Recently, Cheyenne and Chuck went out to visit Painted Island and the crew there. It had been a while and Cheyenne was so excited. Unfortunately, the forecast wasn't so pleasant or cooperative for them. A terrible storm came over the land just after they arrived. It lasted a full day and brought terrestrial rainfall and plenty of lightning and thunder. Cheyenne sat inside gazing out the window as she watched and wondered if it would ever end. In between the booming thunder, she could hear the horses in the barn whinny.
"Come on Cheyenne, lets eat." Chuck said, trying to get her mind off of the storm. Together, they ate with Heather and Billy, the two leading staff members on Painted Island. Heather and Billy filled them in on what had been going on with the bands and foals. It was late summer now, so there were too many new foals, the spring foals were growing nicely and Showmane's band was still going strong. Ember was an energetic yearling and being pestered by her little sister, we named Misty. They made a cute pair as they kept the adult horses on their hooves. Shadowmane had had a few big fights with bachelors and other band stallions, but had managed to hold on to his family so far.
"As I sat there listening to all the updates and stories on how Showmane was doing and able to keep hold of his family, I was getting more anxious to go out and see them. I wanted to see how Ember was growing and Misty, I didn't get a lot of time to watch her last time so I was really excited to watch her run around playing with her sister. It was just the darn rain that was holding us back. As time went on, I began to wonder if it would ever end. As my mind began to wander, my thoughts were interrupted when I hear Billy mention a new group of horses they had been noticing..."
Billy was out one day with a few staff members surveying the land on a nice ride, when they saw a large group of horses they had never noticed before. They were much more colorful and marked then any band they had seen around. Their build was different as well, leaving Billy to think that they weren't from around here and weren't part of the "normal" Mustang bloodstock. Some of the younger ones were skittish, but a few of the older ones showed signs of curiosity and even got within a few feet of Billy and his team. One horse looked to have a brand, but he wasn't able to get a good look before they ran back to the herd. Although they seemed to be broken up in groups with band stallions, they still were keeping close to one another. "Curious" he thought as they all disappeared again in the trees.
There had been a few occurrences of this group but as the weeks went by, the group began thinning out. Perhaps they were spreading out? The mares were being claimed by the other stallions on the island? All we had were questions but we were hoping to find some answers once the rain stopped by rounding up a few of them to get a better look and run some tests. We had no idea that we would get more that what we bargained for the next day.
"I woke up and the rain had finally stopped! I could barely change my clothes and get through breakfast fast enough. I just wanted to get out there. Boron was ready to spread his legs as well. Chuck, Billy, Heather and I all began our journey to see if we could find our Showmane and then newcomers.
The ground was still soft beneath the horses' hooves. We had to go slow in some areas to avoid slipping. Some of the usual routes had to be avoided simply due to safety. A few trees had fallen as well blocking our path. We got over to a low valley between a few hills and found something quite unexpected. Something that we were not prepared for.
We stood at the top of what was now a large pit, formed by a mud slide from all of the rain. at the bottom, a large group of horses and foals covered in mud. The mud was thick and high, making it difficult for the smaller foals to get around. A few of the horses were clearly injured and needed immediate help. Heather and Billy radioed for help and supplies back at the facility as Chuck and I began looking for a safe way to get down to them and how to get them out."
It was a long day but we managed to help ten healthy adults and yearlings as well as four spring foals out of the mud pit and on their way. There was one stallion that held back, waiting for a mare to be helped out. We weren't sure which mare he was waiting for but after a while, the only ones left were the ones needing our help with injuries and we couldn't let them go. He stayed quite a while, but eventually gave up and ran off with his mares.
We were left with five mares of varying ages, three stallions/colts and two foals. Unfortunately, there were three horses passed away in the pit as well, the two foals' dams and a yearling colt. The foals' cries for their mothers broke my heart but we carefully managed to get all of the injured horses onto the trailers and make our way back to facility. It was a torturous journey with the trucks and trailers but by nightfall, we were back.
For some, the injuries were too much and we had to do the humane thing for them, two more older mares were lost that night. The foals were bottle fed and aside from being frightened, were totally healthy! Thank goodness. The remaining horses had some sprains and deep wounds that needed to be taken care of but looked like they would make a full recovery.
The first three horses that were led out of the clinic barns was a 4yr old Chestnut Sabino Overo stallion, a two year old silver grulla filly and an est eight year old bay roan overo mare who was quite pregnant. The three looked good as they stretched their legs and grazed in the first large pasture we had fenced for them.
After some tests and exams were done, Dr. Walsch found that the group of newcomers were likely American Indian Horses, released by someone earlier in the year. None of the ones we had were branded and had little trust of humans; leading us to believe that they were not used as pets but pushed off of the land that they called home for some reason. Since we had nothing like that or them around, we had no idea where they actually came from and figured that they had journeyed a long time to find their way here to Painted Island. They had no new diseases or illnesses that would harm the Mustang inhabitants and since the lineage of Indian Horses were Mustangs, we saw no reason to remove them or fear their presence on the island. We would allow them mingle with the herds that already called this land home.
