Dayton O. Hyde, founder of the 11,000 acre Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary, died 12/22/18 at the family ranch in Oregon.  He was 93.  Refer to this story posted 12/30/18 by the Herald and News of Klamath Falls.

The sanctuary was in the news recently because of a conservation easement that affects over 70% its land.  It will continue operations under the leadership of Susan Watt.

UPDATE: Added video by Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary.

Monday, December 31, 2018, a cold and windy day in northern Nevada.  It’s day ten of the federal government shutdown.  Nobody to be seen at BLM’s Wild Horse and Burro Center, about twenty miles north of Sparks on Highway 445.

The visitor gate was shut.

A temporary sign told the story.

The office was idle.

You’ll have to read the signs to find out what goes on there.  The display is on the south side of the facility, along Ironwood Road.  See this video.

This one tells the story of wild horses and burros on public lands in the western U.S.

There’s also some information on how to gitcha one.

Although nobody was there to identify the horses and show you around, someone has been stopping by to feed them.

These guys looked okay, despite the harsh conditions and lack of shelter.

Four by six treated post failed in May, 2018, probably because one of the horses put his butt to the fence to scratch it.  Installed October 2103, replaced 12/28/18.

Step 1: Gather tools and materials.  Best way to carry eighty pound sacks of cement to the job site?  Your tractor.

Step 2: Dig the hole.  The fence tells you where.

Step 3: Check depth of hole.  Top of post should be at top of fence, in this case about 64″ above grade.  Hole should be deep enough to place a few inches of gravel at the bottom so the post does not rest on soil.  Don’t cut the post, dig the hole deeper.

Step 4: Use a level to plumb the post.  Mix the cement and place in hole.  In this photo, a wood block braces the new post against the old concrete.

Step 5: If your pipe panels have loop legs, be sure to press them into the concrete before it hardens.  Make sure the depression can drain into the surrounding soil.  Top of concrete should be slightly higher than grade, so rainwater runs away from the post.

Step 6: Secure the fence to the new post.  A U-shaped metal strap with two 1/4″ lag bolts should work.  You can see one near the top of the first post in this photo.  The new post is next in line.

In this corral, the pipe panels are supported at every other junction.  Steel rods were pounded into the ground where not supported to keep the horses from pushing those sections out (the pinned joints act like hinges).  You can make the rods from #4 rebar or larger.  Drive them in on the outside of the leg until flush with the top of the loop.

Technical note: The 4×6 posts in this corral were oriented with the broad side facing the pipe panels, to accommodate the U-shaped straps.  The posts would do a better job of resisting the horses if their narrow side was put toward the fence.  But you’d have to find another way to secure the panels to them, such as drilling holes through the vertical members and lagging them directly to the posts.  Straps have more ‘give,’ which is nice when horses lean against the fence or ground conditions change from wet to dry.  The face-to-face spacing between 6×6 posts on a 12′ gate can change 1/4″ or more between summer and winter in this area.

The highest court in the state has upheld a circuit court decision to dismiss a lawsuit brought by the Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary to cancel a conservation easement granted to The Nature Conservancy.  The easement limits the use of 8,300 acres of sanctuary land, according to a report that appeared today in the Washington Times.

The sanctuary received $230,000 in exchange for the easement.

The report did not indicate who owns the 8,300 acres, what uses were prohibited, and if the ruling would be appealed.

In a related story, seventeen wild horses arrived at the sanctuary in October after being removed from the Fort Polk army base in Louisiana.

It’s a curling of the upper lip to enhance the sense of smell.  Photo taken 12/25/18.

It’s a feeding trough for animals, commonly found in barns.

A light should be on in every room tonight.  The inn may be full but there’s room in your home for a Savior, correct?  In your heart?

No matter how weary and hungry you are after a long day in the saddle, always tend to your horse’s needs before your own.

Former wild horses aged ten years and over, gathered from the Devil’s Garden Plateau WHT in October, will not be sold without restrictions until at least February of next year, according to a story that appeared yesterday in The Sacramento Bee.

RELATED: Devil’s Garden Horses Get Short End of Stick.

The roof of a covered arena failed yesterday at Sunnyside Farms in Bessemer City, NC, killing three horses.  Refer to this report by WBTV-3 in Charlotte, NC.

Seventy five former wild horses and burros will be offered for direct purchase January 10th and 11th at the Rio Grande Valley Livestock Showgrounds, according to a news release issued today.  The venue is roughly ten miles from the Mexican border.  What could possibly go wrong for these animals?

A group in Alberta, Canada collected donations and supplies and delivered them to the Camelot Equestrian Park south of Paradise, CA on Hwy 191.  H/T Help Alberta Wildies.

See also this report dated 11/23/18 by CBC Calgary.

This is how it starts.  Lots of rain past ten days, everything turning green.  Second photo, overlooking Mount Poop II, shows redwood trees at one of the corrals.

Photos taken 12/01/18.  Your horses are not locked in stalls, right?

RELATED: Why is California Burning?

Carbon dioxide and water vapor rise from Mount Poop on 11/25/18.  Water vapor has a much larger greenhouse effect than carbon dioxide, but you never hear about it.

Composting has resumed on Mount Poop, thanks to recent rains.  Uneaten hay is especially potent.  Filmed 11/24/18.

Webinar presented by Return to Freedom, with Neda DeMayo and Celeste Carlisle.

Looking up and down the valley on 11/10/18.  Smoke from northern California wildfires gives everything an orange tint.

To raise funds, Mustangs Mend of Redmond, OR, a 501c3 nonprofit that teaches participants to gentle wild mustangs and rehabilitate those that have been neglected and abused, has partnered with KR Northwest to make caps with wild horse freeze marks.

Price $30 each, includes shipping.  Mustangs Mend receives $10 from each purchase.

To order call 503-708-3849.  Credit cards accepted.  Use code Mustangs Mend.  For more information, send email to krnorthwest@gmail.com.

Video by Mustang Girls.

Twenty seven horses captured last month will be offered for adoption tomorrow in Fruita, CO, according to a report posted this evening by Western Slope Now.

Meanwhile, back on the range, livestock graze peacefully on land that belongs to the horses.

RELATED: Little Bookcliffs Gather Over?

Western Milling of Goshen, CA has settled a lawsuit related to the deaths of 21 horses and injury of 28 others at Black Fence Farms of Clovis, CA in 2015.  The contaminant was an antibiotic that kills parasites and promotes weight gain in cattle and poultry but is toxic to horses.

Refer to this story in The Fresno Bee dated 10/29/18.  The company was also fined $726,000 by the California Department of Food and Agriculture.

Halter-trained burros will be offered for adoption on October 28, during the final day of the Donkey Welfare Symposium at the University of California at Davis, according to a BLM news release posted today.  The announcement did not indicate how many of animals would be available.

See the video at this post for an overview of the adoption process.