North America -09Posted by Ove Wed, October 07, 2009 14:18:10I have done it!
I’m not a virgin anymore.
The hoof you see below belongs to a scared feral Mustang stallion roaming the Nevada desert. I’ve got it on video too. It is kind of an “interesting” feeling finding your self standing in the middle of a herd of feral Mustang stallions that “correct” each other with markings and sounds frequently when something does not suit them. I did pick the stallions on purpose since they don’t have anything as long as you are not threatening there females. Of course I always positioned my self so that I had the stallion between myself and the mares and foals.
Cold Creek is a interesting place to study things like grazing habits (as long as you keep away from where and when they feed them alf-alfa) since the Mustangs are pretty used to people and they don’t run away as soon as they see you as they do further north in Nevada.
I wanted to see exactly what, how and how much they grazed and I wanted real close up shots (I do have some very detailed videos now).
Green grass? – No way.
Grass? – Well, maybe.
Plants that crunch? – Oh, yes.
North America -09Posted by Ove Wed, October 07, 2009 14:07:44After having spent 4 days attending to hooves belonging to attendee’s horses it was finally time to head for the desert again and my plan was to go back to Sheldon in North Nevada. I came back to my favorite parking spot around 10pm and in the light from the full moon everything looked just as I had left it a couple of weeks earlier and yes, I had seen horses on the way up (2000m) so I went to bed really looking forward to tomorrow. It was a cold night but I have a double sleeping bag so it was no problem. The problem came in the morning when I suffered a severe allergy attack. I’m extremely allergic to snow in early October and I was not prepared for snow covered grounds. The solution to this problem was of course to set the GPS for Death Valley to recover. I drove through Death Valley from north to south and I don’t recommend anyone to do that. No, I take that back. I strongly recommend everyone that does not like me to do that because that will keep them busy for a long time. The “road” was in really bad condition where it was not an extreme wash board. 10 mph for a long time to stop the “Mother ship” from breaking into pieces and not that much to see that you can’t see from the road going east-west. Since I wanted better climate and more Mustangs I reset the GPS for Cold Creek outside Las Vegas, NV.
North America -09Posted by Ove Wed, September 23, 2009 01:47:56I couldn't recist. I just had to got down into Death Valley when I came to the sign.
I did film through my windshield the way up and I will put both that one and a bunch of other road movies on the website as soon as I've got time to make them ready. It was realy neet but maybe nothing for people that does not like heights.
Well I did come back from Death Valley.
North America -09Posted by Ove Wed, September 23, 2009 01:35:55I have now been filming the horses at the water hole for two full days. It is kind of calm in the morning. Just a few horses but after about 2 in the after noon starts rush hour. There was 20 horses from three different bands at the same time and when one band left i did not take long before the next one arrived. I have about 5 hours of film of the horses drinking and socializing at the water hole.
It was very interesting to see that they mingle quite freely among the herds now in September but still went back to there herds when it is time to move on. I even saw alfa stallions that went to batchleor band to cudle with young stallions for as much as up to 10 minutes before they realized that their family was done at the water hole and had decided to move on.
I'm still not completely saticfied so my plan is still to come to film one more day in a couple of weeks.
North America -09Posted by Ove Sun, September 06, 2009 12:56:44This time of the year the Mustangs usually seeks higher elevation (and Burning Man down in the basin makes that even more interesting) so I headed for Sheldon some 100 miles north of Winnemucca 
and did I hit the Jack Pot. An hour into Sheldon I saw the first band of horses and there were more than10 of them.
The horses were moving fairly fast so I suspected they were headed for a water hole. I found the natural spring they were headed for but it was dry.
I went back to the Van and started searching for somewhere to park for the night before it got completely dark (8pm). Just before it got dark I saw a large band (10 or so) of mustangs not that far away. When I woke up at 6am the horses were still there, almost at the same spot. I packed my back pack with water, some things to eat and my cameras and headed for the horses. I did not want to disturb them or anything, just see what they were doing and my plan was to follow them for the day. When I came closer I saw that it was three bands. One family band with 1 stallion + 6 mares + 2 foals, one band of 3 old stallions and one band of 5 young stallions. All together 17 horses within 600 feet. All minding their own business and respecting the sovereignty of the Alfa stallion. Hiding where nothing stick up more than 2 feet is not a option so I figured it to be better standing up and be visible so of course they saw me right away. I stopped about 900 feet away to not disturb them and after half an hour I sat down on the desert floor and just watched. After about an hour two of the mares (the two with foals) came to check me out. You can see these two and their foals at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDilHYqF1Dg.
