses.  We spotted Bolder (Cloud’s son) with his band in a fantastic meadow that is a favorite of the wild horses in the summer.  They were all taking naps.

Jewel and Echo (Bolder’s 2 year old daughter and yearling son) were laying close to each other as they napped.  After some time, they each got up and stretched out their legs.

Echo went over to one of the mares in the band and wanted to play with her.  Is that Velvet?  Bolder now had Cloud’s lead mare Velvet!  That was interesting.  I wonder how that happened.  Was it her choice to be with Bolder or did he steal her away?  I have come to learn that if a mare does not want to stay with a stallion, he is pretty much powerless to keep her.  The lead mare in a band calls most of the shots.

As I looked up, I could see Mascalero escorting a band of rowdy bachelors away from his family.

As the bachelors made their way into the meadow where Bolder had his family, Bolder came to attention to see if the boys needed any help in leaving the area.

As the bachelors tore through the area, clearly just having some fun, they posed no threat to Bolder and his family.  Bolder was still very much aware of their every move though.

Soon Cloud moved his band into the meadow as well.

With so much activity, Bolder moved his family completely out of the area heading toward Penn’s Cabin.

We watched the horses a little longer and then decided we had better start thinking about making camp.  We settled on a nice little area with some protection of the trees.

In the late afternoon, I could see storm clouds to the North West.  Keeping an on the approaching storm, we decided we had better make our way back to the vehicle and then to camp.  We were glad we had set up camp when we did.  After the storm passed through, the sun came back out to give us a gorgeous rainbow.  And as the sun slowly dipped below the horizon, a lone stallion was quietly grazing on the top of his world.  After breathing a prayer of thanks for all this day had held for us, we tucked in for the night.

The next morning, we headed out before sunrise to find the horses to photograph them in the gorgeous morning light.  We glassed over to Cloud’s Island and saw several bands out that way, so we started hiking out there.  We saw Cloud and his band. Cloud had stolen Feldspar from his son Bolder the previous fall, so she and her daughter Agate were still with Cloud.

He was feeling a little amorous but she was clearly not in the mood.  The mares really do call the shots in the band.

Cloud had also acquired Ingid and her son Lynx.  It was heartwarming to see that The Black (Velvet and The Count’s daughter) had bonded so closely with them.

As the horses pushed toward the fence that separated the Forest Service land from the BLM land, it was disheartening to see them not be able to get to their known late summer grazing land.

I was so happy to see Chino, a gorgeous buckskin stallion whose lead mare is Topper.  I have always loved Topper.  She has a no-nonsense attitude about her that I admire.

She also has some very distinctive primitive markings on her.  She is here with her daughter Topper Too.

We headed to Penn’s Cabin to see if there were any horses in that area of the range.  To our delight, Duke was there with his band to greet us.  We quietly settled down to watch this band as they grazed and rested.  Madonna had a cute little bay filly named Lariat.

Lancaster, the dun colt of Hopi, came over to play after a nap and a snack.

We quietly left them and headed back to camp as the sun was getting too high in the sky for good photography.  We thought a snack and a nap sounded like a great idea!

After resting for a bit, we headed back over to Cloud’s Island.  Bolder made an appearance with his band to graze in the beautiful meadow.  Other bands soon joined them in the last couple of hours of daylight.  London, a little bay colt in Doc’s band was a rambunctious little fellow and wanted to explore.

He came over to Bolders band and started to play with little Lobo (Cedar and Bolder’s little one).

They played so much, that London lost track of where he was.  He soon found himself surrounded by other bands, none of which were his family.  What we saw next was pretty amazing.  Bolder saw London’s distress at being lost and calmly walked over to him.  Bolder then called out to London’s step-dad Doc.

I have never seem this kind of behavior in a band stallion.  Typically they would either ignore a lost colt or snake him away from his band.  Some will say that I am anthropomorphising Bolder’s behavior as he clearly showed concern over the lost colt and wanted to help him find his way home.  Doc came over to collect London and Bolder went back to his band.

As more bands came into the meadow, Bolder quietly took his family away.  He was not interested in being surrounded by many bands.

Cloud brought his family into the clearing.  His entire band was captivated by something near the trees.  Cloud moved them off in a different direction.

We glassed over to where the girls had been looking and to our delight we saw a new born foal next to Honey.

We looked around for Morning Star, since Honey is one of his mares.  He and most of the band had already moved off.  Honey was waiting for her daughter to wake up before joining her band.

As Honey and her daughter began to move to Morning Star, we realized that 2 of his other mares had stayed close to Honey and waited with her until her little one was able to travel.  We watched these amazing wild horses a little longer until the sun dipped down to the horizon.  We made our way back to camp in the last lingering light of the day.  We had been blessed with another beautiful day.  As we neared camp and prepared for the night, we reflected on all that we had seen that day.  We were in our jammies and tucked into our sleeping bags when we heard the sounds of horses.  We grabbed our cameras, put on our crocks and headed out in to the  cold darkening night to see who had come to tell us good night.  It was Bolder’s band!  And Red Raven’s band was right behind them.

He was bringing his family close to our camp site.  It was fun to watch Echo and Jewel run through an adjacent lupine covered meadow next to our camp.  It was too dark for any really good photo ops.  But I could not resist capturing these special moments.

As darkness took over the night, we headed back to our tent, too excited to even think about sleeping.  We could hear the horses milling around.  The distant sounds of bachelors playing.  An occasional whiney.  Then the sound of thundering hooves became louder and louder as a band of wild horses rushed past our camp.  The horses stayed close all night.  I have to admit that I did not get much sleep that night as I was listening to all of their night sounds, imaging who was out there and what they were doing.

The next morning, quite a few bands were still in the area.  We spent some time watching and photographing them, then went back towards Clouds Island.  We had not seen Flint yet, so it was good to see him and his band as we neared the new fence.  The bachelor band was fairly close to Flint as well.  

The boys seemed to be enjoying their time grazing and grooming one another.  (This is Jasper and Fiddle in the photo grooming one another)

But they were just way too close for Flint’s comfort.  He chased them off.

