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Archive for November, 2010

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  1. Pasture Waterers

    Nov
    30

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    Tuesday at 6:01 pm | posted by: Peter Dvorscak

    Pasture Waterers

    The first considerations are water and electrical access. Both can be expensive depending on the distances.

    Installing a water line can be expensive, as it requires plumbing expertise and digging a trench. Trenchers are expensive to rent and are not the easy to operate. (Hint: If you run a plastic line place short strips of used electrical wire every few feet in the trench as these will allow you located the plastic line with a detector.) Ensure you know the frost line level for you area, as the water line must be buried below that level.

    Running an electrical line will be expensive. We HIGHLY recommend you run the wire in plastic conduit. It will be more expensive, but it will prevent any compromise to the underground line. (Hint: Plan ahead as you may want to add other electrical devices to the line, which dictates the size of the line.

    We have a well that supplies water to the waterers with shut-off valves interspersed in the supply line to allow us to shut-off the water supply to individual waterers while others remain on.

    We also had W. P. Mullins, Inc. install electrical connections for the required deicers.

    We installed what many refer to as a cattle waterer, pictured below, that we purchased from Southern States. We installed one (Hint: Follow the installation instructions carefully as these normally require a concrete pad to sit on.) in the stallion’s pasture and one in the mare’s pasture. They are extremely durable and the 20 plus gallons of water will not freeze in VA winters.

    If your ranch allows two pastures to share a waterer, the one pictured here can be installed perpendicular to the fence line. You must consider how many horses will be drinking from it. We do not allow more than two horses to drink from this waterer. Remember, horses are protective of feed, foals and water. DO NOT use this technique for stallion pastures.

    RECOMMENDATION: For large waterers you will have to install a concrete pad for the waterer to sit on and of course run the water line under and up into the middle of the pad. These waterers ARE NOT easy to install or quick to install. You must have concrete and plumbing experience to install, which is more than pouring a simple slab and installing a kitchen faucet.

    You will have to train your horse to push the red ball down to access the water or you can remove the red ball. Start by using a tennis ball, then increase ball size. The red balls help keep derbies out and prevents the top half inch of water from freezing in the winter. Other than that, our horses love it.

    We use a waterer deicer (pictured below) we bought from Southern States. It is from Farm Innovators, Inc, UPH-15 1500 watt deicer. It inserts into the drain plug for the cattle waterer. It heats the water and keeps the top of the water level ice-free. Ensure you have adequate current to run the deicer.

    RECOMMENDATION: Rule #23, buy the waterer and deicer from the same location and ensure the two work together. I prefer a hands-on trial at a local store.

    Location of Pasture Waterers

    Give careful consideration to the location of the pasture waterer. We put ours to close to the building, which makes it difficult to put a weed whacker in there to trim the grass.

    We put the mare’s waterer to far from the fence, creating a space small enough for a foal. As you can see from the picture below we had to add some T-posts and line to block the space.

    Filed under: Pasture Waterers

  2. Stall Waterers

    Nov
    29

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    Monday at 7:11 pm | posted by: Peter Dvorscak

    STALL WATERERS (Includes buckets.)

    If you opt for what many refer to as a “pale” waterer or wall mounted waterer, you will see more waterers than oil wells in TX. The top picture is an example of a pail water. Below the Pale Waterer is a wall mounted Large Capacity 16 Quart Dura-Mate Automatic Waterer and below that is a Model 250D, 200 Watts, 120 V Pail and Birdbath deicer.

    We recommend you forego the regular pail, as the horse will kick them over and requires you to fill it by hand.

    We initially chose the large capacity 16 Quart Dura-Mate Automatic Waterer and the Pail and Birdbath deicer, the former from Miller Manufacturing Company and the latter from Allied Precision Industries, Inc. Both worked as advertised, but I violated rule # 23, buy the waterer and deicer from the same location and ensure the two work together.

    We had several issues with the Dura-Mate Waterer. This is still a decent inexpensive waterer.

    1. The water connector is made of plastic and is prone to the threads stripping and the fitting cracking.
    2. The waterer does not easily accommodate the electric cord and the deicer-mounting device. We tried several different options to secure the deicer line to the waterer, but the horse defeated us at every turn. In the end I drilled a hole in the float cover and fed the electric line through the hole.
    3. The bucket has no drain plug, so you have to empty the water by hand to clean the bucket.

