Pumps Unlimited

The Beauty of Northern Nevada

You are traveling through history and beauty when you come to northern Nevada. As a local I often forget and take for granted all the majesty that’s all around me. This area has many natural treasures that nourish the locals’ and visitors’ souls; however, one experience stands apart from the rest, and to see northern Nevada really come to life, is to come across one of the state’s proudest and longest living residents, The Mustang Wild Horse.

Nevada has been home to Americas largest number of wild horses and burros, some even that descended partly from the Colonial Spanish breeds, along with many other lineages. These animals have lived for many generations in this beautiful, but a lot of the times very challenging environment, surviving and prospering in both harsh winters and harrowingly dry and hot summers.

Against the many odds these animals still endure and stride amongst us to this day, living as different reminders or symbols for different folks around these parts. For me they evoke a feeling of unity and steadfastness, as I encounter them while making my commute to work almost every day. When I see these almost ethereal giants still grazing next to the highway on the same lands they’ve always grazed on, I always think of those who came to settle here, maybe out of hopes to tap into the famous silver loads or just hopes of prosperity in general. I think of the Indigenous people who resided and tended to the land even before the settlers, the Paiute and the Shoshone, and I think of how we are all linked somehow through these creatures. For as all of those people had to earn the right to really appreciate and live in this place by being pitted against the natural odds, the Wild Mustangs were there amongst all of them showing them that you can thrive here.

We thrive today and as the area around here is made up of many bustling businesses and workshops, the people still leave a respectful amount of land to our grazing neighbors. I am most fortunate to have the chance opportunity to encounter one of my four hoofed friends here right outside of our shop. For to come across one of these amazing creatures is to be humbled and to be left in reverence of one of the last living remnants of the spirit of the wild west.