One of the goals of CLC RR is to provide people with a connection to the environment in which we live. Because I am a fan of the wild horses, and because they are a topic of concern for many people. we hope to be able to paint a portrait of the real lives these horses lead, the challenges they face, and the land they call home. I am fortunate to have many friends who are professional photographers, and they too enjoy following these animals, and spending time in their home! We share a passion to capture this amazing life, and to share it with the world.
On this particular day, we began our trip from Rawlins, taking the Mineral X road from Highway 287 west across the desert. We jogged southwest to check out the Chain Lakes area, via the Stratton Road. There we found very large scat, as we stopped to try and give a large herd time to cross the road and circle around to a better location in hopes to see who was in the herd. You can see the considerable size of the scat in comparison to my hand, and my hand is misrepresented a bit because it is closer to the camera than the scat is! It was full of hair and bone, and grass, further proof that a large canid had consumed what appears to have been a deer.
We reached the Mineral X road again, and continued west to the Wamsutter/Crooks Gap Road. There we headed north towards Jeffrey City, and spotted smaller bands scattered across the landscape. We stopped to photograph some of them, with a stunning backdrop of Green Mountain far in the distance. There we noticed large tracks in the road, and at first, because of the mud, I thought it was a horse with a split in the front of the hoof! I followed them to the side of the road, and was able to view a large elk track, perfectly outlined in the soft, yet relatively dry dirt.
A few miles further to the north, Angelique's keen eye spotted some horses in the distance to the west, and a bit off any main road. We started picking our way across the desert, navigating rough two tracks that were faint enough to indicate very little regular use! She was convinced it was a stallion and his band that she knew, having named him Tybalt. As we neared them, I recognized both Tybalt and some of his mares as horses I had watched earlier this year, and photographed. They were kind enough to indulge us, seeming to be sympathetic to the effort it took to reach them! Tybalt allowed us to get quite close, and his mares, although nervous, particularly the buckskin mare with the CA brand on her hip, stayed close too.
The CA brand indicates that she was, at one time, rounded up by the BLM and given the PZP injection for fertility control. Although the paint mares didn't display the same brand, I wondered if they too had been given an injection. One of the mares had a very young foal at her side, I am guessing he is less than a month old. PZP can cause the mares to cycle irregularly and foal out of the normal season, a foal this late is in jeopardy of predation by lions, wolves, and even coyotes; death due to severe winter storms in this harsh climate; and starvation should his mother not be able to produce enough milk during the fall and winter months when survival is harder. Due to the close proximity to a very busy road that experiences heavy use from the energy industry, this foal could also become fatally injured during an encounter with a vehicle ranging in size of a sedan to a semi pulling double trailers. That CA brand on the hips of these horses also explains their nervous disposition around human activity.
We continued on, leaving Tybalt and his moderate sized family to graze the lush green grass that is abundant this fall and continued north to Crooks Mountain in hopes of spotting an elusive stallion named Romeo and his newly estranged foals Juliet and Viggo, also named by Angelique. Being hunting season we decided to remain in the vehicle rather than do any hiking to look down the numerous draws, which limited our search some. We spotted very little sign during our road hunt, but we did find a badger, within minutes of commenting that neither of us had seen one that we could photograph this year! A very large badger was digging in the road ahead of us, I spotted him and got Angelique's attention in time for us to stop and let him become aware of us without diving into his hole. Badgers are shy creatures, with limited sight. Fierce fighters, they are also known as the peaceful warriors, because they will choose to avoid a fight if given the chance. They tend to not give way if pressed, but they will not become aggressive if given space and they do not feel threatened. We slowly gave him time to adjust to our presence, and he allowed us to take his photo, then he resumed his excavation of the soft soil in search of food. We gave him some time to become fully engaged in his task again, but was we passed I was able to look out the passenger window down into his tunnel, all that could be seen was the spray of dirt as he continued on his mission undisturbed by our presence.
