This has been a miserable winter for the herd. There has been lots of snow, but more significantly, it has been very cold and the snow has not melted. The horses have had to work very hard to find forage under the crusted cold snow.
This photo was taken in early February. The horses looked fairly good. But on my last visit on March 10, they were in poor condition. The snow had begun to melt, but because of last summer's drought, there was hardly any thing for them to eat. All of the grass had been eaten right down to the ground in November before the snow fell. Many of the mustangs were very visibly thinner.
With a trip to the desert in a few days, I hope to find the conditions improved. It only takes a few days for the fresh green grass to emerge after the snow melts.