Impulsive Moment...

Call it an impulse buy...call it a reflex...call it an accidental bid. All are true! In fact, they are so true that the Kiger community have begun calling her Impulse.

City Boy seems to be somewhat smitten with her. She's no Lefty, of course (no one ever will be), but there is something to her, something that gives a hint to a sweet lady who'll take you down the trail without complaint. It will be fun to see how she progresses.

We had one more day in Burns; a day without Kigers or wild horse corrals. We were heading up to the mountain again in search of more wild ponies. This time, rather than heading down past the water hole, I pointed toward Burnt Car Rd (so named for the burnt car at the end of it), and City Boy turned the Dodge to the right and headed up the hill.

Burnt Car is where Darling and I first met the love of her equine life...Dibs. My, how long ago that seems! It's where we met and named Honor, Sox, and Darling Calls Dibs. Who else was there then? Cascade was there; so was Golden Boy. Bird, Gunner and Raven, all later gathered and adopted out. Last Cry was there...we hadn't known it would be the only time we'd see him. A friend photographed him last year and he was a walking skeleton...so sad. But mostly our memories of that hill are good ones.

But as we drove, I think the others had their doubts about this new direction. Up on the horizon, though...what was that shape I saw? I studied, quietly from the back seat, not saying anything until I knew for sure. Horse on the horizon!

She? He? I haven't a clue. It stood like a sentry overlooking the valleys on both sides. We climbed slowly over the knoll, and up ahead we spotted our friends Cortez, Noelle and Holly walking up from the shaded region below. Yet off to the left is where my attention was diverted. Horses I'd not met before, though at least one who's been spotted by a couple other photographers now and again. The elusive silver bay...

He is not one known to tolerate company. He has charged a photographer. He runs his herd off. And he is definitely not one to be spotted with the rest of our well known cast of characters. But on this day, he didn't charge, and while they didn't stick around long, it was long enough to get some lovely shots of him and his band.

Another sentry, posted at the opposite end. A black horse reminding me so much of Sox on my first visit...young, not quite enough seniority to join the band. He paced the ridge, looking down below, sensing and seeing danger approaching...

But the danger he saw was not us. It was Cortez, the lovable rascal who's always in scrapes and fights with every stallion he comes across. The elusive Silver Bay and the rest of his band moved silently out beyond the tall grasses and disappeared from sight. Cortez and his ladies, however, did not seem the least bit fazed by the goings on of the horses on the ridge. They simply marched on up the hill, pausing to look at us, then continuing on their journey.

I told you they paused to look! Holly stopped at stared at my father for the longest time before following her mother and stallion up the hill. It's so hard to believe that Holly is just 18 months old. Look how tall that girl is! I swear she's at least 15 hands already. And pregnant...she looks very pregnant.

Down below to our right we could see more horses, so we trekked the half mile or so across the desert and got some good shots of some dear friends, including a mare who's stolen my wild side heart...Delight! And look at that new baby of hers! Delight lost her foal last year. We don't know what happened to it, but after a couple of months, it disappeared. We sure hope that doesn't happen again. Delight is in Golden Boy's band still, and there are a few pinto babies...but Delight's by far is the cutest!

We walked back to the road (well...gravel excuse for one) and started back the way we came, very happy with finding such a nice couple of bands. That's when I spotted more ears. Majesty, One Eared Jack, and their band were quickly spotted, and we made one more stop to snap a few more photos. We'd seen these horses two days before, but one can never have too many wild horse close encounters, can one? Another vehicle had stopped to talk to us when we pulled over, saying that Cortez had been by and fought a bit with Jack. When I started looking at photos once we were home, I thought Jack's eye looked a bit odd. I blew it up to get a better look.

Well, this is definitely not right. There'd been no trouble with it two days ago, so this was likely from his close encounter with Cortez. The other stallions do not like Cortez, but Jack is the most willing to engage in battle with him, it appears. And this time he seems to have come up short. The injured eye is normally blue. Not sure when I'll be back down to see if that eye heals up or not. If it doesn't, he'll not only be one eared Jack, but One Eyed Jack, as well.

Poor Jack...

The Unintended

I'd looked at the horses available so many times online prior to getting to Burns that I didn't give most of them a second glance. The three year old grulla mare made me smile...she was almost homely, poor thing, and small. A great kids horse, I'd imagined. Too bad I haven't got a kids camp. Ah, but then the crazy color people would bid her price up just because of that mouse gray hair of hers.

I wasn't so sure that City Boy's theory of Kigers have greater resale would hold true. A good, solid broke horse holds value, but I'm not sure a Kiger would get you anymore. Still, somehow, I ended up with a bidder number on Saturday morning. And once I had it in hand, I left the Kigers and went to see what else there was to see. I didn't really want a Kiger anyway. The last one, after all, had turned out to be a real firecracker.

Lots of pretty ponies out there. It seemed the only Kigers I was drawn to were the stallions. Before long it was noon, time to set ourselves down on the bleachers, catalog in hand, and listen to the auctioneer call out numbers and prices. My friend Emily, a college student who'd for years had wanted a mustang, was there with us, along with her mother. They were looking at a bay colt as a dressage prospect. I'd told them not a problem, bay Kigers aren't popular with the money crowd. Unfortunately, someone else was interested in that same bay Kiger, and a bidding war ensued! Finally, Emily's mom gave up, and the other interested party had themselves a nice two year old colt for $3500.

