New Foals in Cloud's Herd

Dear Cloud Fans;

It took four days of searching, but Makendra and I finally found Cloud and his family on Tillett Ridge, or maybe I should say he found us. 

I think he and the band had crossed through Big Coulee canyon (how I don’t know!) and arrived on Tillett just as we were creeping uphill in our 4-wheel drive vehicle. The whole band looked great with a very pregnant Aztec amongst them. Cloud looks just wonderful for early May---better than I have seen him looking in years.  This is the time of year when the horses are typically the thinnest, having survived the rigors of a Montana winter. Now the grass is coming up and new foals are being born. It's an exciting time.

Durango and Buffalo Girl's foal, just hours old!

The weather on our first day on the mountain was a snowy one. At least a foot of new snow had fallen the day before and it prevented us from getting very high, but we were lucky enough to spot Flint and his family on a hillside on Tillett Ridge and we hiked close to them. I call this little family “the Flintstones” for Flint, his mare Feldspar, and son Jasper. The coming three-year-old mare, Heather, who Flint won in 2009 rounds out this four-some, soon to be a five-some or even six-some if Feldspar and Heather foal. They both look pregnant to me. I sat in the snow and watched the family for hours. Flint patrolled the perimeter, on the look out for other stallions and perhaps even mountain lions. Tracks are often seen near the spot where the band grazed. At one point Jasper walked out to join his father. They are quite close and make a handsome pair. When it started snowing harder, we made our way back to the car, thankful we could spend some quiet, quality time with this lovely band. 

Jasper

Over the next few days, we were privileged to be in attendance just hours after three foals were born. One is a striking little filly daughter of  Bolder.

This Cloud grand-daughter is a strong and beautifully marked dun, the daughter of Autumn—Bolder’s young dun mare pictured with her foal from 2008 (removed in the round up last fall) in my new Cloud book on page 130.

Perhaps the single most exciting moment was the discovery of the other foal in Bolder’s band, his son and a Cloud grandson. 

I felt like I was in a bit of time warp---transported back to 1995. The pale colt we watched racing on a ridge top on Sykes is very like Cloud in color and in spirit. He is the daughter of the flashy black mare, Cascade. Her son is the only living foal she has ever had after years of infertility, an out of season birth, and a foal she may have aborted or lost soon after birth last year. I had trouble taking pictures of him, he ran so fast and turned so quickly only to race back in the opposite direction.

He very sweetly went to say hi to his newborn sister on the second day we spent with the band. As he tried to touch her nose, she laid her ears back and tried to kick him. This little filly has spunk and I can’t wait to see her in a few weeks when she too can race with her big brother. We pray these proud Cloud grandchildren can survive and we will work very hard to see they are never removed from their mountain home.

As we continue our campaign to protect all wild horse and burros living free as well as legally expand Cloud’s range in the Pryors, it is experiences like these that renew our will to fight even harder for them. Please help us by donating to the Cloud Foundation today. Your support is vital as we lead the campaign to preserve wild horses and burros on our public lands, to fund our legal efforts, to educate our elected officials, to reach out to the general public with our speaking trips from coast-to-coast, to keep the pressure on BLM by responding to plans to remove even more horses and burros in 2010 and 2011, to create press releases and conduct interviews with the media, to care for our precious Freedom Fund horses in Montana, and underwrite our exciting new Herd Watch program.

Bolder

Our goal is to change the philosophy of wild horse and burro management on our public’s lands. This new philosophy would focus on freedom and family, fiscal accountability, and the need to manage for viable herds on the range, in lieu of managing (at a substantial loss of taxpayer dollars) millions of head of welfare livestock.

Merlin and Belle Star's new filly

Thanks to all of you who have contributed with your donations, your ideas, your encouraging words, and your volunteer efforts.  Trust that our collective voices are making a difference. Change is on the wind. Never ever give up the fight! 

Happy Trails,

Ginger