March, 2016 | Western Trail Rider

A couple weeks ago, I was searching the Internet for any new developments with regard to electricity production that would work for our pack trip. As you might recall, I bought two solar panels for the trip last year, which worked very well, except on days in which we were riding in the trees and when there was significant cloud cover. There were a few days in which all my battery-powered tools were useless. I missed getting some pretty good photos because of that. Also, if batteries were discharged at the end of the day, the appliance was useless until the next time I could get sunlight to charge with.

So, I was looking for some way to charge things at night, or in the evening. I came across this handy little portable generator that uses heat from a camp stove burner to generate enough electricity to charge one item fairly quickly.

It is called the Mini O, made by Ajirangi, Inc. I purchased mine through Amazon and it shipped from Korea, where it is manufactured. I found the price to be very reasonable price at $85.00 (compare to a regular laptop plug-in charger from Apple for $80). Shipping was a very reasonable $5.49, and the item arrived in good condition, very well packed, in about two weeks (received it today).

The specifications indicate 5W, 5V/1Amp (max), which should charge a cell phone or my GPS unit in a reasonable amount of time to at least a functional level. I am curious as to just how long it will take to charge my iphone 6 from dead to 100%. It will certainly take some propane. I don’t expect to have to use this thing every night, but it will certainly be handy for those few nights when we really need it.

The unit has a machined aluminum base with a collapsible upper body of heat resistant siliconized rubber. The upper body is made to extend upward, forming a container into which water is placed. The unit is then placed on a propane burner. As the water heats, electricity is generated and transferred to the electronic device to be charged via a USB cable.

Compact, about the size of a good hamburger

When not in service, the unit folds compactly into a size comparable to a decent hamburger. A durable, padded vinyl case with a zipper closure is included.

As an unexpected and unadvertised bonus, I received an LED lamp that can run off the charger. The lamp has its own cord and switch, as well as a small hanger, so that it can be hung from a tent pole or hung from a tree branch…as long as it is a pretty low branch. The cord is only about five feet long.

I looked at several other designs that use similar technology, such as one unit that uses a metal tongue that extends into a flame or over a burner and can be used while cooking on the burner. However the other units were obviously made for backpackers, very lightweight, and I was concerned about its durability when packed and unpacked daily into/out of paniers among other gear on a long horse pack trip. The fact that the Mini O has no framework or moving parts, and the fact that it packs away into a very compact and tough container, won me over. It just looks like it could survive a long horse pack trip.

We’ll see how it works in the field in the next several weeks. I’ll give a full report on it then.

Fill with water, sit on the burner, voila!

Have you ever had one of those days in which everything just had to work exactly right…and then it did?

I had one of those days today.

This week I had a number of things on my plate that just had to get done this week, because there was no other time to get them done. They were important things. Among them were several work assignments, Cub Scouts Den Meeting, making appointments for vet checks on my horses, brand inspection and hauling papers on the new horse, buying supplies, and working on my truck in preparation or an upcoming trip. By the end of the week I had accomplished all but a few things, but those few things were very critical and my time to get them done was very limited. Things had to work just right.

Dad and I have been planning a trail riding trip to the Moab, Utah area. He and Mom arrived last night after a long drive from Arizona. They are staying at my sister’s home in Lehi, Utah. Before we could go on that trip, I had to do some work on my truck, as wear on some of the steering components had become a safety issue, particularly while towing a trailer. I also had to get the brand inspection done on my new horse, Reno, so we could legally haul him to Moab.

On Friday, I was down to the last few items on my list:

Replace steering components on my truck, install a steering box stabilizer kit, install a new track bar, and install a new steering damper
Get truck wheels aligned
Get Coggins tests and spring shots for horses
Get brand inspection done and hauling papers for Reno (the new addition to my herd)

I called Rocky Mountain Vet and asked how soon I could get my four horses in for spring shots, worming, and Coggins test. They had an appointment available Saturday (today) morning at 8:30am. I jumped at that.

I also contacted a local Brand Inspector, who informed me that my Bill of Sale for the horse I bought a couple weeks ago in Heber, Utah, isn’t worth the paper it’s written on. After checking with her supervisor, and finally calling the Deputy Bureau Chief of the Utah Department of Agriculture, they convinced me that in Utah ownership of livestock can only change hands by a valid brand inspection performed by one of their inspectors. I was informed that I would have to take the horse back to the previous owner and have him prove that he owned the horse, and had the legal right to sell it, to a Utah Brand Inspector, who would then provide documentary proof of that fact and would give me a proper brand inspection and hauling papers for the horse.

I contacted the Brand Inspector for Wasatch County, Lou Stevens, who graciously agreed to meet me and the previous owner on Saturday (today) in Heber to handle the formalities. An appointment was set for 11:00am.

So, I went to work on getting things done. On Friday (yesterday) afternoon I started in on the truck. It was more difficult and time-consuming than I expected, but after a few small prayers and a few magic words, about 4:30pm I headed to Spanish Fork to an alignment shop. I had set the wheel alignment by simple measurement, which is only close, but not accurate enough for more than a short drive to the alignment shop. I made it to the shop just in the nick of time for them to get my truck in.

Alas, after about 30 minutes, after all the other shops were closed, they informed me that their equipment would not work on my truck, due to the custom manual-locking hubs I have installed on the front axle. They recommended another shop. I was able to arrive at that shop as the employees were leaving. They informed me that their equipment wouldn’t work either and recommended another shop, Sid’s Alignment in Springville, Utah. So, I went back home wondering how I was going to make my appointments the next day without ruining the tires on the front of my truck.