For the most part, the prices were affordable...though we had no intention of spending more than a few hundred, and of course the grullo colts that City Boy had been interested in went for a bit more than that. One dark dun colt with loads of stripes went for nearly $9000!

I was surprised that the four year old colts weren't being adopted. Some were really cute and for the base adoption fee of $125, you'd have yourself a very nice gelding. But they were a bit too small for City Boy, who would prefer a 15 hand horse.

As the numbers moved on, and horses were being bid on, my mom would show me the catalog and I'd mark down the prices on a separate sheet. We were about 70% through with the first go round when I twisted around to see a pretty faced mare in the catalog listed at 15 hands. My number shot up before I could think to remember just which horse this was, and before I could pull it down, they'd hollered out $125!, and then asked for more bids. So, I got the bidding started, and fully intended to not bid again, as I was having second thoughts. But...but...but...

Why wasn't anyone else bidding?

"Adopted!" they shouted. What? Why hadn't anyone else bid?

City Boy rolled his eyes. "Come on, let's go see what you got." We walked out through the pens to the 2-3 year old mares. Immediate disappointment. What had I done? Oh, sure, she had a pretty enough face, and her eyes seemed kind. But look at those hips! What a weak hind end this mare had, and long back, and did I mention hips? Holstein Hips! Just like Sandy.

Just like Sandy...that thought ran through my mind, and I recalled the first time I'd seen that ratty looking bay mustang. Ugliest one of the lot, I'd told my friend Lea. Hmm....maybe this mare wouldn't be so bad. After all, you could do a lot worse than Sandy!

Meanwhile, Back at the Corrals

"Should we drive the little truck? Or the big truck?"

This was the question presented to me by City Boy a few weeks ago. The answer was so obviously clear, I was surprised he had to ask. "The big truck, as it has more room, and of course if we drive that we'll want the horse trailer, too."

City Boy gave me the look...the one that says, "I know you're up to something", but of course I was not.

"You're not getting another horse...you're just hauling for others."

Right.

Adorable pinto filly, 2 years old

It was, of course, the Kiger adoption, and people would be coming from all across the US to see this event and, hopefully, find the perfect Kiger for their needs. There were even people from Sweden and Germany in attendance!

Kiger Stallions

And since I'm not a big Kiger nut, I didn't have any trouble at all telling City Boy I didn't plan on adopting one. Of course...not a word was mentioned about the possibility of finding a perfect little Coyote Lakes mustang. Nope. Not a word.

Very thin grulla 2 year old and her filly

There was loads of color to be found. From the striking duns and grullas of Barren Valley (a combination of 4 different HMAs, including Coyote Lakes) to the spotted pintos and appaloosas, there is definitely a horse for everyone waiting to be adopted.

The super cute grulla pinto filly found a home!

While we were wandering around, peering out into the corrals, I spotted a face that looked all too familiar. Could it be a relative?

Red dun mare, 11, Sheepshead HMA

A little research showed that this pretty red head was not related to my pretty red head at home. But she sure did remind me of Tika!

2 year old gelding

I kept my eyes peeled for prospective TIP horses, but seemed to only have an eye for 2 year olds. Even those I thought may be older, turned out to be just 2! And since they can't enter the program until they're 3, I was left pretty high and dry.

2 nice geldings

These two characters really wanted to know what I was up to with my camera. We were able to pet both of them. I'd really hoped they were three, but alas...both were also two year olds. I do have an adopter for one, though, so come 2012, I'll be making another trip to pick at least one of them up!

Not a Kiger...but certainly a diva!

The Kiger adoption was to happen on Saturday morning, and City Boy had begun to eye a 2 year old gelding in the pens. A grullo, he'd go for more than we'd ever spend on a mustang, but City Boy was beginning to think that in the long run, the return value may be better on one of these horses than your regular, run of the mill mustang. Not that we were adopting, mind you...

Wild Adventures

Bad blogger! Bad!

Shame on me for leaving you hanging. Busy as I am with the horse fair, I've still found time to have fun...and I ought to be sharing that with you!

Earlier this month City Boy and I met up with my parents down in Oregon. My dad had wondered earlier this year about possibly meeting up with us and seeing the wild horses I'm always mooning over. Yeah! An opportunity to share my passion! It also just happened to be the Kiger adoption festival that weekend, so we were able to take in plenty of sights and activities.

Naturally, my enthusiasm was bubbling over as I sent City Boy (behind the wheel) up into the mountains our first day. He'd thought we were getting too late of a start, but I wasn't about to be stopped from seeing my ponies, so up the highway we drove, then off to the left onto the gravel road into the South Steens Herd Management Area. Up past the water hole, we climbed the hill and pulled over into a little turnout. Over the ridge was our destination...but we needed to walk to get there.

Hattie, a yearling on the right, with Chardonnay and her colt, Merlot, hiding in the juniper trees.

"Pssst", City Boy caught our attention and pointed. Sure enough, there were ears listening to our approach. On a small ridge stood Cortez with Noelle and Holly, and down below were Majesty, Jack and their band.

The stallion, Cortez, romances Noelle. Holly is Noelle's yearling filly from last year, and appears to be bred.




Mercedes, the black mare, and her colt from last year, Bensen

One Eared Jack...or just Jack. He's got two years, but one has either been ripped off in a fight or damaged by frostbite.

Of course, to most folks, coming across a couple bands of wild horses, getting within 100' (or closer) is pretty exciting. But to me? Well...let's just say I felt I'd need to give my folks a better glimpse than just this during their wild horse excursion with me...

Tomorrow? Off to the corrals!