Last Horse Visit

We didn't have time to pick up the horses when we got back from our trip and when I checked the weather patterns it was obvious we were in for more snow.  We missed them so badly we decided to make time for one more hike.

We know it is officially spring run-off where the horses are; it's the only time this waterfall exists.  This is the mouth of the gulch we have to hike through to get to the back pastures.

Do you see any horses in any of those pastures?  We didn't either!

After 3.5 hours of hiking and continuing to see -- nothing, we decided to go on into town and check again on our way home.  On our way back up the mountain later, Bill spots a white tail flipping in the air on the closest mesa (that would be Washoe); he only sees a tail.  Yeah, right!  OK, maybe there is something, but a DOW truck is parked in our space.  Hmmm?  Must be checking the river for depth.  We go back to the Open Space and eat our chicken at one of the picnic spots, then go look again.  This time we can park and hope the horses are still close.  So we call out and....

Can you see us?

If you enlarge this and look really closely, you will see the blaze on the faces of the 2 bays and the back of a gray.  No, they are not lying down; the brush is this tall.  They have spotted us and are on their way to us.

 Wait!  We're coming!

Ranger is bringing up the rear, as usual.  Gotta make sure nobody gets lost.

Of course, they all gather 'round for their bread treats and tick check.  Amazing!  All those pesky ticks have disappeared!  We had put tick drops on ours, so expected it to be better, but gone?  I closely checked all 6 horses and found the remainders of 3 ticks, total.  Wow.  Great news.  They all looked great.  The light-weights had even put on some pounds.  Their feet are in super condition, thanks to the rough ground they are on.

Jesse's tick check.  She is 9 now and I have never seen her this sleek!

This is Dutch.  I think he is about 24 now.  Bill calls him hammerhead because of the shape of the blaze.

This is Doc; he should be 4 now, and filling out nicely-if we could just add about 6" to his legs.  

I have a hard time with his blue eyes, too, but he is becoming a real love-bug.

After seeing how sleek they all looked, I was really glad we decided to leave them another couple of weeks.  We have continued to have snow, high winds and low temps up here, and we are only 18 miles away, but 2000 ft higher.  Go figure.