You’ll want to keep some parts on hand to keep your system running smoothly.

• Filter elements
• O-rings for filters
• Wrench for filters
• Bulb for UV unit
• Quartz tube for UV unit
• Pump for well

These items can be stored in the pump house.  Filter elements should be replaced when water pressure gets low (takes longer to fill water buckets for your horses).  The UV bulb should be replaced annually.

Don’t forget salt pellets for the softener.  Not really a spare part but a consumable.  Put at least five 50-pound bags in storage.  Check the brine tank once a month and add salt as needed.

He was a Vietnam vet with a couple of medals and a disenchantment with life.  Then he discovered wild horses.  He followed them in Theodore Roosevelt National Park, buying a few here and there after roundups.  He bought 54 horses after a large gather in 1986 and the herd grew to around 600 head.  At the time of his death there were around 200 wild horses on the Kuntz ranch.

He called them ‘Nokotas.’

Mr. Kuntz died August 12, at the age of 69, from injuries suffered a few days earlier in a crash of his ATV, according to a report by WDAZ, the ABC affiliate in Grand Forks, ND.

“He took care of them.  They were his life.  It’s all he had.”

Family and friends are now scrambling to care for the herd.

The horses are traceable in part to ponies confiscated from Sitting Bull and his followers when they surrendered at Fort Buford in 1881.

UPDATE: Video owner no longer allows embedding.  View it on YouTube.

UPDATE: Video has been reposted to YouTube.

Wild horses and a few burros will be offered for adoption at the Cheshire Fairgrounds August 24 – 25, according to a BLM news release posted today.  They have been checked by a veterinarian, vaccinated, de-wormed, and blood-tested.

“With kindness and patience, these animals can be trained for many uses.”

A trainer experienced in gentling mustangs will provide demonstrations both days.

WHB posters may be available at the event.

Played the video at this post while these guys were eating to see if they’d react.

A fugitive accused of firebombing the Litchfield Off-Range Corral near Susanville, CA in 2001 has been apprehended and taken to Portland, OR, where he appeared in court, pleading not guilty.  Refer to this story in The Sacramento Bee, posted 08/10/18.

The suspect was detained in Cuba as he tried to board a flight to Russia.  Authorities are holding him in custody as a flight risk and danger to the community.

Charges include conspiracy to commit arson, arson of a government building, and use of a destructive device.  Damages to buildings and supplies amounted to $85,000.

Day 94, 02/21/16.  Baby getting bigger, mom showing some signs of pregnancy.  New colt was about four months away at this point.  No strings, no ropes, no confined spaces.  Just go about your daily business and let them figure out you’re not a threat.

It’s Friday evening so might as well post a video of a drunk woman on a horse.  He’s a good sport and lets her down easy.  H/T Elizabeth Forrest.

Day 24, cold and wet, 12/13/15.  Get your butt out there and clean that corral.

Patience, a good technique for gentling mustangs too.  Blind horses gathered from the range usually don’t get a second chance.  Refer also to the daily reports from roundups going on now in Nevada and Utah.

Day 3, settling in.  Photos taken while laying down in their corral, 11/22/15.  You are the threat, not them.

The annual open house for Wild Horse Sanctuary will be held 08/18/18, featuring wild horse viewing, horse rides for kids under 10 and saddling demonstrations.  See the announcement in Shingletown dot com for the event location.   Food and beverages will be available.

The non-profit organization was founded in 1978 and is currently home to over 300 free-roaming horses and burros.  It’s not an off-range pasture for the BLM.

Day 1, exploring.  Mom/baby pair, adopted from BLM Oregon.  Photos taken 11/19/15.

BLM announced on 08/02/18 that it would be holding a wild horse and burro sale event at the Wyandotte County Fairgrounds August 24 – 25.  Fifty animals will be available for purchase, cash and carry.

Adoption is not the preferred method nowadays?

Refer to the news release for directions.  Availability of WHB posters unknown.

All can be forgiven…until she takes your horse.

Mustangs adopted from BLM Oregon in 2015.  Colt, left, born at ranch.  Mom (right) and filly (center) appeared in the wild horse loading video at this post.  Mom was pregnant when captured.  Filmed 08/02/18.

Gentling technique: Patience.  No strings, no ropes, no confined spaces, no ‘respect my space,’ no ‘show that horse who’s boss.’

As for the colt, no imprinting and no weaning.  Hands off for the first three months to let mom teach baby how to be a horse.

Twelve minute video lecture on training methods by Rick Gore.  WTWT.

As for your newly adopted mustang, the question is not how long before you can trust him, but how long before he can trust you.

Hand feeding not recommended.  Filmed in West Virginia on the Hatfield McCoy Trails.

H/T Cheyenne Bullard.

RELATED: How to Make Your Horse Pushy and Disrespectful.

Stallions can reproduce, geldings can’t, because they’ve been castrated.  The procedure is not 100% effective.

There are no geldings in the wild, unless they escaped from their owners or were turned loose, or were selectively returned to the range after being rounded up and ‘processed’ by the managing agency.

In this example, the horse has a twig and berries, not a gelding.

Two free tours will be offered on 08/11/18.  Visitors will be able to see 200 mares roaming the 3875 acre Chickasaw Ranch.  Refer to this news release for event details.

Not quite the same as band stallions roaming the high desert with their mares and youngsters, but it’s the next best thing if you can’t get out west.

This is the same chute that appears in this post.  No neck tags and no halters for the journey home.  An open space (corral for example, larger than 20′ x 20′ required by BLM) and no ropes means the horse can give you some feedback on your gentling techniques.  He might just tell you you’re not as good as you think you are.