NEVER DULL AROUND HERE........!

Tucker & Mocha are going out during the day just like everyone else & he's getting along just fine.  Today he went in Ruthie & Ruger's pen, while they were still in it.........!!!  Hmmm, still working on his manners I guess.  John said Ruthie let him know he was in the wrong place.  Ruger went out of the pen & Tucker started trying to play with him.  John said Ruthie came over & let him know he wasn't allowed to play with "her" boy.  Geeez going to be hard to find someone at this rate.  So he went over & jumped on his mom.  John said he tried to play with Justin one of the minis a little bit too.  So he's getting into the herd slowly but surely I guess.  

Still trying to get Jenny's foot to heal.  It's like a great big experiment, everyone has opinions on how to "fix" it & so far nothing is working very well.  I called Dr. Shamis yesterday & he suggested Metronidazole, which I have never heard of, of course there's a lot of things I haven't heard of but  I do wish they would make drug names shorter & not so much like others.  Does that name have actual meaning, or did someone just string a bunch of letters together & then try to pronounce it?  RANT..RANT..!!!

He also suggested soaking her foot in epsom salts water every day for about 15 minutes, I had been soaking a couple of times a week.  So today we started the Metro "whatever" & we'll see how it goes.  I always taste anything I stick in their mouths without their permission.  Believe me, this is nothing anyone would ever take because it tasted good, it is absolutely NASTY & leaves an aftertaste that I haven't found anything to get rid of it.  I mix it with water & molasses & you can't even taste the molasses over it.  So 3 times a day we'll get to wrestle her, this morning wasn't too bad, first time, have a feeling it's going to get worse each time for 10 days.  Oh! well hopefully it will get rid of the infection, which he said is probably in the coffin bone.  The coffin bone looked OK in November or Dec, so hopefully it's still OK.  

Got these pictures from Claire today of Quilla. 

 He has the most gorgeous eyes, they are like deep black pools going right into his soul....!!

 He's going to miss all the one on one time Claire has been giving him, when he & Gus come back here next month.  Her grass is starting to green up & Quilla could probably handle it, but Gus can't.  I think she'll miss them too.

 Thanks Claire

TUCKER IS OUT & ABOUT..........!!

This morning we had to go into Benson early & pick up some corral panels.  Big Country Livestock Equipment from Texas go all over the west & southwest with panels they make.  His next stop was suppose to be Tucson........BUT......... since he was driving thru Benson anyway I asked if we could pick them up instead of in Tucson.  When we got there we weren't the only ones picking up panels, guess I just didn't know the routine......!!!  (G)

This morning when we left everyone was still in their pens eating.  When we got home I decided that it was time to let Tucker out with the whole herd, Rusty included.

We let everyone out except Tucker & Mocha first.  Usually they would all take off towards Burroland but....... NO........... not today.  They all stood around the feed room doing nothing I could figure out........!!!  When Tucker & Mocha went out they headed right for the herd, of course.  Rusty took one look at Tucker & took off after him, with Mocha trying to get between them.  I watched for a little while & he really wasn't being mean, it was almost like he wanted Tucker to run so he could chase him.  

Might have been a good idea 25 years ago, but the difference between age 33 & 5 months started to show up pretty quick.....!!! LOL  The video was later, you can see Tucker is still perky & bouncing around, Rusty, not so much..........!!!  

Haven't seen Ruger around him at all.  He was the other one I worried about. He's a little over a year old & might play too rough with the little guy.  

Tucker is staying busy going all over the place, looking & smelling EVERYTHING, I bet he sleeps good tonight......!! Poor Mocha is going to be a nervous wreck, since she is trying to organize his outing, without much luck.

This year's race car is ready to go.  Poor John has kept himself busy trying to get the seat & safety belts to fit me, & still let me do things like push the clutch, & shift gears.  It's been a challenge, he's threatened to haul the car into our son Rod's & let him figure it out.  But I think he might have finally got it figured out.  I took it out on the road yesterday, found out it is a lot more peppy than the Toyota, more horsepower.  That's good you can never have too much horsepower......!! 

It's been raced, so we're starting out with a few dents

 

I hope BlackJack would be proud.....!!

The hay feeding seems to be going well.  We're still making sure it's broken up as loose as possible, so he doesn't get a big mouthful to chew.  I have made an observation.......... they get their mush first & then we bring in the hay.  They will leave the beet pulp, yeast, Lakin Lite, & timothy pellet mush for old dry bermuda hay. Not sure what that means scientifically, but I do find it interesting.  

They are getting out each morning while the others are in their pens eating.  Yesterday we had a tour so the others weren't in any mood to stay in their pens & watch the kid bop around.  So this morning we'll try introducing a couple of the jennies to him along with the minis of course.  I really don't see anyone being a problem except Ruger is young & might play too rough & Rusty is old & chased him once before when Tucker & Mocha got out accidentally.

Boaz's knee is doing well.  He got the bandage off a couple of days ago, & since it looked so nice & dry I left it open for a night.  Even though it looks good, he managed to bloody it up, so I guess we'll keep it bandaged for the foreseeable future.  He goes back to the vet the 29th for a check-up.

Jenny is still on antibiotics for her rear hoof that is still draining.  Yesterday I noticed she had a piece of hoof on a front foot sticking out like it was trying to break off.  got the nippers, picked up the foot & the problem was a rock about the size of a marble stuck in her white line.  Needless to say her white line is a little wider than normal, but not THAT wide.......YIKES.........!!!  It was stuck in there so hard, I couldn't pick it out, had to nip the hoof wall off to give it some room.  Poor girl, she doesn't need anything else to go wrong with her feet, she's on borrowed time as it is, with her feet. 

Finally got around to calling to check up on Thelma.  Laura said she is the best thing they ever did, they are really enjoying her & getting use to her personality.  Laura said Thelma & Bugsy (ie Eeyore) get along just great, whenever they are by themselves.  She said as soon as Thelma sees people she starts picking on Bugsy, biting & kicking at him.  I guess she wants all the attention herself......!!!

