Chrome on a windy, hazy, dusty day. Note the blooming cactus in the bottom right corner.

The claret cup cacti are starting to bloom in brilliant shades of scarlet.

The prince’s plume has come on in plentiful blooms, right on spring schedule.

With “auntie” Puzzle and mama Shadow, Tesora is as safe as a wild baby can be. They’re watching Grey/Traveler’s band and Sundance’s band. Mariah had wandered over to play with Mysterium and Skywalker for a little bit until Sundance decided play time was over.

Can you see how windy it was? Spring in the basin!

WARNING: Some photos/clips are extremely graphic of horses badly injured during roundups.

Facing national scrutiny, BLM struggles to explain wild horse and burro program

Cruel or necessary? The true cost of wild horse roundups

In the grand scheme of things and in wide comparison, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area and its mustangs are in a fairly enviable position.

Our range condition is not great. Our water sources are widely spaced (ensuring grazing dispersal) but of poor (salty, at least) quality. But, because of recent roundups and a dedicated group of local advocates, our current population ensures both healthy horses and decent, if not great, forage, even in these drought conditions.

A fertility control program using native (one-year) PZP was implemented with the 2011 roundup. This is the first year we’ll start to see results.

There has been no cattle grazing in Spring Creek Basin for two seasons (permitted through BLM for dormant-season only: Dec. 1 through Feb. 28). That likely will continue for at least the next two seasons until drought and/or regulations necessitate a change (for continued grazing or continued lack thereof).

I certainly don’t have large-scale answers, but in this little corner of the wild world, our mustangs seem to be doing pretty well. I hope we can find solutions for all our mustangs.

But that just doesn’t have the same ring to it for sweet girl Kootenai. Lovely.

It sprinkled today, but you’d never know it. Gaia-girl and Storm, along with Cassidy Rain and Roja, were at the Sorrel Flats pond. Walking to the east-pocket pond (to the north) were Seven, Puzzle, Shadow and Tesora. That’s a little change of location for them. There was a lone pronghorn with them when I first saw them, but it didn’t follow them to the pond.

Roja is due to foal in a couple of days, but she doesn’t look imminently due. She lost her foal in 2012, so I’m basing her due date on the approximate time she should have foaled last year.

Some high, thin clouds allowed some light to filter down during the early evening, and it rims the girl in such a lovely way.

And because we can’t forget Miss Cassidy Rain:

She pops up over a little hill, and she gives ME the schnortle! She’ll celebrate her first birthday in early June.

The bay stallion with “the dark band” in the Jicarilla warns the “grey” pinto stallion away from his mares.

To mamas big and small, two-legged and four- … with gratitude for all you do to love and protect us and keep us safe, and teach us the ways of the world.

XOXO!

Grey/Traveler illustrates snaking behavior, in this case, aimed at keeping Houdini grazing where he wanted her.

Handsome big guy from the Jicarilla, seen early in the morning – his band was the first we saw the morning of the tour. This was taken through my Jeep’s window as he was below the road with his band.

Mama Alegre and daughter Maia (now 1 year old!) a couple of days after Maia’s birthday. They were grazing near the roller-coaster ridge pond – likely where they got their matching spa treatments. Maia looks like big sister Aurora and their daddy Bounce, but where Aurora may stay black like daddy, Maia is going grey like mama – and big brother Whisper.

In other news, the La Sals, starting to look a little ragged in this photo, have a mantle of new white now after some rain in the low country and snow in the high country. It’s a start, and it’s a relief. It IS green. I don’t understand it, but I love it! The moisture will help tremendously.