I was surprised to see Flint keeping his band close to the fence and the bachelor band.  The other bands of horses would come toward the fence but then push back to the East.  The bachelor band was still hanging around Flints band.

Flint had more confrontations with the bachelor band that day.

We hiked around a bit more, looking for more horses.  As the sun started climbing higher and higher in the sky, we started to make our way back toward camp.  As we rounded a curve in the road, we saw Bolder.  He was right on the road, checking out who had been in the area by sniffing the stud pile.

We quietly watched Bolder and his band snoozing among the Douglas Fir trees.  As we looked around, Red Raven had his band tucked into the trees as well.  (This is Red Raven with his step-daughter Kicks-a-Lot, Bolder and Autumn’s daughter)  I thought it was interesting that Red Raven was so close to Bolder’s band since he had stolen Autumn away from Bolder the winter before.  But they all seemed to be at peace with each other.

Bolder suddenly became alert and looked at something behind us.  We turned to look and here came the rowdy bachelor band tearing towards us.  We went closer to my vehicle, to become one with it so as not to get in their way.  They chased each other around for a bit.  Fiddle was clearly acting as a ‘band stallion’ with his buddy bachelors, snaking them around.

When the boys got a little too close to Bolder, he decided he had better have a little ‘chat’ with them.  I have come to really admire Bolder as a band stallion.  He portrays a calmness about him and when approaching the rowdy bachelors, he didn’t put on a big show.  But his body language still spoke volumes in reminding them of their place.

Bolder having a chat with Jasper (Flint and Feldspar’s son).

Bolder kept his eyes on the bachelors as they stayed in the area, but a little farther away from Bolders family.

We slowly made our way back to camp for a mid day break.  After the sun started to make it’s downward decent in the mid afternoon, we headed back out to watch and photograph the horses.  Cloud was stunning as usual as he ran through the meadow of wildflowers.  And the little foals were all just as cute as can be.  We were truly enjoying this amazing journey.

As this day drew near to a close, we were a bit sad to see this journey come to an end.  This was our last night on the mountain.  We made our way back to camp in the last light of the day.  A lone stallion was walking along a ridge as if to bid us farewell.  About an hour after tucking in for the night, we heard the sounds of horses coming closer.  We spent our last night on the mountain surrounded by the sounds of these amazing wild horses.

The next morning we headed back over to the fence to see if Flint was still hanging around.  The scene before me made my stomach drop.  I could see Flint on this side of the fence facing the fence.   I did a quick count of his band who were grazing close by.  Halcyon was missing!  Looking closer at the fence, I could see her on the other side.

My heart started pounding harder.  How did this happen?  A quick scan along the fence did not show any area where she could have gone through.  How long had she been over there by herself?  The questions filled my mind faster than the answers.  I got a closer look at Halcyon to make sure she was not injured.

Her family members came close to the fence as if I were going to magically get her back on their side.  Oh how I wish I could have just taken that fence down and opened the way for her.  I started making my way north along the fence, looking for the place she went through.  What happened?  As I was walking along, I noticed the worn path along the fence line that the horses had already created.  Probably looking for the openings that had ALWAYS been there in the past.  In this photo, I had turned back toward the south to take this.

As I made my way farther north, I came across a lone bachelor.  Then a little farther along, I saw the rest of the bachelor band snoozing on the top of the hill.  Is that what happened?  Did the bachelors stir things up with Flint and his band?  Did the commotion somehow scare Halcyon into going through the fence?  But where had she gone through the fence?

Not far from the bachelors was the break in the fence.  I had doubts that halcyon broke through this on her own.  I have a feeling that this break had been there in the fence and in a moment of panic she went through.

How would she ever find her way back up here to get back to her band?  She would have to get past the bachelors.  My heart was troubled thinking of Halcyon all alone on that side of the fence.  It was nearing mid-day and we knew we needed to get back to camp to break it and start our way back down the mountain.  Looking to the North, there was a storm brewing, so we knew that we had to get off the mountain as quick as we could.  The roads become a greasy mess when they are wet.  And if caught in a rain storm, it would make it impossible to get down the mountain.  I figured we had close to 2 or 3 hours before the storm hit us.  Feeling helpless and powerless to get Halcyon back on the other side, we made our way down the mountain with heavy hearts.  (I found out later that Halcyon had somehow gotten back on the side with Flint and her family the next day.  That was a huge relief!  But that barrier should not be there.)

I know that this trip report is a long one.  But I wanted you to have a glimpse into the lives of these amazing wild horses.  They have family structures that mean something to them.  Each of them has their own story to tell.  I only touched on a few of the stories we witnessed while on the mountain for that short time.

This very herd of wild horses is in danger of losing 30 of their young ones.  The BLM would like to remove a third to half of the horses aged 1 – 3 years old.  They would like to move forward with this plan without even seeing how bad this winter will be for the horses on the range.  The don’t even want to wait to see how the PZP (birth control given to a select group of mares) has had an effect.  PLEASE, I am asking that you write a letter to the Billings BLM asking them to at least wait until they know how many will survive this winter season and how many mares will have new babies this spring and summer.  Last year there was 0% in herd growth.  The number of babies born was equal to the number of horse deaths.  There is no need to remove any horses at this time.

How can you help?  Emails will be accepted at BLM_MT_Billings_FO@blm.gov 

Here is a link to the PEA (Preliminary Environmental Assessment).  http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/blm/mt/field_offices/billings/wild_horses/2012pryorgather.Par.30061.File.dat/2012%20preliminary%20PMWHR%20non-helicoptergather%20EA%20-reduced.pdf

Please do not delay.  The deadline for comments is Jan. 20.

On behalf of all the horses of the Pryor Mountains, THANK YOU!  Without you, they would not have a voice.

