Thoughts from the Middle of Nowhere

I can't believe people who would let animals starve to death. You make the decision to have animals, it's a commitment to take care of them, not ignore them until they die. Of course she claims she fed the horses but experts say they were definitely starved to death and there were no tracks where any body had come and fed them. In Montana with the snow on the ground, this is real easy to tell.

I know hay is expensive and it's time consuming to feed the animals but that is no excuse. You take care of your responsibilities in this life period, end of story. Maybe we need to lock her up in jail and not feed her so she can see what it feel like. I bet she wouldn't like it. That would be cruel though and I'm not sure that is right. It would give me some sastisfaction, but it would be just as wrong as her starving the horses.

Some peoples children, can you belive they would do this.

I believe in preventing cruelty to all living beings in any form. Morarji Desai

Horse slaughter ban re-introduced in House, Senate

The House of Representatives last year passed legislation to ban federally inspected horse slaughter in the U.S. Federal inspection of meat from slaughtered horses allows it to be exported to countries like France and Belgium where horsemeat is considered a delicacy. The bill died in the Senate after farm state lawmakers blocked it. But now its back, as lawmakers re-introduced the measure in both chambers of Congress this week.

More than 200 groups and associations oppose the horse slaughter ban, including virtually all U.S. ag groups. The Kansas City, Missouri-based Livestock Marketing Association (LMA), which represents the nation's livestock auction markets, has led efforts to block the bill.

I hoped this effort would slowly die but I see it's not going to happen. That I'm aware of I have never eaten horse meat and I have no particular desire to but I don't see a problem with people that want to. It's just meat like any other.

I don't understand the problem with horse slaughter that is driving this effort. Horses are not pets. Some people might treat them as such but the horses that are being slaughtered are not pets for anybody. Nobody is out there raising horses just for slaughter, there is no money in it. They are just horses that nobody has a use for so they are being used for something useful instead of just killing and burying them.

If people don't want to see horses slaughtered why don't they go out there and buy them, and keep them up themselves. This would save them from being slaughtered and no new laws are required. I can tell you why this doesn't happen. Maintaining a horse is not a cheap proposition and the groups that want to ban horse slaughter don't want to pay the costs of keeping the horses up.

Can anybody out there tell me what we are going to do with all the extra horses running around? According to the article around 90,000 horses are slaughtered every year. What's going to happen to these horses? Are they going to be killed and buried or are they going to require people to keep them until they die a natural death? What is the answer for all these extra horses? Who's going to pay to house and feed them? If the owner doesn't want them anymore there is a chance they will be mistreated if the owner is forced to keep them because there is no way for him to get rid of them. I know there are a lot of people that love horses out there but can you answer these questions? I really would like to know.

I know that there are a lot of horse lovers out there. Answer my above questions with your head, not your heart. Horses might be like a pet to you but they are not that way to everybody. Horses are not a pet to me. They are a tool of my trade. I respect them and love them for what they can do for me and they get to live a fairly free and good life when I am not using them but I know where to draw the line between pet and an animal that I love. If you love your horse like a pet there is nobody forcing you to send it to slaughter so it really doesn't affect your pet. Other people might need other options though.

My Darling Wife told me I was going to make a lot of people mad with this post. She is probably right, she normally is about such things but I had to say something. It doesn't make sense to ban horse slaughter. No matter how detestable you find it, it gives us a valuable outlet for horses that nobody has a use for anymore. Hell, it might not even be a matter to worry about as much anymore. It looks like two of the plants might be closing anyway.

All things are subject to interpretation whichever interpretation prevails at a given time is a function of power and not truth. Friedrich Nietzsche

The horses patiently, for a change, waiting for their hay. I guess the weather is nice enough they can wait better. Taken 1/8/2006.

12 deaths blamed on brutal winter storm

The powerful winter storm that punished Colorado barreled into the Plains states, burying roads with drifting snow and snapping power lines that fed electricity to thousands.

At least 12 deaths have been blamed on the storm; most died on icy roads.

A fleet of small planes canvassed snow-covered roads west of Denver on Sunday, searching for stranded travelers in areas where snow drifts measured 10 feet high. National Guard troops rescued at least 44 people.

I might complain about the lack of snow around here but I am damn glad this storm didn't hit here. All you hear about is the problems this is causing people. Have you stopped and considered the number of cattle, horses, and wild animals this is affecting? I am sure there are a large number of cows and horses that have missed a meal or two and on the flat, treeless country of Eastern Colorado and Western Kansas there are probably quite a number of these animals buried in the snow and dead.

I've seen these kinds of storms before and I'm sure I will again. They are tough on the critters and the people that are struggling to take care of the critters. My thoughts and prayers are with them. I know what it's like and fun isn't the way to look at it. Trying to save all the animals you can consumes you.

We cannot command Nature except by obeying her. Francis Bacon

Nylon was wondering what the hell I was doing. I was just walking the dog and taking pictures. Nylon wasn't to sure about it. Taken 12/05/2006.

Brand inspections for horses debated

A proposal to make brand inspections optional for horses is being criticized by some horse owners - and by some brand inspectors, as well.

The Wyoming Legislative Brand Inspection Task Force voted last week to recommend that brand inspections be made optional for horses.

