Everybody knows those galvanized tubs are for keeping your feet clean while you eat.

They’re only about two inches across!  Video of new colt on WHW YouTube channel.

County Commissioners will meet tomorrow but the rule change that would bring a high-density horse feeding operation to Burns, WY is not on the agenda.  That does not mean the topic won’t be discussed, as was the case on March 3.

RELATED: Laramie County Commissioners Favor Rule Change?

Probably less than a half hour old in first photo.  Mom is very protective!

Event will be held July 16 – 19 per latest schedule, same venue.

RELATED: WSHE Schedule Taking Shape.

The meeting lasted five minutes.  You can watch it here.

The new commissioner joins four others who are considering a rule change that would bring a high-density horse feeding operation to Burns, WY.

RELATED: Laramie County Commissioners Special Meeting This Week.

Besides keeping the place cool in summer, trees give you an extra place to throw out hay during periods of light rain.  Photo taken 03-24-20.

The Western States Horse Expo will be held at the Murieta Equestrian Center, about 20 miles east of Sacramento, CA, May 7 – 10.  The schedule will likely change over the next few weeks.  Same for the exhibitor’s list.

RELATED: Western States Horse Expo Returns to Rancho Murieta.

The Board of County Commissioners will meet on March 17.

A public hearing to consider the use of an odor modeling tool to determine setback distances from high-density animal feeding operations is the last item on the agenda.

More information can be found in the planning department staff report.

RELATED: Laramie County Commissioners Discuss CAFO!

Today BLM requested proposals for off-range holding facilities in western Nevada and southwestern Idaho that could accommodate 500 to 3,500 wild horses and burros.

The animals would be taken there (after removal from their home range) in preparation for transfer to off-range pastures or adoption and sale events around the county.

Bids will be accepted through April 9.

The current population of horses and burros on public lands in the western U.S. is three times higher than the number the land can sustainably support in balance with wildlife and other uses of the land (code words for privately owned livestock).

RELATED: More Off-Range Pastures Sought for Wild Horses.

The March 3 meeting was interrupted briefly after the February 18 minutes had been approved to shuffle roles in response to the resignation of the chair.

Although the high-density horse feeding operation proposed by Equine Elite was not on the agenda, it was discussed at the conclusion of regular business.  You can watch the proceedings beginning at 12:58 in this video.

Developers of the facility have asked the county for a rule change that will silence the voices of many who oppose the project.

The planning department has drafted a new rule based on an odor propagation model developed by the University of Nebraska – Lincoln.

Commissioners asked for a public hearing on March 17 to formally consider the proposal and receive stakeholder comments.

A decision will not be rendered until April 7, at the earliest.

Minutes of the meeting have not been posted as of today.

RELATED: Laramie County Commissioners Meet This Week.

Probably not true in every case but it sure does seem to be greener near the poop pile!

Consideration of a rule change requested by Equine Elite for a proposed CAFO near Burns, WY is not on the agenda for the March 3 meeting.

At their meeting on February 4, commissioners asked planning department staff for a report on odor propagation models that could assess the concerns of residents near the proposed facility.

The feedlot would have a capacity of 5,000 wild horses on approximately 80 acres.

RELATED: Laramie County Commissioners Looking for Cover?

Photo of wild horses at Palomino Valley off-range corrals on 02-08-20.  The facility has a capacity of 1,850 horses on approximately 100 acres.

Found this piece of dried mud in one of the corrals today.  It probably came out of a hoof as the horses were playing.  The debris included rocks and poop.  Having a muddy spot in the corral or pasture is not necessarily a bad thing.  Photo taken outside of corral.

HMA of origin unknown, possibly Fish Creek.  Photo taken 02-08-20.

From Eagle roundup, probably between six and twelve months old.  Very skittish, stayed at far side of corral.  Photo taken earlier today.

Mares from the Eagle roundup.  Lots of wind and dust.  Photo taken earlier today.

The public hearing set for today regarding changes to setbacks around Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations is item 17 on the Board of County Commissioner’s agenda.

RELATED: Laramie County BOC to Consider Rule Change This Week.

The Planning Commission and residents near Burns, WY have given the wrong answer, so now the pressure shifts to the Board of Commissioners, who will consider the rule change on February 4.

Facilities of the type proposed by Equine Elite must get approval from residents within three miles but an amendment requested by the company would reduce the distance to one mile, cutting many of the stakeholders out of the decision-making process.

The facility would hold up to 5,000 wild horses captured by the BLM and the BLM would pay Equine Elite an amount per horse for each day they are held.  The horses would receive vaccinations and be transitioned to domestic life, according to a report posted this morning by the Cheyanne-based Wyoming Tribune Eagle.

With the funding of the ‘Path Forward’ in December and now with the loss of four HMAs in Wyoming, more corrals are needed to accommodate wild horses displaced from their home range—so their food can be sold to public-lands ranchers.

RELATED: Laramie County Planning Board Rejects Proposed Amendment.

The Western States Horse Expo runs from May 7 to May 10 this year, at the Murieta Equestrian Center, twenty miles east of Sacramento, CA.

Refer to the preliminary schedule to see what’s planned.  Tickets are $75 online for all four days or $20 online for one day.