So here was the plan for today:

Ask Dad to get up early to make the 40-minute drive from Lehi, so he could help me load up the horses in time to make the 30-minute drive to get to the the vet in Spanish Fork by 8:30am, then find an alignment shop that was open on Saturday that could align the wheels on my truck in time for us to drive the 50-plus miles to Heber to meet the Brand Inspector at 11:00am.

No sweat! Nothing to it! At least not until you consider that the new horse took me over an hour-and-a-half to load when I bought him, and that I hadn’t had a chance to work with him since. I was going to have to load him up with the other horses, unload him for the vet, load him again for the drive to Heber, unload him there, then load him up again for the trip home. The positive thinker I am, I was thinking that this was going to be a good training day, for the horse and for me! Then there’s the issue of finding an alignment shop that is open on Saturdays and which has an immediate opening to align my truck, so I can make it to Heber by 11am.

I knew there was no room for error and that the stars were going to have to align perfectly for me to get everything done. I also knew that if these things didn’t get done today, our trip next week would be delayed and shortened.

Gonna need help on this one.

Dad never batted an eye when I asked him to be at my horse pasture by about 7:40am to help me load my horses, even though he would have to drive 40 minutes to get there. I figured I would get there about 7:15 and would have the other horses ready, so that we only had to work with the difficult one after Dad arrived.

This morning I headed over to the horse pasture, about five miles from my home, arriving about 7:15. Dad was already well on his way. He arrived shortly after I got there, while I was hooking up the trailer. It didn’t take us long to catch up the horses, even Jimbo, who has returned to his former mustang skittishness and has been hard to catch lately. We decided to load Reno, the new horse, third, so that there would be horses in the trailer before we tried to load him. Surprisingly, he hopped right in after only minimal coaxing. We had all four horses loaded and were rolling toward Spanish Fork by 7:50am.

We arrived at Rocky Mountain Vet at about 8:15am and had the horses unloaded and waiting when they opened shop at 8:30. The only problem we had was that Reno didn’t want to back out of the trailer, so he turned around and nearly got himself stuck in the process. But he squeezed out and all was well. We were done with the vet checks, shots, and Coggins tests by 8:50 and were ready to load back up. Again, Reno loaded with minimal trouble and we had all the horses loaded and were rolling by just a hair after 9:00am.

We located Sid’s Alignment Shop in Springville about 9:15. Turned out they are closed on Saturdays, but Sid, the owner, was there working on a vehicle for one of his kids in his spare time. After talking with him a bit, we set a 7:00am appointment for Monday, the earliest he had available, which meant I was going to have to drive to Heber and back with the wheels set “by eye”. As I was about to drive away, however, Sid came out to me and asked if I had time to wait until he finished his daughter’s vehicle. If so, he would pull it in and do it right then, turned out he had several other appointments he wanted to fit in on Monday, and if he could get mine done now, it would help him. Of course, I responded in the affirmative!

Sid finished the car he was working on and had mine done and out by 10:15am. We are lucky he wanted to do the alignment this morning, because he found a loose caster adjustment bolt, which is likely what was causing all the extra wear and safety issues. He got it properly tightened and my wheels properly aligned, saving my tires for the trip next week. Sid would not allow me to pay him any extra for his extra efforts. Thanks very much, Sid. I’ll be back.

I called ahead to Lou and told him I would be about 15 minutes late for our appointment. He wasn’t worried at all and simply said, “See you there.”

We arrived at the home of the previous owner, Travis and Terra Naffziger, in Heber, Utah about 11:19am. Travis had been able to locate photos of the gelding from when he was a foal alongside his mother, with which proved ownership to Lou’s satisfaction. We headed outside for Lou to do his brand inspection for my ownership and traveling papers. In unloading Reno, he again decided he didn’t want to back out. In turning himself around he got stuck and literally fell out of the trailer. No damage done, but I could see I was going to have to fix this trouble and train him out of that bad and dangerous habit. My trailer just isn’t wide enough for a horse his size to turn around.

We got the inspection done and I got my temporary brand inspection and hauling papers, which will allow me to legally haul Reno to Moab next week. We headed for home a little before noon.

Turned out that Lou Stevens’ high school football coach, a man he highly respects and loves, was one of my dad’s best friends and classmate in high school in Panguitch, Utah, class of 1952.

For all Dad’s help I treated him to lunch at Hub’s Cafe in Heber. While we were there, I was admiring some cowboy artwork by Russel Houston, who likes to paint cowboy golf. Dad informed me that Houston is a nephew to my great grandmother, Mary Dempster Sargent (Houston).

What a small world we live in!

Dad and I arrived back at the pasture in Salem, Utah about 1:45pm.

Then the fun started! It took us nearly an hour to get that silly gelding, Reno, out of the trailer. I refused to allow him to attempt to turn around in the trailer, so it took us that long to coax him to back out. We finally got him to back safely out of the trailer, so we counted it “good” for the day, having won that day’s training battle and made all my appointments. We’ll have to work on Reno’s training issues some other day.

So, today was one of those very satisfying days, in which everything had to happen just right…

And it did.

I think there are days in which the Good Lord looks down on me and smiles. I think it is more likely one of those sideways sort of grimaces that say, “That poor boy needs some help today.” He always comes through when I need Him. He surely did today. Thank you Lord.

Special thanks to:

Dad
Louis Stevens, Wasatch County Brand Inspector, Heber, Utah
Dr. Walburger, Rocky Mountain Large Animal Veterinary Clinic, Spanish Fork, Utah
Sid, Sid’s Alignment Shop, Springville, Utah
Travis Naffziger, previous owner of Reno, Heber, Utah