TUCKER'S HOME.......!!!!

WHAT IS IT WITH THE EARS......??

Trip went fine, rain quit on the east side of Tucson, & by the time we got up to Gilbert, the sun was shining.  

I think they were happy to see us, either that or they had been having a great time, coming to the fence & begging for attention.  One of the vets said everyone had enjoyed having them up there, & they both were quite talkative, so I assume they were good donkey ambassadors.

Came home with instructions to feed Tucker hay & watch him.  We could have done that on our own, but I'm glad we had him scoped again.  Since our local vet (we're down to one) doesn't do emergencies if she can help it over the week-end, we're feeding them mush until Monday.  Then we'll make the "big" change.

Let them out this morning, while everyone else was eating in their pens.  Tucker isn't quite as "clingy" to Mocha as I thought he'd be.  Of course he is 5 months old, but going out of the pen is a big step even for a little guy that thinks he's "hot stuff".  And he does think that, we were "persona non grata", I guess he thought we'd stick him back in the pen.  He finally took an animal cracker from John, but none of the "touchie feelie" stuff.

"BOY, DO I KNOW WHAT THAT THING IS"

When the minis got done eating, we let them out too.  Figured they aren't big enough to hurt him.  

Justin had to exercise him a little bit, just for fun I guess.  Tucker didn't seem scared & Justin didn't act like he was really trying to catch him.  I broke it up & the minis all headed down west of the house. 

He settled down & started checking out all the stuff he could.  Even ate some greasewood, which according to my vets, nothing will eat greasewood.  We'll be lucky is we have any left on the property in a couple of years.  They have pretty much decimated most of it.  And the prickly pear isn't faring too much better.  He poked his nose on a cactus & seemed to learn not to do it again.  

Tomorrow we'll let a couple more out while he's out & see how it goes.   We don't want them to overwhelm him, all at the same time. 

SHOULD BE A FUN DAY.........!!

Unless the weather changes between now & when we pick Mocha & Tucker up, this will be at least the 3rd time we've hauled them in rain.  And it's not like rain is usually a biggie in this part of the world...........!!!!  (G)

Bijou's pen doesn't have a shelter, so we put him in Mocha's pen this morning to eat.  Certainly hope it isn't raining tonight when we get home.  He is so hairy I'm afraid he'd get soaked if he had to stay out in the rain.  John might have to build him a little shelter.  He has access to the other pens & shelters when the others are out, but at feeding time is a problem.   And of course if it's going to rain, it will be at feeding time.........!!! LOL

VACATION IS OVER......!!!!

Dr. Voss just called & looks like we'll go pick them up tomorrow after chores. 

He said they pulled out the pellets yesterday, Mocha & Tucker have been on bermuda hay only since then, with no problems.  Gee maybe they were listening more than I thought.....!!  (G) 

I just hope Tucker doesn't choke again.  We'll start out probably letting them out while the others are still in their pens eating, for an hour or so to get them use to being out without the "nosy" neighbors helping.

DRAMA QUEEN?

John came in this morning & said when the herd came over from Burroland this morning, Jenny was walking pretty good...........until she saw him watching her.  Then she started walking real slow & limping on her hind foot that has open places that are draining.  Hmmmmm....!!!  I have thought for awhile that she was not always favoring the foot that much.  

John is not the most observant  person when it comes to noticing anomalies that might happen around here.  Unless they are 3 legged lame or are covered in dozens of cactus spines, he usually doesn't notice.  So if he noticed her behavior, I'm pretty sure there is something to it. 

She was on Doxycycline for 10 days & is now on Tucoprim for a couple of weeks, so hopefully we can get it cleared up.  When we had her up to Dr. Shamis' her x-rays didn't show anything except an abscess trail running towards the coronet.  Of course as long as it's been going on, she could have bone infection by now.  Hence, the antibiotics.

Have called the clinic every day to see how the great experiment with Tucker is going.  So far I've been a little disappointed, with the results.  He has been on a mush diet for months & I told them it actually wasn't a mush, it was enough water added to the pellets to break them down into a dry fluffy feed.

They are feeding him & Mocha a mush, along with alfalfa hay that has been soaked in water to soften it.................EEEEEKKkkkkkkk!  When I bring up the subject of "DON'T FEED DONKEYS ALFALFA"  I am told it's softer & easier to eat.  Grrrrr...!!!  Softer & easier to eat isn't where we need to be, & that's why we left them up there.  All the while they are "easing" into feeding dry hay, the cash register is "cachinking" away......!!!!   They've always been very fair with us, but that only goes so far, they are a business.

They did get to go out on a small pasture area the clinic has yesterday.  I guess Tucker had a case of the sillies, & ran around entertaining anyone that wanted to watch.  I would imagine Mocha was busy trying to eat what little grass there is.  It stays warm enough up there that the grass goes dormant, but even though it's brown, I'm sure she enjoyed it. 

Click on Ebenezer to see the final story about an old donkey from the town where I grew up & went to school. 

When I went back for my high school reunion last year, I got to visit with him & his caretaker Shirley.  His behavior reminded me a lot of Pepper, opinionated & crotchety.  That's what makes the old guys so loveable I guess

HIS WEBSITE

I wrote a little bit about my visit with him in the 1st post for October 2011, if you'd like to see how my visit went.  Just go to the sidebar & down to October 2011, & to the first entry for October.

TUCKER & MOCHA ARE "VACATIONING"

"MOMMIE SAVE ME.....!!"

I guess that's what they are doing.  They stayed up in Gilbert for a couple of days.  Dr. Voss scoped the little guy & didn't see anything unusual.  So I flew my idea of leaving them there & letting the experts feed him hay & see what happens.

MAYBE IF I YELL LOUD ENOUGH SHE'LL COME & GET ME........!!!

