Chelsea bergin wild horse valley road full#

It happens on an almost daily basis at this time of year and I find it fascinating to watch. Storms form up here on days like this and then gather strength as they move out over the plains to the east. Wind-swept clouds blow past a peak in the fire-scarred Red Deer River valley on the way to Ya Ha Tinda Ranch west of Sundre, Ab. Here above me they were still fairly wispy but looking eastward down the river I could see that there were some serious thunderheads building up. The clouds were really moving now, streaking across the mountains and sending patches of light and shadow speeding across the valley.

By pure luck I’d come here just as the sun was at the right angle to brighten them against the dark stone behind them. Photo by Mike Drew/PostmediaĮven high on the steep mountain slopes, new trees have taken root. Saplings of bright willow, aspen and poplar mix with the new pines growing from seeds that were liberated from the cones of the parent trees by the heat of the fire.Īrticle content Sun brightens new growth in the fire-scarred Red Deer River valley on the way to Ya Ha Tinda Ranch west of Sundre, Ab. What was once just a tangle of fallen timber is now lush and green. New growth in the fire-scarred Red Deer River valley on the way to Ya Ha Tinda Ranch west of Sundre, Ab. But nature always seems to find a way to come back. The lodgepole pines that once filled the valley were turned to a forest of tall, spindly skeletons now silvered by years of sunshine, wind and snow. What wasn’t hard to see, though, were the remains of a forest fire that burned through here several years ago. I have no doubt they were there but with the willows grown so high and leafy, they would have been hard to see. I’ve almost always seen wild horses up this way but today, not so much. I headed further on up the valley now, toward the Ya Ha Tinda Ranch. Photo by Mike Drew/Postmedia Cowbirds hitch a ride on a battle-scarred stallion as he grazes among the trees in the Yara Creek valley west of Sundre, Ab. And, to add insult to injury, a pair of cowbirds rode on his back, leaving little piles of white where they dropped their digestive remnants.Īrticle content A battle-scarred stallion grazes among the trees in the Yara Creek valley west of Sundre, Ab. One of them, a male, had a couple of pretty mean-looking hoof prints on his cheek. Other horses grazed in the aspen groves at the top of the valley. Photo by Mike Drew/Postmediaįoals lazed in the sun as their moms grazed close by, stallions chased off younger males that got too close or moved their little harems across the creek to graze among the willows. Wild mares graze while their babies relax in the sun in the Yara Creek valley west of Sundre, Ab. If so, then it has been a really circuitous 10,000-year voyage to get them to this lovely place.

Chelsea bergin wild horse valley road full#

I know they lived fairly close to here because I’ve actually seen the bones of ancient horses right up close to the mountains in southern Alberta.īut I suspect this valley was still full of glacial ice when those ancestral horses went extinct, so these guys might actually be the first horses ever to live there. Their ancestors were animals of the open plains. I did wonder, though, if these might actually be among the very first horses to graze this valley. They made a pretty amazing sight, their buckskin, chestnut and bay coats complementing the swath of green grass in the valley and the stretches of trees leading off to the mountains beyond.Īrticle content A wild stallion crosses Yara Creek to join with his harem west of Sundre, Ab. They were down in the meadows below me, the mares with their newest babies, the stallions standing guard, the teenagers wandering around in their little groups. Wild horses graze in the Yara Creek valley west of Sundre, Ab. I found the first little bunch, a trio, just up the road from the springs but as I rounded the first curve in the Yara Creek valley I saw at least another 50 of them. In addition to this being stunningly beautiful country, it also hosts a lot of horses that take advantage of the open slopes and grassy meadows. I’d figure I would come across some wild horses up this way and, in truth, that was why I was here. Article content Looking west up the Red Deer River valley west of Sundre, Ab.