Monday, August 20, 2012

More about the horses

I'm back at Bluewater Lake in the electric section of the campground.  I met up with Hazel and Cari, and they said there were some non-reservable electric sites available, so I decided to try out that part of the campground.  With my New Mexico State Parks Annual Pass, the electric sites are only $4/night.  I only get one good TV channel that I like, but with all the clouds lately, I thought the electric site might be a good idea to keep the electronics charged.

I'm right across from an open field where the new 5-horse herd of horses hangs out a lot.  They graze through the campgrounds nearby, and are fun to watch.  One of the camp hosts told me a local woman saw someone drive into the park with a horse trailer and dump the horses, and they have been here ever since.  They are beautiful.  They stay together in a group, sometimes the stallion (with the spotted rear) or one of the others wanders away, but they always come together and move on to another area. 

The other day they split up, the stallion was at one end of the field, the little filly laid down in the middle, and the three mares were at the other end of the field, then walked across the road to one of the campgrounds.  The Stallion made a loud Neighhhhhh, then went racing across the field, a beautiful sight for sure, toward the filly.  She quickly got up and started running toward the mares with the stallion chasing her.  When they got to the mares, they just stopped running and started grazing.  It was pretty exciting to see.  I don't know what was going on, but I sure wouldn't want him chasing me!

They are such beautiful horses and seem to have enough food and water here; I just hope they continue to do well.

 Stallion

This is the filly's mom

 The second mare

 The third mare
 
The filly in the field in front of The Palms

The camp host said the stallion really protects the others, and as I've watched them, it's obvious he's the boss.

Every so often they lay down and roll on the dirt.  When they get up, they are covered with dust.  Yesterday the stallion rolled around, then each of the mares laid down and rolled around and over and back and then got up, all covered with dust.


The filly doesn't roll in the dirt, she just lays down and rests.



The filly was nursing the other day, and after a while the stallion came up to her and grabbed her tail in his mouth, and pulled her away.  He's pretty firm with her.


Then the filly nuzzled the stallion.  She is so cute.


Later she stood for a while rubbing her back on this low limb.


We've had some nice weather, but now it looks like we're in for more thunder and lightening storms.  It also rained a little today and it's raining right now. There were alerts tonight that came across the TV screen - hail as large as quarters were expected, but we didn't have any hail here, thank goodness.

 Last night's moon.

Nothing much going on except taking it easy, enjoying the horses and the great weather, and listening to books on tape.  What a life!

From Me and Katie, have a great Monday night, everyone!  :)

17 comments:

  1. Great set of pictures showing the interaction of the group. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Glad to hear from you. It would be a lot of fun to watch the horses. I think they roll in the dirt as sun and bug protection.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I loved the pictures of the horses. I wonder if they dropped them off temporary? The look in really good shape. Great area you are in, can't wait to see that some day.

    ReplyDelete
  4. What fun! I could watch horses all day long! You've met up with some interesting animals in your adventures, but I'll bet you didn't expect to see horses at a campground free roaming like that.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'm glad they did well if indeed someone just dropped them off like that. It could have gone very wrong for the horses.
    You sure did get great pictures.

    ReplyDelete
  6. The horses are beautiful. I agree with long dog they use do that rolling for bug and sun protection. Natural sun/bug screen the way nature intended.

    ReplyDelete
  7. It's fun to watch the day to day drama in the life of the horses. :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. The horses are beautiful and your pictures tell the story. It is so interesting to watch nature interact as the live their lives as a family unit. Enjoy you stay at this campground.

    ReplyDelete
  9. We enjoyed watching the horses when we stayed at Bluewater Lake. We first saw them there 3 years ago so it looks like they are doing well. Glad you're having a nice time in NM. You would love the place we are now in CO.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Enjoyed reading about the horses. Sounds like a nice place to be.

    ReplyDelete
  11. A fellow RV'r and SKP is in site #23 at the same park you are in, nice fellow. Bob Gambol is his name.

    ReplyDelete
  12. The horse with the white on his rear is an Appaloosa or at least part Appaloosa. That is the coloring they have. Horses aren't worth much money these days. People will bring them to the sales barns and just leave them. These are probably better off than some.

    ReplyDelete
  13. What a great campground, with horses to watch! I'm still mesmerized by the whole full time RVing on your own thing. I love to see what you and Katie are up to. _From Dawn and her Katie-girl.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Barbara I loved your pictures and story of the horse. that little filly is a beauty. Hope they do okay over the winter.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Enjoyed hearing about the horses and the pictures you shared. Looks like a nice campground and pretty hard to beat the price. Sure looks like New Mexico was a smart pick for this summers travels.

    ReplyDelete
  16. One of our horses looked very much like the Appaloosa in your photo. He had white spots on his rear too. His name was "Z", we didn't name him but kept it. You did great taking pictures of these horses. What a privilege to see these horses in the wild. Love them!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for your comments - we LOVE them!