While we continue to wait for Ciente to decide she is ready to deliver her foal, and because I have yet to complete writing the story of how Kevin and I came to establish our Sorraia Mustang Preserve, I am taking a little time to day to share a quick entry showing you a bit more of the primitive beauty embodied by the Sorraia and Sorraia Mustang horses of Ravenseyrie.This morning, I was watching little Fada as she walked several lengths away from the protection of her herd with the intention of getting closer to where our dog, Ganja, was rooting around in the long grass. I wondered just how close she would bring herself to Ganja and decided to take a little movie of things on my camera. In the end, Fada wisely stayed away from actually engaging Ganja in a game of chase and there were none of her typical gravity defying leaps and bounds (too bad, they are great fun to see!)...but what I did notice as I watched things quietly transpire was just how much Fada reminded me of some of the images of ancient horses depicted in some of the cave paintings. I was very moved by this peaceful little bit of moving footage and thought I would share it her in the Journal of Ravenseyrie.
It remains to be seen how much of the Sorraia phenotype is expressed in Fada as she matures. As mentioned before, Fada's dam, Belina is not an accurate example of Sorraia type, though she does possess some Sorraia characteristics. Belina was the result of the crossing of a registered Spanish Mustang stallion (Chato's Shadow SMR#153) with an Appaloosa mustang pony (BLM Dreamer) who came from one of the wild horse herd management ranges in the state of Washington. (I'll discuss a bit more about how Belina came to be with us when I finish up the other journal entry relaying our beginnings.) Even if Fada proves not to have enough distinctly Sorraia characteristics, even now she has such a primordial look to her coupled with a sweetness of spirit that we will have no trouble finding the perfect home for her when it comes time for her to leave Ravenseyrie. (Jennifer, I haven't forgotten your question regarding our plans for Altamiro's offspring, and will make an entry in the journal on that matter soon.)
Last week, during one of my evening walks to check on Ciente's condition, a Whitetail Deer was coming across the field and captured the attention of the herd. And, of course, I had to take a few photos and a movie clip. Within this movie clip you will hear and see a pause as I click to take a still photo...not something I'm going to make a habit of doing because it is so disruptive--but I wanted to see if it would work, as it is one of the features touted by the camera manufacturer.
As in the images of Fada...this movie clip captures an amazing primitive feeling--and whenever I watch it, as I zoom in on the group of grullas, I get a lump in my throat because I find these horses so incredibly beautiful, especially in the rugged setting here at Ravenseyrie.
I hope readers of this blog are able to view the movie clips. I apologize for how rudimentary they are...I still have so much to learn about this camera and all its handy features. I also hope to be able to learn to do some editing once I have the data uploaded to my computer...but for now, you must suffer through segments that are sometimes rough or sometimes rather boring--I think is worth it.
6 comments:
Lynne I can't tell you how much I enjoy checking your blog, though it puts me to shame how infrequently I update mine :-(
I really love the little video clips, and actually feel as though I am standing there again with you, watching the herd. Thanks for taking the time to do this!
Leslie
Hi Leslie!
It's no wonder you don't have time for writing updates too frequently in your blog--you are so often off taking photos of attractive horses in far off places.
I'm glad you're enjoying the blog and the movies. It was for sure a memorable day when you came with your educated eye and fantastic camera and we followed the herd around through the morning mists. When you next see Altamiro, I think you will be surprised how mature he now looks--fatherhood has given him an air of regality, yet he is still a very playful fellow.
Thanks Leslie, for leaving your comments!
"one of the wild horse herd management ranges in the state of Washington."
There aren't any wild horse management areas in Washington state. While wild horses DO live there (Around Silver Lake, & on the Yakima & Colville Reservations), the BLM doesn't manage them. So, either Belina's mother wasn't a BLM mustang or she wasn't originally from Washington state.
Perhaps BLM Dancer was from Oregon instead? The BLM does manage the wild horses in that state, on 17 separate HMAs.
It’s been years - the identifier of BLM Dreamer (not Dancer) is not one I came up with, but info that had been passed down to me at the time I acquired Belina. I believe that at some point in time the Washington and Oregon territories were amalgamated but I have not followed the management areas or the horses that are manipulated by the policies of the BLM. That’s for sharing what you know about such things.
The wild horses (And burros!) that are under the BLM's jurisdiction are only found in ten states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, & Wyoming.
Washington state has never had wild horses that were managed by the BLM. Just horses on tribal lands (Which fall under the management of local Native American tribes), & a small, single herd that lives on private land (And thus, is managed by locals).
It just strikes me as odd that Belina's breeders would say that her mother was a BLM mustang from Washington state when such a thing is an impossibility. I assume that they either misspoke, or bought BLM Dancer from somebody who lived in Washington state, not intending to imply that BLM Dancer was originally from there.
I'd love to find out more about Belina's breeders, do you remember what their farm was called?
And of course, you're correct - I have been referring to Belina's dam as "BLM Dancer", not as "BLM Dreamer". Weird, wonder why I kept doing that. My apologies.
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