Brand New Ritchie Waterer!

Last year our automatic waterer started giving us problems. The latch broke and that caused a full array of problems to follow. In the end, it  meant needing a new Ritchie waterer. Through two VERY GENEROUS donations we were able to have our new automatic waterer installed before it got really cold.

Thank you to Jennifer G through Thrivent Financial and to an anonymous donor through Fidelity Charity, we were able to buy our automatic waterer through Sioux Nation out of Sioux Falls. Sioux Nation cut us a deal because we are a 501(c)3 non-profit. All such amazing blessings. I am so grateful and thankful to everyone's generous donations. A simple thank you doesn't seem like it's enough but it's what I can offer. I woke up this morning feeling relieved and I didn't know why. But I thought about it while I got ready for work and I figured it out. I wasn't stressed because of you! By your generous donations and by getting the automatic waterer installed, I dont' feel that pressure any more so from the bottom of my heart, Thank You!

I didn't get out right away to take pictures but when I did, I saw Mike drilling into the concrete. I got a little nervous. We did fill a 100 gallon tank in case it all went bad. One week after buying the automatic waterer, we had PeteCompany contact us saying they could also sell us an automatic waterer at a discount. They have 40 years of experience installing Ritchies so I knew if all went poorly, I could call them up and ask for help! Thank you PeteCo. (And no I'm not getting paid for saying their company name but I do like to help out small businesses and they are just getting started, so check them out!)

After a little bit, Mike and Dad got the waterer installed onto the original slab we'd poured back in 2007. Hard to believe we had water problems back in 2007, I thought it was just a few years ago, not 10 years ago! Here Mike is wiring the waterer.

The following picture is a comparison of the two waterers. The new one is so nice and shiny! It's smaller and has only one water bowl where the other one had two but the new one should hopefully be less expensive to run.

So shiny! I'm excited.

The horses weren't so sure about the new waterer. They instead drank out of the water tank (it's behind Brego in this picture). There is a black bungee on just to make sure that the lid stays on. We'll have to come up with something a bit more permanent. The lid just rests on it and with Maverick, we didn't want to take any chances. Maverick will undoubtedly pop the top off and destroy this one of we dont' take precautions.  I am NOT about to have to go through another ordeal like we did last winter!

You can see in the picture the difference in size. The original one covered the entire concrete slab and the pink foam board was the same size. Definitely a difference. I'm not sure we'll try to insulate this one like we did the other one. We get wind from the east so I'd like to cover it but it's too pretty. I think with the board on the back, w'ell be ok. We put that up to help cut down on the wind that rolls up the driveway and slams into the cattle chute and automatic waterer.

We are so thankful and blessed to have such great followers and donors. We couldn't do this without you!

Thank You!!