Amazing Day with the Carter Reservoir Wild Mustangs - August 2017

Last year I was so blessed to have one of my most amazing adventures ever.  I was able to spend the day in the semi-remote Northern California/Northern Nevada high desert to try to find one of the most distinctive wild horse herds in America, the Carter Reservoir Mustangs. 

Past Alturas on Highway 395 and then East on 299 past Cedarville lies the beginning of the Carter Reservoir Herd Management Area (HMA) controlled by the Bureau of Land Management.

Before we get started on this adventure, I want to drop some important links regarding these beautiful and amazing vestiges of the Old West. 

The 100% most knowledgeable person/entity is Darice Massey and her non-profit, Carter Reservoir Mustangs, Inc.   Please visit, like, and support her pages to benefit the preservation and documentation of these icons of American history:

Website - Carter Reservoir Mustangs, Inc.    

Facebook - Carter Reservoir Mustangs, Inc.

Instagram - Carter Reservoir Mustangs, Inc.

Twitter - Carter Reservoir Mustangs, Inc.

You can also get some information - especially on wild horse and burro adoption - from the

Bureau of Land Management website

 And now, on with the adventure! 

Most, if not all, of the roads here are just dirt - and the terrain requires high-clearance vehicles and often 4-wheel drive which Darice had.  You can't just drive any old Honda Accord out here like I've done on other adventures onto dirt roads. 

So I'm so thankful to Darice for driving and taking me around this beautiful, rugged country. 

It was really an amazing day and so many things just fell into place.  For instance, we went to our first spot where the horses frequently water and there were no horses to be seen.  We did a little walk up to a ridge to overlook a valley with a watering hole, and...nada. 

So we went back to a more main road and took another route.  After driving down the new road for about 3 minutes, we see a herd right there! 

The horse before in the center is known as the "Branded Mare" and this is her band.  As you can see, she has a freeze brand on her neck which means that she had been captured by BLM and then somehow released back onto the HMA. 

Somewhat evident in this photo are the unique markings that these horses still carry from their ancestors.  Because this herd is located in such a remote area, some of their genetics can be traced back to the Iberian horses brought over by the Spaniards in the 16th century. 

Some of the distinctive markings can be seen on the mares in the photo above.  The Branded Mare is showing off her shoulder cape and the mare on the right has shoulder stripes.

All of these are from the "dun factor" which is in their genetic coding.  But not all of the horses are duns.  This dark baby is the Branded Mare's 2017 foal.  Several months after our visit, this little filly was found on the range with a lariat around her neck.  These beautiful horses are supposed to be protected and it is illegal to trap or harass them, but that doesn't stop some stupid humans.

Darice had told me about this gorgeous boy with a very unusual mane.  Words couldn't really get across how very beautiful and unique this guy's coloring is!  It's a cross between blue steel and the light green sagebrush of the range.  

What a beauty!  Darice named him "Blue Steel" and it's quite fitting for this supermodel mustang. 

Another gorgeous chestnut but with a chestnut mane this time.  

Unfortunately, life can be hard on the range and this beautiful mare had a colt in 2017 that didn't make it.  

According to the BLM, the mustangs in this herd are a little taller than your normal mustangs - reaching 15-16 hands.  They have such gorgeous lines!

And next we have a study on the beautiful dun markings on these amazing creatures. 

Look at the babies!

More babies...

But unfortunately, it's not all sunshine and happiness.  

The government wants you to believe that there are too many horses for the rangeland.  That's because they want to keep on good terms with the ranchers who pay a piddling amount to use these public lands that are supposed to be set aside for these wild horses.  

In addition to rounding them up and sending wild horses to slaughter in other countries, they keep shrinking the land that comprises the Herd Management Areas, causing hardship on the horses.  

They say they breed like rabbits, but what they don't tell you is that many don't make it.  

Take this handsome colt.  Such a gorgeous Iberian face and strong dun markings.  What a throwback to his Spanish ancestors!  And yet he went missing just months after we took this picture and hasn't been seen since.  

