Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Hard time for horses

There was a recent show on the radio about how much harder it is to own horses as the price of fossil fuels rise.

Some folks might say, declining fossil fuel era could bring back horsepower, but I would think not.

It takes trucks to bring in the hay. Trucks to take horses around to shows, the vets and so forth.

Land is getting more expensive and more hay fields are turning into grain crops for bio fuel consumption, rather than feeding horses.

Prices for horses are going down and it's harder to unload them, if one is stuck with a horse.

Horses are not really used for energy anymore and they take a lot of energy to maintain. They are kind of a throwback to the past.

Another radio show about some big solar power farms is more likely a wave of the future. NPR Science Friday March 14, Solar Power Scales Up.

Solar farms instead of horse farms.

One time I was bicycling over White Pass (US Highway 12 in 1986) on a hot day. At one of my many rest stops, a truck with horse trailer was stuck along side the road.

Vapor lock.

The drivers marveled as I started to pass them on my bike. Then I stopped again for conversation.

I suggested they hitch up the horses and pull the rig.

That was just good for a few laughs.

Eventually I biked on.

To be totally fair, I am sure the truck and horse trailer got into Yakima well before me. Eventually they got it going again and passed me on down the road, but they expected to get into Yakima a lot sooner. I didn't expect to get there till late evening anyway.

For me, it was a fun day.

I guess one could say, "horses are a hassle."

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