    4. The filler valve has a small hole for the water to enter and is prone to freezing, even with a pail deicer.

    We tried heat tape but the heat tape melted the water connector. (Hint: When using heat tapes do not overlap the heat tape, as it will melt the plastic coating.)
    5. If mounted to high, the horse will push down on the bucket when drinking and crack the bucket where it joints the mounting bracket. Our fault.

    6. We used heat tape  to keep the water supply from freezing, and the plastic fittings that came with the waterer melted when the heat tape was affixed to the fittings. My fault as the heart tape does get hot.

    7. You must supply your own shut off valve. Bottom picture.

    Filed under: Stall Waterers

  3. About Feed

    Nov
    10

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    Wednesday at 10:30 am | posted by: Peter Dvorscak

    There are many manufactures of feed and they produce a variety. There are many factors to consider before you purchase feed such as:

    • the horse’s sex
    • the horse’s age
    • the horse’s health
    • horses size and weight
    • breeding, pre, during and post
    • quality of the grass in a pasture
    • the horse’s breed
    • time of year
    • climate where the horse lives
    • your goals for the horse
    • whether the horse will be competing
    • the type of competition
    • cost and availability
    • the quality and type of hay fed

    Review these factors and an excellent Southern States’ Horse Feed Reference Guide in our library before you spend your hard earned money on feed. There are many reputable sources of feed information including your vet, farrier, local feed store, manufacture’s packaging and web site and our library.

    Filed under: Feed

  4. Library

    Nov
    2

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    Tuesday at 12:50 am | posted by: Peter Dvorscak

    Welcome to the membership library. This is the heart of your membership. The main categories are Feed, Hay, Fly Products, Waters, Blankets, Supplements, Fencing, Mechanical Equipment, Horse Equipment, Mats and Bedding.

    Our intent is to share our experiences with products to help you be an educated horse lover, not to bereate products.

    Our commitment is to give you our truthful results on products we have used. Others may have different results.

    If you send us information on a product we will screen submissions for validity and authorship. Ten time permitting we will try the product ourselves and give you our results.

    Filed under: Featured, Library

  5. Free Flag

    Nov
    1

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    Monday at 11:29 pm | posted by: Peter Dvorscak

    Free 3’x5′ American, military or US state flag. Winner selected quarterly. We only mail to 50 states, APO, FPO and Canada.

    Filed under: Freebees

  6. Free Electricial Service

    Nov
    1

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    Monday at 11:29 pm | posted by: Peter Dvorscak

    Free one labor hour of electrician service, provided by W.P. Mullins, Inc. in Nokesville, VA. 703-929-5801.  Pres Mullins performed thousands of dollars of work for us and we are very please with his and his family’s work ethic. 30 mile travel limit for this service. Winner selected semi-annually. wpmullinsinc@comcast.

    Filed under: Freebees

  7. Free Commemorative Coins

    Nov
    1

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    Monday at 11:28 pm | posted by: Peter Dvorscak

    Free commemorative coins. These coins have no monetary value, but are great for displaying and trading. I was introduced to the commemorative or “challenge coin” concept when I joined the Army Guard in 1999. If you would like to see examples of coins perform an Internet search for “military coins”.  We only provide pre-made coins. We cannot originate new coins. Winner selected monthly.

    Filed under: Freebees

  8. Free Riding Lesson

    Nov
    1

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    Monday at 11:26 pm | posted by: Peter Dvorscak

    Free introductory riding lesson or horse assessment with Dave Yauch, Practical Equine, Inc. Dave is an experienced natural horse trainer and did a wonderful job training Sassy. Our stallion is going to his facility in March 2011. His techniques are unusual and gentle, but produce great results. www.practicalequinetraining.com or  dave@practicalequinetraining.com. 40 mile limit for the assessment. For the lesson, you get to visit his training facility in Culpeper, VA. Winner selected quarterly.

    Filed under: Freebees

  9. Free WCR membership

    Nov
    1

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    Monday at 11:26 pm | posted by: Peter Dvorscak

    Free WCR membership for one year. Winner selected monthly.

    Filed under: Freebees

  10. Free Farrier Consultation

    Nov
    1

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    Monday at 11:25 pm | posted by: Peter Dvorscak

    Free one hour farrier consultation provided by Gensis Farms, LLC. Dave Giza is the exclusive farrier for our horses and is well known in the US for his skills and his Clydesdale horses. In my opinion, best in the business. 40 mile limit ofr consultation. www.genesisfarmsllc.com 571-921-5822 Winner selected quarterly.

    Filed under: Freebees
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