The summer months had unusually high temps and very thick humidity that hung heavy in the air.  I was half tempted to get a spoon and scoop it up, it was that thick.  Our small herd found themselves tucked into the dark recesses of the barn to get away from the swarms of horse flies and the oppressive heat.  Abi has never been able to stand having a horse fly on her.  But when she does have one on her, she runs to us, knowing we will take care of the horse fly that is tormenting her.  I have to admit that it’s a bit daunting to have 1400 pounds on 4 hooves come flying at me!  But she does stop in time and present the horse fly to us for easy removal.   We typically put a commercial fly spray on all of our horses in the summer.  But there was an unusually large amount of horse flies this summer.  Image learned very early on to come right to us so we could remove the vile offender from him.  He was very polite in his manner about this.  It took Ember a little longer to reach out for help with the nasty horse flies.  I saw one on her mane and quickly and quietly caught it in my hand.  I made sure it was dead before presenting it to her to see and smell.  That seemed to be all it took for her to come right to us with her horse fly woes.

We did not work on much training or games with the horses since it was so hot.  It didn’t take much effort to start perspiring heavily.  If we were miserable, we assumed the horses were too.  We still played plenty of ‘friendly’ games though.

I found that every time I went out to the pasture to hang out with the horses, that Ember would leave my side as soon as our herd alpha, Abi, came up to us.  I decided I needed to move Abi off so Ember would be more comfortable by my side.  I started to move Abi off with steady pressure on her fore-quarters.  Just as soon I moved her off, she came right back.  So we played this game over several days.  Each time we played this, Ember stayed a little closer to me each time.  And by about the 7th day of this dance, all I had to do was push the air around Abi for her to move off and stay at a polite distance from me and Ember.  Abi needed to realize that I am one of her leader’s.  And more importantly, Ember needed to see that Abi understood that too.  So I had to show Ember that I am the leader of all of them for her to be completely comfortable standing by my side when Abi is around.  I had plenty of opportunities to show this to Ember during the summer.  Since Ember has the lowest ranking in her herd, I ended up doing this with both Image and Lady Gray as well.

Even though Touchy, our 30+ year old, just wanted to be left alone from the other horses, we found that she was craving our attention.  As her vision in her remaining eye continues to plummet, she has lost a lot of her status among her herd.  In the barn yard, she shares the lowest ranking with Ember.  But out in the pasture, she can still hold her own.  It is impressive to see how Abi protects Touchy on a daily basis.  I see her putting herself between Touchy and the others quite frequently.  Touchy is much slower than the ‘young kids’, so Abi lingers behind to help Touchy find her way.  And I have watched her move off a stray dog that showed a little aggression toward Touchy in the pasture.  Her protective nature is really shining in her alpha status.

It was interesting to watch Image and Ember one afternoon as they crossed the creek to an area that has a little grazing and is landlocked by a neighbors fence.

Lady Gray wanted to follow them, but she is much more timid in randomly crossing the creek just ‘anywhere’.  She seems to want her footing a little more sure than what Image and Ember do.  But then Lady Gray was bred to race on a track, not to survive in a rugged Montana wilderness as Image and Ember were!  I watched as Lady Gray started to think through what she knew she had to do to get to the others.

She watched Image and Ember for a little while and then gathered her courage to cross the creek in an unknown area.  She inched toward the water and smelled it.

Then she took a tentative step in and found herself on the other side in no time!

 That wasn’t so bad.  Once she was there, Image came over to see her and have a chat with her.  Image still has an interesting relationship with Lady Gray.  His infatuation with her turned to fascination and then to domination.  Or at least he tried…..  She will take his advances only so long before she lets him know just how she feels with those hooves of hers.  I am not sure why Image continues to try to rule over her, since he is the one who ends up wearing the evidence of their ‘bickering’.

As the summer months wore on, the rain continued to fall.

We were able to get all of our cuttings of hay in, but it was a bit difficult finding 4 days in a row of dry weather.

As the summer months wore on, the rain continued to fall.  There were times when I didn’t think that Image was really a palomino.  He resembled more of a dirty brown roan/appy cross.  If there is such a thing!

As the last days of winter melted away, the ground became soggy from the melting snow.  Everyone was once again happy to run with abandon across the pasture without worries of a slippery icy terrain.  With the melting ground, came a lot of mud.

Abi, Lady Gray and Image

Image and Ember

Image, running to me

We had seen signs of our resident fox on the prowl.  His mate was tucked away in their den along the creek bank taking care of their newborn young.  It would be a good month or more before the baby foxes would venture out of the den to start exploring their new world.

Ember and Abi are always the first to let me know when there is something different in the pasture.

Ember sees the fox up on the hil

Alert ears and posture tense, they are ready to flee at less than a moments notice should some danger be lurking.  Ember became alert, looking at the far hills, seeing something moving in the distance.  But as we watched, it was Papa fox coming back to the den after a day of hunting.  Ember soon relaxed as she has learned there is nothing to fear from the family of foxes that have denned on our pastures for years now.  She has taken her cue from Abi, her alpha, that there is nothing to be afraid of.  The foxes and our horses have learned to co-exist on our land.  The foxes have no reason to fear the horses and the horses, in turn, have learned that the foxes pose no threat or danger to them.

Momma Fox and Lady Gray cross paths

Momma Fox with a few of her young

We were thrilled when we saw the first of the fox kits emerge from their den.  They did not stray far the first few days as their eyes became clearer and they gained a little more confidence.  Momma or Papa fox was always nearby keeping an eye on them.  We counted 6 kits in this litter.  We were excited about the coming days, knowing the youngsters would be running and playing and scampering about the pasture without a care in the world.  It would be a while yet, before Momma would teach them to be wary of different dangers that surround them.

Momma fox with her babies

I set up my photography blind out in the pasture with a clear view of the foxes den.  In doing so, I also have to put up a mock fence around it to keep the horses from tearing it down in their endless curiosity.  I always chuckle to myself each year as Terry and I put the blind up that we should call it something else.  It certainly is not a ‘blind’ when I have to put high visibility tape around it to keep the horses out of it.  Momma and Papa fox are well aware of it being there.  They know when I am in it too.  The way Papa fox acts in a nonchalant way, I would venture to say that he was raised here.  He is probably one of the young from a previous year’s litter.  Momma fox isn’t as comfortable with our presence as her mate is.  That is fine.  I want her to teach her young to stay away from people.  I have no desire to habituate these beautiful foxes to humans.  That would surely be a death sentence for them.