On their first visit they came about 75 feet from me, the second time 60 feet and the third time they stopped about 45 feet away.
The Alfa stallion did not care about me at all. After about 2 hours they moved away a little and parked to sleep. During the three hours I watched these horses they did not move more than some 5-600 feet and they did not graze for more than maybe half an hour. Since this is completely unnatural I decided to leave the horses and see if I could find a reason to why all these horses came this way. As soon as I started moving away from the horses they started grazing and slowly moving further away. I back tracked the horses and found the natural spring that attracted the horses. I have decided to go back to this spring tomorrow to film more of the visitors between 7am and 7pm.
North America -09Posted by Ove Thu, September 03, 2009 20:15:45I found another favorite spot (why do I have to live in such an ugly place). Golden Beach, Oregon, just north of the border to California. Fantastic sandy ocean beaches on one side and inspiring wilderness on the other. Maybe it is time to move.
This little fellow came and begged for food and he took the carrot I offered very gently but he did not think it was eatable or maybe he was just spoiled.
Further down I drove Hwy 1 from the north end and is that a beautiful road? May not for people that become carsick easily or people that are afraid of heights but if you can live with the fact that the tail lights you see in front of you most likely are your own it is okay that the wheels on one side are almost outside of the road most of the time then it is a fantastic stretch.
I had to go and pick up my mail at the office and this is how it looks on the way there. How is your drive to the office?
North America -09Posted by Ove Sat, August 29, 2009 00:50:29When I look back at my long life it really feels good to know that I have done something really good for humanity. Here it is: …… The recipe for Ove’s world famous chocolate pudding.
Mach a banana (take a big one) rigorously on a flat plate (a flat plate is easier to lick clean without getting chocolate on your nose and chin).
Mix in about 3 tea spoons (depends on the size of the banana) of un sweetened cocoa until there is no dry cocoa left (it takes more work than you think but it is worth it).
Mix in about 5 tea spoons of un sweetened (if you can find it) coconut shavings.
Try to eat it slowly, don’t lick through the surface of the plate and wait at least a couple of minutes before you make your next one and when you do try not to slobber on something expensive like your LapTop.
I took the picture before I mixed it together because then it tastes MUCH better than it looks. But that is chocolate pudding for you, isn’t it?
What good have you done for humanity?
North America -09Posted by Ove Sat, August 29, 2009 00:48:04After having left Thunder Bay the surroundings did get quite boring (like driving through northern Sweden). After a while nature change and looked like southern Sweden instead.
Winnipeg was completely surrounded by the largest grain field I have ever seen.
Since I can not take grains I did not enjoy that scenery very much either. It kept on for ever or at least all the way to Edmonton. I don't mind knowing where I'm going but isn't this ridiculously?
I have a weak spot for the Rockys so coming in to Jasper national park was a great relief and yes I did see a gray one and it was not a dog. To bad he did not wanted to be photographed.
The scenery was lovely all the way to Kamloops and here I completely got swept of my feet (good thing I was already sitting). Where have I been all my life? If you love horses and riding out in nature Kamloops must be heaven on earth. I wonder if the number of horses or humans were the greatest here? There were horses everywhere, lots of horses.
Kamloops is situated about 500m (1500 feet) over the ocean but already 20 minutes later on the way to Vancouver the road is up on 1444m before it goes right down again. The montain to the west makes it dry as a dessert even though there is plenty of water in the rivers. Here the scenery is just amazing and the warning signs for avalanches are not far apart. In this part of the country a big Ford V8 engine feels like a little Asian 4 cylinder elsewhere. Amazing hills.
I wonder what was down there. What ever it was it did cost me almost an hour in congestion. Coming back to the US was as usual. To bad I look so dangerous. Maybe I should get a haircut or plastic surgery or something. However, they did let me in and that feels good since I do have some more things to take care of here.
