MESQUITE SEASON IS HERE..........!!!

Last night the rebellion started when it was time for evening feeding. We got some wind in late afternoon & the little "hoovers" were vaccuming as fast as they could as the ripe beans started falling. John had to take a switch to Jenny to even get her to move. He also used a halter on some of them. They weren't the least bit interested in cooperating.

This morning the rebellion continues, which isn't good. So many of our guys have insulin resistance & none of them need the extra calories either. So from now on we will do "poo 101" during pen cleaning in the morning. As the beans take over the poo, individuals will start going into pens at night. If they manage to eat too many beans during the day, they will have to stay in until the bean season is over. They will all be restricted from Burroland as soon as the beans start showing up regularly in poo, which probably will be within days. But it's a fine line to straddle for us, because if we keep them off the beans completely, the beans will still be on the ground when we do let them out. Thankfully after they lay on the ground for awhile, the donkeys won't eat them. We'll open the gates to Burroland, & encourage the range cattle to "come on in", by putting salt by the open gate. It usually doesn't take them but a few days to find the salt & start wandering around.

Yesterday when John was trying to be in control, he was down to Tula & Chester. They were over on the other side of the wash that runs across our property. John got behind them & they took off for the other side of the wash. Chester actually jumped off the bank of the wash about 18-24 inches, landing on both front feet equally in loose gravel. Didn't even faze him or slow him down. He wouldn't recuperate from a bowed tendon this quick, so now I'm wondering if he had a bowed tendon in that leg before we got him, & just tweaked it a little the other day. There is thickening on the back of the cannon gone, & I just assumed it was a new problem. I never checked that leg out because I spent so much time with the other one, so there's no way of knowing. But except for a slight lameness, he seems to be sound. The hoof on his bad leg is contracted. Courtney thinks she can work on it & get it to widen out. The other day when she trimmed, I picked up the part she trimmed off him, & thought it was one of the mini hooves, it looked so small.

This morning when John rounded up the gang for breakfast, there were 5 holdouts that stayed hidden on Burroland. This is 2 of them, Frijolita & Jenny. Also involved were Tula, the ringleader, Chester her paramour & a surprise rebel, Daisy.........!!!! She is always the first one to greet John every morning, at least up until this morning. I guess she's found out following Tula is a lot more fun than being predictable.....!!! (G) We went ahead & fed the ones we had & then went over on Burroland to find them. I went one way, John went the other & of course he found them. He said he tracked them, since it rained last night & the ground was soft. I'm not that smart, I just go out & tromp around till I flush them out of the brush. When I caught up, he was following along behind them at a slow meandering walk. I told him they needed to be cranked up rather than just being allowed to do it their way. I took over & we went thru the gate at a decent trot. I would have made them run, but it's hot & humid & I couldn't move that fast....!!! If I have to get involved it's going to be on my terms, not theirs............. (G)

Monday night John had gone out to let them out at bedtime, & I was nodding off in the recliner, when all of a sudden I heard what sounded like a bomb going off in the kitchen. I figured Moogee the cat had climbed something & knocked it down, although it was a lot louder than her usual OOPS! The kitchen looked fine, so I went back to the pantry..........!! YIKES! Do you have any idea what an 8 x 14 foot pantry looks like, when a gallon can of apples has exploded? I didn't before, but I do now, & it's not pretty. The floor, the walls, the shelves, all the stuff on the shelves, our coats leftover from winter, & I hate to go back to it, but the floor. There was no place to walk or stand without "getting involved". John was amazed & quite impressed when he came in. He said we'll clean it up in the morning, so I had to explain to him what a exploding gallon of apples with sugar would be like after sitting for a few hours. Three hours later we finally got to bed, & yesterday was spent continuing cleaning, sanding the shelves & putting eurathane or however you spell it on them. That little step got neglected when we originally put them up. Now we know why it's important to have the wood sealed. Right now it's pretty humid, so it's going to take a few days to get 2 or 3 coats on & get them dried enough to put cans, etc on them. I had been talking about cleaning out the pantry & getting rid of outdated stuff, should have followed thru, I guess.

Yesterday I finally got Daisy's legs clipped. It's been hot & humid & she was also picking up a lot of sticks & junk that had to be picked out. So it was time, even if she was cute with her "pantaloons" on. Here she is on the left with her friend Frijolita, waiting for breakfast to be served this morning. I found out clipping legs with large clippers is quite an operation. I tried using my little Wahl clippers, but they weren't up to the job. Her hair has the exact texture of cotton candy, fluffy & lots of it. The little clippers are for clipping around wounds or something like that, not industrial strength hair removal. So I used the big clippers to get off most of the hair, & used the Wahl to touch-up. She was very good & stood patiently for the whole process. I can think of some of the others that would have let me know in no uncertain terms that clipping was NOT what they had planned for the day. Probably Frijolita for one, she doesn't even like to be brushed............!!!!! (G)

Chester has done very good with his bowed tendon. I let him out this morning, after explaining to him that I expected him to be careful, unless he wanted to have to stay in the pen again. I watched him for awhile & he was using that leg just fine, not favoring it at all. It's a little hard to figure him out, since he's already lame on the other side. He could end up in a situation where, because of lameness on one side & bowed tendon the other, he would look like he was walking without favoring either one, while actually favoring both of them.

I've had to do something I never thought would happen, Jack the mule is now on a diet. Jack doesn't have very many teeth, & has quidded hay for years. Since he really doesn't chew hay, he gets a wet mash of soaked beet pulp, timothy pellets, & Lakin Lite a hay pellet made in Arizona. He at one time was really thin, so I've been feeding him about as much as he will eat. The other day I noticed he has no ribs showing & some very round little cheeks, & they aren't on his face. So the days of unlimited mash are over, at least for now.

Last night when everyone started wandering in for supper, I noticed that Chester was favoring his "good" front leg. Once he was in the pen, I checked him out & felt a swollen area on the back of the canon (shin) bone. Just what he doesn't need, a bowed tendon. No telling what he did, but obviously he mis-stepped while out roaming around with the herd. I got the polo wraps & a gel pak out of the freezer to wrap it. To say he wasn't impressed is an understatement. Had to tie him up short. One good thing about him, if you tie him up he usually gives up. I also gave him some bute for inflammation & pain. Kept it wrapped until bedtime, & of course he had to stay in for the night, which we heard about all thru the night. This morning he's actually walking pretty good & is standing around with weight on it. I wrapped it with the gel pak again & will leave it on until it loses it "cool", probably a couple of hours. We'll be car racing tonight & tomorrow night, so everyone will have to be in the pens more than usual. I'm sure he will enjoy the company. Not sure how long I'll keep him in. If you read the "rules" for treating a bowed tendon, they say months of stall rest. That's for horses that are going to be worked. All he has to do is walk around & be comfortable, none of that work stuff.

A few years ago the neighbor's dogs chased Belle & one of the other jennies during the night. The other jenny came in with cuts all over her where she had ran thru the trees. Belle came in with bowed tendons in both front legs. She could just barely walk. I kept her in for a few days & she spent most of the time laying down. Courtney came out to trim, & said since they are a flight animal that they might do better with exercise. We let her go out, she did very well & I don't remember her being lame for very long. So I guess I'll have to try to figure out what will be best for him. I certainly don't want him to have long term problems with his good leg, although he is walking very good on the crippled one these days with barely a discernable limp.

HAPPINESS IS A FULL HAY BARN,,,,,!!!

Well, it looks like we're ready to feed for another year. This is a double semi load, like you see going down the highway a lot this time of year & lasts us just about a year or a little longer. We've still got about 15 bales leftover, that the guys will have to eat before they start on the new stuff. I wasn't here when they got thru unloading, but John said when he let the donkeys out of their pens, they headed straight for the hay barn to see what had happened, & probably to see if there was anyway for them to participate. By that time John had the panels back up, much to their disgust.

Right now the mesquite beans are still green, although they are starting to ripen. Everyone is eating the green ones they can reach, right now which I'm not really worried about. When they ripen the sugar will be a lot higher, & some of the ones that are more inclined to foundering because of insulin resistance, will have to stay in pens. We will also shut off Burroland, & open it up so the range cattle can go in & eat the beans over there. A few of them like Pepper & Buddy will have to stay in the pens, because there is plenty of beans even with Burroland unaccessible. We watch the poo & if someone starts having more beans than hay in their poo, they'll have to be penned. Unfortunately Pepper really needs to move around as much as possible because of his arthritis & whatever is wrong with his hip. We'll just have to deal with it when the time comes, because he can't have another bout of laminitis, i.e. founder.

Courtney got out to trim Monday. We had quite a list this time, including her 3 little minis. They hadn't been trimmed since they came quite awhile ago, & were starting to get a little long. She said they would probably chip off if we get some rain, but went ahead & ruined their day. They very rarely have to do anything they don't want to do, & that is usually only herding, NOT, putting on a halter & lead rope, & having to stand still. They actually did good after getting the halter on, that was the hard part......!!! (G)

I'm waiting for a phone call from the hay delivery. It's coming from northern Arizona & they are suppose to be here around 7am...........!!!!! They certainly started early this morning, I guess...........!!!!!

John is on an emergency run to Benson. Mother called this morning & the pump in her fish pond quit during the night & she had 5 dead fish this morning from lack of oxygen. So he took off to take care of that crisis. I told him he might run onto a load of hay on his way home, & if so, just bring it home with him.......!!! (G) I'd like to go out & get everyone in their pens, before the hay gets here, so we can open the driveway gate. BUT, I have to stay in the house & wait for the call......!!!

It's hot enough today, I hope this picture will make us feel cooler..............!!!

Sha'ba seems to be back to normal, although he still isn't cleaning his feed bucket. In fact this morning he wanted out & left about half of his breakfast. I don't think he is a big mesquite bean eater, although a lot of the others are eating the green mesquite beans hanging in the trees. They haven't ripened yet, but I anticipate they will pretty soon. We are watching poo for beans & when they start dominating the poo, some of them will be staying in pens for awhile.

I'm waiting for Courtney to come out to trim the ones that need it. The victims had to stay in their pens this morning because we didn't know for sure when she would get here. Daisy has stayed by Chester's pen most of the day. I didn't even know she had a "thing" for him, she's usually with Frijolita.

Speaking of Frijolita this morning while she was finishing up her hay I casually reached down to pick up her foot to see if she needed to be trimmed today. Well, she took off like I had insulted her. Sigh.................... chasing her was not what I had planned, so off we went. She caught up with Tula & started following her. Tula certainly didn't want to be chased by me, so she started trying to escape, & of course Frijolita kept following & I kept following. Heard a noise behind me, turned around & there was Daisy, also following. Frijolita would stop, I would pet & as soon as I reached for her foot, she'd take off again. And the entourage continued............!!!! On about the 3rd trip thru the pen area John what I was doing. He was picking up poo which is what I was suppose to be doing.....!!!! One time Tula started to go into her pen, because she knows that is neutral territory. As she got close to the gate, she started kicking back at Frijolita. I guess she had figured out Frijolita was the one I wanted & was trying to tell her to go away. Daisy girl was hanging in there. After about 3 or 4 more tours around the 10 acres, she stopped, planted her feet, I walked up petted her, told her what a silly girl she was, reached down & picked up her foot. After a couple of seconds I tried to put it down & she held it up in the air. I guess she was trying to tell me after all that, the least I could do was get a good look.......!!!! (G) One thing I did notice, in all that walking around she never once hiked her hind legs up with string halt, which is great. Maybe the acupuncture Dr. Weaver did, has made a difference.

Yesterday when they all came in for breakfast, Chester & Pepper came in about the same time & were standing outside the pens. Old Pepper started pushing his chin out at Chester & tried to intimidate Chester by putting his neck across Chester's neck. Silly old fool, Chester could clean his clock if he wanted to. Pepper doesn't have a clue that he is old, crippled & really should take life easy. He chases the girls, tries to intimidate the boys & in general seems to think he's "hot stuff".....!!!!!!

Daisy's Dad & his friend Tim, made it by yesterday as planned. We hadn't met George before, & we always enjoy meeting the people that have molded personalities of the donkeys, good or bad. In this case very good. You can tell what kind of home donkeys have been in, by the way they interact with their surroundings. Daisy is very very gentle & has the sweetest nature of any of the donkeys. I worried about her when she first came, because I don't think she has a "stand up for myself" bone in her body. But she adapted very quickly, if someone wants to eat where she's eating, she just goes someplace else. We always make sure there are more places to eat than donkeys. Both Lynne & George said she was a wild roping donkey when they got her 16 years ago. You can tell she has had nothing but love in a comfortable home for all these years, by her personality, totally trusting. She does do one thing that is out of character. If I stand in front of her to pet, she will usually push me with her nose, pretty hard, just one time. Not sure what that is about, but it seems to work for her.

Sha'ba seemed back to normal all day yesterday, but last night when John went out at bedtime he was uncomfortable, with lots of gurgling going on in his tummy. I'm assuming we are dealing with gas colic still. So he got another shot of banamine. I checked him this morning & he took a treat, but hadn't eaten last night's mush. That was at 5am, we're getting ready to go out & feed pretty soon. I'll decide then whether to give him another shot or not. I read up on colic last night, & it seems barometric pressure changes can cause colic. The vet said something about that too. Other than that, nothing fits unless he has something going on internally we don't know about. I might quit adding the Calf Manna to his feed. That is the only change in his routine we've made lately.

GOOD NEWS............!!!!!!

Sha'ba seems to be back to normal this morning. I gave him another shot of banamine before we went to bed last night. This morning he is perky & was "huffing" for food. Last I saw of him, he had his little head buried in his feed bucket enjoying his breakfast. I hope that is the last colic for awhile. We're all wore out today...........!!!! (G)

I think it was gas colic. While we were sitting with him in between feeding the others last night, a couple of times he laid down & tried to roll. The wiggling & squirming seemed to get things moving, & judging from the sound he had a lot to move, poor little guy.

I'm so glad he's feeling better, at his age anytime he doesn't act "normal", I worry. I told the vet I wanted at least 10 more years out of him. She said she doubted it, but it gives us something to shoot for.

Daisy's Dad is coming to see her today. Her Mom came down a few weeks ago with a friend, but this will be the first time George has see her since she left home. I wonder if she will recognize him? Bet she will...........!!!!

This morning when breakfast was served, Sha'ba wasn't interested after sticking his head in the bucket, which is highly unusual for him. I watched him for awhile & thought he had choked on his first bite or two. We worked with him in between chores, & about an hour later I gave him a shot of banamine. Watched him for awhile & finally put in a call to the vet. She said she could make it out this afternoon, & by the time she got here, we knew he was colicing instead of choking. So far he isn't popping back to normal very quickly. He's too small for her to palpate, so we have no idea what is going on inside. She tubed him, we had to put him in our little homemade squeeze because he really was being uncooperative. As it was, he tried to rear and/or climb out the corral panels. Got a hoof caught thru the panel, & I had a heck of a time getting it back on the right side. He stepped on my finger in the process. John ended up with a bloody hand, & no idea how it got that way. After the vet left & we started feeding, we took turns doing feeding & setting with him. He seems to be more comfortable, but still isn't back to normal. Not the least bit interested in eating.

It's odd that the last few posts I've made to the blog were all about him. Hopefully I'll have good news in the morning, at least I hope so. He's too old to start having to doctor & colic can really be nasty.

It seems like right now we have a lot of bees, going after water. So far no one has gotten stung but I worry about someone gulping up one, which wouldn't be good. It's starting to get hotter & drier, so I assume the bees will keep coming. I spend a lot of time fishing them out of the water, unlike wasps I guess they can't land on the water.

Sha'ba & I are still fighting the battle of the habronema larvae on his sheath. We're down to 2 small areas, which is a piece of cake from my point of view. I clean him up in the morning, & cover the area with invermectin. At night I cover his sheath with swat, figure that will slow down reinfestation.

I was asked about his history. Everyone is doing pretty good right now, so I'll give a little background on him. He came off one of the local Indian Reservations, I don't know which one. A horse trader got a good deal, 5 donkeys, but she had to take them all. Four of them were young, healthy & wild as march hares. We got a call about the 5th one. She said he was crippled, blind & there was no way she could re-sell him, would we take him? We said yes, & drove to Tucson to pick him up. He was in much worse condition than we expected. He was a small standard, should have weighed around 300 pounds, probably weighed 200 or less. About half his ears had been cut off, he had an old break at a rear fetlock. His eyes were so matted & infected we also thought he was blind. His face was raw & bloody from flies & habaronema larvae. He had a hole thru his nose that lines up with scars on his mouth, where someone had ran a chain, rope, bull ring or something thru to lead him or tie him up. I don't think I have ever seen a more pathetic sight. He had been in with 4 young strong animals & I have no idea how long it had been since he had eaten well. We were told he was about 40 years old, but since he has very few teeth & those are completely worn down, I really don't know how old he is. We loaded him as gently as we could & didn't know if he would make the trip home, about 65 miles.

That has been 6 years ago. We cleaned him up I started agressively treating the habromena, which as above, I continue to do annually. When we got his eyes cleared up we were thrilled to find out that he does have sight in one eye. We made sure he had all he wanted to eat & found out that he will only eat so much. He seems to have a built in "I've had enough" trigger, so we don't have to worry about him getting fat.

He's my little Muffin Man, he was emotionally shut down, (wonder why) but once he came out of that, he is one of the most loveable donkeys there is. He also can be the most stubborn. Thank goodness he self trims his feet, even the one with the broken fetlock, which healed crooked. He might be little & he might be old, but two people & a cross tie can't control him enough for a foot trim.

He seems to be very healthy, after getting bit by a rattlesnake a few years ago, which was scary. He's probably actually more healthy than some of the others that were fed too much or too rich for years & have developed insulin resistance & have other problems. I think his leg was broke early in his life, perhaps his mother stepped on him or if they were in rough country, who knows what happened. I don't think he was ever worked, because he has no concept of people/donkey working relationships. At least normal ones. (G)

SHA'BA BIT ME.............!!!!!!!

Sha'ba has always been allowed more freedom to misbehave (if he wants to) than the others. Once we found out he wasn't blind & we got a little weight on him about 7 years ago, we found out he was mentally shut down. He actually came out of the shut down, & started reacting to people, although he was & still is hesitant about being close to the other donkeys. Along the path of rehabilition he started showing a little spunk which we encouraged. One thing he has done for a long time is to butt me like a goat when I come in with his feed. I dance around & we've developed a routine that works for us that gets his feed in the bucket & he thinks he's personally responsible for it getting there.

Usually I can get from the gate & to his bucket before he does. Then it's a simple matter to dump it & back away, as he marches in & starts to chow down.

This morning for some reason, he was fast or I was slow. When this clash happens he will stick his head in the bucket & you can't dump the soaked feed. So I turned the bucket I was carrying upside down in his feed bucket & just stood there. I guess he got upset because not only could he not get his head in the feed bucket, but he could smell breakfast under the thing that was keeping him from getting his head in the bucket. He turned around & bit down on my arm. Usually when an equine bites you, it's a crisis of sorts, good opportunity for broken skin, crushed tissue, blood & not a pleasant experience. Getting bit by one that has very few teeth & those are worn off to gum level is a little weird. I don't think I've ever been gummed by an equine before, complete with lots of slobber. It was kind of a slimy "yuck" moment. Yes he won, I immediately took the turned over bucket out of his feed bucket, he dived in & his little world continued to rotate as usual. And I will try to be quicker in the future, so as to not upset him.........!!!! (G)

VISITORS TODAY...........!!!

Georgette & her friend Cilla (I think) came out today to see the donkeys. A few years ago, Georgette came out with a tour company & fell in love with Sha'ba. She has kept in touch, keeps track of how he is doing & has helped out when we have Open Houses. Last but not least she also adopted Sugar a couple of years ago as a friend for Jacque. She comes out to visit, when she has time, which isn't often, I think she said it had been 10 months. This is her & Sha'ba getting to know each other again. The cup of timothy pellets she is holding certainly helps.

Cilla has a donkey too. She originally got him as a companion for her horse, that has since died. So now she is down to a donkey, a goat & 5 dogs. She said the goat & the donkey get along real good.