Ember and I watching as Terry rides Lady Gray

We all know the famous saying that April showers bring May flowers. And we all love the beautiful flowers that appear in Spring, bringing a fresh splash of color to the drag browns of the fading winter. The rains of April were heavy, with little to no relief.

rain quickly fills one of Embers hoof prints

The ground was over saturated and soon the steady rain had no place to go except out of the creek banks and into the pastures. Knowing God’s promise not to flood the earth again was a great comfort to me as the water kept rising.  I knew it would stop eventually.  The majority of our pastures are on the other side of the creek from the shelter of the barn. As I have mentioned several posts ago, we keep our horses in a free roaming environment. The barn is always open should they decide to come inside. Or they are free to stay outside if they so choose. Our pasture and creek banks have plenty of trees to take cover from downpours.

During the first heavy rain of the season all of the horses except for Touchy made their way to the shelter of the barn.  Touchy is our 30 year old who only has one eye and the sight in that eye is probably only about 50%.  She relies on her memory of where everything is to find her way.  Abi has been a wonderful leader for our little herd.  She rarely ever lets Touchy out of her sight.  She protects Touchy in a way that only a good leader would do.  On this occasion though, Abi left Touchy behind.  That was very odd of her to do so.  As the rain continued to fall, the creek began to rise.

Touchy, on the pasture side of the overflowing creek

As  the water overflowed the banks, Terry went out to get Touchy.  We needed to get her on the barn side of the creek before she got stranded over there all alone.  Terry called her name and she perked her ears up.  He called again and she followed the sound of his voice.  She soon came to the place where they cross the creek.

Terry continued to talk to her, to let her know where he was.  She did not hesitate to cross the rushing water that had risen quite high.  The current took her a little off course, but with Terry talking to her the entire time, she changed her direction and came straight to him.  The rain continued for days.  The barnyard became a huge muddy mess as the horses had very few places to go.  We opened up the small paddock above the barn so they could graze and have some room to roam.

When the flood waters finally subsided enough for the horses to cross to the pasture side of the creek again, we coaxed them over with hay.  We knew they would be happier on the pasture side, with the new spring grass growing and much more room to run and play.  Being cooped up on the barn side of the creek was wearing on them all.  They needed their space.  So we took some hay over to the pasture.  We walked across our ‘foot bridge’ to get to the other side.  Ember was the first one to brave crossing the creek that was still quite high.

Ember crossing the swollen creek

Ember finding her footing to get to the other side of the creek

Image and Lady Gray

Image, as he crosses the creek

Lady Gray follows Image's lead across the creek

Once on the other side of the creek, the horses enjoy some hay that we put out for them.  I was proud of all of them for facing the rushing rapids of the creek water to get to the other side.  Image, Ember and Lady Gray had never seen, let alone crossed, rushing water such as this.  They all handled it quite well.

Ember and Abi

Ember

As the horses enjoyed the hay, the sun finally came out.  I think we only had about 2 days of sunshine until it started to rain again.  Once again, the rain water overflowed the banks of the creek.  Only this time it was much worse.  Thankfully all of the horses stayed on the pasture side of the creek.  The grass was growing quickly now, so there was plenty of grazing.  As long as they were all together, we were not worried about them being over there.  They had plenty of water and grass.  And we were still able to carry hay over to them.

Our 'foot bridge' started to float as the creek water floods the pasture

Sadly, the family of foxes didn’t fare as well.  Their network of dens runs along the creek banks.  We watched as Momma fox rescued 4 of the 6 kits from the den and moved them to a different location.

Momma fox taking her young to a new location

She came back time and again searching for her 2 youngest.

Momma fox frantically searching for her young

Momma fox

We fear the flood waters were just too much for the 2 smallest of her litter.  It was interesting to watch the change in her behavior as she went from ‘search and rescue’ mode to ‘survival’ mode.  After an hour and a half of searching each den over and over again for her youngest, she switched gears and began unearthing every bit of food she had cached near her den, taking it to her new location.

My photography blind under water

Momma fox looking for the food she had hidden away

Momma fox taking her cache of food to her new location on higher ground

It was difficult to stand back and watch this happen without interfering and trying to help her.  I kept telling myself that this is what natural selection is all about.  It didn’t make it any easier as I watched Momma fox search in vain for her missing little ones…..

Since the flooding, our sightings of the fox family have been few.  The remaining young will visit our pastures occasionally, but only to stay for an hour or so.

As April faded into May, the ground began to slowly dry.  May held it’s own showers of rain, but thankfully it was not as much as April.

Image is still infatuated by Lady Gray.  She will tolerate his advances for a little while and then she tells him to back off.

Lady Gray and Image

Image, Ember and Abi grazing in the rain

Ember and Image running

Ember and Image running to me

Once the snow started to fall, it did not let up for quite some time.  Image and Ember loved playing in it.  The hours of daylight continued to fade and the air became crisp with a chill that went straight to the bone.  We were glad we had gotten that third cutting of hay back in late summer since winter had settled in early and didn’t feel like it was going anywhere anytime soon.

Toward the end of December, we had gotten word that an ex-racehorse was in need of new home.  She would not be able to stay at her current home come the beginning of the new year for a variety of reasons.  We made arrangements to meet this horse to see if we could give her a ‘forever home’.  When we arrived, we learned that she had been alone for over a month.

The ex-racehorse when we first met her

All of her other ex-racehorse herd mates had found new homes and she was the only one left.  She was a bit nervous when we went in to the round pen with her.  But she settled down quickly and let us touch her all over.  Terry walked her around a bit and she was quite receptive to him.

The ex-racehorse with a western saddle on her for the first time

Next Terry put a saddle on her.  This was probably the first time she had ever had a western saddle on her.  So far, so good.  Now the true test – see how she would act with a rider on her.  (She had not raced or been riden in over 2 years)  To our surprise, she did quite well.  Terry asked her to walk and she did.  He then asked her to stop and she stopped.  The only thing she did not know how to do was back up!  There is plenty of time later to teach her how to back up.  We were very happy that she exhibited no signs of wanting to bolt when Terry was on her.  We made the decision to give her a home….

