As December rolled around, wild horse country has quieted down with the end of the big game season. With the reduced vehicle traffic, your wild horses have started to resume what would be their normal winter habits. The snows have started to accumulate making for very pristine settings, which allows the diverse colourings of our wild horses to shine. This beautiful buckskin mare with her bay foal and stallion stands out in the winter sunshine.
This lovely bay coloured mare and her foal find open forage around the bushes and trees. As the winter progresses they will depend more on areas like this.
Here is a grey coloured mare also finding suitable grasses near the bases of trees and bushes. Its this ability to adapt to the ever changing conditions in our Alberta foothills that allows the wild horses to thrive.
Further to the west where the chinook winds blow harder, the sun still has some warmth to it to expose south facing hillsides. This young mare is grulla coloured and takes advantage of one these hillsides.
This is a red roan coloured stallion who has found an area that is windblown and more exposed to feed in. One interesting aspect about these roans, whether red or blue, is that their coats darken considerably in the winter months.
Even though this picture shows this stallion with reddish colouring, he is actually mostly black. The late afternoon sun highlights the true magnificent beauty of him as he stands so proud. He was so curious and just stood watching us intently for the longest time.
Meanwhile, his buddy, this light coloured bay, paid no attention to us at all as he pawed looking for grass to eat. It was hard to get him to raise his head so that we could get a facial picture of him.
This little grulla or dun coloured baby has a dark dorsal stripe down its back and stripes on its front legs which some wild horse experts attribute to their Spanish descent.
No matter what the colouring of the horse may be, they are all unique and beautiful, true symbols of the spirit of freedom and wildness. Like this boy, a good roll in the snow feels wonderful, even if it is very cold. It helps keep their coats clean and in prime condition to fight off the hardships that any winter weather may bring. After his roll, he stood up, shook off the snow and gave us a “huff” and went off to join his herd.
Need a stocking stuffer or a gift for a horse lover on your list? There is still time to order a 2020 WHOAS fundraising calendar. You can order online from the Facebook page by clicking on the POWr PayPal Button or visit our website and click on the link at the top of the home page. You can also order through the mail by sending a cheque made out to WHOAS, Box 4154, Olds, AB T4H 1P7. The cost is $25 which includes postage and handling and we mail them out as soon as we receive your order. All monies raised through the sale of our calendars goes towards our projects to save and rescue our Alberta wild horses. Thanks to all of you who support us.
This little one is enjoying the sunshine while at rest. Let’s hope the rest of the winter is not too harsh for the horses and all the other wildlife.