We're suppose to get some rain tomorrow, at least they are forcasting a 40% chance. We sure could use it, everything is so dry. We make sure there is always water out on the ground, so everyone even the tiny critters can get a drink. The other day a gopher (king) snake was drinking out of the short stock tank. I ran to get the camera but of course by the time I got back outside, he was finished. I miss a lot of good pictures. It always amazes me at what neat pictures some of the blogs have on them. I'm usually lucky if mine are clear & not blurry.

RACE NIGHT

BlackJack & Buddy playing with dog rope toy

Had a good night of racing last night. John finished 7th in the main event out of 20 & our son finished 11th, after having to go into the infield for a tire change. Brought both cars home relatively unharmed, except for the back end of John's car. One of the other drivers used the left rear fender of John's car to stop, rather than using the brake pedal. He got blackflagged & fined, & John gets to do body work this week. Anytime you bring them home with the running gear OK, & the frame & body fairly straight, it was a fun night. We'll do it again next Saturday night. I found 2 pennies at the track last night, so I hope the good luck will carry over.......!!!!

After the races we went with some of the other racers to TTT (oldest family owned truck stop still operating in the U.S) to get something to eat. They gave John a birthday card with a donkey on it, a lot of the driver's had signed. All in all John had great birthday. Forty years ago when we started this particular hobby, I don't remember thinking, "gee whiz, I bet we'll be doing this in 40 years"................!!!!! (G)

Of course at that time we didn't know we would be doing donkey rescue either. We never know what twists & turns life will deal us, do we? The gang was happy when we got home about 1:30 am. They had been cooling their heels in the pens, while we were out having fun. When we come in late like that & they hear us unlocking the gate, they start yelling. Of course there is no sleep-in for the humans, the cats expect breakfast at the usual time in the morning. And once there is movement in the house, the equine also expect breakfast to be served. John use to use Sundays to wash the race car & check it over to get an idea of what needed to be done to get it race ready. But as the years pass, Monday or Tuesday or even Wednesday works just as well............!!! "Mature" people have to save energy where they can you know...............!!! (G)

We had to make a trip to Phoenix yesterday. That is always fun, we have to feed early, in order for the gang to have time to finish eating. Given a choice between eating early or staying in their pens all day, I can tell you which they would choose.............!!! Of course eating early is one of their favorite things anyway.

The day before Dr. Weaver came out to do acupuncture on Max & Frijolita again. He said Max's hips are actually more level than they were, even though he's been flopping around a lot & falling in cactus. Frijolita has string halt & she really has improved since he was here a month ago. I haven't seen her hiking her back legs at all. So he gave her another treatment. Hopefully there will be some long term improvement for her. She & Chester are kind of an "item" & they would make a wonderful addition to the right home. It would take some one that wasn't looking for perfect donkeys, but wanted beautiful donkeys with sweet personalities. They both love attention & even though Chester was a roping donkey, he doesn't hold any grudge at all.

Dr. Weaver doesn't think acupuncture would help Pepper, & said my white willow bark, substi-Bute, & hylaun is probably as good as anything to help with his poor old legs. The old buzzard was checking out the girls this morning, to see if anyone thought he was cute, so he's doing pretty good for the shape he is in. I'm not sure any of them appreciate his attention, but it doesn't seem to hurt his feelings at all. Earlier this year he was so very thin, & I couldn't get him to eat anymore than he would eat. But I've started adding a lot of water to his feed, & also have been giving him Calf-manna & he's actually putting on a little weight. Someone on one of the groups mentioned Calf-manna, so I checked it out. Good heavens, they need to change the name, you can feed it to just about anything, including chickens. It's been around since 1931 & is touted as a healthy feed. I think it has licorice in it, which seems to be a real hit, not only with Pepper, but with Sha'ba & Max. All 3 of those have a hard time holding their weight.

Today is John's 69th birthday, & he is going to drive the race car tonight instead of our grandson. I hope he keeps it between the fences, doesn't run over anyone, or get run over & keeps the greasy side down..........!!!!! (G) Our son will be racing our other car in the same races, so maybe he'll look out for his Dad. Actually it doesn't work that way, if he tried watching out for his Dad, he'd probably get run over. I just hope they don't run over each other, that would really be bad.........!!!! (G)

JUDY WENT HOME TODAY

This is Judy & Rory, getting ready to go home. I think she was glad to see him. Now maybe she will get brushed more & get some of the long hair off. One of the symptoms of Cushings disease is long hair that doesn't shed. Since she's been on pergolide, she has started shedding, although I don't know if she will ever slick out, her coat is pretty rough.

Noticed today that Frijolita is not losing weight. She was plump when she got here, & she's still plump. Now that we have an empty pen, we thought about feeding her by herself, rather than with Lucy, Daisy & Buster. But I don't really think she's eating that much hay, the four of them only get 10 pounds of hay a feeding. I would imagine she is eating "off the land", which is going to get quite interesting pretty soon. The mesquite trees have set lots of beans this year. Right now they look like small green beans, but once they plump up & turn brown, the equines will go after them like candy. Which means the ones that will over eat, such as Frijolita will have to stay in pens until the beans are either eaten or have fallen on the ground. Once they have been on the ground for a few days, the donkeys won't eat them, which is good.

Daisy looks like she is losing a little weight, which is good. She doesn't really seem to go out on the property & try to eat everything in sight, like some of them do. At least she is headed in the right direction.

Max still has a few cactus spines in his shoulder & still isn't very steady on his feet. He does pretty good walking in a straight line. But if he tries to turn or change direction, his hind legs go every which way. I sure hope this is just a bad time he's going thru.

JOHN'S BACK......................YIPPEE.................!!!!!

I guess during the night someone brought back my sweet cooperative donkeys & took the ones from hell away. Well at least most of them, I still had 5 that waited until the last minute to show up this morning. That's a definite improvement over the last couple of days, besides Tula, Chester & Jenny don't count. They are ALWAYS late.....!!!

I've identified a problem area while John's been gone. He usually does the rounding up & fly mask detail. Tula will stand for you to put the fly mask on & off, BUT, when you're taking it off, she will throw her head & run, as soon as she knows it's loose. I don't allow her to do this & will keep working her around her pen, & get her to show me 2 eyes, until she gives up & will stand. John is the....... get it on, get it off, type even though I've told him it's much easier to get things accomplished when both parties know the rules. I can tell from her attitude, that she's been doing her thing, & he's been letting her get away with it. Last night in the dark, (thank goodness the moon was pretty bright) we were doing "stand still for fly mask removal, 101" for quite sometime. She finally stood, but I could tell from her body language, she was probably thinking bad thoughts about me. Although she is hard to work with she has never offered to kick, bite or run you down. I'm sure if you tried to corner her she might, although if she gets herself into a corner, (the pen is square) she will bury her head & tuck her tail, rather than show any aggression at all. I sure wish I knew why she is like she is.

Max still has a few cactus spines in his shoulder, I plucked 3 more out this morning before the muscles started twitching & he figured out what I was doing. He likes John, so maybe when John gets home tomorrow, he can get the rest, if they haven't broken down & fell out by then.

This morning when I went out, the horsey group was here as usual. When Max the horse walked over to get his treat, I was horrified to see hundreds of prickly pear cactus spines sticking out of his neck, shoulder & body on his left side. He obviously had fallen in a cactus sometime during the night. He looked like he had a nasty run-in with a porcupine. No pictures, my first reaction was to start trying to pick them out. He was pretty good about standing & I got most of the big ones out, although, when I got to the shoulder the nerves that automatically get rid of flies kicked in, & some of those I haven't been able to get ahold of. He's also covered with the little tiny red hairy stickers, everywhere. He did try to bite me a couple of times, but doesn't seem to be bothering the remaining stickers, so I assume they bother me more than they bother him. It will only take a day or two for his body to start breaking them down, so I guess it's not a major crisis, but I do feel bad about it. Because of his broken neck & nerve damage we have to keep in the back of our mind someday he will get to the point that he will no longer be safe to roam around on rough ground. At that time we will have to make a decision in his best interest. I hope this was just a fluke & not a change in his situation.

Right now I am not happy with the rest of the gang. It was after 10 am this morning before they all managed to wander in for breakfast. It's interesting to watch the dynamics of the herd. They will go along for weeks, showing up on time, going in their pens, perfect little angels. Then something happens............. I sometimes think they've been replaced during the night with donkeys from hell. So the battle is on for a few days, & then they go back to being angels again. I've threatened to close the gate to Burroland, with them on the other side & leave them over there for the day. I have 2 reasons why I haven't........... # 1, there's no water over there..........& # 2, they probably wouldn't notice & if they did they probably wouldn't care.......!!!! (G) They do love their WILD country..............!!!!

John got to Indiana just fine, said he actually landed early in Dallas & Indianapolis, which was a pleasant surprise. He had a busy day planned today, getting ready for the memorial tomorrow.

I guess we're doing OK, although we did have a power struggle this morning. I'm probably the only one that recognizes it as a power struggle, we'll see if feeding tonight goes any quicker. When I went out this morning I had the horse & mules, & BlackJack. Everyone else was over on Burroland, ignoring the bell, & the passage of time. I fed the chickens, mixed up breakfast & still no donkeys. I fed the few I had, got ready to get the hay wagon & low & behold, here they came wandering across the wash. I ignored them, except for putting on their fly masks, no treats not even a sweet word & loving pat. I told them to get to their pens, & I MIGHT get around to them sooner or later. Everyone except Tula, I closed her pen, so she couldn't get in it. When I do this she stands outside & screams at me, like it's my fault. Everyone ended up in their pens got their breakfast & their hay, but no treats. I'm curious how tonight will go. Usually after one of these control battles, they straighten up for awhile. We'll see.......................!!!!!!

Flies are terrible right now, I use the fly traps & fly predators & they do a good job, but right now it's humid & flies are everywhere. It would be nice if it would rain & get it over with. We sure could use it.

As planned we trimmed on Buster's feet. Bless his little heart he was such a good boy. I don't think his feet have been trimmed since we've had him, which has been over 6 years. He is rather fragile emotionally, although I think he has had good training in the past. But it was probably rather harsh training. Over the years he has learned to trust us & loves to give kisses, by sticking his tongue out the side of his mouth. Depending on your level of acceptance, he prefers to have you hug his head with your cheek on his tongue. But he will settle for a hand if that's your preference.

I sat on a little bucket, put his feet in my lap & trimmed away. He never pulled away or anything, just stood quietly as I spent a LONG time on each foot. If he had wanted to fuss, I was in a very vunerable position, but he was great.

Then last night he choked on hay pellets. We called the Vet after about an hour & left a message. It took about 3 hours before he finally cleared. Soon after the Vet called back & we discussed the ramifications of feeding pellets. I've had this discussion before with just about every Vet I know. Although we mix them with soaked beet pulp, they still hold their shape & obviously can get hung up on their way to the stomach.

John flies back to Indiana tomorrow for his Mom's memorial. He'll only be gone until Monday or 8 feeding sessions, depending on how you look at it. Up until a couple of days ago, they had been doing real good on coming in to be fed. But for some reason, independence has set in & they don't seem to see a need to come in until they are good & ready. John usually does round-up & he isn't quite as "forceful" as I am. Since there are a lot of them, & only one of me, I think it works out much better, if they take responsibility for showing up without me having to go ferret them out of the brush. I'm sure by the time he gets back, we'll all be organized & cooperative, at least I hope so. It's suppose to cool off into the low 90's, which will be nice.

Buster with his Lucy girl.......!!!

This morning when we were getting ready to feed, I noticed Buster had a piece of hoof wall split off & had gravel behind it. Got the nippers to get it off. When I lifted his foot I was shocked at how long his hooves are. They are about 1/2 inch longer than they should be. They are wearing evenly, which is why I hadn't noticed the length. So as soon as he gets thru with breakfast we will see if we can trim them a bit. What it takes Courtney a couple of minutes to do, seems to take us a LOT longer.....!!! I guess we better physically look at everyone else that usually do their own trimming too, just in case there are some others out there that haven't been walking enough. Lucy is one of Courtney's "regulars", as she has been chronically foundered in the past & really has nasty looking feet. We've never had her x-rayed, but I'm sure if we did, the inside looks as bad as the outside.

The little kangaroo rats didn't make it. After 2 days they were not gaining weight & were getting weaker, so John put a piece of cotton with ether on it with them in their nest. To let them keep going downhill until they died, would have been cruel. I'm sure this happens frequently, mother doesn't get home, & babies starve in many wild species. But once a person gets involved we should do our best for them, which I think we did.

THE ODD COUPLE

I don't think Daisy & Jack the mule are an item, I think they were standing together by accident this morning. Daisy is usually with the donkey herd & Jack is with the "horsey" group.

I've got Sha'ba's habronema larvae under control, I hope. I haven't seen anymore large ones, although this morning I found 2 or 3 little ones, that have probably been brought in by flies in the last few days. Those I can deal with, it's the deeply embedded large ones, that really get me going.

I found a couple of small ones on Chester's belly, in front of his sheath. I assume that is the ones the flies were coming to visit & he was kicking at over the last few days. He stands real still for me to "doctor" him now, don't have to use the squeeze or even a halter. Of course he expects to get a butt scratch when I'm done.........!!! (G)

There has also been some change recently with his crippled leg. He's been improving quite a bit, since Martha has been massaging his leg & we've been stretching it every morning. The last week or so, not only is he walking with very little limp, the swelling in the elbow area is noticeably smaller. I have no idea what is going on, it will be interesting to see what Martha thinks the next time she comes out.

This morning John came in & said there were 2 little rats in the garage, so small their eyes weren't open. They were flopping around on the concrete floor which doesn't sound right. I went up & these little things are about an inch long, trying to go someplace & not making much progress. We looked all over & didn't find a nest. We figure the Mom didn't make it back last night, & they were getting hungry. Made a "nest", I got on the web, joined a rat/mice yahoo group, to figure out how to feed them. They can be fed puppy or kitten formula, which of course I didn't have, so off to town we went. Before we left though, I mixed up some canned milk, sugar & water, which is what we use to use when I was a kid, & puppy, kitten formula hadn't been invented yet, I guess. They actually ate a little bit, of course they have to be rubbed to make them go potty, which is scary on something so tiny & not very effective so far. They have to be fed every 2 hours, night & day, OH! GOODIE...........!!!! I haven't quite figured out why John found them, & I get to be nursemaid.........!!!! (G) When we got home I tried them with formula, one is eating pretty good, the other one hasn't caught on yet. I hope he does before he gets dehydrated. Oh! by the way they aren't common garden variety rats, they are Kangaroo Rats. It's really difficult to raise such small wild animals, but I'll give it my best shot

He makes a Q-tip look big...................!!!!

This morning when I went out to feed, BlackJack was watching the feed room door. John was in there cutting up carrots & BlackJack wanted to make sure he was first in line, when John came out with the goodies.

Right after I took the picture, he started pawing the door, which doesn't make things move any faster, & usually brings out the person with a crop in their hand, to "remind" him pawing & banging the door isn't allowed. He hops off the porch when we storm out flailing the air with the crop & yelling at him. Usually he's back on the porch before we get back inside & get the door close, so it's isn't a very tramatic experience for him. We always tell them, their help doesn't make things happen any faster, but they keep trying.

While remembering those brave soldiers who gave their lives to protect our freedom, also remember all the horses, donkeys, & mules that have been in wars throughout history. They never had a choice, but were used as needed. Most of them suffered great hardships & didn't survive.

OFF THE WEB, UNKNOWN

Samuel Taylor Coleridge
TO A YOUNG ASS
Its mother being tethered near it

Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834) was an English poet most famous for his Rime of the Ancient Mariner,
which also has a theme concerning the mistreatment of an animal.

Poor little Foal of an oppressed race!
I love the languid patience of thy face:
And oft with gentle hand I give thee bread,
And clap thy ragged coat, and pat thy head.
But what thy dulled spirits hath dismay'd,
That never thou dost sport along the glade?
And (most unlike the nature of things young)
That earthward still thy moveless head is hung?
Do thy prophetic fears anticipate,
Meek Child of Misery! thy future fate?
The starving meal, and all the thousand aches
ÔWhich patient Merit of the Unworthy takes'?
Or is thy sad heart thrill'd with filial pain
To see thy wretched mother's shorten'd chain?
And truly, very piteous is her lot -
Chain'd to a log within a narrow spot,
Where the close-eaten grass is scarcely seen,
While sweet around her waves the tempting green!

Poor Ass! they master should have learnt to show
Pity - best taught by fellowship of Woe!
For much I fear me that He lives like thee,
Half famished in a land of Luxury!
How askingly its footsteps hither bend?
It seems to say, 'And have I then one friend?'
Innocent foal! thou poor despis'd forlorn!
I hail thee Brother - spite of the fool's scorn!
And fain would take thee with me, in the Dell
Of Peace and mild Equality to dwell,
Where Toil shall call the charmer Health his bride,
And Laughter tickle Plenty's ribless side!
How thou wouldst toss thy heels in gamesome play,
And frisk about, as lamb or kitten gay!
Yea! and more musically sweet to me
Thy dissonant harsh bray of joy would be,
Than warbled melodies that soothe to rest
The aching of pale Fashion's vacant breast!

Well not the best picture, but you can see a large habronema in the top sore. Below the white spot is the rest of the body, which is probably about the size of a small grain of rice. The bottom sore, had a larger one, the one I pulled the head off yesterday. It came out when I wiped the dried invermectin off this morning. But the 2 small white spots one at the top & one in the middle & to the right are still in there & you can see the amount of damage they do. Bless his little heart, Sha'ba is very good about letting me work on him, considering how tender the area is.

Heard from Judy's Dad & he will be coming to take her home soon. She's done real good, seems to be adjusting to being on pergolide, although I wish she would shed out more. She's much more alert now, & isn't pot bellied & ribby like she was. I know my hay is higher in sugar & starch than I'd like, so we've soaked her hay ever since she came in January. Rory gets his hay from a feed store, so he won't be able to have it tested. I will recommend he continue to soak hay. But other than that, & trying to outsmart her about the pergolide, she shouldn't need any special treatment in the future.

HABRONEMA SEASON IS HERE AGAIN.......!!!

Poor little Sha'ba came here with a horrible infestation of habromena on his face & sheath 6 years ago. We got the face cleared up the first 2 years by daily efforts & fly masks. The fly mask keeps flies from reinfestating (not sure that's a word, but you get the idea).

Unfortunately there isn't anything to protect the sheath from flies long term. I have been checking him daily & was quite pleased to make it thru the spring without any sores on his sheath. But a couple of days ago, I noticed a couple of sores. Sure enough, a couple of them obviously wintered over. A few years ago I read someplace that they can incubate 6-24 months, which is the reason they are thought of as being chronic. It's not that they are chronic, they survive the winter, become active & draw flies, which bring in a new supply of larvae. There were a few teeny tiny ones on the surface that were brought in with the visiting flies & a swipe of invermectin got rid of them. I wormed him that night, supposeably internal worming kills external habronema. Can't say I've seen much difference, but I'm willing to do it, just in case.

I tried to take pictures this morning before I cleaned the area & put more invermectin on it. Although he's a good little guy & puts up with all my "doctoring", it's rather difficult to hold the subject matter & take pictures too. John said he will help tomorrow.

I know one of them is dead, I pulled the head off with tweezers. But the other one is still buried too deep to get ahold of. Pardon my rambling, but it makes my day, when I know they are dead, dead DEAD........!!!!!!!!! What a horrible incidious pest......................!!!!!

Cisco is my other chronic habronema guy, & so far this year he is doing good.

Here is an update picture of Daisy I took this morning. I've still got a little touch up to do with my small clippers, but for the most part she's done. The dark spot on the side of her neck right in front of her shoulder is where she was shot when she was still on the range years ago. She still has shrapnel in there, & her Mom said she gets an open abscess about once a year. I'm hoping with more exercise maybe it won't break open, but if it does we'll take care of it.

I was hoping when I upwrapped Jenny's foot this morning the abscess would be open, but not yet. I soaked her foot while she was eating her hay this morning, & she stood real good. Sometimes her cooperation level is rather low, but she was a good girl this morning. It still isn't open, so I put some ichthammol on it. We'll see what happens.

