Belina with her 2009 filly, Encantara The Spring of 2009 was an exciting time at the Ravenseyrie Sorraia Mustang Preserve. Kevin and I were eagerly anticipating the second "crop" of foals that Altamiro and his four mares had created.
First on the landscape that year was the amazing Encantara.
Born to Belina on May 10th 2009 (Mother's Day as it happens), Encantara's birth story is chronicled here.
Belina, is our pony-sized mare whose Sorraia characteristics are not as pronounced. We were not sure just what type of contribution she would make to the preservation of these endangered primitive Iberian horses, formerly called "zebros" (which are now thought by some to be remnants of the "Iberian Tarpan"). However, as a maiden mare Belina delighted us by producing Fada, a lovely example of what one would expect an "Iberian Tarpan" to be--albeit diminutive and uncommonly dark in colour. And when we saw what Belina and Altamiro had created for their second offering to the conservation of ancestral horses, our mouths dropped in disbelief. Those stripes! I remember exclaiming to Hardy Oelke when I shared with him the good news of a new filly that "The Zebro is alive and well at Ravenseyrie!"
To learn how Encantara came by her well-fitting name, read this journal entry from May of 2009.
Now, for a long photo documentation of the enchanting Sorraia Mustang filly, Encantara:
Spring 2009
Here Fada checks out her new full sister, whose presence means for Fada that she is now cut off from Belina's udder and from this day forward will no longer consume mother's milk.(Unlike humans, who not only continue to drink mother's milk beyond infancy, but are drinking a beverage that is made for baby calves...)
Here Encantara is standing with Animado, her older half-brother out of BellaSummer 2009
I love the way the grullas look in this particular type of summer sunlight!Autumn 2009
Winter 2009
Spring 2010
Summer 2010
Autumn 2010
Winter 2010
Encantara grazes through the snow, with Animado in the backgroundI will add more photos to this page (and the other pages I've put up so far documenting Altamrio's offspring) when Spring arrives on Manitoulin once again.
I hope readers appreciate seeing the photos of our Sorraia Mustang youngsters in this way. I find it is incredibly interesting and illuminating to take note of the alterations in coat colour and body shape as these horses move through the change of seasons and phases of growth. Of course it isn't just the grulla colour, or the contrasting stripes that make for the phenotype of the Sorraia--it is these in combination with the distinctive bone structure, bearing and behavior that one comes to appreciate how strong and persistent and alive the ancient genetics of the "Iberian Tarpan" are and how fortunate we are to not have lost them for ever, like so many other extinctions.
To see more photos and read some meaningful moments I have shared with Encantara please check out these earlier journal entries:
Touching Encantara and Rites of Passage
Encantara is part of the group that will be going to live in Cheyenne, Wyoming at the Soul of Sorraia Ranch, to help intensify the conservation efforts Mike and Sheri Olson have begun with their own Sorraia type mustangs. To learn more about Soul of Sorraia, please click on the link for them I have posted in the side bar of the Journal of Ravenseyrie.
