Winter in wild horse country has been relatively easy on the horses so far this year. The cold snap has relented to the warm chinook winds making life a little easier for all the wildlife and horses. The snow pack is not too deep and so far has stayed soft allowing the horses to paw through it quite easy to find forage. Some of the backroads that we travel to visit the horses however are a little more difficult to travel and we are unable to get into all the areas we could in warmer months. This has also allowed the horses to range far and wide to find suitable feed. This makes locating the horses a little more challenging – out come the snowshoes and cross country skies!
One day travelling along we came across this white boy and his mare. He was featured in November 2016 of our current calendar. We had not been able to locate him all last summer and fall and it was so nice to finally see him and his family again looking so healthy. He has certainly grown.
We know this mare also very well and her herd has another white mare quite similar to her. She is definitely pregnant and again is doing so well this winter. She is a wise mare and leads her herd to the best winter feeding areas.
This young fellow, an offspring of the stallion we call “Socks”, is only three years old and on his own for the first time. He is wandering by himself and is doing quite fine in his lonely life right now. We know of some other young bachelors in the area and we hope to soon see him join up with these other boys. If you look closely though he has a branch tangled in his forelock – I’m so handsome! He will soon lose this as he continues to forage for food. You can also see in this picture that the snow pack is not that deep.
You might remember this young mare from our 2015 calendar with her adornment.
We first saw her on January 12, 2014, a young mare seemingly on her own. That year we saw her later that year accompanied by a young sorrel stallion.
The two were in a deep valley not too far away from where we had first seen her. Despite all our travels we did not see her again until just recently.
It was three years later to the day and we saw her again – January 12th, 2017! Her coat and face had lightened up considerably which often happens to grey coloured horses. It was exhilarating to us to meet up with her again. She was with a different stallion – what a beautiful pair. They stood so calmly in the sunshine and let us admire them for quite a long time. These are the moments that are always etched in your mind and heart.
We have updated our Gallery with scenes of wildies this winter. Click on this page at the top of the website to open these pictures. Enjoy!