Judy, Max, & Frijolita all seem to be fine this morning after being poked & prodded & stuck with needles yesterday. Max actually seems a little perkier, although I can't say he's a whole lot more stable on his feet. Judy is moving good, although I never could really see what Courntey was talking about when she said Judy was "out". But her hips sure cracked, when Dr. Weaver manipulated them.

Now that I know where Pepper's problem is, I spent more time on his hip when I massaged him this morning. I have a little 3 legged thing you put batteries in & it vibrates, which he loves. He won't let you forget in the morning, & refuses to go out of his pen until he has been "worked" on. Like with Max I don't know if it makes a difference, but he enjoys it.

I noticed that Chester had a lot of flies on his sheath this morning, which could mean it's either dirty & smelly or has habronema larvae on it. Either way, it was time for my simple answer to "dirty little boys", thunja zinc oxide . The general sheath cleaning is a little involved from my point of view, so I have developed a short cut that works for me & my boys. Most of my guys see me coming with the zinc oxide jar & you can almost see them roll their eyes, & assume the position. But Chester has never had to have the "treatment". I got a glob of zinc oxide on my fingers & headed for the object of interest. Well, let me tell you, I don't think he's ever had THAT done before, & isn't really interested in being the subject of such an insult. I called for John & a halter. That makes it official & usually when we put a halter on them, they give up. NO, THANK YOU LADY, KEEP YOUR HAND TO YOURSELF, or I will personally kick you into the next county...............!!! Hmmmm, as I checked my hand for permanent damage from a flying rear hoof, I decided that it was time for the squeeze. Got him in the squeeze, & he never moved a muscle. Of course I didn't spend a lot of time working in the zinc oxide, I figured he could do that himself. Gave him a treat for being a good boy...........NOT.......... turned him loose & no hard feelings I guess, he was looking for more treats.

Thank you Dorothy for the new "hair-do"

Does anyone remember the 1st pictures of Daisy I put on the blog, back in March? Or how about the later one when Katie trimmed half of her & left the front half from the withers forward untrimmed? Well this is what she looks at completely trimmed, except for her legs & ears. We decided to not trim those, to help keep the flies at bay.

She is a tiny little girl once all the hair is gone except for a few extra lumpy pounds here & there. I'll try to get a better picture tomorrow. As soon as she was trimmed, I put a fly mask on her & once again, she started walking around like she couldn't see. We watched her for a few minutes, & she finally started walking normally, although still putting her nose down to the ground like she was sniffing a trail. Her Mom said she had never had a fly mask on before, but I've never seen one act like that. By feeding time, she was doing just fine.

Today was so busy I don't know if I can remember it all. Courtney & Martha along with Dorothy came out this afternoon, to trim those that needed it & massage Chester & Max. We also had a new Vet come out to check out Chester, Max & Pepper. Dr. Weaver does a lot of acupuncture & manipulation & all 3 of those are crippled in one way or another.

His exam of Pepper showed his problem is probably in his right hip. He said it could be bad arthritis, or it could have gotten broke or cracked. I know in the past he has been knocked down at least twice, so who knows. He said there really wasn't much that could be done, unless we had x-rays to show exactly what the problem is & even then probably nothing could be done. So I will continue trying different things to hopefully find something that will help that leg be more comfortable. Right now, he's getting Hyalun, Vit E, Flax Seed Oil, & White Willow Bark, subject to change..................!!

He adjusted Max, after poor Max almost fell down. Max can get real nervous if he doesn't know what's going on. So this strange man, carrying a bunch of medicine & hauling an aluminum ladder type thing was almost too much for him. He started trying to back up & his "backie" up doesn't work very good at all. I thought he was going down. Dr. Weaver got to see him at his worst physically. We got him collected back up, & he let Dr. Weaver adjust his back. Now we will see if it makes a difference, or if all of his problems stem from the break in his neck.

He didn't do any work on Chester, although he did give him a happy shot so Courtney could trim his good front foot. We know he can stand on his bad leg, BUT convincing him to do so isn't easy. A happy shot makes it much easier. Dr. Weaver said new x-rays might give us a better idea of what is going on in there. We had planned on taking him up to the Equine Center the next time we have to haul someone anyway for new x-rays.

Courtney wanted him to look at Judy, which Judy wasn't so sure about the whole situation. Martha & I were standing clear across the pen, & heard her hips crack when he adjusted them. Courtney had been saying she was "out". I'm real anxious to see how she moves tomorrow.

It's been about a year since Jenny the mammoth donkey has had any problems with her feet. When Courtney started to trim her, she noticed a lot of flies in one spot above her coronet. Sure enough there was a soft spot, a probable abscess. At this period in time of treating abscesses there is 2 schools of thought. Soak or poultice & wrap. Soaking has been a long time treatment for abscess, but a lot of people are going to poultice & wrapping instead. I'm about in the middle on the subject. So I wrapped tonight & will think about soaking tomorrow..........!!!! (G)

SUMMER HAS ARRIVED...........!!!!!

I don't know where the weatherman gets his numbers. He keeps saying it's in the high 90's. My thermometer goes over 100 every day. John has always said they put their equipment in a cooler place in Tucson, so the temperatures won't scare off the tourists. Makes sense to me.

This is the latest in the year Cisco has ever gone, without having bloody places where he's itched because of habronema larvae. YIPPEE! That's not to say he hasn't rubbed bald spots all over his back & butt, which makes me feel like a bad Mom for not brushing on him more often. Everybody has started shedding now, & there's no way the two of us can keep up with all of them. Most of them are self starters, "If they aren't going to brush us, we'll just take care of it ourselves". Unfortunately they aren't very careful about how they rub & scratch, & end up with bald spots. Poor Cisco looks like a moth eaten coat, with all his missing divets.

Judy is finally shedding out pretty good. She isn't slick, but everytime I brush her I get a lot of hair.

Monday is going to be a busy day around here. They will get feet trimmed, massages as needed, & there's a new Vet in the neighborhood, that will be coming out to look at my cripples. I like to keep in touch with all the Vets in the area, so if we have an emergency, maybe at least one will be available to come out.

I want to see if he has any ideas to make Pepper, Max & Chester more comfortable. Actually Chester is pretty good, although he still limps he doesn't seem to be in any pain at all. Pepper is the one I worry about, he has almost no use of one hind leg. So we'll see if the Doc has any brilliant ideas.

I'M BACK.............AGAIN...............!!!!!

Got in from Los Angeles, actually Torrance about 7pm last night. We went the upper way, came home the lower way, & decided, there isn't a whole lot of difference, time wise, which way you go. Although the lower way you don't have to participate in Los Angeles traffic patterns............!!! We went thru a couple of hours after rush hour, & there were still cars everywhere...............BUT at least they were moving.

Gulliver was his usual goofy, bratty self. Actually, although I haven't been around large birds that much, he seems to be rather mellow & accepting of whatever is going on around him. I've seen birds that aren't that eager to meet strangers & seem to have issues. He'll go to whoever has their arm out, & really seems to enjoy being the center of attention. In fact if he thinks he's is being ignored, he has a rather high loud shriek that definitely gets your attention.

Sybil gave a good talk, & the club members all got to meet Gulliver, which was fun.

Got home late enough John had already fed, & everyone was eating. I went around to say hi & got the impression that I was interrupting their dinner. Daisy was the only one that actually seemed to enjoy the petting. At least John said he was glad I was home...............!!!

John said everything went just fine, except my big old male guinea was dead yesterday morning when John went over to the pens. He was probably 9-10 years old, I have no idea how long they live. He didn't seem to be sick or anything, he was just laying under where he roosted.

I went out this morning before they started eating, & petting seemed more important.

ROAD TRIP...............!!!!!!

By Victoria Berry

I'll be leaving in the morning for a few days. Sybil is giving a talk to a bird club in California & asked me to go along. Of course I said yes. After donkeys, travel is my favorite thing......!!!!

Everyone is doing pretty good right now, although John is already whining about being "chief cook & bottle washer"., but he always does just fine. That's OK, when he takes off for a few days, I whine too. One person can do it, but it sures gets tedious quick.

BlackJack has a new nickname as of this morning. John has been calling him Stinky. It seems sometime last night he found a skunk or a skunk found him. Either way, we now know that although we haven't had any problems with skunks lately, obviously there are still some in the neighborhood.

Tula is doing much better today. She'll be getting antibiotics for a few days, the Vet hasn't told me how long yet.

Today was finally the day to put fly masks on everyone. I put it off as long as possible, so they could have access to Burroland during the day. Some of them came up to me when they saw me carrying the masks, so I guess they thought it was time too. The first day always takes awhile to get the masks organized & decide which one goes on who. After that we hang them in the appropriate shelters, so it goes much quicker.

Daisy's mom told me she had never had a mask on, so I wouldn't have been surprised if she didn't think much of one. But she stood & let me put it on. Then she started acting funny, & walking funny. Actually she wasn't walking at all, she acted like she was feeling her way with her feet. It just took a minute to figure out what the problem was. She couldn't see............!!!! She still has a lot of hair on her face, & when I put the mask on, it must have pushed the hair down over her eyes. I hurried & took off the mask, & she didn't even seem to hold a grudge. She has enough hair around her eyes, that the flies don't bother her too much anyway, so we'll forgo the fly masks until we trim her face.

I used the furminator on Judy today, & she is starting to shed pretty good, for a Cushings mule. Guess the pergolide is working. I never could get her to eat the chasteberry on a regular basis, so it isn't a player.

John got the golf cart running again............yippee.........!!!! It might not have the style of the quad, but it sure is a lot easier to use for hay hauling.

WATCHING TULA TODAY.......!!!

We were suppose to go to Tucson today, but this morning Tula was not acting like Tula. Maybe her standing in the shed yesterday which was unusual for her, was a sign that she didn't feel good. Instead of eating with her usual gusto this morning, she was picking at her hay & just standing around. We got her in the squeeze & the first thing I checked was where the cactus wound was on her belly. It is all healed up & she didn't react when I pushed on the area. She is running a little temperature, but for the most part, I didn't find anything out of the ordinary. I called the Vet & we decided to give her antibiotics for a couple of days to see if that makes a difference. The Vet said there might a small abscess where the cactus thorn punctured her belly. Or it might be something else completely. We'll watch her for a couple of days & if there isn't any improvement the Vet will come out.

Before we let her out of the pen, all of her little followers were standing around the gate waiting for their marching orders I guess. Once we let her out, she only went to the next big shade tree & has stood there for most of the afternoon. Hopefully the antibiotics will kick in & she will be her flighty suspicious wild child self by morning.

So I stayed home & let John go to Tucson. We would have waited until tomorrow, but we have been using the quad to haul hay at feeding time, rather than the golf cart. The cart quit about 3 days ago, & it's taken awhile to figure out what, is wrong with it. So John headed to town with a small black part to replace. We didn't realize how much easier using the golf cart is than the quad, so we're rather anxious to get it back into service. The quad is much more exciting to drive, except there is no place to put all the hay buckets. So if you hit a bump or get on unlevel ground, the buckets slide off.

Yesterday the equine had to stay in ALL day until after midnight last night. We spent the morning parking cars at the Oasis Exotic Bird Sanctary for their annual Open House. We set the alarm & got up early so we could get down there on time. Of course that made everyone happy, to get fed early. But we had to leave them in their pens. We got back about 1pm & started feeding them about 2pm, because last night was race night. Of course once we started feeding they were thrilled & forgot they had been in their pens all morning. Then we left again to go racing. I happy to report both cars made it on the track, finished their races & went up on the trailers with only a few battle scars. That is a first for this year, it's difficult to keep 2 cars up & running. We got home about 1am & of course weren't feeding at that time, but they were all excited to get out of their pens. I tell them they are lucky to be able to run around all over the place, rather than be stuck in a pen all the time, but they don't seem to appreciate freedom, as much as they expect it.

Today has been normal...........so far, & they got out on time. I was helping John figure out why the clutch on the race car wasn't engaging & looked over in the barn where we keep the quad, tractor, golf cart & anything else we can squeeze in there. I had to look twice before I figured out that Tula was standing in the shed. It's 3 sided with all that "stuff" in it, & I would have thought she would feel trapped, but she was standing there falling asleep. Then I noticed a pair of ears behind her, farther into the shed. I thought it might be Pepper, he use to stand in there a lot, but it was Chester. We made sure we didn't go close to the shed until she decided to go someplace else. She always finds a way to surprise us.

A FIRST.............!!!!!

Well, John met his match this afternoon. He had gone to town & when he came home, the "herd" was at the gate. This isn't really unusual, they spend a lot of time in that area, for some reason.

Driving in has never been a problem, but today, they were really curious about the van, the gate & how this whole situation of "big metal box" going in & out of opening that isn't usually there works. I was in the house & didn't know about the problem. He said he kept trying to open gate, jump in van, drive thru & shut gate. I assume it looked something like a scene from a 30 year old movie called "the Gods Must be Crazy". The scene was about 10 minutes long of a guy trying to drive thru a self closing gate & was absolutely hysterical. But John never could put it all together before the minis & Frijolita tried to "run the gate". The first I knew of the problem, he was opening the back door & saying, "don't ask why I walked in". He waited about half a hour, & by then they had wandered off to bigger & better things.

I hope they didn't find this so entertaining that it becomes a routine past time. We've never worried about people opeing the gate & driving in before. I don't think it would be a problem to get most of them back in, if they did happen to get out. But I'd rather they never find out there is a great big world out there, they've never had a chance to explore.

THE BEST PLACE IN THE WORLD...........!!!

Well, according to Buster on the left & Lucy on the right. It was nice today & I opened the feed room dutch door. Lucy is continuing to blossom. As far as I know this is one of the first times she came up on the porch, & it's definitely the first time she has stuck her head in the door. Of course I rewarded bad behavior by giving them treats, but they were so cute about it. Their necks aren't long enough to reach anything edible, whereas when Max the horse sticks his head in he can knock the lid off 2 of the feed cans & help himself so I can't leave the top of the door open, unless he's in his pen.

The Furminator shedding tools got here & really works great to help with shedding, even on Judy & her long hair. This morning John was going to groom Max a little. I asked him what he was using & he said a brush. I told him to just try the Furminator & he really was impressed with the amount of hair he got. It must feel good, because they all stand like statues while you're grooming them, even Judy. Usually she squirms when you brush her, but she seems to like the Furminator.

Judy & I are having a power stuggle over the chasteberry. I got it to see if it would help her shed out since the pergolide didn't seem to make a difference. She ate the ground chasteberry mixed into her feed for a week or so. She started turning her nose up at it a couple of days ago. I tried putting in less, & she wasn't impressed at all, she'd smell it & give me "the LOOK"............!!! This morning I left out the chasteberry & she licked her pan & gave me "well you finally got it right" look............!!!

I'm still not putting fly masks on everyone. The longer I can put it off, the longer they can go over to Burroland during the day. The flies aren't very bad yet, & the ones that usually have runny eyes, are doing good, so I'll put it off as long as possible. Max the horse, the mules, Sha'ba & Pepper are wearing their masks. But none of them use the masks as toys, so we haven't had to look for any yet.

This morning I was e-mailing Katie that does our web-site & lamented the fact that I had not updated the blog since Wednesday & really didn't have anything to write about. The gang are behaving themselves.........well except for destroying the trees by girdling the bark, but how interesting is that?

Having opened my mouth about nothing to write about, John came in & said Tula had something hanging from her belly. Oh! great, if there is one equine out there, that is a challenge to work with, it's Tula my wild child. I went out & tried to look, from a distance of course. Her comfort zone is about 15-20 feet max. If you try to get closer, she takes off.

After she finished eating, we got her in the squeeze we made using corral panels. What gets me is she will go in the squeeze, & doesn't really seem scared. She never offers to kick or bite or do anything dangerous. The muscles on her hips don't get tight, but her skin quivers the whole time you work with her. I felt under the midline of her belly & felt a blob of dirt hanging with sharp protrusions. Couldn't see it, everytime I tried to get down low she would start to get jumpy. I went in to get the camera, figured a close up picture might give me a clue as to what I was dealing with. John was handing out treats, & she was willing to take them. So was Chester, he has been in the squeeze so much he thinks it is his private property, & was trying to either help or get in the squeeze with her. Either way, he wasn't much help.

This is what I found. The dirt scab is hanging to the left with an open wound underneath. I still didn't know what I had, but could tell the scab was held on by hair. Got my scissors & really had to be careful, because it was right up to her stomach. Finally got it off & it took a little time to figure out what it was.



At sometime recently she has laid down on a Fishhook barrel cactus hook & embedded it pretty deep into her belly. It stayed there long enough to start breaking down the hook, until it was soft enough to straighten & work itself out. Unfortunately the accompanying infection collected dirt & made a big heavy dirt scab, caught in the hair & she couldn't get rid of it. There is fresh blood on the side where one of the hooks was continuing to poke her as she moved.

I cleaned her up & put some thunja zinc oxide on it. It seems to be healing OK, but we'll have to check it every day to make sure. So she'll be going back in the squeeze daily for a few days.
There were 3 hooks, the one in the middle is the one that made the large hole in her belly & had straightened out. The one on the left, was a non-player it was pointing away from her belly. But there is another one on the other side of the scab that was causing the fresh sore, as she walked.

This is a good reason to check equine over every day to make sure they haven't found something to hurt themselves with. I have my hands on everyone else every day, but she is a special case, I only check her visually. But until this came loose from her belly, I didn't even notice it.

I sure am glad we got Daisy, or at least most of of her clipped, before our latest weather pattern moved in. We've been around 90 degrees ever since Katie clipped her. She seems to be much more comfortable, although I do wish she'd stop scratching with such vigor on the trees. It's like now that air & sunshine can reach her skin she's making up for lost scratching time. She isn't the only one, most of them are starting to scratch & rub, I guess they are starting to itch. John brushed on Max the horse & the mules this morning, & got gobs of hair. I ordered a furminator groomer off the internet, once Katie told me how to spell it. I'm anxious to see how it works, I think it will really help with the shedding. If anyone is interested in buying one, shop around on the internet, I found them at about 1/2 price on amazon.com.

I still haven't put fly masks on all of them. The flies aren't really, really bad yet, & once they have masks on, they won't be able to go over to Burroland during the day. After the "log jam" at the gate the other night, I can imagine what it would be like, if the gate didn't open at all. There are flies & they are going for the eyes, but I'm trying to put off the inevitable as long as possible, they really enjoy Burroland & I hate to deprive them of their fun.

Sunday we had a great bunch of kids come out to visit the donkeys, along with their teachers & chaperons. Everyone seemed to have a good time, including the donkeys of course. They are all developing their little "tricks of the trade" to get the visitors to feed or pet them. Some of them have started braying, if they think the people aren't getting to their pen fast enough. The four that are fed outside weren't in pens & in fact Lucy, Daisy & Buster never showed up, don't know where they were. But Frijolita made sure she was available for interacting with the kids. She really has a wonderful personality, & has jumped into tours like an old pro.
Today we had friends we hadn't seen for awhile come by for the afternoon. They gave Bennie & Nina a wonderful home a couple of years ago & live a couple of hours away, so we don't get to visit very often. We shared donkey stories & really had a good time wandering around looking for donkeys. Actually most of them found us & checked us out to see if we had treats. I don't know if there is a more food orientated animal than a donkey. We didn't, but they hung around for pets & scratches. They found out Susan will give butt scratches, & that's almost as good as food. We ended up in the garage looking at 40 years of racing pictures & trophies & Lucy came all the way into the garage to see what we were doing. This is really a break thru, Lucy has been here over 5 years & just in the last couple of months has shown animation & actual interest in her surroundings. She was probably a roping donkey & when she mentally shut down was used to breed more donkeys. She very rarely showed emotion of any kind. But lately she has had a sparkle in her eyes & shown a curiosity she's never had before. I was really surprised to see her walk confidently into the garage & walk right up to us, to see if we were doing anything interesting. She stood with us for quite sometime, & only left when we did. It's really great to watch them gain confidence & be secure in their surroundings again.

