Sand Wash Basin is where my heart lives. I didn’t know that until we got there for the
first time two years ago. I’ve loved
horses all my life and had dreamed about Mustangs in the wild since I first
read Marguerite Henry’s “Mustang, Wild Spirit of the West”. After I moved to Denver, CO, I discovered
that there were wild Mustangs within driving distance and I was ecstatic! Our first visit was for my birthday and it
was so difficult to leave. Our next
visit a few weeks later made us feel whole again and we knew that this was a
place that we had to do everything we could to preserve this place and the
horses who lived there.
On the trip this year (2012), we’d already been out for one
afternoon and had discovered that one of the current popular spots for the
horses was a particular water hole. We’d
never seen horses there in the past but this trip we’d run into Corona,
Picasso, Snow Man, and a few other favorites so we went there first thing in the
morning on my birthday. Prince, Cosmo,
and Benson were a few of the stallions who had their families at the water hole
when we arrived. We hadn’t been there
very long when the horses all looked up.
Another band was on the way! As
they made their way over the hill, I spotted a baby with them!
They went straight to the water and the baby dove straight
in. I was impressed that it went in
because it was obviously very young. It
didn’t stay in long before another mare told it that it shouldn’t be out there. When the foal came out of the water, the
other bands really took notice of the baby and it they started over to check it
out. This was when I realized that this
baby was brand new because the other horses hadn’t met it yet! Exciting!!!!
At that point, I started really watching and trying to get photos for
documentation. With some of the new
foals it’s difficult to tell what gender they are but this little guy was
pretty easy to identify as a little colt!
I told my boyfriend that we’d probably be able to name this
one if we really were the first ones to see him. He started coming up with names and decided
that he wanted to name it a name that a boy would like. A name that a 6 year old boy would be excited
about! DRAGON! If you were a 6 year old boy, wouldn’t you be
excited about going to see a horse named Dragon?
We spent a little over an hour watching the little guy. After his water hole antics, it was obvious
that he was a really brave, although he did stick closer to his mother after
that incident. He spent a lot of time
eating and looking around and even slipped a couple naps in during that hour! We’ve been the first to see a couple of foals
at Sand Wash Basin and we did capture another on film on my birthday two years
ago, although her family was running for the hills! I think this was the first time that we’ve
had such a leisurely time to spend with a new baby and also at such close
range. Sand Wash Basin has never failed
to give us a good experience with the horses and this day was no
exception. It gave me a brand new baby
colt. A colt that we named Dragon!
