Voluntary evacuation and a missing mustang named Rain Man

September 8, 2024
The morning was mercifully cooler than the previous days had been. The warmth was coming, to be sure, but it was a little slow to arrive, so the girls walked with The Black. She was noticeably slower in recent days.

"See if you can get her out every day" Grace said. "It may help. Just a short walk, just to keep her joints lubricated. I know it's hard, seems like there's always so much going on."

"That's really all we can do, isn't it?"

"Yeah. And the day may come when she doesn't want to go out for a walk any more. She'll let you know."

No one really knew how old The Black was. Maybe thirty, maybe older. One thing was certain, she'd gotten lots of love in the last little bit of that long life.

The dawn had been made cooler by a mixture of smoke from the Line fire and a thin layer of clouds. Around 2 PM those clouds were gathering in earnest. Skye went out with her iPad, trying to capture the breadth of the incoming storm.

Then came the thunder. She knew Grace wouldn't want her outside in the thunder. The grass was tinder dry and sharp.  One more picture. Then Skye made her way back inside.

And it was about that time that a new fire erupted.  The Bridge fire, in the Angeles National Forest, on the Azusa side, near Highway 39.  The girls would be blissfully unaware of it until later in the afternoon, when Tanner told the boss about the two very large columns that he did not think were clouds.  Indeed, they weren't.  They were the Line fire to the east and the Bridge fire to the southeast, both sending smoke miles into the sky.  The Line fire had started on September 5 and was an arson fire.  The arsonist was caught after lighting a number of other fires which were of lesser magnitude.

The Bridge fire grew from four thousand acres to forty thousand acres in one day, making a run all the way across the forest from Azusa/Glendora to the mountain community of Wrightwood. The western edge of the community was losing homes to the fire.  The USFS Grassy Hollow Visitor's Center was reduced to rubble as the fire roared up to and across the highway, entirely unchecked.  Big Pines, aptly named for its tall timber, crowned; the trees were consumed by the flames.  Mountain High ski resort burned again.  The beautiful campgrounds and high country that the girls had visited in the Jeep in 2022 as they searched for the origin of the wild horses...once again shaped by fire. 

That evening, the boss decided to do a voluntary evacuation, taking as much artwork and as many horses as she could off the mountain.  The horses would not be accepted at evacuation shelters, however, because those spaces were created for mandatory evacuees.  So she brought them all the way out to a facility in Ventura County, until there simply wasn't room for any more horses. 

Grace and Skye stayed behind with the horses that remained.  If there would be another wave of evacuations, they would need to be mandatory, so that horses could be brought to evacuation facilities.

The Bridge Fire would quickly consume over 50,000 acres of the Angeles National Forest, running in much the way that the devastating Bobcat Fire did in 2020.  That fire began on September 6 and burned 115,997 acres, running mostly unchecked from the Los Angeles basin side of the mountains to the high desert beyond Wrightwood, destroying the landmark Devils Punchbowl Visitor's Center, and obliterating much of the Station Fire's amazing recovery in the Chilao area. That had been Grace's introduction to Redbird Ranch; a month long mandatory evacuation in the brutal heat of that summer with no real assurance that there would be a ranch to come back to.

It seemed clear now that the current Bridge fire was moving away from Chilao.  With many less horses to care for, the girls enjoyed a little more free time to do what they loved the most, watching the wild horses.

September 15
Skye sat down on the rough granite, and watched in silence.  Eventually she turned to Grace.
"I have no idea what's going on" Skye said.

Below them, the big mare they called Lumpy and her filly appeared to be running away from Storm, the big, bay going grey stallion.  Storm was distracted with another horse which the girls had never seen before, a scrappy bay roan.  The new horses' legs and hooves were substantial, but the rest of it looked like a typical southwestern mustang.  And the small roan horse didn't seem fond of Storm.

"Can you see The Newcomer over towards the ranch?" Grace's gaze was focused toward the southeast.

Skye was focused on what appeared to be complete chaos to the southwest.

Storm had somehow amassed a small herd. But his aggressive style seemed unappreciated. 

"That's gotta be a mare" Skye said regarding the diminutive new horse, not exactly whispering.

"Agreed" Grace replied.

Both girls scanned the horizon for Rain Man. They had never seen Storm without Rain Man. But he was nowhere to be found. The girls moved closer, hoping for a better look.

"Whoa!" Skye, unaccustomed to hiking in boots, found them a bit tricky.

"That's a hat Skye, not a helmet. Careful!"

Storm was relentless, following the small roan mare into the rocks, pushing her back down toward the flat.

Even the local hummingbird seemed perplexed about the action taking place on the ground.

The girls found a place to sit, closer to the horses but still out of harm's way, and still un-noticed.

"I think this is the most uncomfortable rock I've ever sat on" Grace grumbled.

"I think this is the most confusing scene I've ever watched unfold" Skye replied. "Or maybe these ladies just don't like getting bossed around so much."

"Storm is a bit of a tyrant, isn't he? This is the first time we've ever seen him with mares and without Rain Man. He seems to have just one mode of operation, and it's pretty unsettling."

The Newcomer and his small band held back, avoiding all of it.

Back at the ranch in the afternoon, Grace and Skye turned horses out in the indoor arena.  Gunner glowed beneath the arena lights.