Tonight when John let them out of the pens, he forgot to open Burroland. I went over to open it, & found a herd of disgruntled equine at the gate. In fact I almost couldn't even get to the gate to open it because of the crowd. Daisy was standing behind the gate, & once I opened it a little bit, Jenny got on the other side & started banging on it, which meant it was hitting me & Daisy. I don't know why she just didn't go thru the gate, I finally had to go around the gate & push her away. Then I had to go around & get Daisy out from behind the gate. By this time the horsey group, showed up, & when I started back across the wash, poor old Pepper was crippling along, heading for a night of adventure. Poor old guy, his legs are just about gone, but he keeps moving. This morning everyone had shown up but Pepper. John said look over across the wash, & here came Pepper hobbling back from Burroland. I wish I could find something to help him move better, but so far nothing seems to help much.

Tomorrow will be fly mask day I guess. We've been putting masks on the ones with one eye & Rusty the mule that has pink skin around his eyes the last couple of weeks. It's getting pretty warm, in the 90's today & the flies are starting to be a nuisance to all of them. We use fly predators & fly traps, which helps a lot, but nothing is 100%. So everyone will get masks tomorrow, except maybe BlackJack. Can't keep one on him, Buddy Brat thinks they are toys, & BlackJack encourages him. Daisy's Mom called today, & said she's never had a mask on. Daisy's pretty mellow, so I don't anticipate her being a pill about a fly mask. I haven't noticed the flies bothering her, she has so much hair on her face, so she might not even need a mask.

DAISY GOT A HAIRCUT.......!!!

This is a picture of Katie & Daisy standing ankle deep in hair after the dirty deed was done. We decided to just body clip her. She has so much hair around her eyes, if we clipped it she'd need a pair of sunglasses to protect her eyes, or at least a fly mask till her eyes adjusted to the change. Then we decided if we just left hair on her head, she'd really look out of balance. If later on it looks like she needs more clipping I should be able to do it, although it probably won't be as easy as Katie made it look.

You can see the "extra" little saddle bags she's carrying. We're working on those, it will probably take a year or more to get her slimmed down. It has to be done very slowly or they can develop a nasty problem called hyperlipidemia. She's not a piggy eater & seems satisfied with what we feed her, except for the occasional mesquite limb that ends up in her mouth. But she's not as bad about eating the trees as some of the others. The minis spend most of their time, munching trees or bushes.

Katie brought a neat little shedding comb, I've never seen before. It's called a furilator or something like that. I should have listened closer when she told me what it was. I tried to find it on the internet, but my spelling is too far off, so I'll have to get the name next time I e-mail her. It really grabs the hair, she said it doesn't cut the hair, but it doesn't seem to pull, because everyone she used it on, including Nicky the dog, seemed to think it was great...............!!!

Miracles of miracles.........................Judy seems to like Chasteberry. I haven't got her up to a full amount, but so far she is eating it like it's good. It has an almost sage like smell, that doesn't do a thing for me, but so far she hasn't given me the "look" & is eating it. Hopefully it will help her shed out

AND SO IT GOES................!!!

Yesterday afternoon John found Sha'ba with blood all over his fly mask & down his ear. I checked him over & found an area inside his ear bloody. I think he might have poked inside his ear with a tree branch. How I don't know. He didn't seem bothered by it, as much as we were. Some of the others like to play fight & for some reason, ears seem to be used as handles. They come in with blood dripping & all the hair pulled off. I have a fit about it, & they just try to mug me for carrots. So I can only assume that it isn't as painful as it looks. Some of them were very protective of their ears when they came here. I would imagine humans had grabbed ears to try to control them, & it was painful. Don't know why another donkey grabbing their ears with big strong teeth is acceptable.........!!!

Judy is now back to eating her hay & feed again. She went on strike for about 3 days, only eating about 1/2 her hay & almost none of her feed, although she was eager to get out of her pen, & go check everyone else's leftovers. One morning she ate everything & seems to be back to normal now. I just got the chasteberries today. I will start her off with a tiny bit of ground chasteberries & hopefully add a little more every feeding. As suspicious as she is, I would not be surprised if she turns her nose up to the whole idea of eating chasteberries to help her shed out.

We are still putting Daisy's hay in her pen & leaving the gate open, so she can go eat go out & eat with the others if she wants. She usually starts out eating with Lucy, Buster & Frijolita in the outside feeders & about halfway thru, she & Frijolita go into her pen & eat her hay together. So far Buster & Lucy haven't figured out there is more hay to be had. Didn't take Frijolita long to figure it out.

Katie is coming out tomorrow afternoon to show me how to clip Daisy. I'm not sure how this is going to go. I don't think Daisy will mind, she is a pretty mellow little girl. It's been pretty cool here the last couple of nights. I told John if it doesn't warm up, I'll have to drag out one of the blankets to put on her until the nights warm up. I can't imagine what she will look like with all that hair gone, I'll try to take before & after pictures.

Well I think you can tell from the video Max's opinion of the race car. Actually the "horsey" gang was standing in the middle of the circle drive & the first time John drove around they didn't even move. I guess Max decided he was going someplace else the 2nd time around. He sure moves pretty when he trots. It's amazing considering sometimes his back legs wiggle & wobble so much we're afraid he's going to fall most of the time.

Frijolita is going to become the official ambassador & greeter I guess. We had some nice folks come out to visit today. They had been here during the open house in December & wanted to bring a visiting sister out to see the donkeys. Frijolita, Buster & Lucy were the only ones out, we left everyone else in the pens. Buster & Lucy came by to get some pets & eat some pellets. So did Frijolita, but she ended up walking along with us for most of the tour. She was quite interested in the pellets, in fact her nose got in the bucket John was carrying more than once. But she seem to enjoy the pets almost as much.

Of course, everyone else geared up their braying & sticking their cute little noses through the corral panels, to get as much attention as they could.

It's nice when people enjoy the donkeys enough to come back.

The first few times we had visitors after Daisy came, she didn't quite know what to expect. But today she figured out the routine. We put her in a pen to make sure she was available for petting & pellet feeding. When she saw Judy getting pets & pellets, she marched herself to the gate & when we went around the other side of her pen, she followed us. Another cute little beggar is made, I guess.

The weather was a little iffy, yesterday & by the time we got to the racetrack it was spitting rain & sleet. The track is clay, so if you add rain on top of the clay it really get slick. They finally had to cancel the races when the rain started coming down hard. What a disappointment for all the kids looking forward to the planned Easter egg hunt. Of course all the drivers were pretty disappointed too.

So we got home about 3 hours earlier than we usually do, which thrilled the equines to no end. Everyone except Lucy, Buster, Daisy & Frijolita were in their pens because they weren't thru eating when I left. We got home about the usual time for John to let them out, so they were happy.

Judy the mule is playing games with me. She has been doing so good at eating her beet pulp, & soaked hay pellets mush, that also has her pergolide for Cushings & chromium & magnesium oxide to help with the insulin resistance. The last couple of days she has left about half of the mush, which means I don't know how much of the supplements she is actually getting. I swear she gives me looks that make me believe she has figured out there is "something" in there & she isn't going to eat it. The amount of powder she gets is miniscule & is even apple flavored.............but she's an interesting study in equine nature, unfortunately............... (G) Or perhaps she's just a typical mule, Rusty plays mind games too, with his daily benedryl. I can give him 4 tablets, & find 3 gently pushed to the side, accompanied by the "look".

By the late Victoria Berry

The race track is suppose to have an Easter egg hunt for the kids tonight. I certainly hope the weather takes a turn for the better. Right now the wind is blowing, it's spitting rain & the temperature in late morning is 52 degrees.

Needless to say the gang isn't very happy with the weather right now. We are waiting for some people to come out for a tour, so the donkeys are still in their pens, which adds to their displeasure. I wouldn't be surprised if the people don't show up, it's certainly not a typical spring day in the desert.

I guess Sha'ba is thru eating hay for good. We have continued to put hay in his pen & would change it out every 2 or 3 days. That means we'd leave his gates open & let the "cleaner-uppers" have access, & replace with new hay. But he's shown no interest in weeks. We stopped putting hay in & as far as we can tell, he hasn't missed it. I've upped his mush just to make sure he doesn't get hungry. He doesn't polish his bucket, so I assume he's eating all he wants.

Besides massaging Chester every morning, I'm also doing Pepper now that Martha showed me where his problem with his rear leg is. When I rub my hands down the front & back of his leg, I hear a clicking sound up in his hip somewhere. It will click everytime I rub his leg. I have no idea what that is about, but he seems to like it, so I guess it feels good.

With this cold snap it's probably a good thing, we hadn't gotten around to clipping Daisy yet. I have to get in touch with Katie & see if she can work us into her schedule one of these days.

Thanks Sherry for the Video.......!!!

Rocky & Harley or Harley & Rocky, I'm not exactly sure which is which. They really do look a lot alike, although Harley is built a little more drafty than Rocky. But you have to look real close to tell the difference. Sherry said Rocky was doing most of the chasing. Harley hasn't been with other donkeys for who knows how long, so he has some catching up to do. Rocky spent a lot of time while he was here, trying to get someone to play with him. Buddy Brat & Pepsi were his 2 best playmates, & he'd pick at Buster until he'd finally play a little. But if this video is any indication of how much they are going to run around & play fight, they are going to be busy. This is just one video Sherry sent, she took quite a few others, so they played for quite some time.

I was in Tucson today & John got a call from the Oasis Exotic Bird Sanctuary. Today was quite windy & about 1/4 of their winter cover for the birds that live outdoors came loose. It needed to be repaired & they needed all the hands they could find. So John went up to help. He said the wind was a real challenge, every time they would try to get the cover up & over the framework, the wind was really fighting them. They finally got it under control & were using wire ties to attach some of the cover to the cages. John said he was doing real good, & was down to the last wire tie. He was watching the cockatoo in the last cage, that was on the other side of the large walk in cage. John said he figured it wouldn't be any problem for him to poke the wire tie around the inside with his finger. WRONG.......!!!!!!! I guess a determined cockatoo is much quicker than a guy that doesn't know how fast a cockatoo can move if he wants to. The bad news is, he learned just how much power they have in their beaks. The good news is, he still has his finger. When he went whining & bleeding to the "real" bird people, they said they never go in with that particular bird without protection...............!!!! I would imagine that finger is going to be REALLY sore in the morning, it looks like it's been rather badly abused.

SHOT DAY......!!!!!

Pile of individual shots awaiting their fate

I HATE SHOT DAY...........!!!!!! Some of them don't mind, some mind a little bit, some have a 6th sense about what is happening & Jack & Rusty, both mules don't even get shots, because they are such brats about it.

It actually went pretty good. We even put Tula in the corral panel squeeze we "designed" & shot her for the first time. She's been here 3 years & we had never even attempted to shoot her. She did better than some of the others, although she wouldn't take the ginger snap we always give afterwards until I went to the other side. She'll have to get a booster in 3 weeks, hopefully she will be at least as cooperative as she was today.

Years ago Buddy Brat had a reaction to a rabies shot, that caused a lot of panic & John driving like a maniac to the Vet's office for a shot. Since then we keep Recover & epinephrine on hand, just in case. Haven't had to use it so far, & hope I never do, especially the epinephrine. The instructions are..........2 cc's in a vein or the tongue.................!!! I've never done a vein, & sure don't want to do a tongue.................!!!! UGH! I know I should learn to shoot a vein, but hate to practice on my guys. I have a couple that have had so many shots, that they no longer react at all. But it doesn't seem right to poke them unless there is a reason. I don't want to know how Vets learn to do procedures.

Yesterday Cisco was almost 3 legged lame. Except for his immune problems he's usually healthy & no problem. I checked him out & couldn't find anything warm, swollen, sore or reactive in any way. One time John saw him & he wasn't putting any weight on it at all. Gave him bute last night & this morning he's walking fine................!!!!! I sure wish I knew what makes these guys tick, they show me every day how little I know.

I shaved a spot to give Daisy her shot. As much hair as she has, I was afraid I wouldn't be able to tell if I had it where it needed to be or not. She was a good girl, once she led John on a merry chase to put the halter on. They all seem to know that he isn't real quick with putting on a halter & take advantage of him. She turned away from him & walked right up in front of me & stopped. But I didn't have the halter, he did. She stood there until he caught up, & handed over the halter, & stood still while I put it on her. You think they don't have a sense of humor.......?????

Speaking of hair Judy is actually shedding some of her long hair, not in great gobs, but it's a start. The pergolide is helping to control the Cushings, but doesn't help with the shedding as much as the herb Chasteberry (Vitex) . I've ordered some, although as picky as she is about what I try to put in her feed dish, I don't know if she will eat it or not. It has a pretty strong smell. I gave it to Pepper for years, but he isn't exactly a connoisseur when it comes to food & will eat just about anything...........if he feels like it.

TRIM & MASSAGE DAY............!!!

Courtney & Martha were out today to work on those that needed it. Martha worked on Max the horse & Chester's crippled leg. She also checked Pepper & Judy. I noticed the last few days Judy had a hitch in her git-a-long on her right rear. I didn't understand all Martha's explanation, but there's a little round bone in the rear leg that can get a tendon caught on the wrong side. She said it will fix itself, but will take awhile. She's not lame or anything like that, just a little "hitchey".

Pepper has a sore spot on the bone above his hock. He is so scrawny with very little muscle he could have hit it, slipped or who knows what. He still pushes to get out & roams around, so hopefully it will get better with time.

Martha was quite pleased with Chester & how well he is walking. He loves for her to massage him, but when he's done he's done. He tells her by turning his butt around to be "massaged". She is so taken with him, she says her next equine will probably be a long ear...............!!!!! Yea! that's how we sucker in the horse people, one at a time.........!!! (G)

Max isn't doing too good, he doesn't really know where his hind legs are most of the time. The last few weeks he's really went downhill. It's been 7 years since his neck was broken, & since it wasn't treated at the time, arthritis has taken over. He could also have nerve damage. He's a big horse over 16 hands, 1200 pounds. So if he gets to the point where he falls, we will have to evaluate his quality of life.

Today was a milestone for Chester. This is the first time Courtney has been able to lift his good front leg to work on, while he stood on his bad leg. When he first came here, we had to have the vet put him on the ground to trim his feet, because he couldn't stand even to get the bad foot trimmed. These little miracles are what we look forward to.

This was Daisy's first trim since she came here. She was no problem, she's such a good girl. Martha knows how to clip, she use to work in show barns. So if Katie can't help me give Daisy a haircut, Martha said she could. As with all of us, getting the time to do it is a big concern. I don't want to do it all at one time, I'm sure even though Daisy is a easy going type of gal, that might be a little much.

Not the greatest picture, but this is Rocky in front with Harley behind him, trying to figure out why there is another donkey in his pen. They almost look like twins.

We stayed around for awhile & they seemed to be getting along really well. A few feints here & there, Rocky spent quite a bit of time, rolling in Harley's dusting areas, but for the most part a very low key meeting.

Tonight I got a worry call from Sherry. She said we hadn't hardly got out of the driveway & Harley did a Dr. Jekell & Mr. Hyde personality change. He probably saw the trailer leave & figured out Rocky wasn't leaving in it. From her description it sounds like typical getting use to each other. But they were shocked that their darling sweet little Harley had decided to behave like a real ass..............!!!!!!

Rocky isn't a shrinking violet type of guy, so I'm sure after a day or so of getting familar with his new home, they will buddy up. He's already thumped Harley in the ribs, & is comfortable enough to lay down & roll so I don't think he's too worried about the situation.

I'm always glad when they get a wonderful forever home of their own, but I still miss each & every one of them.

THE SPRING WINDS ARE HERE FOR AWHILE

Much to everyone's disgust....!!!!! I keep telling them I can't fix it, but I swear they still give me dirty looks, like it's my fault.

Tomorrow Rocky will be going to his new home. It's still suppose to be windy, & hauling a trailer isn't much fun in wind. It's only down to Sierra Vista so hopefully poor little Rocky won't get flopped around too much. John is a great "trailer puller", so he'll do everything he can to make it a good trip for Rocky. I've ridden in the trailer, & it has a real good suspension system.

Once Rocky goes to his new home, we will try feeding Daisy out of her pen with Buster, Lucy & Frijolita. There's no reason for her to have to eat in a pen. Once she figured out we would let her out of the pen, after she had eaten her hay, she picked up the pace on getting rid of that hay, ASAP. Then she stands by the gate, & chortles at us to let her out.

The other 3 eat at about the same pace, & aren't chow hounds. If that works out she won't have to go in a pen at all. She has really gotten into this roaming around routine. She hangs around where Lucy & Buster is a lot of the time, & they would be perfect friends for her. So hopefully if they all eat together they will develop a little herd. Frijolita likes to hang with Tula & whatever group is running with her at the moment. Usually when she finishes eating she will go stand by Tula until we let her out.

A friend is going to help me trim Daisy's long hair for summer. Her Mom said she does lose most of the long thick hair, but we'll help her "shed" out a little sooner. It's warmer down here than it is around Prescott, so I'm sure she will appreciate having a "buzz" cut for summer. Not sure when we can do it. Katie's a vet tech, so we'll have to work around her schedule. I doubt if we will do it all in one session, it depends on how Daisy takes this new experience.

DAISY'S MOM CAME TO VISIT TODAY

Lynne & her friend got here this afternoon to visit with Daisy, & of course everyone else. We let the equines out on the 10 acres, so we had to go "find" them. Wasn't too difficult, most of them were right by the driveway, & Lynne saw Daisy when she drove in. Daisy seemed happy to see Lynne, & I know Lynne was happy to see Daisy. They visited for quite sometime & most of the other donkeys came by to get petted, & make sure there wasn't any food being offered. Lynne wants to come back in a few weeks to visit again, which is great. It's not often we have owners that stay involved in the donkeys lives. In fact I can count on one hand the owners that have called or e-mailed even once. Daisy is a very lucky girl to have such a caring family.

When Lynne & Daisy were visiting Rocky was trying to horn in. Daisy kept feinting kicks in his direction. I haven't noticed them having any problems, so I guess she was just telling him to stay away, while she visited with her Mom. He's still a kid in a lot of ways & likes to have his nose in everyone's business. He will be going to his new home Sunday, so he'll have to spend some time learning to get along with Harley & his new family. He'll do just fine, he doesn't have any negative issues that have to be dealt with, life is just a lot of fun from his point of view.

DAISY DISCOVERED BURROLAND

National Geographic picture of zebras & their shadows

Most of today, whenever I went outside I would see Daisy standing around with the "horsey" group. But when John went out to round up for supper, she was no where to be seen. Most of the donkeys were missing, & we assumed they were over on Burroland. When John ran out of equines over here he headed over there. He had been gone about 5 minutes & all sizes & types of donkeys came running from over there. And sure enough one of them was Daisy. She came thru the gate, trying to kick up her heels, dust flying everywhere. Everytime she came close to another donkey she'd try to kick up her heels. I think it's been awhile since she tried that, because she seems to be out of practice. I thought she was going to fall a couple of times. She disappeared down below the pens, while everyone else headed for their pens. John went down to find her & she followed him back to her pen like a lady. He said when the others saw him, they took off running to the gate, any excuse to act silly I guess. Daisy didn't get the "memo" & got left behind when the others started running. I guess she didn't know why they were running & started trying to catch up. John said he doesn't think she's ever ran in trees before, & she kept having to duck & swerve. If she had slowed down a little she might have seen the trails the others were running on. When they run like that over there, you would swear they are going to hit a tree. But they know where the trails are.

This morning Chester was walking with almost no limp at all. He was following John to his pen, & for a moment I didn't recognize him, he was walking so good. I still stretch his leg every day. In fact all I have to do is hold his leg up & hang onto the knee & he will pull against me, & stretch it himself. He will always limp, but hopefully we can keep the tendons from contracting & keep him from limping too much.

Judy has managed to wiggle her way into the inner circle of the horsey group. When they are standing under the mesquite, she usually ends up standing closer to Max, the horse than either Jack or Rusty. I assume there is some type of hierarchy at work. I know one thing, she has made a believer out of all the pen runners, looking for hay. All she has to do is pin her ears & they take the hint. BlackJack is the only one that even attempts to hold his ground, but it usually doesn't do him any good, she runs him off anyway.

ROCKY HAS HIS FOREVER HOME.......!!!