As we left the mountain, disappointed at not finding Romeo or the others, I spotted some horses along the main road in the opposite direction to where we intended to go and suggested we see who it was, fully expecting them to belong to the nearby ranch. As we approached, it was obvious they were wild, and Angelique became very excited! It was her beloved Juliet and her brother Viggo! Angelique jumped out of the vehicle and began photographing them, and I swear that Juliet knew it was her. They stayed close for quite some time, and we watched and snapped pictures. Both youngsters looked great. Although alone, not having joined up with a herd, they seem to be doing well.
Leaving them to meander up the hill for the evening, we headed south to meander ourselves, cutting across the Stewart and Lost Creek HMAs as we zigzagged the desert back toward the Mineral X road. We spotted more horses, and were able to witness something extraordinary enough that I will blog a separate post about that! Stay tuned! We saw two young stallions hanging out by themselves, and noticed that one of them had a really nasty wound on his right front forearm.
The BLM strives to monitor these horses and dispatch them humanely if needed. This particular horse is OK for now, he didn't seem to be favoring his leg much, but we will follow up with them to ensure that they are aware of this young horse and can monitor him, should he become ill or should the injury get worse. Government shut downs mean that the local specialists are not in the office, although the people who care for the horses in holding pens in Rock Springs are on duty. Horses on the range however, are on their own. We documented his injury as seen in the photo above, and shared these photos via email with the local BLM district office. You might think it cruel to leave him alone, but sometimes the stress of being caught is worse for them and would cause them to die or worsen, when if left alone they have access to the finest of nature to help them heal and recover fully. And the horses take care of each other too. Many of us have witnessed that firsthand, and it is going to be the topic of my next blog.
As the sun set, we neared the end of our journey, but were able to view several sage chickens heading to water at one of the numerous ponds that dotted the desert this year, the water's abundance a direct result of the heavy moisture this fall has produced! Several antelope, more horses far in the distance, a stunning sunset and sky, and more horses dimly outlined in the dusk- we arrived at the Mineral X road as the light waned to complete darkness, and stars. The desert at night is just as magical as it is during the day.
I hope you enjoy these photos, and encourage people to leave comments and ask questions if you have them! I will be updating the blog periodically as I take trips to visit my beloved friends, and to monitor their lives. My playground is thousands of acres of wide open desert, home to hundreds of horses. I hope, in time, to properly introduce you to all of them, and the friends that they share their home with- the deer, elk, predators, antelope, cattle, and many species of smaller mammals, birds, and reptiles!
On this particular day, we began our trip from Rawlins, taking the Mineral X road from Highway 287 west across the desert. We jogged southwest to check out the Chain Lakes area, via the Stratton Road. There we found very large scat, as we stopped to try and give a large herd time to cross the road and circle around to a better location in hopes to see who was in the herd. You can see the considerable size of the scat in comparison to my hand, and my hand is misrepresented a bit because it is closer to the camera than the scat is! It was full of hair and bone, and grass, further proof that a large canid had consumed what appears to have been a deer.
We reached the Mineral X road again, and continued west to the Wamsutter/Crooks Gap Road. There we headed north towards Jeffrey City, and spotted smaller bands scattered across the landscape. We stopped to photograph some of them, with a stunning backdrop of Green Mountain far in the distance. There we noticed large tracks in the road, and at first, because of the mud, I thought it was a horse with a split in the front of the hoof! I followed them to the side of the road, and was able to view a large elk track, perfectly outlined in the soft, yet relatively dry dirt.
A few miles further to the north, Angelique's keen eye spotted some horses in the distance to the west, and a bit off any main road. We started picking our way across the desert, navigating rough two tracks that were faint enough to indicate very little regular use! She was convinced it was a stallion and his band that she knew, having named him Tybalt. As we neared them, I recognized both Tybalt and some of his mares as horses I had watched earlier this year, and photographed. They were kind enough to indulge us, seeming to be sympathetic to the effort it took to reach them! Tybalt allowed us to get quite close, and his mares, although nervous, particularly the buckskin mare with the CA brand on her hip, stayed close too.