That is where Anoush, Anahit and Lousin found Grace and Skye, which seemed a bit odd on such a glorious day. But so did the relative quietness of the ranch itself. Most of the horse stalls were empty.

"All the pipe corrals went with the horses" Skye explained.

"Where are the horses?" Anoush asked.
"Ventura County" Grace replied. "When the Bridge fire blew up on Tuesday, the boss decided to start moving horses. There were a couple of closer evacuation centers, but they wouldn't take animals unless they were coming out of evacuation zones, and we weren't under evacuation orders yet."

"We still aren't under evacuation orders" Skye said. "But the boss didn't want to wait. Too many horses to wait to the last minute, she said."

"Good thinking" Anoush said. "How did you choose which horses to take?"

Grace and Skye looked at each other. Grace answered. "I think the idea was to get all of them, but there wasn't enough space for all of them at the place in Ventura, so we had to stop. So, a real mix of horses went."

"Yeah, like all my horses except Ladyhawk are there" Skye interjected. "We actually brought Ladyhawk and La Barilla back! So some of the really rare and valuable horses went, some of the horses that were easy to load in the trailer went, The Black went...you know who didn't go? The roan mare, the draft-type mustang mare. She wouldn't load for anything. So that old girl is still here."

"What will happen to the wild horses?" Anoush asked.

Grace didn't hesitate to answer. "Where the Bridge fire is burning right now, we went looking for wild horses. Skye and I drove the whole of that country, except the part where the fire started, because we know there aren't any wild horses there. We covered everything from Blue Ridge to Lytle Creek and plenty of parts in between. We don't think there's any wild horses there. Right around here, this is the best country for them."

"What's next? Anahit asked. "Are you going to move the rest of the horses?"

"We're in a holding pattern" Skye answered. "Watching the fire reports, watching the weather, waiting."

"And as far as I know we don't have anywhere to bring the rest of the horses to" Grace continued. "I mean, I'm sure the boss will find somewhere if she has to...I heard her mention something about Agua Dulce...but hopefully we won't have to do it."

Back at home, the space was uncluttered for the first time in a very long time.

"It feels so weird, everything being gone" Skye said. "Well, I mean, not everything, but all the artwork, the models, and Ginger Kitty and Butch and Lady and Vinnie and the pups..."

The small animals had also been evacuated.  

"Yeah" Grace sighed. "It is weird. I have a lot more room on my bed, but it's weird. Hopefully this will all be over soon and everything can get back to normal. Then we can complain about having too many animals and not enough room again."

September 21
Stock trailers began arriving just as the sun began to descend rapidly. The horses were returning from their evacuation stay in Ventura County.

Grace watched the boss, moving each and every horse from the trailer to the pen as the handlers brought them out. Her hair was matted, her lips parched, her face flushed red with sunburn covered by dust.

"You should take a break" Grace said to the boss. "Go up to the house and rest for a bit."

"There's more horses coming" the boss replied.

"Skye and I can handle it" Grace responded.

"I'm fine" the boss said.

"Go rest for a bit" Grace insisted. "You are setting a bad example of self care for Skye."

The boss fell silent. When the mares were unloaded, she went up to the house without further argument, leaving Grace and Skye to put everyone back in their stalls before the next group of horses were unloaded.

The Black made it.  No one was sure how the old mare would fare on such a long trailer ride, but she made it.

The second trailer came with several more mares. Everyone looked good.

"Are all the horses coming back tonight?"
Skye asked.

"I don't think so" Grace replied. "I think the boss said most of them would be."

Evening light shone glorious pink-red on the mountains. Skye imagined some day she might see a mountain lion slithering down the steep slope. Not that she necessarily wanted to see a mountain lion so close, but there was a game trail just behind the property, and all the wild things used it.

They had barely gotten the mares put away when the third trailer pulled in.

One of the big grulla geldings emerged.  

"Only one of the boys!" Skye exclaimed. "I'm not even sure if this is Granite or Sandstone. I think this is Granite...I wonder where the other one is..."

"I'm sure he's fine" Grace said. "They probably loaded them up the same way we did...let's grab some mares...let's grab some geldings...let's grab whoever wants to get on the trailer...'

Grace stared at a chestnut gelding with a roached mane and a brand. He eyed her back, ears swiveling, alert demeaner, taking in everything.

"Who is this?" Grace asked.

"What? Who is...ooooohh...who is that! I don't know!"

"I think we got someone else's horse."

"Oh no" Skye said. "What if other people are getting our horses?"

"It's all right" Grace said. "It'll work out. We'll get everyone back."

Relempago en la Pampa came out of the trailer as the final rays of sunlight turned intensely warm.

"Is this the last one for tonight?" Skye asked.

Her question was answered by the sound of another trailer coming up the drive.

"I guess not..."

Cloud Nine, the big Thoroughbred sport horse, retired now but still possessed of his regal nature. He was a little excited to be home. It took a few minutes before he was settled enough to bring back to his stall.

Bramble, the boss's beloved draft mustang gelding. He was usually hungry, and tonight was no exception. He was ready to get bedded down for the evening.

Last light came upon them.

The last horse of the evening, the paint stallion Windy Boy. In their minds the girls ran through all of the horses that hadn't returned yet. Jesse, for instance. The other grulla gelding, the Vanner mare and foal. Windy Boy needed a few minutes to blow off some steam before they put him up for the evening.
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