Nowadays, the influx of Quarter Horse, Thoroughbred and Arabian blood into the gene pool has created variations in type. Some breeders pursue the original gene pool. Those horses exhibit the smaller size and heavy bone of the foundation stock. On the Jo, it was a treat to see somewhere around 150 different Appaloosas, each possessing its own unique coat color and pattern. Back to the Jo… Today our group hauls into the east side of the park, to ride from the Yellowstone River to Mary Mountain. The early morning landscape of Yellowstone is spectacular. Plumes of water vapor escape from the vents and twist in the cool morning air. The park’s wildlife is waking up and hunting for breakfast. Earlier in the week, getting horses bridled and everyone mounted had been a leisurely process. One day we had to wait for the bears to be done feeding before we unloaded the horses, so our group had gotten rather casual about getting on, just taking our time.
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All the pine trees have the bark rubbed off the lower trunk. They are buffalo scratching posts.
Wild & Wooly Encounters Today as we unload horses, we discover that casual will not be the order of the day. A large herd of buffalo are running down a hill and toward the Yellowstone River. We are on one side of the river and they are on the other. We all thought they were probably going to take a morning drink in the river. Wrong. They keep coming. By this time all the horses are unloaded and we’re scrambling to get everyone mounted. It’s breeding season for the buffalo. They’re noisy and rambunctious and really do not care what or who is in their way. Once everyone in a group is mounted, we manage to skirt the buffalo herd with room to spare and head west into the wide valley, toward Mary Mountain. Steam pots billow in the distance, we ride in a vast sea of grass with the mountains and the river completing a scene so breathtaking, it’s almost indescribable. The edges of the area are covered with old forest that rolls out onto a plain of grass, making a perfect buffalo roaming area. I notice that all the bark is worn off the bottoms of the pine trees and they’re very sappy. I learned that this is from the Buffalo rubbing on the trees. Every pine tree is a buffalo rubbing post!
One of our nightly camp lectures talked about the buffalo. We were told that the old buffalo bulls would not go chasing after the cows, they would leave that to the younger bulls. The old bulls go off by themselves. Our group rode by some of these lone bulls. They are huge! They like to lay in dirt wallows
continued on pg 38
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www.blm.gov www.ridingmagazine.com | March 2014 | California Riding Magazine 37
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