We checked out Rocky's new home today. He will have a friend named Harley, that almost looks like his twin. Harley really is a neat little guy, loves people & wants to be where the action is. It should be a wonderful home & I have no doubt they will become great friends. We almost always haul the donkeys to their new homes to make sure they settle in without any problems. Both Rocky & Harley are not territorial or aggressive in any way, so I don't anticipate any trouble.

This Thursday Daisy's mom is coming down from Prescott to visit Daisy. We've only talked on the phone, so it will be nice to meet her in person. So far Daisy hasn't found a buddy. I'm sure once she gets settled in she'll find someone to hang out with. Yesterday afternoon we fed early, which was a first for her. John had her to her gate 4 or 5 times & she would just keep going. Usually she walks right in, so we don't know if rounding her up early confused her, or if she was playing with John's mind. I came out of the feed room, pointed to her pen & told her to "git". She promptly went past it. I don't think she was impressed with my authoritorian attitude, because she turned around & went right in, once she had shown me she didn't have to "git".

Once Rocky leaves I might try feeding Daisy with Buster, Lucy, & Frijolita rather than by herself. They along with Rocky eat at bunks that aren't in pens. But Rocky is what you might call an energetic eater & thinks it's his job to make sure no one leaves any food in their pans or hay in the bunks. Those 3 hold their own with him, so he doesn't get away with much. They are all about as gentle as she is & if she eats with them, she would probably start hanging out with them too. At least Buster & Lucy, Frijolita is usually with Tula's herd.

For once the weatherman was right. They said it was going to be windy today, & they were RIGHT.......!!!!! The donkeys absolute hate wind with a passion. I looked out one time & Daisy was standing under a tree by the driveway. Her long hair was standing up & flopping all over the place.

When it was time for afternoon round-up, we noticed the usual suspects were missing & probably over on burroland. John rounded up everyone else & finally went over to find them. As soon as they see you they head for the pen area, which is really irritating, if you have walked the 20 acres looking for them. Tula & Chester went right in their pens, & I had Jenny & the 4 minis in their pens before John caught up.

Tomorrow we are going to haul a horse for a nice lady, who's friends or aquaintances wanted to charge her $75 to move her horse from one side of Tucson to the other. The old saying "with friends like that who needs enemies" comes to mind........!!!

One time I was in the express line at Safeway in Benson. You might know I didn't have enough money for what I was buying, which of course messes up the whole reason for having an express line. All of a sudden a hand came up beside me with a dollar bill in it. I turned around to thank the person & it was Baxter Black the cowboy poet & humorist, who has lived in Benson for years. Anyway I thanked him & he said, " not a problem ma'am, just helping life move along". So I guess that's what we're doing, helping life move along. I guess their time, gas & trailer are worth more than ours is...........!!!! (G)

Loading 34 sturdy Wehrmacht Cavalry horses aboard an Me-323 somewhere on the Eastern Front during WWII. From the book THE WORLD'S WORST AIRCRAFT by Bill Yenne

Daisy out visiting with one of her new friends, Anubis the dog. She seems to be absolutely fascinated with the dogs for some reason. Now that she is "out & about", I have to check her over a couple of times a day to make sure she doesn't have any mesquite sticks stuck in her hair. This morning she had 4 caught up in her hair, a couple of them had already started to wind up in the hair.

She's decided that hay pellets are pretty good & is eating her hay without leaving some to munch on later, so she gets to go out on schedule with everyone else. Tula is still trying to dominate her by trying to herd her. Daisy really isn't very impressed, when Tula tries, Daisy just goes in her pen & stops. For some reason Tula won't go in to herd her in there. I guess it's neutral territory.

DAISY'S OUT & ABOUT

Daisy got released from solitary this afternoon. She went out & promptly ate a poor little greasewood bush about 8 inches tall. I don't know what they find so tasty about greasewood, but it seems they all go for them the first time they get out. Didn't see her for awhile, & the next thing we see a rather large herd following her, with Tula in the lead. We watched for awhile, & made sure they weren't being mean. Tula got a little close a couple of times, & Daisy threw a kick in her direction. A few minutes later, everyone dispersed & went on about their business. When John rounded everyone up at feeding time this evening, she was in the wash by herself, & readily followed him to her pen. We always wonder if they will go back in their pen, & they always do. She finished her hay tonight, so she got to go out. Wonder where she will be in the morning?

We had a nice couple come out today to see if Rocky might fit into their family. They got a donkey last month & are looking for him a friend. We will do a home study next week-end, & if everything is OK, Rocky will have his forever home. They also might be interested in little Pepsi. He has had a sarcoid tumor under his eye at least twice & it looks like it's coming back again. It will probably have to be surgically removed, so I don't know if we would let him go at this time or not.

Daisy has settled in just fine, we'll probably let her out tomorrow. Frijolita visits with her quite often thru the fence, so maybe they will be friends.

We tried putting Rocky in with BlackJack & Cisco to eat. It didn't work very well, even though we put an extra feeding bunk in, so they couldn't keep him away from the hay. He was upset at not being with Lucy, Buster & Frijolita. He couldn't take time out from running the fence & yelling to do something as unimportant as eating. BlackJack & Cisco thought that was great, they ate everything he didn't. So after that one abortive attempt at changing, we put him back out with his "herd". We will just have to watch to keep him from scarfing up all his feed & running the other 3 off of theirs.

Now that John is back we are trying the new idea of doing all the hay in one run instead of two. It's working out pretty good, still have a few glitches to fix, but all in all I think it will get the hay handed out quicker. Quicker seems to be very important to all of them. Except Daisy, she's is a well mannered lady, & doesn't rush you when you come in with feed or hay. Her Mom said she had never had hay pellets before, but it didn't take her long to decide they are pretty good.

I do see a problem when she starts going out of the pen. She isn't use to eating her hay until it's gone. She likes to eat a little & come back during the day to finish it. That isn't going to work with this bunch of "pen" runners. They all know who leaves hay, who drops hay & don't pick it up & who they can run off of "found" hay. At first we will probably only let her out during the day, & leave her in her pen at night with the majority of her hay for the day. That way she can eat at her leisure. If she figures out that she needs to eat hay when it's available, then we can let her out at night too.

JOHN'S HOME........DAISY'S SETTLING IN

I took a quick picture of Daisy this morning, since I didn't get around to it yesterday. Contrary to what it looks like her ears are the same length. She's hard to take a picture of, she is a pocket donkey & wants to be where you are. Isn't she cute, she looks like a stuffed toy, with all that hair. The picture doesn't really show how much hair she has. I noticed yesterday she stood wherever the shade was, & it isn't even summer yet. I have a friend that grooms dogs & she has industrial strength clippers. We might body clip her for summer, I'm sure she would be much more comfortable. Also the next time I have a vet out here, I will have a insulin/glucose blood draw on her & probably also run an ACTH test for Cushings. She has some symptoms & even if she isn't I like to have numbers to start with, for the future.

John got in last night, & I must say, chores went a lot quicker this morning than they have recently. I figured out a couple of changes that "might" make things go smoother. Notice I said might.......!!!!! We've always fed hay in 2 separate runs with the golf cart. But I think I've figured out a way to do it in one run. We'll find out when we feed this afternoon. One change will be busy little Rocky is going to go into the Fat Farm with BlackJack & Cisco, rather than staying out with Lucy, Frijolita & Buster. He eats his pellets & beet pulp real quick, & then runs all of them off of theirs. I think he will find BJ & Cisco a little more challenging. I had originally wanted him to bond with Frijolita, they would make such a cute couple. But I think he has burned his bridges for any relationship with her, by being an obnoxious little boy. She doesn't appreciate his "in your face" way of interacting. So it doesn't matter if they are together or not.

DAISY IS HERE!!

Daisy got here late this afternoon, just about feeding time. I had put everyone in their pens, except for Chester & Tula, who usually hold out until they see me headed for their pens with their pans. Ned drove in dropped the ramp on the trailer, & my first thought was, "it's a little yak, not a donkey". My goodness she's a hairy little girl. She wasn't quite sure she wanted to come out of the trailer. Of course after a few minutes, Chester showed up & was trying to either meet the new girl, or get in the trailer. I finally got him out of the way, & she came hopping out. Since she is going to be in a pen for a few days to get use to the place, I moved Judy to the emergency pen & put Daisy in Judy's pen. I don't think Judy cares as long as she gets fed.

Once she was in the pen she started checking it all out & trying to figure out what was happening. She seems to be very sweet natured. I asked her Mom about all that hair, I thought maybe she had Cushings. But according to Lynne she has always had long hair & lots of it.

Tomorrow I'll take some pictures of her & get to see her better. By the time I got thru feeding, it was getting dark. I'll let everyone out tonight as usual, so she will probably have lots of company during the night.

This morning I spent about an hour, trying to get Tula in her pen. I really wasn't interested in her, but unfortunately the minis were attached to her like glue. So in order to get them in their pens, I needed to get rid of their "leader". Nothing like starting the day off with LOTS of exercise...........!!!!

John comes in tomorrow night about 9:15 at the airport.................!!!!!! YIPPEE........!!!!!

John's Mom passed away in her sleep Saturday night. Everyone was very shocked, as she had been doing so well. She had made all her arrangements long ago, even her obituary. John will be busy the next couple of days, but is planning on coming home Wednesday night, unless something unforeseen happens.

The donkeys & I are getting along pretty good, although Chester is still limping more than I would like. He did real good right after Martha worked on him, but is regressing somewhat. That leg seems to be warmer than the other one, Martha noticed it also.

Some of the "horsey" group are starting to shed a little bit. Rusty the white mule with rusty spots, is shedding more than any of the others. I even noticed if you pull on Judy's hair a little bit, a few hairs come out. That's a good sign with a Cushings horse or mule on pergolide, it helps them to shed properly. The donkeys probably won't start shedding until June or July, they are usually only slick for a few weeks & then start getting fuzzy again.

Looks like we will be getting a new girl Tuesday. Her name is Daisy & I'll wait till she gets here to tell her story. This puts us over our self imposed limit of 20. Hopefully Judy will be able to go home soon, which will drop us down to the magic number again. We probably should start looking for a "forever home" for the few we have that would have a chance at a home of their own. We've been in no hurry, but healthy donkeys take up space that could be used for those that really need sanctuary. I was hoping Frijolita would bond with Rocky, they would make a beautiful couple. Unfortunately he acted like such a silly boy when she got here, I don't think she even likes him now. She hasn't really found a friend although she spends a lot of time with Tula & the minis, or as John calls them Snow White & the "4" dwarfs. Tula is definately an alpha jenny, whether she wants the job or not. They follow her like she was the Pied Piper.

No skunk this morning, & all 8 chickens were running around inside their house...............!!!! I set the trap again tonight in the pen, & shut the chickens up in their house. Hopefully it will be empty in the morning. I REALLY don't want to have to deal with a skunk........!!!!!! (G)

Courtney came out today to trim Frijolita. When she was here 3 weeks ago, Frijolita was limping around, so she couldn't be trimmed. She's fine now. She was a pretty good girl, Courtney trimmed her at her old home, so they know each other. She tried trimming on Pepper & he almost fell down. He is pretty frail, & I haven't been able to figure out anything that will help his creaky old joints. He's an old roping donkey, & I would imagine his joints have just worn out. He still goes out everyday, eats a little cactus, stands in the sun or shade depending on the temperature & limps around slowly when it's time to go back in his pen. He's actually eating a lot better than he was a few months ago, which is good. I was worried that he wouldn't make it thru the winter. He is both insulin resistant & has Cushings disease, so we watch him pretty close.

Martha also came out & massaged Chester's shoulder & leg. He's been pretty lame recently, but after she worked on him he was walking pretty good. I hope that means that the problem is with his injury & not a return of the infection. She said he didn't seem to be particularly sore, she couldn't get him to react when she poked & prodded him. He really seems to like her working on him, although when he's had enough he'll try to get her to scratch his butt rather than keep working on the leg.

John's Mom's surgery went very well considering she's 96 years old. The surgeon was very pleased & they didn't even put her in ICU, she went straight from recovery to the surgical ward. I don't think she'll be up a dancing tomorrow, but we're very happy with how well she is doing so far. He said if she continues to do well, he'll probably try to come home Wednesday.

THEY'RE BAAAAACK..........!!!!!

Well last night was certainly one of the most interesting I've had in awhile. I was on the computer, & the cats were at the back door acting like Hobo the outdoor cat was there for her supper. I looked & there was a skunk cavorting on the back porch. Guess it was too much to ask that we never have skunks again. So I got the brillant idea to go check in the chicken pen to see if there might be one over there. Looked behind the nesting boxes & there was a fluffy black & white tail wiggling around.

I was afraid to leave the area since the chickens were right there & I had no idea how long it would take to gather up cages, & traps & whatever else I needed. So I plucked the chickens off their roosts & stuck them in one of the guinea pens. I knew I couldn't haul them in the big cage like we did before, John had to steady it on the hay wagon, while I drove the golf cart. I found that the small cage we have fits perfectly in the hay wagon. I put the big cage in the garage, & headed over to gather up the chickens. Good thing we only have 7 hens & Rowdy the Rooster, I don't think I could have stuffed another chicken in the cage. Set the trap in the pen, & brought the chickens over to the garage & moved them into the big cage. I'm sure by this time they think I've lost my mind, I know one thing I slept good last night..........!!!! (G)

I was dreading going over this morning to check the trap. I don't want to have to haul a skunk by myself. I'm sure somewhere in the process I'll either uncover the trap or drop it. Either way I'll probably get sprayed. But I guess all my running around, with lights, making noise, & grabbing chickens made him decide to leave the area as soon as possible, because the trap was empty...............!!!!!

I talked to John tonight & he said to shut the chickens up in their house, & set the trap in the pen. That way I don't have to put them in the garage, I just hope the skunk doesn't ignore the cat food in the trap & go for something a little tastier.

This afternoon a group of about 15-20 people came to visit with the donkeys. I thought they were coming next week, so I hadn't kept the donkeys in their pens. That means they can be anywhere on the 30 acres. We were lucky though, as the cars came in they had to almost drive thru the herd. When they came up to park, the horsey group was standing around, & while we were talking about them, the donkeys started coming up the driveway to mingle with the people. So it worked out really nice. Everyone behaved themselves, except for Max the horse scattering the donkeys. He wasn't really being mean, he just moved & they quickly moved out of his way. I'm always a little leery of letting the donkeys mingle with people. Although none of them bite or kick, they are still large animals & a lot of people that come out have never been around large animals & don't know how to read body language. If they are out when people visit, we never let the people feed them. Some of them will compete for food & that could be dangerous. But I think a good time was had by all, & the donkeys got lots of pets & attention, that's almost as good as food.......well at least for most of them..............!!!!

John's Mom will have surgery tomorrow. When he comes home, will have a lot to do with how well she gets along.

AND SO IT GOES..............!!!!

Everything is going pretty good while John is gone to Indiana. Although I am getting a little too much help from some of the gang. Actually it's not so much help as it is, taking advantage of the one human that is here. I do have to say they have been very good on leaving tidy piles of poo in the pens. For some reason the last few days they have not only piled it, but haven't walked thru it as much a they usually do. We always thought they were trying to design scavenger hunts for us, you know, "see if the old folks can find each & every "apple". We also have a few that like to walk-a-bout as they go. The other day someone strung a line from one pen & halfway across the next pen.

This morning it was time to carry out the trash, which is usually John's area of expertise. I loaded it in the golf cart & headed up to the garage. On the way the "fat" farm abeit BlackJack, Cisco, & Buddy Brat, started yelling at me, they had finished their hay & wanted out. Being the good little slave I am, I stopped to let them out. Of course the minis saw them getting out & wanted out too. Then Jenny, & Judy, & poor old pokey Pepper. Pepper is so eager to get out, but usually gets about halfway thru the gate, & forgets where he is going. So we usually stand by for awhile, & eventually give him a nudge. We also have to protect him from the others, mowing him down in the gate, as they race into his pen, where they know there is leftover hay. The point is, I left my golf cart with trash & garbage, sitting WAAAAAY too long in the driveway.

Trash was everywhere, the little culprits were busy throwing the sacks around, looking for the best stuff. I yelled & Justin & Pepsi took off. I'm surprised it wasn't BlackJack, he usually is the first one to find treasures, especially if it might be food.

John's Mom is suppose to have surgery either tomorrow or Friday, so I don't know when he'll be coming home. Sometime next week I would imagine.

Courtney & Martha didn't get out Monday as planned. They are suppose to be here Friday. Chester is walking pretty good again, I sure wish I knew what causes him to limp badly sometimes.

I took John to the airport before sunrise this morning. Threw him out waved bye, & headed home to take care of the gang. I got home about 1/2 hour after we usually start chores, so they weren't too upset. Until they figured out operations weren't going as quickly as usual. I keep explaining to them, there is one of me & quite a few of them, so they need to be patient........!!!!!

I found out how to get Judy the mule to take her pergolide, don't put any soaked beet pulp or pellets in her pan. It seems the soaked food is the problem rather than the pergolide. I can spritz her pellets with a little water, open the capsule & dump the contents on the wet spot. Or I can just throw the capsule in & it disappears. But not if there is soaked food in the pan. This brings up another problem though. How do I get her Arizona Regional Mix, extra iodized salt, Magnesium oxide, copper & zinc into her system? All of that is to balance my bermuda hay, with what it lacks for optimal nutrition. I guess I'll just give her pergolide for a few days & see how it goes. She really should have the supplements, but the pergolide is more important right now.

We had a little bit of rain last night, which I appreciated, although I don't think they did. Except for Rusty the white mule. He loves to roll in mud, & is absolutely filthy right now. I don't know how he does it, but by tomorrow he will be white as snow again. Jack the other mule loves to roll too, but he is almost black & doesn't look quite a dirty as Rusty does.

I'm going to try to frequently add articles I find interesting to the sidebar under NEW STUFF. I just added 2 today. The one on roping donkeys is something that needs to be brought to the forefront. Quite a few of our donkeys have been roping donkeys & for the most part even if they survive mentally, they will never be 100% whole. Equines are classified as livestock rather than companion animals, like dogs & cats. Consequently, the laws covering their care & treatment are different, although there are laws to protect them from being used in a cruel manner. The problem is the laws are ignored & even if the problem is brought to the attention of the public, very little is ever done to the people involved. Very rarely do people found guilty of animal cruelty serve jail time, even when companion animals are involved. Many times they get their animals back if they want to go thru the court system. Even if they don't get the animals back, there usually isn't any court order to prevent them from going out & getting more animals immediately.

This is a good article on the subject, looking at both sides of the issue from a neutral position. When we picked up Chester, his owner was proud of the fact that he was a "trained" roping donkey & would run a pattern. How many times does a donkey have to be roped before he becomes "trained"? I don't think my Cisco was ever a "trained" one, judging from the scars on his legs, & how mentally shut down he was.

Usually when I carry Judy's hay in her pen I just open the gate & leave it open until I go back out. A couple of times she's gone out, but when I yelled at her or went out & headed her direction she would go back in. Last night she decided to act like a mule, & go out.............BUT...........this time she decided to see how determined the human was. We went around the pens a couple of times & she went back in. I left the gate open to prove I should be able to, she went out again to prove she could............. GRRRR! These power struggles are really irritating at the time, although I always find them funny after the fact, once I get my breath back. Around & around we went again a few more times than the first time. I picked up a play rope to "encourage" her & when she finally decided to go into the pen, I threw it in her direction. It "grazed" her hip, it wasn't even a hit. She turned around, went back out the gate, prancing & kicking up her heels. I think she might have given me a dirty look on her way past. We went around the pens a few more times, & finally she went again. This time she stood politely by the bunk waiting for me to put the hay in....with the gate OPEN. You think they don't have a sense of humor?

Her tummy is back down again, maybe it was all that exercise.......!!! (G)

I'm glad Martha is coming Monday to see Chester, he seems to be limping more than usual. He's learned to pull against me, when I lift his bad leg at the knee & pull on it. It must feel good, cause it makes his lip wiggle.

1917

I think California is blowing thru on it's way to New Mexico today. Spring winds in the desert can really be strong. The donkeys REALLY hate wind, & usually act like it's my fault, if I try to do anything with them while the wind is blowing.

