Home on the Range
Horses out in the wilds of Arizona come in several versions... feral horses that are on their own and belong to no one but themselves, ranch horses that have been turned out to pasture and are gathered up to work when the need arises and then there is that in between that isn't feral but would need lots of work to become a working ranch horse. After the Rodeo Chedeski fire, many horses that had been turned out for there own protection were never caught up and started what is now a rather large population of feral horses. They are mainly on the Mogollon Rim from Woods Canyon Lake east to well beyond Show Low. They are becoming a bone for various factions to fight over. Feral donkeys have been successful all around Lake Pleasant. I have seen several of the "near feral" type around the Medicine Butte Ranch. Nearly always find horses between the Salt river and Jones Water. And many times I have seen larger pastured herds near the Bar-T-Bar up by Hay Lake, Long Lake and Chavez Pass.
In Arizona there are millions of acres of federal lands that are leased to ranchers for pasturing horses and cattle... the federal government owns more than 80% of the land in Arizona. BLM, NFS, NPS, Indian Reservations and National Monuments all contribute to that 80% plus.
"Land of Many Uses!" is a slogan of the National Forest Service. My problem with the slogan is the continuous closing off of people from the forests. Either by neglecting the forest and allowing it to grow fuel loads that are unhealthy to the forest, or cutting roads to keep people out of the forests! I think their motto should be:
"No people in the forest is a lot less work for us!"
The Timber Camp Band
I was driving along paying attention to the road and saw some movement behind some trees and bushes. Pulled up and watched for a bit, maybe 5 minutes and the small band of horses seemed to be coming our way.
Thru the bushes
We stopped and watched a bit... band of horses seemed to be coming our way. and we watched some more!
no hurry at all
We stopped and watched a bit... We stopped and watched a bit... We stopped and watched a bit... We stopped and watched a bit...band of horses seemed to be coming our way... and we watched some more!
Which direction?
Looked like they were basically going east so I eased the truck back up a stub road that looked close to their line of march. And we waited some more, they don't grazed very fast... But they seemed very comfortable being near us, and you can see the white horse is rolling around on the ground... back scratching I guess...
The need for all my horse infatuation isn't just because I like horses. Arizona was made famous by its Five C's; Cattle, Copper, Citrus, Cotton and Climate. If you like the old west and cowboys & Indians, then by default you were a fan of cattle... and that is the reason for all the horses in Arizona Territory.
Today only a fraction of the states horses are engaged in the cattle business. Lots of pleasure riding, lots of horse shows, and every town seems to have one place, at least, where you can steer rope on Friday night!
In their path
I figured they would head this way so I got out and stood as you see... snorted some, blew my breath some, but moved not at all... they are curious... they had never seen such a dummy!
Patience wins!
The longer I waited the closer they got... nice horses and I didn't even have any carrots.
You don't say?
This whole sequence took several minutes and my Buddy in the truck was taking photos and couldn't believe what he was seeing... city feller! I petted a couple but didn't get photos of that... also note the Bar B brand on the bays shoulder... several had that brand.
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Can you stay for tea?
Said they had a pile of crap to take care of this afternoon but they would take a rain check... whatever rain was! The bay horse near my left shoulder has a Bar-B brand on its right shoulder. How do you get so close? Just get into their path and be still, don't act like a goober, nice and quiet does it!
Notice my hands are not out reaching and I am snorting some, and blowing my breath onto their noses and they are basically doing the same... doesn't always work... I was near the Medicine Butte Ranch on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation once, and saw some three or four wandering around some shrubs and decided to approach... got to withing 65-70 yards and heard a snort from a bush that was hiding the stallion and they all bolted and ran, except the stallion, who watched me a bit the strolled off in the same direction the rest had charged! Sneaky bugger, did not see him until the snort!
Good band of horses...
At the Battle of Big Dry Wash Captain Chaffee and his "I" Troop, Sixth Cavalry, were all carried by white horses much like this one I would guess. On the day of the battle he was joined by Lt Converse and his "I" Troop, Third Cavalry, just prior to the fight. As luck would have it they all were mounted on white horses.
What?
They went for the truck at one point and scared the bejezzus out of my Buddy, but he still got some good shots. They were obviously used to people and pickup trucks, I imagine that they get fed from trucks in the winter. In the entire episode not one horse spooked or flinched or acted weird in any way... confident band they were!
On the Navajo reservation, between Kayenta and Monument Valley we spotted this herd of ponies... Good looking bunch.
I was talking to our tour guide on this trip and he said his wife was riding in an overnight trek from Kayenta to Monument Valley on horseback... he said maybe 40-50 riders do it annually. Riding horses on the great Navajo reservation is still a well used activity! Nice band of horses!
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He went that-a-way?
They enjoy the curious... and they have no fear of Dummies like me. They are tame.
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All were good looking.
And they were all branded, some had a Bar-B brand but I couldn't see all the brands.
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What's in the truck?
Sometimes they must have been fed from a truck as evidenced by their curiosity.
Can you stay for tea?
No, can't stay, said they had a pile of crap to take care of this afternoon but they would take a rain check... whatever rain was! As you can see there isn't much rain in that part of the country.
Good band of horses...
The longer I waited the closer they got... nice horses and I didn't even have any carrots.
See ya later...
Off to the east which was their general direction of travel when they saw us stop and wait for them to come to us... Bye and safe journey.