We made arrangements to pick her up a few days after Christmas to bring her home.  She loaded into the trailer without any problems and we made the short journey home.

Abi knew something was up.....

Abi knew immediately that something different was going on when we pulled the truck and trailer into the paddock.  All of her senses were in tune to the new girl.  We let the new girl out into the small paddock area above the main barn to let her see her new surroundings and take in the new sights, sounds and smells.  Abi squealed a greeting that was a bit high pitched and spoke volumes.  It was enough to send Image and Ember high tailing it over to the main pasture.

The new girl ran around a bit, clearly nervous and excited with all that was new around her.   Wanting to comfort her, Terry brought Touchy in to help calm her down.

Touchy is like the gentle grandma who just has a steady presence and a calm demeanor.  After she settled down and started to graze, Terry made himself comfortable in the middle of the paddock and waited.  She soon came over to him, curious now.  They started to form a bond at that moment.

Gray and Abi, very much aware of each other and that a fence separated them

Terry started to call her Gray.  I was a bit unimpressed with such a boring name for such an elegant being.  But until a better name came along, Gray it was.  We knew it was time to introduce Gray to her new herd mates without the barrier of a fence between them.  Abi, our alpha, was going to be the test.  We led Gray out of the paddock and into the barn yard.  She tentatively  walked around, already knowing that Abi was the new boss.  She just needed to meet her.  They eyed each other curiously.  And Abi knew she had to let Gray know that this was her turf.

They had a few things to discuss and it was over within a couple of minutes.  No contact was made, but the gestures were quite easy to read.

Curiosity got the better of Image and Ember and they came back over to meet Gray, who seems like a giant compared to them.  With Abi’s alpha status still intact, they all started to get to know one another.  It was an introduction that we were well pleased with.  Abi has a way of exuding her authority in a non-contact way, much to our relief.  To our surprise and Ember’s dismay, Image fancied himself in love with the new girl in town.  He was quite smitten with her.

Ember stayed back, not sure what to think of this new girl who had captured Image’s attention so easily.  She just didn’t see what all of the fuss was about.

The next test for Gray was crossing the creek.  She had never seen a creek, let alone crossed one before.  We led her to it, let her sniff it, see it, get used to it.

Instead of walking through the water, she chose to jump across.  It wasn’t graceful, but she got to the other side.  Once on the pasture side of the creek, we walked her around to show her the lay of the land and her new boundaries.  Not wanting to have his new ‘girlfriend’ out of his site, Image soon followed.  Image thought it was a good time to exude his authority as her next-in-line boss and have a chat with her.  Didn’t he realize that if she kicked, her leg would stretch for a mile????

Gray and Image figuring it out

After Gray and Image figured out that Image did indeed have status above her, they settled in to grazing the winter pickings of the pasture.  When it was time to feed hay, they all had to re-establish boundaries and hierarchy’s.

Gray found that she couldn’t go anywhere without Image tagging along.  They became inseparable.  Ember had always taken for granted that Image would always be by her side, ready to run and play whenever she wanted.  With his new fascination with Gray, Image spent less and less time with Ember.  This made Ember quite jealous.  She was not happy with the new girl who had taken Image away from her.  She became a bit angry and very grumpy.  She didn’t hesitate to let Image know how she felt about all of the time he was spending with Gray.

Ember, upset with Image

When Image ignored her pleas to leave Gray and come back to her, Ember turned to me, as if begging me to do something about the new girl who was ruining her life!

Ember, pleading with me to send the new girl packing

I just told her that she had better get used to Gray, because she was not going anywhere…..

Not getting anywhere with me or Image, she vented her frustrations with Gray.  

It did not take long for Gray to establish her higher ranking with Ember.  My heart went out to Ember.  She was struggling with letting go of Image and welcoming a new friend into her world.  She needed to work through her own selfishness and realize that she just needed to deal with it.  Gray kept a calmness about her even in the midst of such turmoil and heated emotions.  She had truly earned her new name: Lady Gray.

Image carried on with his infatuation of Lady Gray.  He just couldn’t get enough of being in her presence.

Once Ember let her animosity toward Lady Gray go, she soon realized that this new girl could be someone  she could run and play with!  And Lady Gray proved to be much more challenging to run with than Image.  As Lady Gray’s stride is so much longer than Ember’s, it didn’t take long for Lady Gray to catch up to Ember when she decided to run. 

As winter wore on, Image, Ember and Lady Gray found themselves forming a tight bond that would be hard to break.  I think we can all learn from Ember’s experience with Lady Gray.  When we are faced with something or someone that we want nothing to do with, keep an open heart and mind.  You just never know who might turn out to be your next best friend…

As the days of autumn kept a steady stride of heat and humidity, we had a special visitor.  Our great nephew Michael came to visit and wanted to ride his Uncle Terry’s horses.  Michael has a love for horses and comes to ride every time he is in our ‘neck of the woods’.  Michael had a chance to meet Image and Ember while he was here too.

Ember and our nephew Michael

Touchy and Michael with Abi in the background

Michael riding Touchy while Ember and Image watch

Michael and Touchy

Image and Ember watching Terry ride Abi

The beautiful leaves in all their bright colors had barely made their way to the ground before the snow made it’s abrupt entrance.  The calendar said it was still Autumn, but the snow told us we were well on our way into the cold season.  Image and Ember have continued to grow and thrive in their new home.  Terry and I had established our positions as their leaders (their 2-legged alphas).  Image accepted us as his leader quite early on after we brought them home in the fall of ’09.  It took a little longer to earn Ember’s trust.  But we did get there.  One method we used to get Ember to face us instead of turning her back on us, as she was prone to do, was to flick the end of a rope on her rump any time she turned away from us.  This was to encourage her to realize that it would more comfortable to face us than to turn away from us.  It is just a little flick with the rope, nothing that would hurt her.  But something to make her think about it.  When she would face us, we released the pressure we had on her by turning our back to her.  It was only then that we were able to make a connection with her and start to gain her trust.