I thought Judy was doing so good, for the last few days she has looked svelte. But this morning her belly is sticking out on both sides just like it was before I started giving her pergolide. Hmmmm.......!!!! it seems like I spend most of my time, trying to figure out what's going on with these guys. So now I'm not sure if her belly is caused by the cushings in which case I would think the pergolide would do it's job. Or if at her age of 23 she's getting a gut. But if that was the case, why would it have gone down for a few days? Rusty our 31 year old mule is pretty round also. He has no health problems, & is losing his topline a little bit due to age. BUT, there is one big difference between them, she is ribby & he isn't. Which brings me back around to, "what's going on with Judy".

It looks like I'll be chief cook & bottle washer next week. John has to make an emergency trip back to Indiana for a few days. Boy, the gang really gets grumpy when there is only one of us doing the slave labor. For some reason it seems to take 3 times as long for one to do chores, as it does for two, & the equines are all very good at keeping track of time. It would go much quicker, IF they all marched into their pens as soon as they saw the "chore giver" coming out of the house. But they don't, sometimes it's like a scavenger hunt gathering them all up. We really enjoy it, when they all stand in the wash watching us. Actually I'm a little less inclined to patiently encourage them to go into their pens than John. He is an old softy & has infinate patience, no matter how long it takes. They all know if I stand in front of them & point, that it's time to move.

I hope everyone stays healthy while John is gone. He leaves the tow van hooked up to the trailer, but I'd rather not have to haul anyone by myself.

Judy's body is starting to look normal, rather than looking like she is pregnant. Since she is a mule, "I DON'T THINK SO"...........!!!!! The pergolide seems to be working, although Patti said she would probably shed quicker if I had her on chasteberry, rather than pergolide. With her "sensitive" palate, I doubt that she would touch it. She has a way of looking at me when she thinks I'm trying to sneak something past her. So far I am managing to get her to eat the pergolide. It's a teeny tiny amount of powder & if I take it out of the capsule & put it on top of her beet pulp & soaked hay pellets then throw the capsule in the pan, for her to find & refuse..........so far, so good..........!!!

This morning we combed out Frijolita's tail. What a mess that was, the wad was about 8 inches long & packed real tight. Since she is suspicious of men, I held the front & John worked on the back. He actually has more patience for that sort of thing than I do anyway. He can even get necklaces untangled.........!!!! She did real good, even when he was trying to pry the wad apart with a hoof pick. Some hair got pulled out or broke off, but we managed to save the length. Sprayed it with conditioner which really made a difference. We had to close all 3 gates going into Chester's pen, where we were working on her. BlackJack was trying to get in one, Judy was at another one, & Justin had the other one captured. There was no food in there, but they seemed to think that what we were doing needed their help. BRATS!

Chester has been limping more the last couple of days. I'm still massaging his leg most mornings & have noticed that when his limp is worse, he has a big egg size lump right behind his shoulder blade. Martha that does the massaging says she thinks it's the end of his tri-flex muscle. If I try to rub the lump with a lot of pressure, he acts like he's going to bite me, so I assume it is sore. You can tell if he likes what you are doing, his lips start flopping around.

I hope all this sunny warm, almost hot weather isn't a sign of an early summer. Last night it was down to 30 degrees, so hopefully we'll cool off to late winter, early spring temperatures again.

Yesterday I found out that Friolita has a big mat in her tail. Most donkeys don't have enough tail hair to mat & if they do it's so coarse, it won't mat. She has very fine hair, a long mane & a very long tail. At least for a donkey. This mat is a big wad & will have to be worked out probably with the help of some hair conditioner. The problem is.........she does NOT like to be groomed. I don't want to cut the hair if at all possible, since it would probably take years to get the length back. My plan is to tie her up, & have John pet & feed one end, while I work on the other.

Managed to get Rusty wormed. I had some "feed in" wormer that has a flax seed base, & he ate it. Unfortunately it isn't manufactured anymore, so next worming time I'll have to get more creative I guess. I don't know why they discontinued making it, although price wise it was rather expensive.

We had a nice young couple out for a tour this morning & another tour tomorrow morning. The donkeys really enjoy tours, they have learned to beg really hard to get those pellets.

They will get fed early this afternoon, tonight is the first night of stock car racing for the new season. They love to get fed early, but they hate to have to stay in their pens until we get home. John is going to let our grandson drive tonight, although John will hot lap the car. This year is our 40th year of being involved in dirt track racing. Being in the military, sometimes there wasn't any tracks where we were stationed. But if there was a track in the area (within 100 miles) John usually built a car & we "went racing"...........!!!! Actually the farthest tow we did on a regular basis was 120 miles one way, & that was every Saturday night. We were younger then, I think.....!!! (G)

WORMING TODAY...........!!!

Everyone got wormed this morning............well everyone except Rusty the mule. Tula & Jack got wormer in their feed. So did Rusty, but he obviously has a sensitive nose or taste buds. He is a real pain to worm the normal way, so I'm still working on a "Plan B" for tomorrow. I always taste anything before I give it to them, & the wormers don't taste that bad. But some of them really fight the battle. Can't remember who it was, but one of them, spit the whole mess out, PLOP.......right on the ground. Not a problem, I always buy extra.............!!!! (G)

Well we have returned the extra live trap to it's owner & our final count was 17 or 18 depending on who's telling the story. Somewhere along the way we lost track of how many skunks we caught. John is still setting our trap in the chicken pen every night just in case, but we haven't caught anything for over a week.

Judy's ACTH test results finally came back & she is Cushings. Not a big surprise everyone that sees her says she looks Cushings. Today we had a couple come out to see the donkeys. So besides getting wormed this morning, they all got to stay in their pens until the people got here, which was afternoon. Judy had been pacing the fence & chortling to let us know we needed to let her out. By the time the people got here, she was so irritated when we came over to her pen, she promptly turned her butt around to us & stood that way, until we moved on to Jenny's pen. The people weren't donkey people, & got quite a kick out of it, when we explained what was going on. It was more important to her to register her opinion of her mistreatment, than it was to get on the treat gravy train, I guess.

Friolita isn't going into a pen to eat now. She eats outside with Buster, Lucy & Rocky. I am hoping she & Rocky will become buddies. She is such a sweet natured little girl & he is so gentle, they would make a nice couple. She's been here less than a month & has already figured out the "tour" routine. As soon as the people showed up & we started walking towards Sha'ba's pen, Friolita came over to get some timothy pellets & petting. Then she walked with us, in case we wanted to give her more pellets.

Once the people left, we let everyone out. My goodness you would have thought they had been in prison for years, the way they acted. As much fun as they have roaming around, I find it sad that so many equines spend a lot of their lives in stalls in barns. For an animal that loves to move around as much as they do, it must be very unsettling to be cooped up most of the time. No wonder a lot of them develop, behavior problems, like weaving, & cribbing.

HOW TO SOAK A DONKEY'S FOOT

This showed up on the Yahoo Donkey Group Site:
Thanks Melinda

1. get a bucket, fill with warm water. add epsom salts until diluted. get donkey placed in cross ties, pick up foot, slide bucket into place. place donkey's foot in tub.

2. retrieve tub from corner of barn, get towel to dry off your face.

3. refill tub with water and epsom salts. shorten cross ties. pick up donkey's foot and place in tub.

4. retrieve tub from other horse's stall, retrieve donkey from his own stall. find bailing twine to fix broken cross ties. wrap towel around head to dry hair. check rapidly bruising toe for signs of breakage.

5.place rocks in bottom of tub to weigh down. snub donkey to wall of stall. refill tube with water and ebsom salts. pick up donkeys foot and place in tube. hold other front leg.

6. pick self up off of stall floor. find place outside where tub was flung. retrieve donkey from neighbor's garden, pull rocks out of donkeys water bucket. call spouse for opinion on whether or not wrist may be broken. Explain multiple times to emergency room staff that you did not fall off of donkey.

7. return to home, enlist spouse to hold donkey. hobble hind legs. tie up front leg. fill tub with water and salt. slide tub into place while pinning donkey against wall.

8. apologize to spouse as they view hoof prints across favorite shirt. wonder if water and epsom salts is bad for new wrist cast. check out burgeoning black eye from broke hobbles. retrieve donkey from cattle across the road. share laugh with cattle farmer about how fast donkeys can move on 3 legs.

9. go to grocery store to purchase ice packs, ibuprofen, more epsom salts and scotch.

10. call vet and ask them to come over to show you how to soak a foot. pour self tall glass of scotch while waiting.

Sha'ba is entering a new phase in his life. When he came here about 7 years ago we were told he was about 40 years old. His incisors were just nubbins, but he still had enough teeth in the back to eat hay. The last time we had him checked by Bert the equine dentist, he said there was nothing he could do with the teeth Sha'ba has left.

For years he has gotten a lot of his calories from soaked beet pulp & hay pellets, but was still eating hay. Recently I posted a picture of a hole he dug beside his hay bunk, & wondered if anyone knew why he was digging like that. In hindsight I think he was showing frustration at not being able to eat hay. He hasn't eaten hardly any hay for a couple of weeks, just the pound or so of soaked mush. A few days ago I decided to up the amount of mush I was feeding him & he is eating all I'm giving him........and still not messing with the hay. Poor little guy, he hasn't acted hungry, but I would imagine he has been. He's been eating prickly pear cactus like crazy, but he's always done that. He was so starved when we got him, we thought maybe that was all he had to eat. I will keep giving him more mush until he reaches a level where he leaves some in his feed bucket a couple of times. Who knows maybe we can get a little meat on his bones. He doesn't need to gain much though, although he gets around real good, sometime in his life he has broken his right rear fetlock & it is now fused. So he doesn't need to be carrying a lot of extra weight.

I thought with the extra mush he would leave the cactus alone. NOT........!!!! The first thing he does when he goes out of his pen, is head for his favorite cactus patch. Unfortunately it's getting pretty small, I've told him there isn't going to be any cactus left, if he keeps eating it.

Tula is no longer limping, thank goodness I wasn't looking forward to trying to get up close & personal to find out what was wrong with her. Frijolita is walking much better also. We've started letting her go out at night again. We still don't know if she has been over on Burroland yet or not. I assumed that's where she pulled her groin, but anytime we see her it's on this side of the property.

I still haven't heard anything on Judy's blood test for Cushings. I guess I'll have to get in touch with the vet tomorrow & see what plan B is. Since the girls aren't limping now, I don't know if I will have the other vet come out after all. I was going to have him draw more blood while he was here, to send to a lab of "MY" choice..........!!! (G)

I guess I'm going to have to start giving a little talk, when we send a jenny to a new home. I have had 2 different homes call one was frantic, & one just puzzled, with clacking slobbery mouths, & other, to the unaware, weird behavior. I'll admit jenny flirting, looks like they have something caught in their mouth, or have a kidney problem, but I guess it's quite the turn-on for the guys. And of course some male donkey even though they have been gelded, continue to act stupid. For years we didn't take jennies, for that reason. Life was much simplier with only guys. But I'm glad we did start taking jennies, otherwise Buster would have never found Lucy for his security blanket. SPRING.........AIN'T IT GREAT..........? The other day little 34 inch Cheyenne was trying to get Chester's attention in every way she could. He seemed to think she was kinda cute, even if she can almost walk under his belly. I think the logistics of that relationship, doomed it from the start.......!!!! (G)

PEPSI MEETS PUG

This morning Judy's owner stopped by to see how she is doing. He has a new little pug puppy named Frank. Of course puppies besides being little bundles of wiggly cells in a fur coat, also have no fear of anything. He seemed to think the donkeys were really interesting. Pepsi was absolutely enthralled with the little squirmy thing, when Rory got in his truck to leave, Pepsi stood there until the door closed trying to keep track of the puppy. Maybe it's the first thing he's seen that is smaller than he is...........!!! (G)

I am still waiting, not patiently for Judy's blood test results. At this stage I don't think there will probably be a result, it's been 2 weeks........!!!!! Frijolita is still lame with her groin pull, & now Tula has come up lame. This is going to be a little more interesting. For all practical purposes Tula is wild, & always will be. She hates to be cornered, she hates to be touched, she hates to have people in her space. I have a call into a new vet in the area that is suppose to be very good. If he comes out to check out my cripples, I think I will have him pull blood on Judy & hopefully it will find it's way to a lab that can come up with results.

As for checking Tula & her lameness, we will probably put her in one of our squeezes we've made out of a stationary corral panel, & one that is attached on one end. She has no problem going into one, for some odd reason. I would imagine he will have to give her something before he can put his hands on her effectively.

I asked Rory if Judy has any treats she really likes. Unfortunately not...........!!!! She is really being a witch about taking her pergolide. I have her on a minimum doseage, until I "get the results of the missing blood test".............!!!! I have tried her on just about anything that sounds like an equine would like it. She "ain't" buying any of it. I even resorted to trying a tiny piece of bread about the size of a quarter, applesauce, capsule, applesauce, another tiny piece of bread, & a light covering of molasses. Unfortunately everything in that treat is bad for an insulin resistant, possibly Cushings equine. Doesn't matter I guess, I casually dropped it in her hay bunk & left, since by now anything given by hand or encouraged is looked on as suspicious. When I checked later, it was still there, moved off to the side, as not worth her time.................!!!! GRRRRR..........!!!!! Mules are so smart...........!!!! (G) I don't want to have to tie her up twice a day & try to ram it down her throat. Since the battle of wills hasn't gone very good at all, I'm sure a battle of strength, wouldn't go much better.

CHEYENNE IS A BRAT........!!!

This morning when it was round-up time most of them went where they were suppose to. Last night I noticed Tula was limping on a rear leg just like Frijolita. I have no idea what they are doing to hurt themselves. If it was anyone other than Tula, I might suspect dogs or coyotes were chasing them. But I've seen Tula in action, & don't think most canines would have the nerve to take her on.

Tula might be "gimpy", but she's still the head jenny. Three of the minis went in their pens like little angels. Cheyenne decided she desperately had to stay with Tula. She leaped, & jumped, spun & ran, even jumped over a jolly ball that got in her way to stay by Tula's pen. I went out & chased her towards her pen, & the lightbulb finally went off. She lined up at the gate, I opened the gate & all she had to do was walk in. But, NO............she tried to spin around & take off again. I just happened to be standing in the right place, to grab her mane & put a head lock on her. I'm lucky they've never figured out how much stronger they are than I am. (G) I managed to get enough of her thru the gate, so I could close it. WHEW! I really don't need all this exercise..............!!!!!

Courtney is suppose to come out today to trim some toes. Those victims are still in their pens, which isn't going over very well. I did let Frijolita out, she's too lame to stand on 3 legs long enough to trim, although she is improving slowly but surely. Chester, Judy, Jenny & Pepper are still in their pens. Everytime I go outside, they let me know they have been forgotten.

Judy & I are still fighting the battle of giving her a pergolide capsule twice a day. They must have the most sensitive lips in the world, she sure can pick out the capsules no matter how I hide them. This morning I tried applesause, on a small sandwich of bread. I held it out to her & she took off. So I put it in her hay bunk & walked off. She walked right over & ate it. She is more than willing to take carrots, etc from your hand, so I'm not sure why the unwillingness to eat something that I know has a capsule in it, but she isn't suppose to know. I need to see if she will eat peppermint. If so, I can have them compound her pergolide with peppermint flavoring.

This morning we found Judy's pergolide capsule from last night in her bunk. After she had eaten her hay, we found not only that one, but the one from this morning also. Hmmmm! I had been cutting a vitamin E capsule in half, sticking the pergolide in one & the consistancy of the gooey stuff inside, hid the little capsule, or at least it had before. The thrill of a carrot wore off a few days ago. So I tried her with an orange, which most of the gang think is really tasty. I got within 3 feet of her with a 1/4 orange & she took off. I don't want to have to syringe it into her twice a day, it's not a good way to develop a relationship. She still isn't sure I'm worth her time & effort anyway........!!! (G) So I tried a piece of apple. After a suspicious smell she took it, but didn't eat it with relish, although I didn't find the capsules in the little pieces she dropped. That took care of this morning, tonight will be another battle of wills probably. I swear when she looks at me, it's like someone looking at a bug under a microscope. We haven't done anything invasive to her, but she sure thinks we're up to something on a regular basis.

I've been trying to get 1/2 a bute into Frijolita for her pull groin muscle for a couple of days. The first time or two she ate a carrot with the bute hidden inside. Starting yesterday, no more carrots, THANK YOU VERY MUCH, & I also get a suspicious, hurt look from her. Last night I tried mixing the bute into applesauce..............!!!!! NOPE! So this morning I mixed it with a little pancake syrup, applesauce & enough water to go thru a 60cc syringe. She was easy to give it to, although swallowing it took awhile. I'm not use to all these judgemental types. Most of my guys, will eat bute dropped in their feed buckets, well except for Pepper. He's more like these two. She's walking better although not putting a lot of weight on the right rear. I checked her groin this morning & it's still very sore, but I went ahead & let her out of the pen to roam around. Hopefully a little exercise will help it feel better.

I'm still massaging Chester's bad leg every morning. This morning when I was stretching it, he pulled back, which is good. He was mouthing all the time, so I assume it felt good. Then I heard a little pop noise. I was afraid we might have hurt something, but he kept mouthing. He has really been walking good. Martha seems to think if we can keep working on the leg & keep the tendons from shortening, that he will continue to improve. He'll never be sound I don't think, but the leg doesn't seem to be painful. When he first came out here about 2 1/2 years ago the frog on that foot was atrophied & was not working & he was 3 legged lame. Right now the frog is almost down to the ground, which is great. Maybe it will start working as a shock absorber like it's suppose to do.

John saw some flies on poo a couple of mornings ago. I hope that doesn't mean we are going to have an early spring. I don't like to start putting on fly masks until at least April. Actually putting & keeping fly masks on these guys is a lesson in futility anyway. There are enough of them that see fly masks as toys to keep us busy putting them back on or trying to find them. The woman that has made them for me for years, is no longer making them, China & the price of material basically priced her out of the market. Unfortunately the commercial ones don't hold up like Betty's did, but I've got a few extra ones. Once they are all gone though, we'll be going thru fly masks at a rapid pace I would imagine.

When we went out yesterday morning, Frijolita was standing out by the pens, 3 legged lame. She was holding up her right rear leg & not wanting to put weight on it. We got her in Chester's pen & I checked her leg. I have read that 75% of leg problems on equines are below the knee. And 75% of the problems below the knee are in the foot. BUT the place to start checking for a problem, if there is no obvious swelling or blood is the hip & work your way down, including the groin area. I worked my way down the whole leg & foot & there was no reaction, until I started over again, & this time checked the groin. BINGO! No swelling or heat, but I would imagine since our property is rougher & rockier than what she is use to, she probably slipped or something & pulled a muscle. So she has been in Chester's pen ever since. Chester is eating with Tula in her pen, much to her disgust. She likes Chester & they hang out together, BUT, their togetherness doesn't seem to include eating together. He gobbles his & takes over hers, so I really can't blame her. It's funny in a way, because if they are out on the property, she calls the shots.

This morning Frijolita seems a little better, although with her stringhalt problem I would imagine it might take awhile for her to heal. She's not happy being in a pen, & isn't eating all her hay, as a rebellion I guess. Either that or she doesn't like our hay. She is definately not a piggie eater, like some of them are. I'm surprised since she has been in with 3 other donkeys for years. I guess they were all polite ladies at feeding time.

Yesterday morning after that crisis, I was watching Jenny follow John into her pen, & noticed she was short striding on a rear leg. Since her foot problems are her front feet, I watched her closely. All of a sudden the foot knuckled under, just for a moment, she caught herself & walked on. I have no idea what is going on there. Courtney is coming out this week to trim, so I will see if she has any ideas.

Even as I write, John is out hauling #17 or #18, depending on which one of us is right........!!!! (G) After a lack of skunks for 4 nights we we hoping they were all gone. So I guess he will be setting the trap in the chicken pen for the forseeable future.............!!!! If they didn't find yummy cat food in the trap, the next step would be dig under the chicken house & have chicken.