Everyone at the clinic thought he was just the cutest little thing.  Of course they are use to horses, so donkeys especially a cute little fuzzy baby is a rarity.  He was a good little boy, well except for that planting all 4 feet & having to be dragged into the clinic by the above butt strap.  

If he eats hay without choking we'll go back up & get them later this week.  If that happens, then we'll start introducing him to the outside world a little bit at a time.

I think I've figured out why Rusty was chasing Bijou a few days ago.  Our neighbor that helps with chores a couple of mornings a week, was here this morning.  He said Rusty spends hours & hours standing by our shared fence, visiting with Twiggy, a mare he is boarding at his place.  I bet Rusty thinks Bijou might be another suitor for her attention.  Poor little guy can just barely walk, & he's certainly not going 20 acres away to visit with her.  

"WELL AT LEAST I GOT MOMMIE BACK"

 This is what we saw when we left.  Dr. Voss did say Tucker is very sturdy, which I think means he might be a little chunky for his age.  One of the vets commented on how nice & healthy Mocha looks.  Not sure, but that might mean she's chunky too.....!!!  (G)  Actually she is just about right, but I have been thinking about cutting down on their mush, I don't think Tucker has any bones that you can poke.  Maybe if he gets out to run & play he'll get more exercise & won't be so "sturdy".  

HEADED FOR GILBERT

We're waiting for Mocha to eat some of her hay before we load up for Tucker's appointment at the Equine Clinic with Dr. Voss.  Keep your fingers crossed that he will pass all the tests & can start being a regular little donkey that can go out, run & play.

Bijou is still a little gimpy even in the boots, but I think he likes them.  This morning when I got ready to take them off to check for rocks etc, he started trying to get away from me.  So I assume they feel pretty good.  I held his foot up when I took the boots off, put a little baby powder in them & stuck his foot back in it before setting it on the ground.  Once he figured I wasn't going to take them away he stood real good for the other one.  He's staying on his feet most of the time & is a little "talkie" guy whenever he sees us. 

Redid Boaz's knee this morning, it looked real good.  Vet called yesterday with the results of the biopsy, it was all proud flesh, no cancer or anything like that.  So if we can keep the proud flesh from reforming, it should heal good, although I'm pretty sure it's going to take awhile.  It doesn't slow him down any, this morning about 5am we were awakened by donkeys serenading us real close to the house. It sounded like a party of boys yelling at each other, so I assume one of the girls was batting her eyelashes at them.  We recognized Boaz & Cisco, not sure who the others were.   Actually Cheyenne came in with a chewed up ear, so it probably was her.  She is only 32 inches tall, so I don't think she's going to get much out of the boys except for a sore ear.

This afternoon we went down to see Rambo.  Amy said he is really a good guy & when we got there, he came over & wanted to be petted immediately, kept trying to run the horses away, so he could get all the petting.

He's such a good guy they've been calling him Bo instead of Rambo, she said he's too sweet to be a Rambo.  Too bad she didn't see him in action when he was up here with the girls...!!!! (G)

Checked on Drifter yesterday in his new home.  Crystal said he is absolutely perfect they are more than satisfied with him & how he has fit in at the stables.  She said there is one woman that use to come out to see her friend take lessons.  Now the woman comes out on her own to visit with Drifter.  He also has a little 5 year old girl wrapped around his hoof, she's too young to read the "Do Not Feed" sign, so Crystal has had to intervene in treats headed his way.  Crystal's 2 year old son, leads him around all the time & grooms on him. I love it when they get a great home like this one seems to be. 

Also checked in on Maddie & Zorro.  Bill said they are fitting in nicely, getting a routine & getting him & Kelli trained to their ways........!!!  Sounds like typical donkeys to me.  He did say he cut back on the small amount of hay he was giving them because Maddie looks like she is gaining weight in her neck crest.  There is so much to eat on their property, I'm not surprised, I hope this isn't going to become a problem, they don't want to put them in a pen, & I certainly don't want them to either. 

BIJOU GOT HIS TRIM........!!

Here he is with his little boots on.  Actually it looks like we won't have to get another pair for him.  This is the smallest pair I have & Courtney doesn't have any small one, so we decided to try these.  Courtney thinks the way his feet are built, he probably couldn't wear smaller ones anyway.  So we'll try these for awhile & see how it goes.  

He seems to appreciate having them on.  He was perkier last night when John went out at bedtime, & was on his feet.  Lately he had been laying down by then.  

This morning he was up when we went out & he's still up, so I assume he's more comfortable with them on.  I sure hope so, I hate to see them not be able to move around very well.  

If anyone has had trouble downloading all the posts for February the last couple of days, it should be fixed now.  I just barely have enough smarts to do what little I do in the blog.  If anything does wrong, I'm pretty much up the old "creek w/o a paddle", which I was when the posts all disappeared. 

I went on the forum at Blogspot & asked for help.  Some blessed soul left a message that I can't copy a picture into the blog rather than downloading it. He said it puts in huge amounts of machine language & nothing below it can load.  Went back in & did it "right", & low & behold, everything is back where it belongs. YIPPEE...!  

 Well it looks like Tucker will be going up to the Equine Clinic at Gilbert next Monday to be scoped.  Dr. Voss just called & said he can do newborns, so Tucker shouldn't be a problem.  He said they can also do a barium swallow to make sure he doesn't have any pockets or areas that aren't right that could trap hay.  Whew!  this little guy is going to end up gold plated I think....!!! (G) 

This is what Boaz's knee looked like when he came here in January.

This is what it looks like after surgery.  We hope the proud flesh can be controlled long enough for it to heal.  It will always be scar tissue & probably will skin easy when he lays down, but at least it won't be an open blob flopping around on his leg. 

For some reason I am having a heck of a time getting a picture of Boaz's "surgery" on his knee.  Didn't get one at the vet clinic & this morning I changed the bandage.  She said if it oozed thru the bandage to take it off & look to make sure everything was OK.  