Ember is one those gals who has some moody moments when she only wants her way.  And no other way.  It was during one of those moments that she decided to see if she could be my alpha.  She came towards me with her teeth bared.  I have to admit that I reacted to this by stepping back away from her.  That told her immediately that she had gained alpha status over me.   (What I should have done was march right toward her with authority and purpose that would cause her to back away from me.)  Now, I am not saying that if any of you out there has a horse who tries to dominate you, that you should walk up to them with authority.  (Please-please-please, if you have a horse that bites, kicks, or is aggressive to you in any way, please seek a professional natural horsemanship trainer to help you learn how to communicate with your horse and learn ways to prevent this behavior.  If you would like some recommendations, please let me know and I can give you some names and contact information. ) 

As time went on, when I would play games with Ember in the round pen, she remembered that she had gained her dominance over me out in the pasture.  So, the minute she laid her ears back at me, I started switched gears in whatever we were doing and I asked her go backwards.  At first she just went sideways.  But in time she did end up backing up when I asked her to.  Any time you can get your horse to back up in a natural way, you are showing your leadership role over your horse.  Regaining my ‘alpha’ status of Ember took a few weeks.  But keeping persistent in re-establishing my leadership role with Ember has done nothing but strengthen our bond.  Ember still has her moods.  I am just learning more about how to work with them.  Some days when Queen Ember is in the round pen with me, we just play a few games that I know she will succeed at and we call it a day.  I am not about to have a battle of wills with Ember.  That would accomplish absolutely nothing.  She does not have these moody moments very often.  Most of the time she follows me everywhere I go.

As the snow started to fly, Image and Ember continued to run and play with each other.  I can’t help but think of how different their behavior would be if they were still in the wild.  Winter comes early on the Pryors and their mountain families had already been trudging through snow way before they saw their first flake of the fluffy white stuff falling to the ground.  Had they still been in the wild, they would not have wasted precious energy by running and playing.  They would spend their days foraging for any kind of food source they could find.

Ember and Image playing

Ember

Image

Ember, Abi and Image

As the snow continued it’s unrelenting descent upon us, the horses continued to have fun in the snow.  Our neighbor’s dog Sony decided she wanted to see what Image and Ember were doing and ran out to them, barking all the way.  As soon as Ember saw her, Ember decided to get a closer look at what was running toward her.  Image soon followed.  As Image and Ember got closer and closer to Sony, she rethought her decision and came running back to her ‘mom and dad’.  Sony, Image and Ember kept up a game of running and playing as Sony went back out to see them a few more times.

Sony playing with Image and Ember

As the snow just kept falling, we all settled in for the long winter months ahead…..

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As summer faded away, it took its hot and humid days with it.  Autumn took its place with cooler temps and shorter days.  We were very fortunate to have gotten a third cutting from our hay fields.  Generally with our typical dry summers we only get two cuttings of hay.  But with the early summer and steady rain, we were blessed with an extra cutting of hay.  (Little did we know at the time that we would need that extra hay for the long winter ahead.)

Miss Ember

Image, Ember and Abi at the crabapple tree

As our herd fell into a new routine with its new leader, Abi, there was a calmness and an affinity among them that was quite pleasing for everyone.  Image and Ember continued to flourish.  As the apple trees produced a bumper crop of wonderfully delicious apples, Image and Ember soon discovered there are other benefits of living here with us.  The apples!  Oh did we ever have the apples this fall.  All of our apple trees are the result of nature taking its course.  Birds and other critters left behind seeds that the ground swallowed up and gently nurtured into seedlings and then into beautiful apple trees.  Touchy has her favorite apple tree down where our two pastures meet.  She has always quietly sauntered off by herself to enjoy the first apples that drop to the ground before the others realized where she was and would soon join her.  In years past, the apple trees never produced enough apples that we had to concern ourselves with the horses eating too many of them.  But this year was different.  We had apples everywhere.  Earlier in the year we had tried to persuade Image and Ember to eat apples, but they would have nothing to do with them.  It wasn’t until they saw Abi and Touchy eating apples off of the ground that they decided to give it a try.  Image was immediately taken with this new ‘candy’.  He couldn’t get enough of them.  He would take a whole apple in his mouth, as if afraid someone would take it away from him.  Ember, on the other hand, chose to eat her apples in the daintiest of fashions.  One small bite at a time.  As the season wore on, the apples continued to drop at an alarming rate.  Concerned that the horses would eat too many and perhaps get sick, we began collecting the apples that fell to the ground.  We fell into the routine of Terry collecting buckets of apples in the morning and mid day and I collected them in the evening.  As Image realized that his supply of apples was getting smaller, he would sneak away from his friends and go gobble up the couple of apples that were there on the ground.  Only after he had eaten, would he call to Ember to join him.  I am sure she smelled the apple on his breath but she didn’t seem to mind that there weren’t any left for her.  She wanted to run and play.

We continued to play fun games with them in the round pen.  We have continued to built confidence and trust with each other.

Abi and Image in the creek

Ember following me everywhere I go

Image wanting to taste my camera....

Ember in the creek

Abi and Ember

Ember and Image

Cloud on his mountain top home

The Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board is holding a meeting on March 10 -11 in Phoenix, Arizona to discuss their proposed new wild horse and burro management strategy.  This is an excellent opportunity for the public to voice their thoughts and opinions on how our wild horses and burros are being managed on our public lands.  Here is a link with more detailed information on time and place, etc.

Please watch this congressional appeal to halt the roundups by The Cloud Foundation’s founder Ginger Kathrens.  If you are not familiar with how the BLM conducts their round ups to remove wild horses off of our public lands, this will be a huge eye-opener for you.  It is not easy to watch.

(Special thanks to Carl Mrozek, Laura Leigh, Elyse Gardner, Carol Walker, Pam Nickoles, and Deniz Bolbol for helping supply additional footage and photos for this video.)

If you are not able to attend the meetings, they are accepting electronic comments through their website.

