El Mariachi and Hope Update

I decided to hold off sharing the Green Mountain and Stewart Creek Woming HMA horses for just a bit. I felt it was about time for a feel good story to balance the more difficult news of late concerning our wild horses.

On October 16th (which took a long time coming!), Tom and I flew down to Arizona for a quick visit with El Mariachi, Hope and Michael (Blake). I was SO excited about getting down to see everyone again.

The first picture I took from the road up to the ranch. El Mariachi and Hope. El Mariachi has definitely filled out.

I knew Michael was probably working in his studio (and Michael would expect no less from me – HA!), so Tom and I stopped off at the barn first and went down to try to find the horses near the creek area where we had seen them as we drove up.

And there they were just in front of me. Still not particularly interested in being too close, but such is the nature of a wild horse. So darn good to see them again!

Peeking out at me

I wonder if he knows how my heart smiles whenever I see him

Such a handsome boy

I see you pretty girl

Hope has recovered as well - she looks good

Hanging out with the other horses - so peaceful

This was a big step for Hope - to lay down in front of me and roll. Not long ago, she would never have considered letting her guard down like that.

We heard, then saw Michael on the road in his old pickup (which he LOVES). It’s the very vehicle he drove to the Black Hills of South Dakota to film “Dances With Wolves.” Guess I can understand why it means so much to him.

Hope spots Michael on the road

A view of the landscape

That's Hope at the bottom of the photo

I’d gotten my horsey fix for the moment, so we followed Michael up to the ranch house. He had all sorts of news to share. Though we e-mail and talk on the phone periodically, it’s really good to spend some “real” time with him. Michael has a ton of stories about his life and all of them are interesting (some of those stories can be found in his book, “Like a Running Dog” – a fascinating read).

Later that afternoon we had the opportunity to meet professional photographer Lori Faith Merritt. Lori lives in Arizona and had met Michael about a month earlier at a fundraising event in Tucson where he had invited her to come out to the ranch at some point. Through a series of events, Lori and I connected and it was decided that she would come out to the ranch during our visit. Lori was very easy to be around, an obvious lover of all things horsey and a talented photographer. I really love her work. It was a pleasure to get to know her a little bit. I hope we’ll see her again on one of our trips and next time, we’d love to meet her husband William too (a western/cowboy music singer).

Pointing out who's who to Lori

Lori Faith Merritt

Little Boy had some cactus in his cheek and he patiently stands for Lori as she pulls the spines out for him.

And then he thanks Lori for her kindness

Lori told me that every photographer needs their own photographer. Thanks for the photo Lori. Standing in front of Twelve's grave.

Early evening means dinner time for the horses. They head up to the barn and Lori and I hang out and watch them.

El Mariachi and Hope hear someone coming down the road

It's their favorite person - Michael.

Michael and Lori

The horses were fed and the four of us chatted away until the sun went down. Then we all went up to the ranch house and talked some more. For Tom and I, it had been a long, but very satisfying and enjoyable day.

Next morning, Tom and I were down at the barn early to check on the horses, serve up breakfast and tackle a few chores.

The dogs, Timid, Diana and Scout escort us to the barn

Pretty feisty first thing in the morning - Timid and Diana

It's so peaceful just to sit with the horses in the morning. No one around. Just the sounds of the land and its critters.

El Mariachi has actually gained a little too much weight back, so his feed has been modified and cut back a bit. Because of his experience, he may have food issues for quite some time.

I just had to share this photo. Look at that beautiful foot. El Mariachi's feet look fabulous again. The rocky terrain ensures that his feet will stay naturally trimmed and healthy. Hope's feet were in worse condition, but they look almost as good.

Tommy cleaning water tanks

Diana can't resist a clean, cool drink

Tomas supervises Tom's poop removal efforts

Around 1:00, we headed up into the Santa Rita mountains in southern Arizona. We were going to meet Marianne Blake and the Blake children; Quanah, Monahsetah (Mo) and Lozen. Marianne and I had e-mailed, but hadn’t met yet. I knew by our letters that we had alot in common, but I was still a little nervous. Turns out, I didn’t need to be. She put us right at ease and took us on a tour of the ranch and all its animals.

This is Lucky. An orphaned Brangus calf that the family took home and cared for. I'm told that Lucky thinks she's a Bassett hound! She actually guards the house, just like a dog would. Too funny.