Although it had drained somewhat, it had dried up enough to be stuck to the "non-stick" pads, so I had to spray it with water to soften it up.  Don't want to pull off anymore good cells than I have to.  It actually looks pretty good, so I bandaged it back up. Unfortunately my bandage isn't as pretty as the one she did, but it should do the job, I hope.  

First I put on Animax as per vet instructions, then non-stick pads, a roll of gauze to hold the pads in place, taped the gauze in place, added a disposable diaper & vet wrapped it in place.  Diapers are a great bandage for a knee & probably also a hock, because of the way they are built.  

I'll probably change it once a day, so I can be nosy.  So maybe tomorrow I can get a picture of it, if I don't forget. 

Little Bijou is really having a time of it, he's limping pretty bad on his right front.  Our ground is so hard, Susan said he does better on soft ground.  Courtney is going to try to make it out tomorrow, we wouldn't try to haul him with his feet bothering him.  I'm pretty sure Courtney will agree that boots might be good for him.  

RUSTY'S IN THE DOG HOUSE.......!!!

 Canal in France

We're going to be home all day today, hopefully, so we let Bijou the little horse out this morning. I think he needs more exercise to help his arthritis in his feet, but that should be his choice.  He lays down most of the day in the pens, because quite frankly there isn't anything of interest doing on.  

We let him out & he was wandering around, so I went in the house.  Later on the dogs were barking their, "Oh boy this is fun" bark, which we always check on to see just exactly what they think is so much fun.  Usually it's Tucker doing laps in his pen. 

This time it was Rusty chasing Bijou & making him run.  Don't know if it was in play or what, but Bijou certainly doesn't need to be running around on his crippled feet.  They came past me, I jumped in front of Rusty, put Bijou in his pen, & John came to put Rusty in his pen, much to his disgust.  I let Bijou out of the pen & he went right out to start looking around, but at least this way he doesn't have to contend with Rusty being in his face.  

Since we got Bijou as a companion for Rusty, this isn't exactly going as planned.  If Bijou wants to move around & explore, then Rusty can stay in the pens for awhile.  We've had "problem children" before & have let some out at night & the others during the day.  So it's workable, I just wish Rusty would behave himself. 

Boaz hasn't missed a beat with his leg being in a bandage.  It doesn't seem to be bothering him at all.  If it doesn't start draining thru the bandage or doesn't tighten up on his leg, we'll leave it on until Friday probably.  Hopefully when the bandage is removed it will look good.

INTERESTING DAY.......!!!

We took Boaz into the vet today to check where he was gelded & also to check the big sore on his knee.  This morning when we got ready to load him, it only took a few animal crackers to entice  him to jump into the trailer.  He really is a good boy, hasn't been worked with much, but more than willing try to figure out what in the "sam hill" we want him to do.  

The vet thinks the sore is proud flesh, that earlier in his life he got a cut or something on the side of his knee.  When he lays down, it is perfectly placed to get pressure put on it.  I asked the owner when we got him how long it had been there & he said it was there when Boaz came to him over a year ago.  But it also could be cancer, so we decided to do a biopsy & send it off to the University of Arizona.  In the meantime while he was doped up, she decided to clean it up as well as she could. Thank goodness she cauterized it, otherwise I think he might have bled to death.  Excessive bleeding is a sign of proud flesh, so hopefully that's what it is.  She wrapped it up & hopefully when we unwrap it in 3 days or so, it will look good.  I had the camera with me, but got so involved in the surgery, I forgot about taking any pictures..........!!!! 

He was happy to get home, someone called to him from Burroland, & he took off as soon as he got out of the trailer.  

Courtney has had more car trouble than one person should have, & we haven't been able to hook up with her, to get Bijou's feet trimmed.  We're trying for this Thursday.  He's pretty ouchy right now, although we open up the pens for him during the day he prefers to stay in & lay down.  When he first gets up he is really lame, but after a few steps he get much better.  So I think if he would move around more he might be better off, but then again I haven't "WALKED A MILE IN HIS MOCCASINS", so it's his choice.  He's a friendly little guy, I just wish he was more comfortable. 

BAH......DOCTOR VISIT.......!!!

 

This is poor little Tucker getting ready to have a tube ran down his nose.  Dr. Shamis has the tube in his hand.  Unfortunately Tucker's throat still isn't large enough to use the big endoscope, & the small animal one isn't long enough to go all the way to the top of his stomach.   Soooo we still don't know if the top of his stomach opens & closes properly.  Dr. Shamis said since we don't mind feeding him soaked pellets, to just continue to do so, for a few months, until he is bigger. We were hoping he would be OK, & get to go out on the property.  Guess not.   Then maybe the big endoscope will work.  John said next time he won't be able to straddle Tucker like that & still have his feet on the ground  is Tucker continues to grow, which I'm sure he will.

One thing that was found is Tucker has a Dorsal Displaced Soft Palate.  The last time he was scoped 3 months ago, they thought he had DDSP, but thought it might have been temporary because of him choking twice in a 3 day period.  But guess not.......!!!!   He also has a severe parrot mouth which we already knew.  But his molars are all coming in perfect, so hopefully the parrot mouth won't interfere with him being able to eat long term.  I doubt that he'd ever be able to eat grass in a pasture, but in this part of the country, pasture isn't usually an option anyway. 

We took Bijou the little horse with us, so we could meet Courtney on the way home & get him trimmed.  Unfortunately we couldn't get hooked up, so she's coming out today to trim him.  He got to go for a ride for nothing, but didn't seem to mind.  He's real good about hopping in & out of the trailer & likes to watch what's going on.  I've only looked at his worst foot, the one he limps on.  If there is a frog on that foot I can't find it, it's just a big gaping hole where the frog should be.  No wonder the little guy limps sometimes.   