Or you can mail your comments to:

National Wild Horse and Burro Program, WO-260

Attention: Ramona DeLorme
1340 Financial Blvd
Reno, NV 89502

I urge all of you to stand up and be the voice for our wild horses.  If we do not speak up for them, no one will.  They are symbols of the freedom we enjoy every day right here in this great nation.  Please take a moment of your time to let the Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board know how you feel and especially if you have any suggestions for how they can better manage our wild horses and burros on our public lands.  This is our hard earned tax dollars at work.  You have every right to voice your thoughts and opinions.  There are better ways of managing these amazing animals without causing the kind of stress and trauma that their current method of round ups do.  And why are they removing so many wild horse and burros off of our land?  There is absolutely no reason to remove so many horses from their homelands.

Image and Ember

Call upon His name.

Psalm 105:5

As Spring fell away into Summer, there were all kinds of critter activity surrounding us on our little piece of heaven here on earth.  As I look around me at the glory of God’s creation, I am thankful to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for the Salvation I have in Him.  He is my Rock.  And without Him, I would be lost.  I am so thankful to Him for all that he has blessed my life with.  The beauty that surrounds me reminds me of His Love every day…

A pair of Eastern Bluebirds

Red Fox youngsters

Female American Goldfinch

Image and Ember

A pair of bluebirds gave one of our nest boxes a try.  The female must have not liked her experience, because they only stayed a few days before moving on.  A family of  foxes played in the tall summer grasses of the pasture.  Goldfinches recycle the sunflowers that gave us beauty throughout the summer.  In turn the sunflowers will give them the nourishment they need to go into the cold winter months ahead.

Image has continued to gain strength and muscle tone.  He started to thrive in a way that I wasn’t sure was possible.  He continued to run and play and he LOVED it!  It was a thrill to see him enjoying himself so much.  Ember loved it too!  As I have said before, that girl was born to run!  She has a sassy spunky side of her that is so much fun to watch.  That same side of her requires a lot of time and patience when teaching and learning.

The summer temps were high and the humidity levels were off the charts.  The air was so thick that at times I thought if I had a spoon I could scoop it up.  We had gotten enough rain throughout the summer to keep the grass green and all of our horses happy with the grazing our pastures provided.  We are very fortunate that the creek that runs through our pastures has never gone dry, despite droughts in past years.  There are always places for the horses to wade into, roll in if they so choose, or just splash around to find relief from the summer heat.  The creek also provides  fresh running water to quench their thirst.  Image and Ember soon realized that the big noisy thing in the barn was another source of relief from the heat.  Our other horses were already well familiar with the big barn fan.  But it took some courage for Image and Ember  (Who both possess a very natural instinct to flee from big noisy things) to get close enough to the fan to be rewarded by the relief it gave from both the heat and the flies.  It did not take them long to join the others in encouraging us to turn the fan on when the heat of the day became oppressive.

Ember along the creek that runs through our pasture

Ember and Image enjoy drinking from the creek

Image

Ember runs by Shy Ann

Image

Ember and Image in the late afternoon sun

Image

Our herd

The summer was filled with fun learning games with Image and Ember, when time allowed.  My heavy work schedule kept me from spending as much with them as I would have liked.  But we are not in a hurry.  It will all happen in due time.  We are all learning so much from each other.  They teach me to be still and be patient.  The more I am with them the more I learn from them.

Me and Image

They each have their own unique horse-anality that I find fascinating.  When they came to live with us, Image was the underdog, the scrawny little fella that everyone had picked on.    Ember felt very comfortable bossing him around.  She told him where to go and how to do it.  As time has a way of doing, their roles have changed.  Image became the dominate one of them and Ember found herself answering to everyone else in their new herd.  Even knowing she was lowest in the pecking order, she still held her head high and held her position on the bottom with as much dignity as she could.

Me and Ember

As the summer months came to a close, our Alpha female Shy Ann became very sick.  Despite our and our vets best efforts to get her well, she continued to become more sick until we made the very difficult decision to end her pain and suffering.  We laid her to rest not far from where she was born in our pasture.  That had to be one the most difficult decisions I have ever had to make.  The pain is still very real and very difficult to talk about to this day.  I am not going in to any more details as this has been very heartbreaking for us…….

Shy Ann, our Alpha female

Abi, Image, Ember and Touchy completely relaxed

Ember, Abi and Image

 

Image

As the end of June approached, I was anxious to get to the Pryor Mountains to see Image and Ember’s mountain family.  I wanted to see how the round up and removal of so many of this unique herd had affected it’s dynamics.  It was a very bittersweet time as I knew in my heart that the mountain is where Image and Ember belonged.  Their grandfather Cloud had several of his offspring removed in 2009:  his daughter and five of his grandchildren.  I fear that for some odd reason his family has a big target on them.

Cloud

At the top of the mountain I found bitter cold temps and a wind that didn’t just whistle, it howled.  I was glad I had put my heavy coat, gloves and stocking hat within reach.  It didn’t take long to see that Cloud’s son Bolder and his family were grazing nearby.  Bolder is a deep sooty copper color palomino.  As he has grown older, his coloring has gotten so much bolder, much like his horse-anality.

Bolder, Echo and Cloud

To my delight, Bolder has 3 rambunctious little ones playing with each other in his band.   A little palomino colt named Echo that looked quite a bit like his grandfather Cloud and his cousin Image.  He has those trademark white eyelashes that melt hearts.  His muzzle is lighter in color and has more pink on it.  And his body structure is a little different than Image’s, but for a moment I was taken aback.  As he played with his sister Kicks A Lot (You can see in this image how she earned her name), I was struck by the scene before me.

Kicks a Lot and Echo playing

Kick's a Lot, Echo and Absaroka playing

They were playing just as Image and Ember had 2 summers ago when they were this age.  I have to admit that tears blurred my vision for a bit and it was hard to take pictures of this reminiscent scene before me.  What would it have been like had Image and Ember been allowed to continue living on their mountain top home?  Would they have played with their cousins, who look so much like them?  Would Image and Echo been a part of a rowdy bachelor band together?  I will never know…..

