Month: May 2018

Rural Water Systems – Electrical

The last step in installing a pump in your well is to connect it to the water and power systems.

In the photo below, black poly tubing brings water into the pump house, transitioning to white PVC pipe inside the wall.  It connects to the water system at the pressure switch, the small grey box above the PVC pipe with corrugated metal conduits on either side.

The wall-mounted box with orange label is the controller for the pump.  To the left is a smaller box that monitors for dead-heading and dry-running.

The colored wires going into the slab provide power to the pump, 480 feet down.

The grey panel near the door provides power to all circuits in the pump house.  The receptacle at the lower left of the panel lets you plug in your portable compressor, in case the air in the pressure tanks needs to be topped off.

Now you have water to the surface!  You’ll want to cycle the system several times to flush out any turbidity (cloudiness).  Connect a hose to the drain valve on one of your pressure tanks and let the water run out until the pump comes on (40 psi).  When the pump shuts off (60 psi), open the valve and drain the tank(s) again.  Repeat until the water is clear.

After you install a treatment system, you’ll have clean, fresh water for your horses.

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Another Reason to Build the Wall

In this video, posted 05/25/18, Tucker Carlson, Fox News host, interviews Dave Duquette, spokesman for Protect the Harvest and cheerleader for the buck-forty-oners.  Topic is horse slaughter.  Broadcast date unknown.  Notice the AQHA logo on Duquette’s jacket.

On the subject of horse meat, Duquette reported “There was one meat buyer…in the south of…in Florida…that said he had 2.3 million Hispanics down there that would eat it…every day if they could get it.”

A few moments later he said “Mexico, if you’ve eaten tacos on the beach in Cabo, you’ve eaten some horse meat.”

Maybe he’s on a public relations tour to build support for the recent BLM Report to Congress.

But his comments are a reminder that we have people coming into the country who don’t share our values, especially the sovereignty of the individual and the proper role of government in the civil society.  We need to keep them out.

Yet in November, many of the so-called wild horse advocates, including the PZP zealots, will join The Diversity in voting for the party of open borders.

As hard as it is to listen to this guy, it’s harder to watch the images of horses that begin at 1:08.

Halters in arenas and pastures, horses locked in stalls, stud chains over their nose, all because they’re owned or cared for by idiots.  Nevertheless, these things indicate the horses are wanted and are unlikely to be taken to auction.

More Virility and Potency

Horses move other horses by applying pressure.  If a lower horse yields to a higher horse, pressure is released.  When the lower horse moves, he may protest with a tail swish or kick.  If the pecking order is not well established, the lower horse may challenge the higher horse by pushing back, biting, rearing or kicking.

You use the same technique to communicate with your horse.  A good horseman tries to achieve a result with the least amount of pressure.  For example, he’ll ask his horse to back up with a simple voice command, nod of his head, or light touch to the chest.

If the horse doesn’t respond, he’ll turn up the heat.

  1. Please
  2. Pretty please
  3. You better
  4. You should have

When the horse moves, he gets release.  That’s the right answer, and the horse just learned it.  No hugging and kissing, no verbal praise, those are pressure.

The mom in this video starts in stage 1 but ends up in stage 4, where she lays down the law.  The segment of interest runs from 1:24 to 13:58.

Anybody in your herd lacking in the respect department?  H/T Rick Gore at Think Like a Horse.  Related: Pressure and Release.

Synchronized Eating

Sadie, Scooter and Trapper enjoying some alfalfa on 05/26/18.

Yeah, the corral needs to be cleaned, their feet need to be trimmed, and they’ve put on a few pounds.

If you find yourself spending a lot of time on the exercise bike, maybe get some land, adopt some horses, and take up the ranching lifestyle.  Your biggest problems will be keeping weight on and getting enough sleep.

Your horses are not in stalls, right?

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Gotta Love It

Wreck is on westbound I-80 near Fairfield, CA, but traffic is backed up for miles in the opposite direction.  Three or four lanes across.  Bad day for horse watching in Nevada, at least if you live in the Bay Area.

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Don’t worry though, all that wasted fuel means extra $$$ for state and federal coffers.

Burros Found Dead Near Beatty, NV

Thirteen wild burros were executed near Beatty, NV, according to a report in the Pahrump Valley Times dated 05/16/18.  The animals were probably associated with the Bullfrog HMA, which has a target population of 91 (upper value of AML) and covers 157,180 acres.

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See also this report dated 05/14/18 from the Fox affiliate in Las Vegas.  Includes video.

Anyone with information about the event can call the BLM at 1-800-521-6501.  To date, no arrests have been made in the case.

Related: Where to find burros in Nevada.

UPDATE: The following video was posted by the NBC affiliate in Las Vegas on 05/14/18.

USFS Ends Cold Creek Gather

Refer to this press release from the Forest Service.  More information can be found at this page.

Results of gather:

  • 148 horses removed  (72 studs, 67 mares, 9 foals)
  • 19 horses euthanized (12.8% death rate)

The remaining population was estimated to be around 140 horses.  The affected area consists of the Spring Mountain WHT (102,221 acres) and Wheeler Pass HMA (275,575 acres).  The AML is 66, for a target stocking rate of 0.2 horses per thousand acres.  The actual stocking rate, based on animals remaining, is 0.4 horses per thousand acres.

The action was prompted by drought conditions in the southwestern U.S.

UPDATE: One of the euthanized horses was not emaciated, not injured in the gather, but was blind.  Almost certainly he had one or more seeing-eye buddies on the range and would have been fine if allowed to stay there.  If nobody wants to adopt blind horses, returning them to the range would be more humane than putting them down?