Author: Western Horse Watchers

Blindness: Death Sentence for BLM Horses?

Refer to BLM Instruction Memorandum 2015-070 for care of animals managed by the WHB Program, including deworming, vaccination, evaluation of condition and determination of an appropriate end-of-life action.

Refer also to the daily reports from the Triple B gather earlier this year.  Note that some of the horses, although they survived the chase, were put down due to blindness.  Keep in mind they were strong enough to travel across the range, perhaps for several days, to the trap site.

In the first three cases, none of the horses were emaciated, according to their body condition scores (BCS).  The body condition of the fourth horse was not given.  The fifth horse had a score of 2, which put her in the emaciated category, subject to euthanization according to section A of Attachment 2, Animal Evaluation and Response.  But the reason for ending her life was blindness.

Triple_B_Blindness-1

When did the nineteen year old stud go blind?  Yesterday?  Or was he like that since birth?  The case of the cremello mare suggests that blindness can occur early in life.  If it is a hopeless prognosis, how did the twenty year old stud stay alive for so long in such harsh conditions?

The term ‘blindness’ does not appear anywhere in Attachment 2.  That it provides justification for euthanasia must be the interpretation of the specialist on the case.

Maybe the prognosis is hopeless because nobody wants to adopt blind horses and most rescues are not interested in them?  If so, then why not let them stay on the range with their seeing-eye helpers?  How can you refer to these life-ending actions as ‘humane?’

The Triple B Complex includes the Triple B HMA, Maverick Medicine HMA, Antelope Valley HMA west of Hwy 93, and Cherry Spring WHT.

Rural Water Systems – Testing

Your water treating supplier can give you test strips to monitor the hardness of water from your well and downstream of the treatment system.  In the example below, there is no green tint, no orange tint, so the hardness is around seven grains per gallon.  Photo was taken about an hour after the test so the indicator may have faded.

Your supplier may also have kits that measure other properties of your water, such as pH, hardness and alkalinity.  If not, try a pool equipment vendor.  The kit may also test for chlorine, which typically is not present in rural water systems.

The addition of chlorine or bleach to water creates hypochlorous acid, among other things, which kills bacteria.  If you have a pool at your ranch or other body of water you’re trying to disinfect, it’s important to keep the pH between seven and eight so the HA can do it’s job.

Look at a bottle of Vetericyn, a common treatment for wounds in the horse world.  The active ingredient is hypochlorous acid.

IMG_5479

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.

IMG_5440

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?

IMG_5377

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.

I-80-Wreck-05-26-18-1

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.

Bullfrog-HMA-Map-1

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.