We are taking Mocha & Tucker in to the vet today to see if he can finally eat hay instead of just mush.  He will be 5 months old Monday & really thinks he's "hot stuff".  Every once in awhile he just can't help himself & has to grab a coat sleeve & hang on.  We grab the hair on his chest & then he's a good boy for awhile.  

We're also hauling Bijou to meet Courtney to get his little feet trimmed.  I'm going to ask her about maybe trying boots on him to see if it would make his feet more comfortable.  The only problem is, he has little bitty feet, not much bigger than Tucker's, & none of my Soft-Rides will fit him...........!!!! SIGH....!!    I did check their web-site & they make tiny little boots, so I'll see what size Courtney thinks will fit him. 

This morning Cheyenne decided there was a Cheyenne eating monster at the neighbor's.  None of the other minis had a problem going in their pen, but she decided she wasn't going as she stared over there.  All of a sudden the jennies are starting to act like drama queens.  At least the "Bijou scares me" crisis seems to be over, hopefully by tonight she won't have to be chased around & around the pen area with a stick.  We never use it, but when we pick up a stick, they know we mean it.........!!!! LOL  

NOT GOING, CAN'T MAKE ME.....!!

Bijou was out all day yesterday.  After watching him for awhile, we've come to the conclusion that he has probably always been in a pen of some kind.  He had no idea of what to do, with all that freedom.  He stood around the pens for awhile, went in one & laid down & finally in the afternoon started following some of the donkeys around.  John had to put a halter on him to get him back in his pen.  He was down in the far corner of the property, when all the others heard the dinner bell & headed back to the pens.  I'm sure after a couple of days, he'll figure it out.  

John put everyone in their pens, before he went to get the little guy.  All of a sudden Frijolita, Chantilly, & Jenny "discovered" him.  He had been in a pen beside Jenny for over 2 days, he had been out with them all day, & for some reason those 3 zeroed in on the fact that.........."he ain't like us"....!!!  It was like he had grown another head or something, absolute panic on their part.  John thought Chantilly was going to try to jump out of her pen again, & Jenny actually ran, even though she is almost 3 legged lame because of abscesses in her left rear hoof.  Since her pen was closest to him, she wouldn't even go near the pen, ears up & totally locked in on this hairy little thing with no ears.  It took almost half an hour to entice her into the pen & I tried putting her hay where she couldn't see him.  But noooooooo, she had to be able to stare at him while she ate.  

The whole time all this nonsense is going on, he is busy doing little horse stuff, like eating & ignoring the big silly girls.  So far this morning everything seems to be OK, but we kept him in his pen overnight. Hopefully when he goes out today they will accept the idea that he is part of the herd, even though he looks a little funny.  

So far Rusty hasn't really paid much attention to him.  SIGH!

BIJOU IS OUT & ABOUT..........!!!

He went out this morning right after everyone else.  We should have waited a little while to let him out, everyone was "running" the pens to find little scrapes of hay, & weren't the least bit interested in him, including Rusty.  I saw him later on & he was up visiting with Tucker & Mocha, everyone else had disappeared.  

John said Rusty probably thinks he isn't going to be here very long like the other 2, so why develop a friendship.  I'm sure they will find each other eventually, but I certainly thought Rusty would be right with Bijou as soon as he was out of the pen.  

I cleaned out the foot he was limping on & the poor little guy doesn't have any frog at all.  We're going to haul him, when we take Mocha & Tucker in Friday to see Dr. Shamis.  On the way home, we will meet Courtney on the east side of Tucson & get his little feet trimmed.  

Last night Chantilly must have gotten scared by something.  She slammed into one of the corral panels in her pen, moved it enough that John couldn't open the gate, without pushing it out of the way.  This morning she has a "boo-boo" in the middle of her nose.  Can't imagine what scared her, she can see for a long way & I'm sure her hearing is excellent.  So John had to redo the pen this morning to straighten it out.  I'd like to get all the pens straightened out, they passed "not" square a long time ago.  Which is why I really like them for pens, they have a lot of give when something happens, like last night. 

Still working on Boaz's proud flesh or sarcoid on his knee.  The Wonder Dust is working on it, but I'm pretty sure she will have to cut what's left off. 

GOT HIM...!!!

We just got home with Bijou a little while ago.  He's a cute little bugger, hairy as he can be.  Not sure how all that mane & tail is going to hold up in the mesquite, but I guess we'll find out.  I could roach his mane, but it's taken him a long time to grow such a pretty one, so we'll see how it goes, once he's out of the pen.  

I think the majority of the herd are over on Burroland, so far Rusty, Jack, Ruthie & Ruger are the only ones that know he's here.  Ruthie & Ruger are trying to figure out what he's doing in their pen.  At least they will still have a pen, once the "musical" pen dance is over at feeding time tonight.  BlackJack will be eating in the outside bunk, which he will think is great, because he will get fed first.  That's the only way we can keep him from "helping" us feed everyone else........!!!

He does have some nasty looking feet, but he's walking good right now.  Susan said he has good days & bad days, so we'll just have to see how it goes.

Putting Wonder Dusty on Boaz's leg hasn't been going all that well.  If the area is dry or scabbed over, it doesn't give the Wonder Dust a chance to do it's job.  This morning I put a soaking wet wash rag on his leg, covered it with a Walmart bag, & vet wrapped it.  Left it on for about an hour, & quite a bit of the dry stuff came off, although not around the edges.  The vet said she might have to cut away the edges to get good clean tissue.  We'll take him in to see her next week, hopefully by then I will have a lot of the over growth off, if I work on it every morning.  

THE HERD IS GROWING AFTER ALL..........!!

The best laid plans of mice & men sometimes take a detour, which is why it is a good idea to "never say never".........!!! 

We had made a decision to not take anymore animals in for awhile, because our numbers keep creeping over our self imposed limit, even with some in foster care.  But a woman I know that runs a private sanctuary like us, is having to downsize.  She has a mini horse with nasty feet, demineralized coffin bones, somewhat like Jenny's are.  Rusty the white mule, LOVES the little horses, we've had 2 here & he literally worshipped them, put his life on hold to go with them & do what they wanted to do.  Bijou is only 10 years old, & the chances of her being able to find a home that would be willing to take care of his special needs long term, isn't very good.  Soooooo, I told her if no one wanted him we'd take him.  