Making brand inspection on horses optional is wrong. With the Federal government eying all livestock in the US for the NAIS program, removing a very good program that is all ready working is wrong. It just gives the Federal government ammunition to shove Mandatory NAIS down our throats. Wyoming needs to wake up and smell the horse manure and do the right thing. Keep the program in place for the good of all.

An idea is not responsible for the people who believe in it. Don Marquis

Some of my neighbors passing through the yard to go camp at my branding corral. It is not unusual for them to do this but the horse drawn wagon is new. I guess gas prices are just to high now. Taken 5/19/2006.

The Cavvy. Looking for a couple of more horses but not having much luck. Taken 5/8/2006.

Australian cowboys learn once again how to ride a horse

What sort of self-respecting cowboy doesn't know how to ride a horse?

Apparently, the Australian kind. Many jackaroos and stockmen on the country's huge cattle ranches, or stations, have grown accustomed since the 1960s to rounding up herds with helicopters, motorbikes, and four-wheel drives.

That's beginning to change, however, as a growing number of ranches are getting their stockmen back in the saddle to improve the quality of the meat and to economize on fuel costs. In many cases that means sending staff back to Cowboy 101: How to handle a horse.

"The young generation have not grown up riding, as happened in the past," says Tim Gallagher, operations manager for one of the biggest cattle businesses, the Australian Agricultural Company. "We organize an induction week for all new staff, and a big part of that is teaching them how to ride, how to shoe a horse, how to fit the saddle.

Interesting story. I find the dichotomy of American way of doing things and the Australian way interesting. The Australians are going back to the horse and more and more it seems like Americans are going to four wheelers and bikes.

I know more and more places are going to a four wheeler and doing away with horses for cattle work. Probable the largest reason for this is that a person can cover a lot more country with a four wheeler over a horse so you can get more accomplished in a day. Between that and the price of a good horse the four wheeler is really attractive. I'm glad I have a hired man now to help with the riding because trying to do it myself is tough on horses. Too much country for a horse to cover with my fat body on it makes for not getting things done. I can't imagine going to four wheeler though for cow work. It just wouldn't be right.

I didn't realize that handling cattle horse back was a dying institution down under. I'm glad to hear that this is changing. That's only right.

The time is always right to do what is right. Martin Luther King, Jr.

FROM THE PHOTO ARCHIVES
New not previously published

With the nice spring weather I look back at the winter snow, I'm sure glad it is spring.



My favorite horse Paint looking for a better chunk of hay. Taken 12/19/2005.

FROM THE PHOTO ARCHIVES
New not previously published



Nylon looking for some feed on a nice winter day. Taken 1/6/2006.

Yesterday morning when we got out to feed the cows I noticed one cow wandering around the feed ground, tail in the air, smelling all the calves laying around and bawling like mad. Quite the unusual behavior for a cow so i went over to check her out and saw that she was trying to calve. An older cow does not act like this if she is trying to calve, she usually just lays down and gets the job done, not wander all over the place so I figured she was in trouble. We finished feeding as fast as we could and kept an eye on her. She was definitely having trouble, she could get the feet out but I saw no hint of the head so I figured the head was back and we were in definite trouble.

We ran home and got the saddles and equipment to pull a calf out, went back and got the horses in and took off to get her in. We found her sure enough, standing over a brand new baby calf. Sher wasn't in trouble at all, just took a long time to calve. All the time we were out getting stuff and getting her in sure shot my plans for the day but better to make sure their is not a problem than lose a cow. She sure fooled me.

Don't be fooled by the calendar. There are only as many days in the year as you make use of. Charles Richards

Early morning fog burning off to bring a beautiful Montana day. Taken 3/16/2006.

The recent fires in Texas are really scary for more than man. I hear about them and I think about the poor animals caught in these things.

Cattle ranchers describe 'worst nightmare'

Ranchers saw the end of their world Monday.

Dead cattle mottled the landscape a day after winds whipped fire into a murderous frenzy across six Texas Panhandle counties.

"It's like Armageddon out here," McLean-area rancher Bill Bryant said.

"We hauled - I don't remember - 15 to 18 calves that were dead. They just get into a corner and the fire consumes them."

Worse than the dead were the dying.

Cattle without ears.

Tails amputated by fire.

Eyelids melted shut.

Ranchers had no choice but to put the burned cattle down.

"Imagine your worst nightmare, and it can't even come close to this," said Brad Overstreet, a hand on the Taylor Ranch.

Fire killed four horses in a pasture on the ranch six miles north of Alanreed.

"All the horses were dead when we found them," Overstreet said. "They didn't have a hair on them.

"It's the worst thing you've ever seen in your life."

A couple of years ago we had a large fire around here and I had a couple of neighbors that lost cattle in the fire. It's not a pretty sight to see cattle burned to death where they lay or to find them wandering around so burned they can barely move. It's horrific. I feel for these guys having to deal with this. It's horrible not only to lose your grass and fences and belongings to a fire, but losing a lot of your animals too. Having some idea of what it feels like I bet they want to follow their critters down the same road.

Remember these people in your prayers that are being affected by these fires. This is just as devastating as Hurricane Katrina with a lot less media coverage bringing peoples attention to it.

Horrible experiences lead us to wonder whether the person who experiences them might not be something horrible. Friedrich Nietzsche