Frijolita is settling in pretty good. She gets along great with the other donkeys, but we still have to "encourage" her to go into her pen to eat. Of course we also have to encourage some of the others & they have been here a lot longer than she has. She's very sweet, although she isn't a cuddly type of donkey. I'm still hoping she & Rocky will bond, they would make a cute couple. He finally settled down & quit acting like a idiot, but I'm not sure she will forget their initial meeting. She does have one little weird manner that I've never seen before. She will not eat pellets. I have tried both timothy & Lakin Lite & she doesn't even seem to recognize them as food. She really likes the "natural" browse she's finding on the property though. At the rate they are all eating the "natural" browse there isn't going to be anything left. You know how you see a pen with a lot of horses in it, & it looks like a vast wasteland of dead trees & stubby stumps sticking up here & there? That's what it's going to look like around here before too long.

I'm still waiting for the vet to get the results on Judy's Cushings test. I'd sure glad this information wasn't needed in a timely manner. She's doing good, although I'm sure she would do better if we knew for sure she had Cushings & if so how much pergolide I should be giving her. I'm giving her a minimum amount until I hear from the vet.

The skunk update is good news. John hasn't had to haul a skunk for 3-4 nights. He has just been setting a trap in the chicken pen, & not on the porch. He wants to continue setting the trap for awhile, just in case one is passing thru & would like a chicken dinner. We're arguing on how many he hauled, I thought it was 17, but he says it was ONLY 16.......!!! Either way, it was a lot of skunks......!!!

FRIJOLITA IS OUT & ABOUT

This is Frijolita's first few moments of being out of a pen. Actually that isn't true. Yesterday morning when we were moving her from the stock trailer pen, to a larger pen, Rocky decided to act like an idiot. You know how silly little boys act to impress girls. To say the least, not only was she not impressed, neither were we. She jerked away from John & the race was on. She was running, he was running, & we were losing ground fast.....!!! (G) He caught up a couple of times, & she let him know in no uncertain terms that she didn't appreciate silly little boys. She thumped him pretty good a couple of times on the chest, & one time on the jaw. He made the mistake of being nosy & going into the pen around the stock trailer, & I was close enough to close it. Of course by this time she is all upset by all the chasing, & wouldn't let us pick up the lead rope. She finally went close to Sha'ba's pen, I ran him out, & we got her to go in it.

But this is the first pictures of her being out officially this morning. She came out & promptly ate a poor little greasewood bush that had managed to survive the rest of them. Since then I've checked on her a few times, & she hadn't "found" the other donkeys yet. I think they are all on Burroland, at least that was the way she was looking, & braying last time I was out.

We were suppose to get snow last night. I'm happy to report the weatherman was wrong about the San Pedro River Valley, although a lot of areas around us got a little bit. We got a few flakes, along with a little rain, but today is sunny.

Heard from Chili & Tirza's new Mom. She said we didn't need to worry about Chili taking over Tirza's food which we had talked about. It seems Tirza's is in charge of If & WHEN he can eat, drink or go in the barn. Sherry said she had to intervene. I think it's funny, but she was worried at first. Chili needs to lose a little weight anyway. But after a couple of days, they were settling down, & Tirza's was laying down with him standing guard. So they are bonding, & he is learning quickly who is going to be in charge. Since she is only about 17 months old, I thought she might wait awhile to become head jenny, but guess not......!!!! (G)

Only set one trap last night, over in the chicken pen. Didn't catch anything, John said something had been in the bait, but didn't trip the trap. Probably a mouse.

FRIJOLITA & SKUNK UPDATE

We still have Frijolita in a pen of corral panels around the stock trailer. This is Max visiting with her. I think everyone has come around to welcome her, although I don't think she's too impressed with anyone yet. We are going to move her into a regular pen today. BlackJack & Cisco got moved into Chili's old pen, & she will go into their larger one. Of course Cisco & BJ think we have lost what little sense we ever had. In a few days we will probably let her out to eat with Lucy, Buster, & Rocky. Who knows, maybe Rocky will get a girlfriend out of the deal.

She has a slight problem with her hind legs & her front feet have lots of ridging on them. The problem with her hind legs is probably stringhalt something I haven't dealt with before. So I guess I'll be on the internet trying to learn what I can about it. The problem with her front feet is why she is here, hopefully with lots more exercise than she's been getting she can start growing more normal hoof wall.

She's a pretty girl, a little standoffish, but that's to be expected. She was originally a BLM donkey taken off the range. She has spent 8 years in a wonderful home with the same routine & donkey friends. So this is all new to her. I'm sure once she gets use to us & the place she will fit right in.

As I write this John is hauling off #17. We haven't caught any skunks over in the chicken pen for a few nights, just on the back porch. So we're probably going to stop setting a trap on the porch, & continue to set one in the chicken pen, just in case. We don't care if they roam around & come in the back yard. We just don't want them getting in the chicken pen.

STILL SETTING TRAPS & STILL CATCHING SKUNKS......!!!

I thought skunks were solitary animals. I've mentioned this misnomer to other people & found out that isn't always true. One friend said he had a momma & 7 (I didn't even know they could have 7) under his boat dock for awhile one time. Then another friend just laughed & regaled us with stories of his skunk infestation a few years ago. He said he doesn't even know how many he had. I don't care for his method of getting rid of them though. Ours is much more entertaining, & they live to migrate another day........!!! Probably back here, where the crazy lady serves such good "trap" food.........!!!

The count is up to 14, some hooded & some striped. Haven't caught a spotted yet, guess they didn't get the memo about the good food. The last 2 we caught were rather agitated, compared to the others. We think they might be repeats & already know the drill.

A couple of mornings ago I rode with John to the designated skunk release spot. None of this turn them loose at the first convenient place........no, no.........somehow he found what looks to us like prime skunk country. Of course it's so far off the beaten path, he has to use 4 WD & even then it's not an easy trip. How do guys find places like this...........???? When he opened the trap, the little guy just waddled off like he had all the time in the world. There's a large patch of brush & once he was in there, we couldn't even see him.

I hope there aren't too many more. We've made a deal, John hauls skunks & I get to clean the pens by myself most mornings.

Today was a long day. We got up early to feed so the pens could be opened before we loaded up Chili for a trip to his new home Northwest of Tucson. On the way, we stopped in Oro Valley to pick up Twinkie aka Galleta Dulce, who was going to the same new home. Once they were delivered, we went back to Oro Valley, & picked up Friolita to bring her out here.

This is Twinkie, now known as Tirza & Chili in their new home. They look like they've always been together, except for her occasionally throwing a half kick his way, just to make sure he knows who's boss.

Both Chili & Tirza's families are having health problems & Friolita has health problems. So, we put together an adoption that gave Chili & Tirza's a new home with wonderful people that will continue to spoil them in the style they have been accustomed to. With Chili gone, we had a spot for Friolita to come out here. I might add, she wasn't the least bit interested in leaving her home where she had lived for 8 years. She has only been in a trailer one time years ago, & was fairly tramatized by the whole experience of loading & travelling. When we had Diego here for a couple of days before he went to Texas, John put corral panels around the back of the trailer & we put his food & water in the trailer. By the 2nd day he was flying in & out of the trailer like it was no big deal. We set her up the same way, so hopefully she won't harbor bad thoughts about a trailer. She'll get a chance to get use to the trailer, & also all the other fur kids will get a chance to check her out.

It was dark when we got home, so I'll try to get pictures of her tomorrow. She's a pretty girl, but she's got some problems with her feet. We're all hoping the rougher land out here will give her feet more natural movement. She's been on an acreage, but it is flat & pretty soft living.

Striker the ex-tom cat, struck out on his own the first night we had him home from the vet. We had planned on keeping him in the cage for 5 days to give him time to heal. But he had other ideas & managed to get the door open. Actually he didn't get it open, he managed to get the door pushed out enough at a corner to squeeze out, at least that's what we think happened. The latch was still latched & he was gone. At least he had a whole can of fish/shrimp cat food before he left. We had never seen him before he got in the trap. So the chances are, we probably won't see him again.

OOOOPS!!!!!!

Doesn't look like a Happy Camper does he? Believe me, he wasn't & isn't. Two nights ago we set the traps as usual. Later I checked the one on the back porch & it had been sprung. John went to cover it up, came back in & said "we don't have a skunk". What we had was a large very unhappy tom cat. When you have lemons you make lemonade, right? There was no way I was going to let him go, without having a little corrective surgery done on him, first. We got him in a cage, which wasn't easy. In the process I named him Striker, for cause.....!!! (G) Yesterday morning I called the vet clinic & of course they were busy, busy, busy & were going to be until next week, when the vet was going to be gone for a long week-end.

Not all vets will neuter wild cats. To say your patient is ungrateful & will make you pay, if he can, is an understatement. Our local vet puts them in a small crate, puts the crate in a plastic bag & gases them long enough for the cat to go to sleep. Then they can run a line in a vein & proceed as usual. But not all vets are willing to make the effort & take a chance on getting hurt.

But they took pity on us & said they would do it after hours last night. Got a call this morning to come & pick him up. He hasn't lost any of his attack mode, I'm sorry to say. We put him in the 2 x 4 cage we had been using to move the chickens to the garage every night & put him in the hay barn. The first thing he did was turn the food, water & litter box upside down & fling everything everywhere in the cage. Then he hid in the big pile of straw we had put in for a bed. At least he knows how to use that.........!!! (G)

We'll try to keep him in for 5 days before we turn him loose, I'm sure we'll never see him again.......!!!! Hobo the female will not even walk close to the trap, so John is trying to get her tamed enough to hopefully get her in a crate., for a trip to the vet. Then there is a big yellow tom cat that could use a little corrective surgery, if we ever catch him......!!!

John reset the trap that night, & caught a skunk. Caught another one last night, but haven't caught any in the chicken pens for days. We really don't care if they are around here as long as they leave the chickens alone. He will continue setting a trap in the chicken pen for awhile. If we put something smelly & tasty in the trap, if one gets in there, maybe the trap will be more interesting than a chicken.

The donkeys are all doing pretty good right now. I'm still soaking Judy's foot, although she isn't limping very much at all. Never have seen any openings where an abscess broke, so still don't know for sure what was wrong with her. Haven't heard the results of her ACTH test for Cushings yet. Hopefully the lab gets it right this time.

# 11

Well # 11 was in the trap on the back porch this morning. But the good news is, no skunk in the trap over in the chicken pen. So we're debating whether to leave the chickens in their pen tonight, & set the trap outside or go ahead & haul the chickens back to the garage. We'll probably go ahead & haul them, just to be safe. John said when he let this one out of the trap, he wasn't happy & sprayed a little. We think he might be a "re-catch", & knows the routine......!!!!

I got a call this morning that just breaks my heart. A woman & her very ill husband have to move to the northwest closer to their son. They have a jenny, & her 15 year old son. They also have A 26 year old mule & his younger lady who is 19. They are all in excellent health................BUT............. they haven't been able to find anyone that would give them a wonderful home like they have now. The woman is so heartbroken, she is talking about staying here & letting her husband leave without her, which isn't an answer to the problem either.

So if there is anyone out there that would like to give a good home to some nice gentle animals, that are in a situation thru no fault of their own or their Mom, get in touch with me.

Courtney trimmed some of Judy's frog, but didn't find anything really wrong that would make her limp on that foot. She'll be back in a couple of week's & we'll see how Judy is doing by then. I'm still soaking her twice a day & will for the forseeable future I guess.

Martha seemed to think Chester has a little more mass in his chest area & his leg seemed to be looser to work with. Of course he's probably more comfortable now that he knows what she is going to do with him, when she starts poking & prodding. I'm sure that would make a difference in his state of relaxation. Max, the horse almost turns into putty when she works on him. You can tell he really enjoys it. We decided he would be a great horse for a massage school to have. He's big enough to be intimidating if someone was hesitant, gentle as a lamb, & very reactive to being touched. If he likes it, you know immediately, if he doesn't he lets you know, but not in a mean or dangerous way.

PROGRESS PERHAPS.......???

Well last night we didn't catch any skunks..... but we caught 2 yesterday, so we're not closing up our trapping business just yet. We'll set the traps & drag the chickens over to the garage tonight. If we have another good night, tomorrow night we'll set the traps but leave the chickens on their roost. They are getting so use to the drill, they don't even fuss when we pluck them off the roost & put them in the cage.

Martha & Courtney are suppose to come out this morning, so Max & Chester will get another massage & Courtney can look at Judy & see waht she thinks. I'm still soaking her foot, but she's still limping a little. My education on hooves & feet isn't that good, so maybe Courtney will have some ideas.

GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS.........!!!

Well the bad news is we caught another skunk, but the good news is, one trap was empty this morning. So we can only hope traffic is slowing down. We'll haul the chickens to the garage again tonight & set the trap over in their pen. I had put moth balls in a couple of holes the skunks dug in the chicken pen. This morning there was moth balls thrown everywhere. .!!!! (G) Hopefully the one we caught was the culprit.

It's been getting cold enough every night to put blankets on Pepper & Sha'ba. That means Pepper has to stay in the pens all night. John gives him extra hay, he has a warm blanket, but he still fights like a weak tiger at the gate, wanting to go out. Sha'ba is a homebody, he likes his pen. Right now he is busy eating prickly pear. They seem to eat different things at different times of the year. Someone told me cactus is high in vitamin C. I know he doesn't seem to mind sticking his face all the way in & getting dozens of spines & little tiny hairlike stickers that are almost impossible to find once they are stuck in your skin. He comes in looking like a porcupine with his whole face covered & usually wants to be loved on.........!!!!! YIKES! We've given up on pulling them out, unless they are close to his eye or inside his nose. They don't seem to bother him near as much as it bothers us to see them.

Judy seems to be walking much better although still has a slight limp. I'll continue soaking her foot until there is no more limp. I've been putting ichthammol on the area by her heel bulb that looks like a small split, assuming that is where the problem is. I know one thing, she's got one very clean hoof.......!!!

I MAY BECOME A SKUNK MURDERER.........!!!

We're up to 7, this morning we caught not only a hooded like the other 5, but a striped one. Good grief, they are calling in the neighbors......!!!! (G) Sardines seem to be a big hit. We've updated our approach, instead of taking them 1/4 mile away, they are going about 4 miles now. John loaded the traps into the bronco, left the tail gate open, one of them was rather smelly & hauled them to the Tres Alamos Wash. He said the first one sauntered out & was sitting in front of some brush when he let the 2nd one out. The 2nd one shot out like a bullet & ran over the other one. Now these guys are different types, but the last time John saw them they were running together up the wash.

The chickens are getting use to being dragged off their perch in the dark, & stuck in a cage. This morning while I was removing them from the cage, Rowdy the rooster decided not to wait. He hopped out of the cage & jumped down into the pen with the girls. John cut another "door" in the cage this afternoon, so we can open it & they can walk out, rather than me dragging them out the door in the top.

I'm still soaking Judy's foot. I think the abscess has opened, she's walking good, but I'll soak for another day or so just in case. She also might have some thrush. I've never had much dealings with thrush, so I'm not sure if it's just smelly feet or actual thrush. But it is black & it is smelly. After I soak that foot I've been spraying the bottom with a bleach solution. I am going to change over to Lysol tonight I think. I had planned on wrapping her foot once the abscess opened, but don't want to, if there is a possibility of thrush.

Set 2 traps last night, had 2 skunks this morning. That makes a total of 5...............so far. We were told that you have to take them 15 miles away to make sure they don't come back. That would be downtown Benson, not sure the city folk would appreciate skunks as new neighbors. I bought some sardines for bait today. John says they are probably telling all their friends to come to our place, the food is good, you get to spend the night covered by a nice warm blanket & you get to go for a ride in the wagon, although it would probably be nicer if the road was a little smoother. We've talked about spray painting a spot on them before we let them loose, so we could tell if we have repeaters. But we haven't decided who's going to do the spraying yet.

We went to town this afternoon & came home to find Judy out roaming around, thanks to Chili. He's such a helpful boy........!!!! I'm soaking her foot twice a day to hopefully help the abscess open up, so it isn't so painful for her to walk on it. She should walk as much as possible to also help it open up. But the vet thought the others might bother her if she was out. Actually I've never seen anyone attempt to intimidate her, so I think she is probably safe to be out moving around as much as she wants to. I've found out she does better in a soaking boot, if she can't see me. If I'm around her, she wiggles & squirms & lifts her foot up. But I found out if I soak her while she is eating her hay, & go off doing other things she stands still.

It looks like Chili will be going to a wonderful new home next week, along with Twinkie, & Frijolita will be coming out here to stay. We will haul Chili into Tucson, pick up Twinkie & take them to their new home. We haven't decided whether to pick up Frijolita at the same time as Twinkie, or come back & pick her up after we deliver Chili & Twinkie. Probably decide once we get into Tucson.

NEW JOB DISCRIPTION....SKUNK WRANGLER

Actually John is getting more experience than I am. We caught one skunk Monday night in the back yard. When John went over to shut up the chickens, we found another one behind the nesting boxes. So we gathered up the chickens, we only have 7 hens & Rowdy the rooster, thank goodness, & put them in the garage for the night. Set the trap & sure enough, yesterday morning we had caught another one.

This is a good way to move a skunk, if you don't want to get sprayed. They won't spray if you cover the trap with a blanket. So John hauled him about 1/4 mile away close to the San Pedro river. When we let the 1st one out it was dark, we opened the trap & it took off. This time it was daylight, with a close proximity to the golf cart. You can guess where this story is going............!!!!

The golf cart looked like a nice dark place to hide, & away he went. John thought that might not be a good idea, got a stick & poked him. It wasn't a full blown spray, but he did let loose enough to let John know he would prefer to be left alone. John agreed, & walked back home. We finished chores, took the quad down & retrieved our smelly golf cart & hay wagon.





Came home took the chickens back to their pen & life goes on. John went over to shut them up last night & there was a skunk running around in the empty pen. Same scenario as the night before, including moving the chickens to the garage, except I had run out of brisket fat & had to resort to tuna salad as bait.


This morning we had another little guest, & evidence where some of his close friends had tried to dig him out of his prison. So we think that probably means, tonight will be a replay of the last 2 nights.

We're becoming such good wranglers & seem to have an almost endless supply of hooded skunks, we're going to borrow another trap & set 2 each night instead of one.

Just got a call from the vet office & they are going to be out in our area & want to come by to draw the blood from Judy Mule for her Cushings retest. That will save us having to haul her into the office again. Right now she is still pretty lame on her left front. I soaked her foot yesterday morning & last night she was walking good. But this morning she is lame again. Which pretty much sounds like a hoof abscess. I poked & prodded when I soaked her yesterday, but couldn't find any place that was sore. I'll soak her again today, but this time I might wrap her foot with some drawing salve & hopefully if it is an abscess it will open & stay open to drain.

The skunks got another chicken last night. We thought we had all the entry areas covered, but obviously skunks are smarter than we are. We are going to try to set the live trap in the pen tonight with something tasty. If we do catch one then we'll have the problem of hauling it off, without us getting sprayed. And where do we haul it, far enough away, so it won't come back. We use to complain about the neighbor's dogs running loose, but at least we didn't have a skunk problem at that time. Guess we should be careful what we wish for sometimes.

Right now I'm involved in a donkey adoption that is going to be more involved than normal. A young woman that lost her older jenny to colic, came to visit a few weeks ago, & fell in love with Chili. Chili actually still has an owner that is having health problems. He had been staying here until she could figure out whether he could come home or not.

We found a wonderful home for Twinkie a few months ago, but since then her family needs to down size. Chili actually prefers girls over boys & has never really bonded with anyone here. He hangs with the group, but doesn't have a buddy. Soooooooooo I called Chili's owner & she agreed that this would be a good home. I called Twinkie's family & they also agreed to rehome Twinkie with Chili. So it's just a matter of getting them picked up & taken to their new home........!!!!! Incidently we will be gaining Frijolita, a friend of Twinkie, that is having weight problems. So although there will be donkeys moving here & there, we will still end up with the same number we have now.........!!!!! I don't think we will ever get downsized, although we keep trying.

SKUNK UPDATE:

Two nights ago, the skunks got into the chicken pens & killed one of the chickens. They dug under the fence, that is buried in the ground. We looked around & assumed they left the pens for the day. John fixed the fence, & put chicken wire over the chain link fence areas. Last night he came back from checking on the chickens & said he had a big problem. Both skunks were in the pens & the assumption was they had been in there all day, since John thinks he got the pen fixed so they couldn't get back in. They weren't in a mood to leave, so we took the blind chicken that had been in the pen where they killed the other hen, & put her in a carrier in the house for the night. Locked all the other pens & left the outside gate open. Sure enough they were gone this morning, actually John just saw one in the back yard........tonight.....!! I hope when he goes over to the chicken pen tonight, they haven't figured out another way to get in. I wish they would find another place to "shop". They even dig in the manure piles, looking for grubs.

