Pale on blue

Soft colors complement Corona this cloudy day.

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Rain turned to snow – that stuck. It was light. It was wet. It is awesome! It won’t be as cold here as in the Denver area, which is good for the horses. The moisture is such a relief.

Corona, halo’d

Very last light of day rims the girl in lovely light.

I looked for Sundance’s band for two days, then found them where they were, well south of where I had seen them just three days previously. This is the basin’s traveling band, for sure.

This visit capped a wonderful, peaceful visit with the two pinto bands, which were close together – and followed a David sighting! That was the first I had seen him since I found his mares (Puzzle and Shadow) with Seven. He’s alone but in terra familiar and looks well.

Corona

Raven’s little girl has finally filled out some in the fall of her third year.

She was sticking close to Mariah; she’s a good auntie to Mariah and Maia. While she still could be mistaken for a “grey” from a distance, up close, her coat has more color.

She is the daughter of Sand Wash Basin’s fabulous Corona (hence her name). Mama Raven came to Spring Creek Basin in 2008 with Mona and Kootenai.

All I want …

… are more hours in the day. Or night. Anywhere, really, they could be squeezed in.

Lovely Mariah. How could you possibly be almost 2 months old? A stunner, as all your sisters before.

With babysitter Corona. This is the band to watch for family dynamics with three mares with foals, a yearling and a dry 3-year-old! Doesn’t hurt that my boy Grey/Traveler is king.

She can run faster than you can! Happy girl, testing the legs.

So many gorgeous ponies, so little time to post photos of them all.

What matters, size?

Corona (Corona (Sand Wash Basin) x Raven) is 3 years old. Aurora (Bounce x Alegre) is 1.

Yes, Corona does seem thin. She’s had those jutting hip bones for quite a while. She seems healthy enough, just not an “easy keeper.” But I really took this photo to illustrate the size difference – or rather the size similarity and the AGE difference. You can’t see a lot of Aurora behind Corona, but she’s easily as big as Corona, who is two years older. Alegre is a good-sized mare and passes long legs on to her foals. Whisper, her second foal (adopted last year), was a tall boy. Bounce, in contrast, is quite a little guy, probably no taller than 14 hands. Raven is a good-sized mare, and it seems that Corona, Corona’s sire, is a good-sized stallion.

They’re close as sisters or BFFs. You rarely see one far from the other.

Just a thing to make ya go hmm. (Aren’t they cute? )

Waiting

So many photos, so little time to get them posted!

But here’s a recent pic of Raven, in all her big-belly glory!

Raven and Mysterium. This picture doesn’t do Raven justice. The lady is very large.

Corona looking much less pregnant even than previously, and Gaia showing a bit of her growing middle. The girls are watching Sundance’s band.

Just a matter of waiting. Mama knows best!

Corona and Gaia bellies

Raven and Kestrel are pretty hugely pregnant. Either or both might foal before I get back into the basin. They’re due May 10 and May 9, respectively.

But there was a request to show Corona’s and Gaia’s bellies, so here you go!

Corona is fairly small, even as mustangs go. The foal’s sire is Grey/Traveler, with whom she has been since last spring. I’ve gone back and forth all spring about whether I think she actually is pregnant. Some days she looks more pregnant than others. Her udder is fuller than normal, though, so I think she has a baby in the belly. Corona is out of Raven, from Sand Wash Basin, and by that range’s stunning stallion Corona – hence her name. (This is known from documentation by an HSUS employee during that time.) Raven, Kootenai and Mona came from Sand Wash Basin in 2008, part of an introduction to keep our Spring Creek Basin genetics healthy.

Gaia at rest. What? You say you can’t see the belly?

Gaia grazing. Her mama is the lovely Alegre; her sire is unknown (she was born in 2008, the year after the 2007 roundup). Her foal’s sire is Cinch.

They both are currently in Grey/Traveler’s band. This will be the first foal for both mares, so due dates are unknown. Neither one looks particularly close, eh?

Speaking of the gorgeous guy … While his girls (and yes, they’re all girls so far!) were napping, he took advantage of the calm morning and warm sunshine to catch a few winks himself. Here, he’s looking at Maia, up from her nap and nursing from mama Alegre. Just a bit later, he was off to treat with Poco, who was poking about alone, having left Duke and Kreacher to themselves (Kreach was much more interested in the stranger than was Duke). Roach was most recently seen with Tenaz … but Hayden seems to have left or been kicked out of Chrome’s band and may be nearby. Poco and Roach seem to split up every spring to go on walkabout, but they always find their way back to each other.

Soft light

About-to-be-first-time mamas Gaia and Corona – both in Grey/Traveler’s band – are hanging out close together these days.

Little Corona’s little belly is bulging.

Expectant

Although Corona doesn’t look very wide here, from the side, she is definitely bulging now!

Bounce and Tenaz had split from Seven and Aspen and were down the hill; the girls are watching them … and possibly the pronghorn does farther beyond them, coming up from the arroyo.

Alegre is due in May. Corona’s and Gaia’s due dates are anyone’s guess!

Sun spots

Maybe not the spots you were expecting.

Corona backlit.

I confess that I’m not sure about her pregnancy status. She ought to be, having been with Grey/Traveler since last spring. (Even after the roundup and a brief sojourn with Tenaz, he got her back.) But she’s so small, it’s hard to tell.

She will turn 3 the end of April, born the spring after her mama, Raven, and Mona and Kootenai were introduced from Sand Wash Basin. (This is done periodically here to help ensure our herd’s genetic diversity, and these three mares represent the third such introduction that I’m familiar with.) From documentary photos of the Sand Wash Basin mustangs before their 2008 roundup, I know Raven was with that basin’s famous and fabulous stallion Corona – for whom I named our Corona.

I *think* she is pregnant – she has a way of walking that seems to accommodate a bigger belly than she’s used to.

What do you all think??