As these things often do, as we were trying to figure out a cheap way to haul him about 200 miles, a friend of hers that lives close to us is going up to her area this week-end with a horse trailer.  He offered to haul Bijou back & we'll pick him up Sunday.  There are good people out there, & although it doesn't really make up for the people that destroy these animals, it is wonderful that the good ones still outnumber the bad ignorant ones.  Haven't seen him, have seen his x-rays, poor little guy.  

Of course our pens are full, so where are we going to put him?  Can't put him in with Rusty, as Rusty doesn't "share" well at meal time.  Hmmmmm!  Finally decided that BlackJack can eat out of a pen & Bijou can  go in his pen.  BJ doesn't care, he's become very flexible over the years & as long as there is food he could care less where it's at.  

Got a call from Bill yesterday.  Kelli his wife got home from the hospital & is really having fun getting to know Zorro & Maddie.  He had a question about their behavior.  He said Zorro was jumping on & biting Maddie & she was kicking the snot out of Zorro.  I keep forgetting to tell new owners about donkey foreplay...!!! LOL  Guess I should make up a list of behaviors that donkeys do.  

TUCKER'S FIRST TRIM.......!!

Courtney just left after trimming the usual suspects.  There was a time not so long ago, when trimming Pepper was really difficult, he couldn't hardly stand on 3 legs, so we had to literally hold him up.  And Courtney had to be quick.  He has really perked up lately & gotten much stronger.  Of course his broken hip leg is pretty stiff & he walks sideways, but really seems to be doing pretty good.  

She's worried about Jenny's abscessed rear foot that is still draining.  She is going to e-mail pictures of Jenny's foot to Dr. Teskey & see what he thinks.  Dr. Shamis didn't say anything about putting her on antibiotics.  I've thought for quite sometime that they might help & so does Courtney.  She's worked with Dr. Teskey for years, so we'll see what he thinks. 

This was Tucker's 1st trimming, I guess it was the equivalent of a little boy's first haircut.  Although hopefully most little boys don't throw a fit & throw themselves on the ground.  We have picked up his feet since he was a little bitty baby, so that was no big deal.  But having someone do something to his feet really wasn't acceptable from his point of view.  I ended up sitting on him & him bucking laying on the ground.  At least I think that was what he was doing, he certainly was giving me a ride.......!!!! LOL  He did get his first animal cracker afterwards, which he thought was pretty interesting.  He'll have to be trimmed on a regular basis, his heels are already contracted, poor little guy. 

 A REAL COWBOY HAS NO FEAR

Courtney is suppose to come today to trim everyone else.  Boaz seems to be doing just fine, doesn't seem to be sore or anything.  Donkeys are some of the toughest animals on the planet I think.  His feet sure look a lot better than they did, I hope they will grow out good & no more cracks.  

Chantilly has taken up with the "jenny" herd led by Miss Tula, & doesn't seem to miss Zorro at all.  I'm glad she is finding a niche, she is so shy I was afraid without Zorro she might go off in a corner somewhere.  But she seems to be doing just fine.  

Tucker will be 5 months old the 6th of Feb & has started challenging Boaz, when Boaz brays.  I don't know what he is saying, but he better be careful, one of these days he'll be out of the pen, (I hope) so he better not be telling Boaz he's going to whip his ass.....!!! LOL

We're thinking about getting in touch with Dr. Shamis about Tucker.  It would be closer than taking him to the Equine Clinic in Gilbert & he's been to their clinic twice, so they know him.  If he checks out OK, we want to leave him for a couple of days to see if he can eat hay without choking.  That way if he does choke, he's where they can work with him.  Out here we don't have access to emergency vet care like we did before our mobile vet left last month.  Still talking about it.  I had been putting it off, hoping that he would drop & we could have him gelded at the same time.  But so far his little "purse" is empty, absolutely nothing in it.  SIGH!

 

Poor Boaz, what he has to go thru, just because he wasn't taught to lead & never had his feet trimmed.  Courtney & I both were afraid the wide open cracks running vertical on his hooves, might get caught on limbs or something & damage the coronets even worse than they already are.  He actually was a pretty good boy, although when it was time to load him this morning, he let us know that wasn't what he had planned for the day.  He wasn't mean about it, but once his feet were firmly planted, we couldn't change his mind couldn't even push him off balance.  We don't like to use a come-a-long but he wasn't budging & we didn't want to be late for our appointment with Courtney at the vet.  

When John uses a come-a-long he doesn't pull them in the trailer, he just tightens the cable when they move forward a little bit.  Once they get close enough to the trailer, I will put a front foot in the trailer & "try" to hold it there.  Usually about this time, they figure out it's a losing battle & will hop in the trailer.  It didn't take long for Boaz to figure out the jig was up & in he went. 

I was surprised to see how much of a tummy he has, he looks much more svelte when he's standing up.......!!!!  (G)

Once he was on the ground the vet noticed that his gelding area hadn't healed properly & had yellow "yuck" in it.  So she cleaned it up & wants to see it again in 2 weeks.  He hadn't acted like anything was wrong & I assumed it had healed after 10 days of antibiotics.  I hadn't bothered to grope him to see...........!!!!  LOL  She said instead of the cut ends of skin healing to each other, they have adhered to the tissue underneath, so there is an open area down the middle.  Poor little guy, I'm glad she noticed.

In the picture Courtney had already cleaned all the trash off his hooves & his front feet are getting soaked in White Lightening.  There is no telling what gunk is trapped in all the cracks & crevices in those feet, & since White Lightening makes a gas, it hopefully got in all of them.  