Echo approaching Dancer

I held my breath when little Echo approached Cloud Dancer (Image’s mom).  I wonder if she remembers Image when she looks at Echo.

Bigfoot

Time slipped away quickly as I was watching the horses and their behaviors.  It was a pure joy and delight to see Bigfoot, an older stallion who had eluded the helicopter round up the summer before.  With the extreme arthritis in his legs, the run down the rugged mountain probably would have killed him.  He is the kind of wild stallion that you just have to admire.  He is all heart.  I had to chuckle and shake my head at him in wonder as he tried his best to steal a mare, running around with band stallions.  Does he really want to win a mare or is he just having some fun with ‘the guys’?

Bigfoot on the far right

Firestorm and her little Lady Jane

Coming upon Jackson’s band, I see that Firestorm (Embers Mom) is still with him.  And she has a little one by her side.  She looks like an elegant little lady!  This is Ember’s little half sister.  It was hard to see Ember’s family without her there.  Would she have played games with her little sister?   I find that such thoughts only hurt as I ponder what could have been…..   As I have watched Firestorm grow older through the years, she has become such a beautiful horse.  She has turned into a graceful presence on her mountain top home.

It was such great fun to see Flint and his mare Feldspar and their ‘flintstone’ family.  His yearling son Jasper is learning the art of being a stallion from his very cool father.  Cloud raised Flint, even though Cloud is not his blood father.  Cloud stole Flint’s mother from the mighty stallion Shaman before he was born.  It was a delight to see Flint and Feldspar with their new little daughter Agate.  Such a little cutie she is.  (I have just recently learned that Flint has lost his family to Bolder.  I am hopeful that he will win them back in the Spring.)

Flint and Feldspars youngsters: Jasper and Agate

The dashingly handsome Flint

It was wonderful to see so many babies on the mountain this summer.  I only wish this were not the end of such sights on this beautiful land.  After the round up last summer, most of the mares were given PZP, a birth control drug.  I think there are only 5 mares from this herd that were not given the PZP.  My heart aches for the future of this amazing herd.

Image and Ember

For lo, the winter is past,

The rain is over and gone.

The flowers appear on the earth:

The time of singing has come,

And the voice of the turtledove

Is heard in our land.

Song of Solomon 2:11-12

I have to say that I am so thankful to be past the winter months and onto the freshness of this beautiful Spring season.  And I have to apologize for not posting sooner.  We found ourselves with record snows and cold temps during the winter months here in Central Ohio.  That put us into ‘survival’ mode.  Even the most simple of tasks that would normally only take minutes seemed to take hours to complete with the addition of several feet of snow to deal with.  In contrast to Image and Ember’s very first winter on the Pryors, this winter probably seemed like a walk in the park to them.  Having food handed to them, without having to paw for every bite probably felt like quite a luxury to them.  Even though the creek was right there giving easy access to fresh water, many times I found Image and Ember eating snow for their water source.  I suppose old habits die hard.

Ember eating snow in June of 2009 on the Pryors

Our main goal over the winter months was to make sure that Image gained weight.  We did not want him losing any weight, as is typical for any horse during winter.  Another goal was to ensure that Image would start to develop some muscle tone.  Much to our surprise it was Ember who had an accident in mid-February and needed constant care.  She impaled the inside of her right leg on a tree branch as she was jumping up out of the creek bank.  We did not know she had done this, but knew something was horribly wrong when her leg began to swell and she started to limp.  We called OSU’s Veterinary Hospital who sent out a mobile team of Dr. Jenny Freeling and several students.  Her wound was in an area where her leg meets her belly and it never bled so we did not know she had a wound yet.  Dr. Jenny gave her some antibiotics to help bring the swelling down and some pain meds as well.  She suggested we get Ember up to OSU Vet. Hosp. as soon as possible so they could do some further testing to determine the reason of her swelling and limping.  I was afraid that one of the bigger girls may have kicked her and broke her hip.  Dr. Jenny was quick to tell us that Ember did not have any broken bones.

As we worked to back the stock trailer down our ice and snow covered driveway, minutes seemed like hours.  Ember loaded up just fine and soon we were off to the hospital.  After seeing lots of gassy fluids built up in her leg by ultrasound, the Dr’s found the entry wound.  The Dr’s were persistent in their quest to find out why the antibiotics were not working at getting her swelling down.  They decided the best way to proceed was to perform surgery.  That is when they found the stick inside of her.  Dr. Jenny told me that when they extracted the stick, all of the Dr’s and students gave a big cheer in the operating area.  They were all so thrilled to find the culprit of her infection and rid her body of it.  I commend the Dr’s and everyone at OSU’s Veterinary Hospital who had a part in Ember’s care.  They were all amazing in their care of Ember and their diligence to find out what was wrong.

The Dr's at OSU's Vet Hospital with Ember

After a weeks’ stay at the hospital, Ember was able to come home.  Image was very glad to see his cousin come walking down the driveway.  He gave a resounding whinny as soon as he saw her.  He had really missed his buddy.  We kept both Image and Ember in their paddock area for a couple weeks so the wound would heal up.  We had Image gelded a week after bringing Ember home.  Dr. Freeling was able to check Ember’s wound to make sure it was healing as it should while she was here.  Ember healed very nicely and was soon out running all over the pasture again.

Dr. Jenny Freeling with Image

In mid-April, Image and Ember had a very special visitor.  My good friend Ginger Kathrens came to visit the kids.

Abi, Image and Ember coming to greet Ginger

It was a very bittersweet time as she was able to touch Image and Ember, yet knowing they should still be on their rightful mountain top home in Montana, living in a freedom that no other place can match.

Ginger with Image

As Ember’s winter coat shed, her summer hair is coming in darker where she was attacked by a mountain lion just about 19 months ago.  Her spunk and determination have given her the strength to see her through the many challenges she has already faced in her short life.

Ember now and Ember after the mountain lion attack

Image

As time has a way of doing, all of our horses have formed bonds that keep them together and rarely apart.

Image, looking all grown up