Last Sighting of Lacey

dakotagrownphotos Frontier's Band March 2, 2019 | 0

Hello everyone! Well, yesterday was an interesting day. I spent most of the day with my friend trying to find as many horses as we could. Early in the day, I noticed Frontier and his band from a lookout. We watched for a bit and noticed that Lacey wasn’t there. Thinking she may just be out of view we continued on with our day. Later in the afternoon, we checked again and still no Lacey. At this point, I am getting worried. Lacey is 19 years old and our winter has been harsh. My friend drove me back to my car and I decided I would go back and check one more time. Once again, I didn’t see Lacey. The hike out to them is through fairly deep snow and close to a mile. At this point, it’s 3:30 pm and I have two hours until sunset. I have done this hike many times before and I knew if I went fast enough I could make it to the band, look for Lacey, and be back at my car before the sun went down. So off I went to get some answers. Luckily, someone had hiked the first quarter mile with their dog and broke through the rough snow so I could walk in their tracks.

When I reached the band, I was on a hill above them. I looked around and didn’t see Lacey. My heart sank but I know Lacey is an independent mare and could still be in the area. I hiked closer to the band and saw that Lacey’s colt, Cagney, was with Smokie. I looked in the trees and small coves around the band and still saw no sign of her. In my heart, I knew she had to be here somewhere. It was getting dark and I was running out of time to look. I turned to my right to look out across an open area south of myself and the band. I saw something about a half mile out from us that I knew didn’t look right. I got out my camera, zoomed in as far as I could, and there hidden in a line of trees was Lacey! I don’t know why she isn’t with them but I do know they can see her, she can see them, and they can get to one another in a matter of minutes when they are ready. This is the perfect example of how these horses can always surprise us no matter how well we may think we know their behaviors. Had I not made the effort to hike out there and look around I would have no clue where she is and could have assumed the worst. Now I know she is still with us and the entire band is accounted for. I took a photo zoomed out to show where I first spotted Lacey. I then zoomed in so you could see her closer up.

The band looks well, the youngsters are getting big, and Indian Paintbrush looks very pregnant. I will write under each photo below. Have a great weekend and thanks, everyone!