When he got home, he came out of the trailer like his tail was on fire, & ran to find the other donkeys, so I guess getting his feet trimmed wasn't too traumatic.  He had muscle spasms the whole time he was on the ground, & we were afraid his muscles would really be sore, but if they were it certainly isn't bothering him. 

The vet also thinks the place on his leg might be proud flesh rather than a sarcoid.  It doesn't look like proud flesh to me, but then again, I didn't go to vet school, so I have to bow to the expert.  She wants me to use Wonder Dust on it for a couple of weeks & see what happens.  I HATE WONDER DUST, almost as much as I HATE xxterra.  Both of them are caustic so you have to be very careful to not get "good" skin involved.  Of course where the place is on his leg he can rub it if he wants to, which will probably smear it around.  So we'll see how it goes. 

I called Bill this morning to see how Maddie & Zorro were doing.  He said they come by the house frequently to see what he's doing, which is really neat.  He said he hasn't had to use the bell at all.  While we were talking Maddie was trying to figure out how to get on the porch.   Hmmm..........that seems to be the MO of most donkeys, if they know their people are in the house, they really want to know what the heck people do in there.  A friend that had a donkey years ago, said the donkey got out one night & went over to the neighbor's to visit.  When the neighbors woke up that morning the donkey was looking in the bedroom patio door.  That's not really a problem, except the bedroom was on the 2nd floor.  The donkey had climbed steps to get up to the patio area outside the door.  As I recall, they had a heck of a time getting him down.  It's much easier to climb up than down I guess. 

MADDIE & ZORRO ARE HOME..............!!!

We delivered them this afternoon, let them out of the trailer, & they disappeared into the brush, well they did after Zorro had a dust bath in the powder dust that covers most of the open area.  He thought that was great.  Maddie was too busy running around trying to see everything.  

THIS IS WHAT MOST OF THE 20 ACRES LOOKS LIKE, THEY'LL HAVE TO MAKE TRAILS THRU IT.  

Bill got some hay pellets. to "chum" them in with.  We also took him a bell to use to call them in.  He has a bale of hay, but I seriously doubt that he'll need to feed them.  Maddie hit the ground with her head down chomping away.  It's all native grass which shouldn't be really high in sugar & starch.  Once they are there for awhile, they should eat more like a "wild" burro would & hopefully won't gain weight, they are both in pretty good shape right now. 

 

On the way home Bill called our cell phone to ask a couple of questions.  I asked if he'd seen them, & he said they kept coming thru the area by the house, & in fact Maddie was licking his arm, even as we spoke.  She really picked him out when he was here last week, followed him all over the place, & tried to put her head on his shoulder.  

Remember I said the road into their place was like a tank proving grounds?  We checked the distance & the time today.  It took us 15 minutes to go 1.4 miles, which works out to about 6mph.  I don't recall us going that fast.........!!!!  LOL  At least we got the donkeys there without bouncing them around.  

I was worried about how Chantilly would take Zorro not being here.  She was pretty much bonded with him, although he didn't seem to return the thought.  She came in with Tula's gang tonight, followed John into her pen, & seems to be just fine.  Donkeys are "in the moment" animals, so they don't carry a lot of memory baggage around with them, at least that's what the experts say.  But I would imagine they would recognize each other if they met again, I don't really know for sure.  I know Ruger was very glad to see his momma Ruthie after being separated a week.  And Ruthie latched onto her little boy & is busy mothering him & making sure the other donkeys don't get too close to him.  He's about a year old & almost as big as she is, but I guess she's still going to take care of him.  

Tomorrow morning we'll be taking Boaz into the vet clinic.  Courtney will meet us there, we'll get him sedated, so she can work on his nasty front feet.  They are cracked & split with quite a bit of damage to the coronets.  I hope it isn't permanent, but it looks pretty bad.  I'll probably have the vet look at his sarcoid on his leg & see what she thinks.  I think most vets inject chemo drugs into the sarcoid to get rid of them.  That can be quite expensive.  There are a lot of old time home remedies too.  It actually is smaller than it was when he came.  A lot of times sarcoids will disappear spontaneously, the general opinion is, the immune system goes into hypermode & attacks them.  If that is true, I think when he was gelded the 23rd of Dec, & he developed swelling on his belly, his immune system went after the infection from the gelding, & took a swipe at the sarcoid.  Two times after he came here the whole thing turned into a bloody mess & shrank in size.  But once I started giving him Tucoprim for the belly infection, we didn't see any more changes in the saracoid............SIGH.......!!!!!!!  

This is old Pepper headed out for a day of adventure.  You will never see a more curious equine interested in what's going on than he is.  He's finally put on a little weight, so he doesn't look like a walking skeleton.  He's on 5 or 6 different supplements & doing so well right now, I'm afraid to mess with success by trying to figure out which one or ones are making a difference.  

We haven't had to roll him over so he can get off the ground in quite awhile.  We assume he's figured out he can't lay on his right side, so is only laying down on the left. 

Looks like Maddie & Zorro are going to a new home tomorrow.  A man came out this week to see the donkeys & hopefully adopt some for his wife.  She is in the hospital, coming home this week & he wanted them to be there when she gets home.   She's had horses, jumped, shown all that good stuff, but like  a lot of us is getting older & not up to riding anymore.  He also picked out Pepsi the little mini, because his wife has always wanted a mini.  

We did the home study yesterday & decided that it wouldn't be a good place for a mini.  They have 20 acres of pretty rough country, covered with scrub mesquite & lots of native grass that is pretty tall from nothing eating it.  It's so far out in the boonies, they have no electricity, & the last 2 miles or so of the "road" is like a proving ground for tanks.  John said it will probably take him an hour to drive in because he doesn't want to bang the donkeys around.  

Since these 3 donkeys are not bonded with each other, at first they wouldn't be a herd.  Don't know if there are deer in the area but if there are, it's a good chance there are also mountain lion.  Of course a mountain lion could take a standard donkey too, but a mini wouldn't have a chance.  They also can be killed by dog packs & packs of coyotes.  The minis are more of a "token" donkey in a lot of ways.  They are "designed" as urban equine for people that live on the outskirts of town & want to be farmers.  