We as Americans should value our public lands and the animals on them more.  Instead we let cattle ranchers claim the land and often they don't even pay the small amount they are supposed to.  So the public lands are only for the ranchers and cattle...not the horses for which they are intended.  

Sad.

Well, let's move on to our last equine model of this post - the band stallion!  What an amazing creature this guy is!  He was watching us closely and obviously deemed us to be little threat.    

He slowly meandered towards the road, letting us get some fantastic photos!

He was so comfortable with us (because we were respectful and didn't get too close to the horses...I was shooting with a 300 lens and Darice has a 600 I believe) that he would stop to grab a bite to eat before continuing to walk towards the road. 

When he did finally cross in front of where we were parked  (at a comfortable distance so as not to stress him and the others), he was in no hurry.

This guy was a pro model.  Stopping perfectly above a clump of yellow flowers for his closeup!

And with one last glance back at us, they were off to the ridgeline.  

What a beginning to our day!  And much more excitement was yet to come.  

While you're waiting for the next post, feel free to look at the sites listed at the top of this one for more info on these animals and how you can help them.  Carter Reservoir Mustangs, Inc. has so much information and interesting history about this herd.  It's a fun rabbit hole to go down!

And, you can also check out my other wild horse adventures in Nevada last year by clicking the links below:

Wild, Wild West! Horses Near Carson City, Nevada

And Another Wild Horse Adventure on Highway 50, Nevada

Enjoy!

Nikon D3300

xoxo

In Search of the Mythical Wild Horses of the West - Nevada

I recently took the opportunity to make the three-hour drive from my home to the Carson City, Nevada area in search of my dreams:  Mustangs of the Wild West.  Little did I know that this would become a disturbing topic in my mind just a week or so later, thanks to President Trump.

It's a hot button issue for many. And like most, if not all, of the issues that the American people are fighting over lately, it is not as cut and dry as EITHER side - Right or Left - makes it sound.  So as to avoid a lot of the crazy Left- and/or Right-wing influence that is running rampant on every issue, I would recommend the following article from the Washington Post.

Written in 2016 by Karin Brulliard, it is a good look at both sides of the issue without taken either side. 

For me, I'm going to say that, as a moderate, of course I take a moderate approach, which I'm probably not going to get into in this post.  I'll save that for my next one.

For now, I just want to share my experiences with these magnificent animals.  

I've always been horse-crazy.  I wanted nothing more from my life than to be a spy and retire to a beautiful ranch filled with horses.  Yes, you read that right. The ranch part might still happen, but I've given up on my Mission Impossible.  

I decided to drive up Highway 50 and see if I could spy some of these beautiful creatures that still roam free on the rangeland of the Western United States (as well as a few other places). 

It was a crazy beautiful day with minor storms in the Sierras but sun and warmth in both California and Carson City.  I had to stop on the downslope of Echo Summit to take a photo of the storm over Tahoe and the snow in the mountains.

I was a little worried about the weather after seeing this!  And with some reason, since there was snow falling on the Eastern slopes of the Sierra!  But nothing was sticking to the ground, so I breathed a sigh of relief as I headed down into the Carson Valley. 

The first horse I saw, just outside of Mound House, Nevada, was a beautiful, pitch-black horse.  He was covered in dirt and literally standing on the side of Highway 50 munching on some grass.  Luckily I was going slow!!  I might have crashed otherwise as I know I did a double take!

I kept driving, my mind awhirl with thoughts such as "that wasn't really a wild horse, was it?" and "Holy shit!  That must have been a wild horse!!".   I kept going down the road as the caution signs (yes, they really have horse caution signs) promised 12 more miles of horses.

The next horses I saw (well, other than one in a pen) were on the opposite side of Highway 50, but again, just off the road.  There looked to be about 6-8 in this small herd and I was quite excited as there was a turnout right beside them.  I really wasn't sure if one can just pull over and park on the side of Highway 50.

I went up until the end of the 12 miles (passed Dayton, Nevada) and then turned around hoping and praying that the little herd I saw would still be there. While turning about, I couldn't resist taking a photo of the road through Wild Horse Country!  This is the view looking back towards Tahoe.