"Come on Cheyenne, lets eat." Chuck said, trying to get her mind off of the storm. Together, they ate with Heather and Billy, the two leading staff members on Painted Island. Heather and Billy filled them in on what had been going on with the bands and foals. It was late summer now, so there were too many new foals, the spring foals were growing nicely and Showmane's band was still going strong. Ember was an energetic yearling and being pestered by her little sister, we named Misty. They made a cute pair as they kept the adult horses on their hooves. Shadowmane had had a few big fights with bachelors and other band stallions, but had managed to hold on to his family so far.
"As I sat there listening to all the updates and stories on how Showmane was doing and able to keep hold of his family, I was getting more anxious to go out and see them. I wanted to see how Ember was growing and Misty, I didn't get a lot of time to watch her last time so I was really excited to watch her run around playing with her sister. It was just the darn rain that was holding us back. As time went on, I began to wonder if it would ever end. As my mind began to wander, my thoughts were interrupted when I hear Billy mention a new group of horses they had been noticing..."
Billy was out one day with a few staff members surveying the land on a nice ride, when they saw a large group of horses they had never noticed before. They were much more colorful and marked then any band they had seen around. Their build was different as well, leaving Billy to think that they weren't from around here and weren't part of the "normal" Mustang bloodstock. Some of the younger ones were skittish, but a few of the older ones showed signs of curiosity and even got within a few feet of Billy and his team. One horse looked to have a brand, but he wasn't able to get a good look before they ran back to the herd. Although they seemed to be broken up in groups with band stallions, they still were keeping close to one another. "Curious" he thought as they all disappeared again in the trees.
There had been a few occurrences of this group but as the weeks went by, the group began thinning out. Perhaps they were spreading out? The mares were being claimed by the other stallions on the island? All we had were questions but we were hoping to find some answers once the rain stopped by rounding up a few of them to get a better look and run some tests. We had no idea that we would get more that what we bargained for the next day.
"I woke up and the rain had finally stopped! I could barely change my clothes and get through breakfast fast enough. I just wanted to get out there. Boron was ready to spread his legs as well. Chuck, Billy, Heather and I all began our journey to see if we could find our Showmane and then newcomers.
The ground was still soft beneath the horses' hooves. We had to go slow in some areas to avoid slipping. Some of the usual routes had to be avoided simply due to safety. A few trees had fallen as well blocking our path. We got over to a low valley between a few hills and found something quite unexpected. Something that we were not prepared for.
We stood at the top of what was now a large pit, formed by a mud slide from all of the rain. at the bottom, a large group of horses and foals covered in mud. The mud was thick and high, making it difficult for the smaller foals to get around. A few of the horses were clearly injured and needed immediate help. Heather and Billy radioed for help and supplies back at the facility as Chuck and I began looking for a safe way to get down to them and how to get them out."
It was a long day but we managed to help ten healthy adults and yearlings as well as four spring foals out of the mud pit and on their way. There was one stallion that held back, waiting for a mare to be helped out. We weren't sure which mare he was waiting for but after a while, the only ones left were the ones needing our help with injuries and we couldn't let them go. He stayed quite a while, but eventually gave up and ran off with his mares.
We were left with five mares of varying ages, three stallions/colts and two foals. Unfortunately, there were three horses passed away in the pit as well, the two foals' dams and a yearling colt. The foals' cries for their mothers broke my heart but we carefully managed to get all of the injured horses onto the trailers and make our way back to facility. It was a torturous journey with the trucks and trailers but by nightfall, we were back.
For some, the injuries were too much and we had to do the humane thing for them, two more older mares were lost that night. The foals were bottle fed and aside from being frightened, were totally healthy! Thank goodness. The remaining horses had some sprains and deep wounds that needed to be taken care of but looked like they would make a full recovery.
The first three horses that were led out of the clinic barns was a 4yr old Chestnut Sabino Overo stallion, a two year old silver grulla filly and an est eight year old bay roan overo mare who was quite pregnant. The three looked good as they stretched their legs and grazed in the first large pasture we had fenced for them.
After some tests and exams were done, Dr. Walsch found that the group of newcomers were likely American Indian Horses, released by someone earlier in the year. None of the ones we had were branded and had little trust of humans; leading us to believe that they were not used as pets but pushed off of the land that they called home for some reason. Since we had nothing like that or them around, we had no idea where they actually came from and figured that they had journeyed a long time to find their way here to Painted Island. They had no new diseases or illnesses that would harm the Mustang inhabitants and since the lineage of Indian Horses were Mustangs, we saw no reason to remove them or fear their presence on the island. We would allow them mingle with the herds that already called this land home.