If Pepsi got out in the brush & got into trouble, on 20 acres they might not even know it.  We had a coyote take a red bourbon turkey one time that was within 20 feet of where we were.  The grass was tall & I guess the coyote was determined.  

After a couple of phone calls back & forth they agreed that it probably wasn't a good idea.  It's going to be like a Donkey Wonderland for Zorro & Maddie though, in fact I told Bill that they probably won't even need to be fed hay.  They are both very gentle & tame, but a few days or weeks in such an invironment & they might decide not to come in for treats or pets.  We're taking them a bell to ring to hopefully get the donkeys use to coming in when they hear the bell.  Not much fun to have donkeys you never see.......!!! (G)

Boaz got to go out of his pen yesterday during the day.  We were gone for the day but before we left, the "herd" went over to Burroland, & we let Boaz out on this side.  

When we came home, Boaz was standing in his pen, & BlackJack & Justin were pounding on the Burroland gate, with the "herd" behind them.  It was just about feeding time & I guess they wanted to make sure they weren't forgotten.  

It sure would make life easier for everyone involved "IF", Boaz & Zorro could get along.  Last night after Boaz was shut in his pen, Zorro came by & postured..........that doesn't help matters at all, of course Boaz had to let him know what he'd do to him if the gate was open..........SIGH

ZORRO WITH HIS HERD

Boy am I glad 2 days of racing is over, it wears me out & I wasn't doing anything except sitting in the bleachers.....!!! 

The races started 2 hours late yesterday, which meant we didn't get home until about 9:30pm.  The donkeys are use to being fed starting around 5pm, give or take a few minutes.  Needless to say they weren't happy.  We rushed around, getting them in & "slinging hash", so to speak.  It was going pretty good until John took BlackJack's hay into his pen.  BJ always has definite idea of right & wrong, especially when it pertains to his personal wants & needs.  

When John opened the gate, BJ slammed into the gate & got out.  No big deal, but he rushed over to where Frijolita was enjoying her hay & grabbed a big mouthful.  I yelled at him, which of course scared Frijolita, she thought I was after her, so she took off.  BJ went past me, & kicked up his heels as he went by...........Grrrr.......!!!  I grabbed a poo rake & went after him.  If I could have moved fast enough to smack him I would.  Unfortunately he seems to know exactgly how long the handle is, & managed to keep that distance, while munching on his stolen hay........!!! 

John & I finally trapped him, so his only option was to go into his pen, which he did with style & grace.  Anyone that ever thinks these animals aren't smart or don't have a sense of humor, obviously has never observed them very much.  He was putting us in our place for having the audacity to feed so late.  The little kick to the side always accompanies his judgement of our short comings, it's never close to us, in fact I doubt that you could ever get kicked by BJ.  But he does want you to know you have upset his routine.

The races today started closer to on-time, but we still got  home late.  The neighbor's were going to feed, but were in a car wreck in Tucson today.  They are OK, but feeding didn't go as planned.  Dave fed hay, he hasn't learned how to feed mush & supplements, but that was OK, they just got their hay first & got to stay in their pens until we got home & fed them their pans.  It only takes them a couple of minutes to eat the stuff, so then they got to go out.  Of course they ALWAYS get their hay AFTER their mush, so they expected more hay.  But once they figured out they were going out, all was forgiven & they took off. 

Yesterday went pretty well, with Boaz having to stay in the pens, & Zorro out with the others.  Boaz wasn't too happy about the turn of events, but he wasn't overly excited, so this should work out OK.  Boaz will be out at night & Zorro during the day.  John said when he let Boaz out last night he tried to entice Madie & she double barrel kicked him twice.  John said he just went off somewhere else, so he isn't overly aggressive, but he sure doesn't like Zorro.  

Ruthie & Ruger are out & about.  Ruger sure loves his momma, & she sticks pretty close to him too.  Of course she is the only familiar thing in his life, besides Boaz.  He's really a sweet little guy & easy to work with.  

First races of the season tomorrow.  I won't be racing, the Hornets don't race until in March sometime.  But our son & grandson's class, Super Stocks will race both Sat & Sun.  

Grandson, JR, car is back to family tradition of ORANGE for this year, thank goodness.

Rod hasn't messed with 43 years of tradition.....!!

Ruger is a momma's boy.  He loves his momma & she wants to be with him.  In fact she spent the night in his pen.  Boaz has slowed down quite a bit from chasing the girls, so we're going to try letting EVERYONE out today.  John will close the gate to Burroland, so they have to stay close to the pen area, in case it goes wrong.  Hopefully Boaz will leave Zorro alone & everyone can be out to roam around.  I think Ruger will stay with momma.

Yesterday morning John went over to Burroland to stir up some donkeys since no one seemed interested in coming in for breakfast.  He found the whole bunch together & told Tula to get in her pen, which gets her moving.  She took off running with the herd trailing behind.............including Pepper........!!!  John said he was actually running, although he was going more sideways than straight.  There are times when he can't hardly move, & it's been years since we saw him run.  This morning he almost knocked Dave down when he went in Pepper's pen to pick up poo.  Dave hasn't been around long enough to remember when we use to call Pepper "Bulldozer".......!!!  So I assume he is feeling pretty good.

UPDATE:  So much for letting everyone out together.  John let Zorro & Chantilly out so they could get away from the pens.  He said when he let Boaz out, it took him a couple of minutes to find Zorro & start biting & chasing him.  Zorro ran behind John & Boaz slowed down enough to pay attention to John & followed him into a pen.............BIG MISTAKE, on his part.  He's still in a pen, we're waiting to see if Zorro will go over to Burroland, which is now open.  If he does then Mr. HotShot can be out over here in the pen area.  If not he may stay in a pen all day.