This morning when everyone came in from Burroland, Judy the mule came in almost 3 legged lame on a front leg. I cleaned out her hoof & tried to check her leg. She seems to be trained to raise her leg if you touch it, which makes it difficult to know if she is reacting to your touch or just being a good girl & raising her leg because you asked her to. She has no swelling or heat in the leg I can find, although she seemed a little touchy around the elbow. She has a history of foundering, but her feet are the same temperature as everyone else, so I don't think that's a problem. She had to stay in her pen today, so I could watch her. She didn't really seem to mind, especially when she got some extra hay this afternoon. Usually when she's out during the day, she doesn't go very far away anyway.

I called to see how Gus is doing in his new home. They said he's settled in & he & Leo the horse are usually hanging around pretty close to each other. That should be a great home for him. We have a couple more that are looking for good homes, although we're not looking very hard.

OH! WELL.......!!!

There are actually 14 equine in this picture. I counted them before I took the picture, but three of the minis are behind some of the bigger guys.

Got a call from the vet clinic today. Although they called the lab almost 2 weeks ago to order the correct blood tubes to run Judy's ACTH test, it seems that the lab sent the wrong tubes. So the blood drawn Wed was for naught & we are waiting for the lab to send more tubes, hopefully the correct ones, so we can do it again............!!!!

The skunks are still around, although they haven't gotten into the house again.............YET! One of them waits out in the yard, until Hobo the outdoor cat, comes in to be fed. Then unless one of us stands by while she eats, the skunk comes in & runs her off. It would be nice if she would come in before dark, like she did for awhile. But for some reason she has decided she would rather eat in the dark.

We've gotten a little rain the last couple of days. I have never understood why everyone donkeys, mules or horse will stand in their shelters until the gate is opened. Then they leave & stand in the rain all humped up & looking miserable. When it's raining, we usually move their feeding area into the shelters. They all accept this change, except for Max the horse, & Tula, our wild child. Max will stand by his hay bunk, in the rain for a long time, even though he saw me put the hay in the shelter. He will stand & watch the hay cart as it moves down the line of pens, like I forgot to drop his off. He talks to me the whole time. Finally when he sees that the cart isn't coming back, he will go into the shelter & eat. Which leads me to believe he knew all the time it was there. But "it isn't like it's suppose to be".................!!!!

Tula on the other hand, hates to go into the shelter for any reason. She doesn't care how bad the weather is, she is a natural lifestyle type of gal, & prefers the wide open spaces. So when we put her feed under the shelter, it's really horrible from her point of view. She will stand in the middle of her pen, & literally scream at me, as I move down to the lower pens. She holds out longer than Max before she will finally go under the shelter. But if there is any noise or if she sees anything move, she pops back out in the open.

We took Judy to the vet today to have blood drawn to test her for Cushings. She goes in the trailer just fine, but "walks" for the whole trip. And she is heavy enough that you can feel her back there moving back & forth. She was a good girl for her blood draw. We should have the results back in a few days & everyone that has seen her agrees that she looks like a Cushings type of gal. So we'll start her on pergolide as soon as we get the results & have some idea of how much to give her every day.

Came home & there was a rather large box sitting just outside the gate. We always ask that anything we order be delivered to my Mother's house in town. The UPS driver's try to open the gate, drive in, deliver & drive out, before closing the gate. I realize they are in a hurry, but if the donkeys got out, it might make for a fun afternoon for us & the UPS driver.........!!!! (G) I had ordered an insulated waterer for Sha'ba's pen. Unfortunately when we set up the pens, we put the oldest skinniest little guy in the coldest pen & his water will freeze first & hardest on a cold night. I guess the company didn't notice a different delivery address than the billing address.

The box was sitting outside the gate, but of course once it was discovered & deemed something worth investigating it didn't matter which side of the gate it was on, the donkeys could reach it, mouth it, grab the cardboard & rip off big pieces & throw it everywhere. The insulation for the waterer is foam, luckily they didn't have time to delve deeper into their project, so it was still intact.

This is the 2nd time recently they've found a package to play with. The other one was a box of home grown Pennsylvania potatoes from some dear friends . Thank goodness the donkeys weren't interested in the potatoes, but there was no box left & they had strung potatoes EVERYWHERE. I don't know what the facination for cardboard boxes is, probably the thought that it isn't suppose to be there. They are always in John's assorted piles of "treasures" up by the garage. If he adds one little item to a pile by the next day it will be moved or dragged far enough away, he has to look for it. They remind me of cats, when it comes to noticing something new or different.

Well today has certainly been interesting.............!!! When I got up this morning I went in the spa room to water my poor little gardenia that has managed to survive in spite of my brown thumb. I noticed the folding door that covers the washer & dryer was half cocked & I heard shuffling noises. My assumption was one of the cats was in there messing around. I smacked the side of the dryer & a cat would have come flying out.........hmmmmm! I headed for the living room & both cats were there..............hmmmmm! We had a skunk show up a few days ago to help Hobo the outdoor cat eat her dry food, if we don't pick it up when she is finished. For some reason John didn't believe me, until he checked it out himself & saw "something" in the trash can that was now laying on it's side facing the back wall. We didn't do a real close study, but did notice that it was black & white, & the dryer duct was no longer attached to the outside vent, so our assumption was...........SKUNK........!!!! Now what? Our answer to the problem was, shut the inside doors to the spa & open the outside door, hoping our little visitor wouldn't mind leaving in the daylight, even though they are a nocturnal type of weasel.

Martha came today to massage Chester & Max. Courtney came to trim feet on those that needed it. Chester was very good about his feet, & actually stood on his bad leg long enough for her to do a quick job on his other leg. This was the first time Judy the new mule had been trimmed by Courtney, & she did pretty good at least on 3 feet. She decided to make a fuss about one hind leg, but nothing dramatic. Courtney also thinks she is probably Cushings. We're still waiting for the vet to get the correct lab tubes to do the test to make sure before we start her on meds.

The last time Martha was here & worked on Max, he was a big worry wart & couldn't relax, because he didn't know her & wasn't sure what she was going to do to him. This time he relaxed & almost went to sleep on his feet. She said he has a lot of muscles around the area where his neck is broken that are rigid, poor old guy. She got them softened up, although I'm sure they won't stay that way very long.

Chester's primary request was to get his butt scratched, rather than have her work on his front leg & shoulder. If she would try to work on the front leg, he'd turn around & stick his fanny in her face. Finally they reached an agreement & he decided that it felt pretty good to have her work on the bad leg. He has a couple of spots that must be sore. When she worked in those areas, he would act like he was going to bite her.

We told Courtney about the skunk in the spa room, & she decided she had to have a picture of it. I told her if she set off a flash & the skunk REALLY didn't like it, the spa room would probably be off limits for a LONG time. I told her where we'd seen it last, in the trash can, so we all tip toed into the spa room, she took her camera, held it at arm's length in front of the downed trash can & took a picture. No skunk.........!!! Hmmmmmm, now where did it go? I got a step stool so I could look over the back of the washer & dryer. No skunk.......!!!! Courtney was so disappointed.

This morning John had set a live trap in the back yard. We didn't disarm it figured the skunk wouldn't be around during the day. Tonight after dark (we forgot about the set trap), John said the trap had been tripped & the packing blanket we had covered the trap with, so it would look inviting, (we're trying to think like a skunk) was jumping around. Couldn't see what was in there, but it was definately not happy. After a long discussion about, "now what do we do", we decided to just open the trap & let it go rather than trying to "take" it somewhere. Started to go out to open the trap, & there was a skunk walking around the packing blanket............... SO WHAT'S IN THE TRAP?

OK, we decided to "gently" open up the trap & set it, so whatever was in the trap could leave. I held the flash light & John set the trap, using the blanket to hide what we were doing. Went back in the house & flashed a light into the trap thru the door. Seems like we have 2 skunks instead of just one, & the one in the trap is perfectly happy in there I guess, because it "ain't" going anywhere. I went back in to try to finish supper, John comes in & says, "the door on the trap is shut again". I guess the little "stinker" jumped around enough to slam the door shut. New idea........... use a bungee strap to keep the door from shutting. So we went out again, opened the door & hooked up a bungee. Came back in & the other skunk was now finishing off Hobo's dry cat food.

John just checked & the skunk is no longer in the trap & there is no dry food left for them to eat, so they have both disappeared...................for now. John used duct tape to cover the dryer vent for now. If they really wanted in, the duct tape certainly wouldn't stop them, or even slow them down. But since they found no food in here, hopefully they won't come back.

This is the 2nd time we've had something come in thru the dryer vent. We had a momma mouse come in the vent, chewed a hole thru the duct & had her babies somewhere in the spa room or our bedroom. Not a good place with 2 cats patrolling, unfortunately.

COLD NIGHT = BLANKETS ON THE OLD GUYS

Much to Pepper's disgust, although I do think he is mellowing to the idea of staying in at night with a blanket on. He had eaten all of his hay by bedtime, which is unusual. John put some more hay in for him to munch on during the night. This morning it looked like instead of munching, he had fun flinging it everywhere. He's always been difficult to get extra calories into. It looked like since he wasn't hungry he decided to see how far he could throw it.

I've decided that rather than wait to see if it's going to be cold or not, I'll go ahead & put Sha'ba & Pepper's blankets on every night when we feed. Going out in the cold when it's dark to put on blankets isn't much fun, although I do think Sha'ba realizes the pleasure of a blanket. Not sure about Pepper.

DIFFERENT KIND OF DAY

Today we moved these 3 horses & their little friend "Hoppy" from their old home to a new home. We weren't sure about Hoppy & were prepared to have him ride in the van. He wouldn't be the first goat to ride in there, he wouldn't have even been the 2nd one....... (G) But their owner said he would be fine in the trailer with the horses. We stopped a couple of times to check on them, & he had staked out his place all the way in the front of the trailer, daring anyone to step on him. The 3 horses were riding facing the back of the trailer. We never tie animals in the trailer & have found out that every one of them, doesn't matter, horse, donkey, mule, or cow prefer to ride facing the rear of the trailer. Makes me wonder how uncomfortable it is for them to be tied, facing front sometimes for hours at a time?

We didn't get home until after dark.........to say we were met by an angry mob is an understatement. At least they were very interested in getting in their pens as soon as possible to help the feeding process move along quickly.

Last night Pepper had to stay in. It was suppose to get colder & he had his blanket on. Unfortunately it didn't get as cold as the weatherman said it would. Tonight it's suppose to be warmer & so far I haven't put blankets on either Pepper or Sha'ba. When John goes out at 10 pm to let everyone out, we'll have to make a decision on whether to blanket or not. They are both old & thin, but I hate to ruin any natural ability they have to keep warm on their own. Sha'ba stays in his pen at night, so being blanketed or not doesn't impact his life like it does Pepper.

Wish I knew where I got this drawing, so I could give credit....!!!

This is amazing when you think about it. This drawing shows when a horse's skeletal system is through growing. Think about how many are "started", at the age of 2. Think of how many older horses you see that are sway backed or have joint problems. Gee, I wonder if starting them at the age of 2 might have something to do with health problems in later life.

Standard donkeys mature slower than horses & mammoth donkeys mature a year or more later than standards about age 6 or 7. Our Jenny who is a mammoth, came here at the age of 9. She had already had 2 babies, one lived, one didn't. She came here with chronic infection of both front feet & had been that way for a year, which would put her back to age 8. They carry a foal for about a year, so she was pregnant for 2 years of her life. If you do the math, she was only a baby herself, when someone bred her. Tula also had a baby young, but she wasn't bred per se, she was running with a herd & was around 2 or 3 when she had Paloma, as far as we can tell. In a perfect world the jacks will not breed the younger jennies the alpha jenny won't allow it in a natural herd. But as man interferes with the natural progression of their lives, such as BLM capturing herds or part of herds, or owners not having jacks gelded & leaving them in with momma or other jennies, the jacks are determined to pass on their genes.

John is still dipping ice out of the buckets every morning. He got the new heated water tank set up & it seems to be a big hit with everyone.

Boy, Lucy doesn't like Judy at all. Yesterday afternoon as they were gathering to go in their pens, Judy walked in Lucy's general direction, & Lucy took off running. Believe me, Lucy does not run unless she thinks it's absolutely necessary. I haven't seen Judy do anything except pin her ears as she walks, which is normal behavior. But Lucy seems to have decided they aren't going to be best friends. Unless Judy is being mean when I'm not looking. She doesn't strike me as that type, she's very mellow. Besides if she was going to be mean, she wouldn't care if I was watching or not...........!!!!

Chester is still enjoying his morning massage. Wish I knew what I'm doing. But when he likes it, his lower lip twitches, & this morning he was leaning on me with his lip twitching. I can only assume that I had found "the spot". I don't know if it will help him walk better or not. Some days he walks with very little limp. Other days it's very pronounced. For awhile I was afraid the infection was coming back. But he hasn't had any antibiotics for weeks, & I would think if there was infection still in his elbow area, it would be showing up by now. So I think he might overdue it or maybe step wrong sometimes & make it sore.

UPDATE ON JUDY

Even John has noticed a difference in the way Judy looks compared to the first picture I took of her. Besides being more alert & interested in what's going on around her, the difference in her hair is really noticeable. I also haven't noticed her sweating like she was. The day after she got here I saw her peeing & noticed she seemed to be having trouble. She finally put out a little bit that looked really dark. I ran over & checked it, not only was it dark, it also was stringy & thick. YIKES! I ran in & hit the internet. Found out it isn't a crisis, but more liquidity & frothy is much better.

Yesterday she was in Max's pen when we drove in from town, & I noticed she was assuming the stance. Of course I jumped out of the van & watched. She started immediately, peed a good amount & as soon as she was done, I of course ran over to look. I hope no one except animal people is reading this, or they might think I'm a little odd........!!! (G) Had the texture of water, was soaking into the ground rapidly AND was frothy.........!!!!! YEA!

Still waiting for the vet clinic to call when they get the correct blood tubes for the Cushings test, but to say we are pleased with the changes in her look & demeanor is an understatement. The diet change of soaking sugar & starch out of the hay & adding a few supplements seems to have really made a difference.

Chili's interest has worn off already, but Rusty the white mule seems to think she's kinda cute. He seems to be in her area more than hanging with Max & Jack.

Everyone else seems to be doing good. Our nights are getting down into the 20's on a regular basis, & Pepper really should have a blanket on. But he gets so upset if he can't go out we have compromised. I put his boots on to help keep his scrawny legs warm, & turn him loose. So far he is doing OK, & usually when John goes out in the morning, Pepper is standing in the mini's shelter, which is where the sun shines when it first comes up. He may be old, but he knows where the warmest place on the property is that early in the morning.

Here's our little mini herd, Pepsi in front, Lynn on the left, Justin on the right & Cheyenne's back in between them. They are in Jack's pen "gleaning" hay scraps. You can tell from their body shapes they really need the extra calories......!!! Every morning when we open the pens they make a beeline for Jack's pen, since it usually has the most leftovers.

Judy has taken her freedom in stride. She eats, goes out & when it's time to eat again, she shows up with the rest of the herd & goes in her pen just like a lady. She does seem to enjoy walking up behind assorted donkeys & pinning her ears as she walks. Needless to say that gets everyone moving out at a brisk pace. She hasn't made a move at any of them, so I think she is showing off her mule sense of humor.

JUDY'S OUT & CHECKING OUT THE PLACE

We let Judy out this morning to check out the property. She has been pacing the corral panels almost non-stop since she got here & everyone that wanted to check her out had time to do so. I opened the gate between her & Jenny, thinking they might go out together. She wasn't the least bit interested in running with anyone. Although she gathered up an entourage following her, she basically ignored them. She went straight to the driveway gate, where the trailer brought her in & from there started looking for mesquite leaves on the ground. Hopefully she won't spend all her time looking for mesquite leaves.

We haven't let Max the horse out yet. Hopefully he will behave like a gentleman, now that she is out & about. From what I've seen, she can move faster than he can, & being a mule I doubt if she will put up with much of his nonsense.

She's on her insulin resistant diet, which includes soaking her hay to remove as much sugar & starch as we can. So far only one morning was cold enough to ice over the soaking water, for which I am very grateful.......!!! (G) Can't find a pair of gloves to fit my little hands, that are not only warm, but waterproof. The more I look at her, I am almost positive she is also Cushings, so we will have her tested, as soon as the vet clinic can get the proper lab tubes for the blood test. If I wasn't going to have her tested, I'd start giving her some of Pepper's pergolide.........BUT.......... a few more days hopefully won't hurt her.

I've been massaging Chester's leg every morning before he goes out. I don't know if I'm going any good or not, but he absolutely LOVES having his leg rubbed. He likes to lay his head across my back, which doesn't help me massage, but seems to be part of the deal. I have a little thing that looks like a spider that viberates for massaging. Thought about it yesterday, found out the batteries had died, so John started figuring out how to get to the batteries. He has a long history of taking things apart, in such a way they no longer work. It took him awhile, only stripped out one screw, got the old batteries out, new batteries in, & it started jumping across the table. So tomorrow morning we will give it a try.

Had some people call from Benson this afternoon to come out & see the donkeys. Almost everyone was already out of their pens, so I told the woman if she didn't mind walking around thru the brush looking for them, to come on out. It was her & her daughter & they seemed to really enjoy the donkeys. As we walked around, John tricked the pushiest ones into pens. They sometimes forget their manners & start pushing on each other around visitors. Chili was particularly incensed to find himself not only in a pen, but it wasn't even his pen. He just happened to be in BlackJack & Cisco's pen, visiting with Judy, when we went out to see who we could round up before the people got here.

Judy spent most of the afternoon running the fence with the dogs. She has such a heavy coat of hair, that she really was sweating, another sign of Cushings. Once she got thru running around, she started pawing at the gate to let us know we "forgot" to let her out like all the others. We'll keep her in a few days more, to give her a chance to get comfortable in her new surroundings. Max hasn't made anymore ugly faces, so hopefully he is going to behave himself when she goes out. Actually we'll probably leave him in his pen, so she can get a chance to explore without his silliness.

Then John decided it was time for me to learn to drive the Bobcat. We had some firewood to load into a trailer, so that was my assignment, "if I chose to accept it". It's not real difficult to do things with it, but it certainly does help if you can remember which pedal, moves the bucket up & down, or tilts it. It's a good thing the trailer has lots of battle scars already. If you are suppose to put the bucket up higher, but instead drop it lower & the side of the trailer is underneath it............well, the trailer has a few more dents & scars. BUT, I did manage to get the bucket stopped & raised before I destroyed the side of the trailer. Not sure I'm ready for running around in the corrals yet, I might need a little bit more OJT in wider open spaces.........!!!!

JUDY'S HERE

Not a real great picture, but she wasn't interested in interacting with the silly woman with the camera this morning. Besides Max the horse for some reason was running all around her pen making ugly faces & lunging at the pen. WHAT IS HIS PROBLEM? As far as I know he has never paid much attention to anyone we've brought in. I told him she's a girl & he should be more of a gentleman, but he continued to act stupid. A couple of times I thought he was going to fall down, since his hindquarters don't always go where he wants them to & he was so busy being, "big tough guy". She just looked at him like he was an idiot, & kicked at him a few times. We'll keep her in the pens for a few days until she gets use to the place, & "big tough guy" wears out or gets bored with the game. I think she's already bored with his antics.....!!! Guys never know when to quit do they? (G)

She seems to be a sweet girl, & is walking much better than I was expecting. But her Glucose/Insulin ratio is off the chart, so she is without question insulin resistant. Patti, is a whiz with nutrition. She has helped dozens of owners, balance their horses diets & brought the horses back to being useful, after bouts with IR, & laminitis. She has offered to help balance a diet for Judy. Well actually she was nice enough to help, when I asked.

Judy will be getting soaked hay tonight. Hopefully she won't think we have lost our minds, & will eat it.