Sand Wash Basin stallions, part two

After driving into and around Sand Wash Basin for what seemed like an eternity, we spotted a band of mustangs off in the distance. I got out of the van and followed them as they made their way across the the basin to a water hole.

The tobiano stallion, Coronado, went right to the water's edge and started pawing.

He was very enthusiastic.

Giant splashes!

I expected he would lie down, that's exactly what he did.

At that point, he was joined by the lighter grey.

If you look closely, you can see that the grey is really a pinto. There are spots under all that white hair!

The grey stood over Coronado as he rolled and rolled.

When Coronado stood up...

the grey lay down.

More pawing.

Two down!

That's how it went for the next little bit. One would stand up, one would lie down. They'd both lie down, they'd both stand up.

Eventually, they stood up one last time,

took a nice long drink...

and attempted to shake themselves off.

Then they exited the water hole.

Coronado rejoined the rest of the band, but the grey found a sandy spot and lie down to roll.

He went all the way over several times.

Then he got up,

shook himself off...

and trotted over to his friends.

Once they were all together again, they took off for parts unknown.

I watched them go until they were nearly out of sight.

I still didn't know if we would make it out in one piece, but in that moment, I didn't care. There was no place I wanted to be more than Sand Wash Basin.

To be continued.