And then, happy happy joy joy!!  The horses were still there!  They were a little further off the freeway, so I pulled my car well into the turn out and got out to try to creep up on them.  

They ran.  

This is a shot of horse manure on the highway to prove that they were there!  They're Wild Horses ya'll!  And the sky was amazing. 

I was able to get a decent shot of them with my 300mm lens.  There is a Tovero!!  And a baby!!!

This was exceeding my wildest dreams, even at that point!

So I noticed a road running a short way down past the buildings in the photo above.  I thought there might be a chance that I could see the horses better using the buildings for shelter, so off I went.  It was somewhat successful and there was a little dirt track that lead off the back parking lot of the building into the range that the horses were on.  I tried it, but they really didn't like my car and kept moving away from me no matter how slow I drove. 

One thing that was really interesting to me was that each band/herd that I found had really distinctive coloration.  The first two had a lot of Bay and Sorrel, but also a lot of Paint/Pinto coloring.  There were no Roans in the first two.  

The second herd I actually saw in the same area (so I'm willing to concede that they could have been part of the same herd as the horses above) but they were farther back towards the foothills.  They were probably separated by about a mile of rangeland with a few buildings here and there. 

I found a pretty decent dirt road where the paved road ended, so I headed down that, praying that I wasn't trespassing on anyone's land.  There were no fences, but I didn't know if that meant anything. I took a couple different dirt roads to get closer to the second herd, going pretty slowly both for my car's sake and for the horses' sake. lol

As usual, I stopped to take photos every little bit in case they decided to vacate the premises.  But although they definitely noticed me (as you can tell by the fellow in the picture above), they didn't move away from me.  This group had two more babies!

Okay now. I don't know much about horse behavior, especially Wild Horse behavior.  But that little guy on the left?  The Chestnut/Sorrel?  He was trying to hump or fight everything in sight!  lol  I took some video which I still have to edit and he was sooo funny!  And also very determined!

 She doesn't look too pleased with him!  But he just kept trying when she moved away.

She eventually gave him a few soft kicks! 

He tried one more time...

...And then ran off to bug someone else.

In the meantime, there was one beauty that I just fell in love with.  Perhaps because he(?) was a loner, like me!  He was off to the side of the herd and, whenever they would wander near, he would move a little farther away.  I feel you. 

He was so majestic!

Meanwhile, lets check in on our randy youngster.  I thought this might be his mama even though she has another baby following her. 

 But nope...just another MILF in his eyes.

 Come on little dude!

But she wasn't having it either, so he was back to his first love.  LOL!  So persistent!

After getting kicked again, he and the other baby decided to play. 

There was another mama and baby in this group, but they were just minding their own business.

And getting back to my lonesome Beauty, he was just chillin...eating flowers. 

The next three are actually of the same horse, from the same picture.  It's slightly blurry, but he is just so handsome that I wanted to try to find the best way to use the photo! I absolutely adore his hooked ears and gorgeous mane!  I wish I would have got a clear shot of him.  

 Converted to black and white.

 And turned into a sketch.

It was almost time to quick stalking these beautiful creatures and head down the road towards home.  I was hopeful that I might find more horses near where I had seen the first Black Beauty.  

But in the meantime, my memory card was full (d'oh!  I forgot to clear it before I left) so I pulled over when I saw the sign for the Dayton Cemetery (cause you know I can't pass up a pioneer cemetery!) and deleted about 25 photos.

Good thing because I rounded a corner in the road and saw this noisy beauty!

Just look at those colors!

And then the cemetery was closed.  lol But it was a fun drive up Boot Hill anyway and I got some cool photos. 

Including this guy who was still waiting right beside the road when I came down!

And off I headed towards Mound House in search of more mustangs.  And just to keep our eyes on the prize, I'll leave you with this gorgeous mare from the 2nd herd that I named Diamond. She was the mother of the darker of the two "fighting" foals.  

And the baby has a little diamond too!  There were so many awesome photo ops!  It's hard for me to believe that more were just down the road!

Stay tuned!

xoxox

Nikon D3300