Wed, May 25, 2011

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Other than my family and friends there is nothing I am more in love with than a horse. – Donna Downey

It seems I was born with a love of horses.  Just this past March the Budweiser Clydesdales were in town and my mother emailed me this wonderful story.  

"Telling the story about your Daddy, you and the Clydesdale horses is one of my favorites....as it was your Daddy's. We had known when you were less than 6 months old, and we showed you pictures in books and magazines when you saw your first picture of a horse, the only pictures you were interested in were pictures of HORSES. When you were able to sit and turn the pages yourself, you turned pages until you found a horse. On our way home from the depot one day (after picking your Daddy up) we saw the "parked" Clydesdale horses and your Daddy insisted on stopping so you could get a better look. When he took you out of the car I told him not to take you too close and scare you. When he came back to the car, you were crying (boo-hooing) and when I accused him of scaring you he said you were crying because he would not sit you on one of the horses! I did not realize then, that those pictures of horses would eventually cost me a LOT of money! But...it was worth it."

When I was nine, my Uncle T, Aunt Grace and cousin Jo gave me a young filly. I still remember vividly sitting on the front porch waiting anxiously for them to arrive with my first horse, Misty.  That was my first day with a horse and I have not been without a horse since.  My father was killed in a car accident when I was twelve and in the days, weeks and months that passed most of the tears I shed were with my face buried in the neck of my dear Misty.  I thank God for blessing me with this love that would bring me so much comfort and joy.  I was working at a western store when I met Charles.  So my relationship with horses has brought me many of the best parts of my life.

So this morning after we left Pinedale we decided to take the Pilot Butte Wild Horse Scenic Loop just north of Rock Springs, Wyoming.  I felt like a kid waking up on Christmas morning.  On the mesa-like summit of White Mountain at elevations in excess of 7,000 feet the dirt loop road traverses about 25 miles across White Mountain.  It is a vast open landscape of sage and rock with not a tree in sight.  Besides the opportunity to see wild horses the scenery is extraordinary. In every direction are mountain ranges, the Wyoming Range to the west, the Wind River Range to the northeast and the Uinta Range to the south.  Today we were in better temperatures hovering close to sixty with clear blue skies but each of these mountain ranges were still snow covered. 

This wild horse management area encompasses over 390,000 acres and the number of horses varies depending on how long it has been since the last round-up but easily exceeds several thousand horses.  Because the area cannot sustain an unlimited number of horses the US government periodically rounds up the horses and offers them at adoption auctions. We have had several of these auctions in Meridian thru the years.

The horses are used to an occasional vehicle passing and as long as you don’t get out of your car they will usually just continue along giving you ample time to capture a few photos.  Today we were lucky to see about five different small herds.  There were a couple of young colts in several of the herds and in the last herd we saw a young filly that was probably born the day before.  The studs, as you can tell in the pictures, show the scars of their determination to continue their bloodlines.  We have seen wild horses that looked much worse but most of the horses in this area were in pretty good shape.  One particular herd had about six studs of varying ages and we were privileged to observe a few sparring fights that were dramatic to observe but no real damage was done. 

Paris, who has become a professional ground squirrel hunter spotted a squirrel which instantly made her day.  We were practically rolling on the ground laughing as she tried every possible contortion to dig into that squirrel’s burrow. Charles finally had to pull her out of the hole and with dirt covering her face and also a good bit in her mouth she looked at him as if to say “Dad, what’s the problem?”

We spent most of the morning on the mountain and ended the loop with a picnic overlooking the town of Green River, Wyoming.  It was a great morning!

From Green River we made the drive thru the Flaming Gorge Recreation Area and arrived in Vernal, Utah before 5:00 pm.  We found a room and are relaxing and enjoying the warmer temperatures in the low seventies after several days in the cold and snow. 

We are well tonight and hope that y’all are too.

Peace, Hope & Love,

Donna, Charles, Paris & Dodger