And this is one of Lucky's role models - Cowboy.

And Bean Bag - all tuckered out.

Since I can’t do the critter introductions justice, I’ll just post the information Marianne sent me about them. Notice her great sense of humor.

“Lucky The Cow, about 7 months, orphaned twice, thinks she’s an oversized, good-looking, smart (HA!) Basset hound.
Bean Bag and Cowboy, Lucky’s brothers, true hound dogs.
The horses:
Lilly, one year old filly.
Luna Sombra, almost nine months.
Frost Bite, Luna’s mama.
Penelope, AKA Grandma (Lozen’s horse), age unknown.
Burrito, Monahsetah’s gelding. AKA Don Rito because of his Mafia ways when it comes to feeding and loving.
Skinfaxe, almost two year old stallion. AKA MiniWinney.
Mark, plus forty year old gelding. Slightly senile. The self-appointed traffic cop of this outfit.
Rambler, over 30 year old gelding. Reservation horse, Hollywood Ham and con artist.
Cookie, 7 1/2 year old blue roan, Hancock, quarterhorse mare. Temperamental during feeding time. Curious and trouble prone.
And finally there’s Rosebud – 4 year old daughter of Cookie, major trouble maker, escape artist extraordinaire, curious, cowhorse who’s afraid of the very dangerous horse eating rocks and boulders covering the ground in this area.”

Monahsetah (she let me call her Mo since I had so much trouble with her beautiful name) and Mark - the 40+ year old gelding.

Rambler - the 30+ year old Reservation horse.

Monahsetah with Cookie (enjoying a good scratch)

Tom gives young Lilly a good scratch

Marianne, Lilly and Tom

Marianne (pronounced Marianna - she's Danish) and Tom

Monahsetah and Lucky as Cowboy looks on.

Lozen watches Rick (family friend and business partner) trim the plaster of Paris horse she's just made.

Quanah reaches for a ball. It was so nice to see all the kids playing outdoors, making things and enjoying the animals.

They had stories of their own to tell about each 4-legged family member, (Marianne is a huge animal lover) the cattle they raise and some of their misadventures with them. Despite what they told us (there’s a certain bull I don’t want to meet), Marianne and Rick invited us to go up into the mountains to check cattle with them on a future visit. I just have to figure out a safe way to bring my camera with me when we go. 🙂

Along with the ranch and the cattle, Marianne owns a publishing company called Hrymfaxe (http://www.hrymfaxe.com – be sure to watch for an exciting announcement from Hrymfaxe). She also owns Double Eagle Films, Inc. and has the rights to “The Holy Road,” the sequel to “Dances With Wolves.” Right now, it looks like she’ll be making the movie in the summer of next year. Something to look forward to. Very cool!

We visited for 2-3 hours and then headed back to Michael’s for some evening shots of the horses before we had to leave way too early the next morning for home. We didn’t get those evening shots however. We got back, started talking with Michael and before we realized it, the sun was disappearing. Tom and I hurried down to the barn, but only got a few shots of the fading light over the horizon. It was beautiful.

We walked back up to the house in total darkness. Lori had told us that the tarantulas come out at night which made us both a little uneasy about our footsteps as we followed the road. Luckily, we had no squishy encounters.

We had to leave the ranch at about 4:00 AM the next morning to make our flight. We gave ourselves an extra 10 minutes so that we’d have time to say goodbye to the horses. What a wonderful time of day that is in Arizona. Cool, slight breeze and so quiet. The horses must’ve thought we were crazy, but we talked to them briefly and then headed down the road. Until next time…

A painting of El Mariachi and Hope made by Monahsetah for Michael's birthday. I love it.

(Below is some video that I took with a point ‘n shoot camera that my Mom lets Tom use on our trips. It was an experiment, I don’t know how to edit so please excuse the noise of the wind, but I hope you enjoy the very short clip of an evening feeding. Maybe I’ll do better next time. :-)).

Related stories:

https://nickolesphotography.wordpress.com/2009/07/03/rescuing-an-american-icon/

https://nickolesphotography.wordpress.com/2009/08/26/el-mariachis-thunder-road/

https://nickolesphotography.wordpress.com/2009/05/29/new-book-twelve-the-king/