Autumn Images

I've got two "essays" presently fermenting in my mind, one expanding more on horse/human relationships and the other discussing the various theories, conjectures and assumptions surrounding the ancestors of the Sorraia horse. Both essays need a little more aging before we can "drink" them. Until they are ready for consumption, I thought I'd share an assortment of photos of how autumn is progressing here at Ravenseyrie.

Here, Kevin plants garlic, with his helper, Tobacco making sure things are done right!


The Ravenseyrie beach is very quiet and picturesque, though the autumn color was best appreciated from on top of the bluff as you can see in the following photos.


Of course, high winds and heavy rain have taken down most of these leaves now, and the landscape is much less colourful. The brisk air has the horses feeling playful. In the next sequence of photos we observe long-yearling colts Animado (Sorraia x Spanish Mustang) and Interessado (Sorraia x Kiger Mustang) "horsing around".

Here is a video clip showing a game that Animado used to play with his father, but now imposes upon Interessado, who doesn't really seem to mind.

And when all is said and done, a good yawn of satisfaction is in order before settling down to graze away the rest of the afternoon.

Yesterday it rained, almost continuously. During a very brief lull, I went out for a walk and found the family band clustered in a small copse of Cedar trees.

There were several Whitetail Deer moving along the northern treeline. Zorita and Segura stepped out to get a better view. Then the rain took to falling again, so I put the camera away and hiked back to the house.

I'll close with a few photos of Segura, the 3/4 Sorraia filly out of Sovina's Zorita by Altamiro. Segura is especially precious genetically, now that her grandsire, Sovina, a purebred Sorraia, has been gelded. Sovina's owner, Erin Gray, relayed to me that she has stored up some frozen collected semen from Sovina, for those interested in using artificial insemination for their breeding projects. However, with Sovina gelded and Tejo II apparently sterile, Altamiro and his offspring represent the only hope for naturally bred crossings of Sorraias to mustang horses which exhibit the Sorraia phenotype--until some other intrepid preservationist imports one or more purebred Sorraia horses to North America.
Altamiro's offspring remains an integral feature of any serious preservation project dedicated to the Sorraia type horses. It is my hope that more people with natural resources at their disposal will set up similar preserves like Ravenseyrie. Please contact me if interested in such a venture.
Altamiro's offspring remains available for preservation projects, and I can put you in touch with others who have good examples of Sorraia mustangs that would cross well with our half-Sorraia youngsters. To explore the possibility of importing more Sorraia horses to North America, please visit Hardy Oelke's website link shown in the side bar of this blog.