The CA brand indicates that she was, at one time, rounded up by the BLM and given the PZP injection for fertility control. Although the paint mares didn't display the same brand, I wondered if they too had been given an injection. One of the mares had a very young foal at her side, I am guessing he is less than a month old. PZP can cause the mares to cycle irregularly and foal out of the normal season, a foal this late is in jeopardy of predation by lions, wolves, and even coyotes; death due to severe winter storms in this harsh climate; and starvation should his mother not be able to produce enough milk during the fall and winter months when survival is harder. Due to the close proximity to a very busy road that experiences heavy use from the energy industry, this foal could also become fatally injured during an encounter with a vehicle ranging in size of a sedan to a semi pulling double trailers. That CA brand on the hips of these horses also explains their nervous disposition around human activity.
We continued on, leaving Tybalt and his moderate sized family to graze the lush green grass that is abundant this fall and continued north to Crooks Mountain in hopes of spotting an elusive stallion named Romeo and his newly estranged foals Juliet and Viggo, also named by Angelique. Being hunting season we decided to remain in the vehicle rather than do any hiking to look down the numerous draws, which limited our search some. We spotted very little sign during our road hunt, but we did find a badger, within minutes of commenting that neither of us had seen one that we could photograph this year! A very large badger was digging in the road ahead of us, I spotted him and got Angelique's attention in time for us to stop and let him become aware of us without diving into his hole. Badgers are shy creatures, with limited sight. Fierce fighters, they are also known as the peaceful warriors, because they will choose to avoid a fight if given the chance. They tend to not give way if pressed, but they will not become aggressive if given space and they do not feel threatened. We slowly gave him time to adjust to our presence, and he allowed us to take his photo, then he resumed his excavation of the soft soil in search of food. We gave him some time to become fully engaged in his task again, but was we passed I was able to look out the passenger window down into his tunnel, all that could be seen was the spray of dirt as he continued on his mission undisturbed by our presence.
As we left the mountain, disappointed at not finding Romeo or the others, I spotted some horses along the main road in the opposite direction to where we intended to go and suggested we see who it was, fully expecting them to belong to the nearby ranch. As we approached, it was obvious they were wild, and Angelique became very excited! It was her beloved Juliet and her brother Viggo! Angelique jumped out of the vehicle and began photographing them, and I swear that Juliet knew it was her. They stayed close for quite some time, and we watched and snapped pictures. Both youngsters looked great. Although alone, not having joined up with a herd, they seem to be doing well.
Leaving them to meander up the hill for the evening, we headed south to meander ourselves, cutting across the Stewart and Lost Creek HMAs as we zigzagged the desert back toward the Mineral X road. We spotted more horses, and were able to witness something extraordinary enough that I will blog a separate post about that! Stay tuned! We saw two young stallions hanging out by themselves, and noticed that one of them had a really nasty wound on his right front forearm.
The BLM strives to monitor these horses and dispatch them humanely if needed. This particular horse is OK for now, he didn't seem to be favoring his leg much, but we will follow up with them to ensure that they are aware of this young horse and can monitor him, should he become ill or should the injury get worse. Government shut downs mean that the local specialists are not in the office, although the people who care for the horses in holding pens in Rock Springs are on duty. Horses on the range however, are on their own. We documented his injury as seen in the photo above, and shared these photos via email with the local BLM district office. You might think it cruel to leave him alone, but sometimes the stress of being caught is worse for them and would cause them to die or worsen, when if left alone they have access to the finest of nature to help them heal and recover fully. And the horses take care of each other too. Many of us have witnessed that firsthand, and it is going to be the topic of my next blog.
As the sun set, we neared the end of our journey, but were able to view several sage chickens heading to water at one of the numerous ponds that dotted the desert this year, the water's abundance a direct result of the heavy moisture this fall has produced! Several antelope, more horses far in the distance, a stunning sunset and sky, and more horses dimly outlined in the dusk- we arrived at the Mineral X road as the light waned to complete darkness, and stars. The desert at night is just as magical as it is during the day.
I hope you enjoy these photos, and encourage people to leave comments and ask questions if you have them! I will be updating the blog periodically as I take trips to visit my beloved friends, and to monitor their lives. My playground is thousands of acres of wide open desert, home to hundreds of horses. I hope, in time, to properly introduce you to all of them, and the friends that they share their home with- the deer, elk, predators, antelope, cattle, and many species of smaller mammals, birds, and reptiles!
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