Sunday, May 29, 2011




Courtney asked me to take some pictures of Gus' feet, so I finally got around to it this morning.  This is a pretty good angle shot of him, doesn't show his little "pones".  Actually when Courtney was here Thursday, she said she could really see a difference, just in a couple of weeks, so I guess he's headed in the right direction with his weight.

I'm still keeping boots on him, & he is back to walking as good as he was before the trim, so I guess that was just a temporary set-back.  Not sure how long he will have to wear them, but he doesn't seem to mind.  

As I type John is up by the garage with my little car, trying frantically to get it "track" worthy, so I can race again tonight.  Last night didn't go so good, I got my first DNF (Did Not Finish).  


It might not look like much, but it's crunched down on the tire, & inside the trunk area most of the metal isn't where it's suppose to be.  He finally got the bumper off, so if he gets it put back together, I won't have a rear bumper.  Then he's going to cut most of the fender off, so it can't drag on the tire.  That was rather rude,  I'd rather they just pass me, than mangle my little baby race car......!!! LOL  And I know John would rather not have to try to put it back together. 

Saturday, May 28, 2011

GUS UPDATE

Gus got his feet trimmed Thursday.  Courtney asked if we could soak his feet before she got here, so John scraped out a depression, I put Gus in it & started running water into it.  Next thing I know he is standing on the edges...........hmmmm.......that old donkeys don't like getting their feet wet.  Once the ground got soaked it all turned to mud, so he didn't have a choice.  Courtney said it really made a difference & she got a lot of the overgrowth cut off.  BUT..... he's back to walking ouchy, poor little guy.  He had just got to walking good in his boots & now even the boots aren't keeping him comfortable.  Hopefully in a few days everything in his foot will get shifted around & he will be back to buzzing around all over the place.  

Yesterday we went down south to try to help with some donkeys that need homes.  The owner died & had lots of mules, donkeys & horses that the family aren't interested in.  It's been going on for about a month & there has been a lot of confusion, who's in charge, what needs to be done, who's going to do it, you know the usual, in these types of situations.  There are 5 intact jacks & one jenny left & they are all mammoths.  Peaceful Valley Donkey Rescue in CA has offered to take them, but probably won't because they usually don't take mammoths.  Up until yesterday no one had said they were mammoths, so we assumed they were standard donkeys.......!!!! Sigh!  

Not sure what will happen, usually mammoths are very easy to rehome, but I guess there has been so much confusion, that any interest that was there, has disappeared.  

ANYBODY WANT A MAMMOTH.......??????

Thursday, May 26, 2011

 
This morning when John went out almost everyone except Gus was enjoying the sun in BlackJack's pen.  He rounded everyone up, I started mixing feed, & still no Gus.  Got ready to feed, & STILL NO GUS...........!!!  After what happened with Noelle in March, we get real anxious when someone doesn't show up.  John went over to feed the chickens, & I saw him go thru the gate to Burroland when he got done. 

A few minutes later here he comes, with Gus following right in his hip pocket......!!! JEEESH!  WHY DO THEY DO THIS TO US...........?????  And he even had both boots still on........!!!!!!   He was walking really good, so I guess the boots are doing their job, to make him more comfortable.

John had a doctor's appointment this morning in Tucson, so we did feed an hour early.  John said he was just standing over there, looking around like, "where did everybody go"?  But John had rang the bell, so he really had no excuse for being a Johnny come lately.......!!! 

I thought I had been doing a GREAT job with Sha'ba & his yearly habronema larvae problem on his sheath.  This morning when he got his morning "grope" I felt some dried crusty stuff.  Started trying to figure out where it came from & found a couple of really itchy spots.  When I say really itchy, I mean ITCHY, he almost fell over trying to help me scratch.  Believe me, it's best to do this without an audience, or you might get arrested.......!!!  At best they might think you were a little weird. (G)

I greased him up with my home made habronema salve of ivermectrin worming paste & DMSO.  It usually takes care of them immediately.  At least I 'm  keeping ahead of them getting large enough to cause lesions & huge sores, but they are still really itchy.  The salve kills them on contact almost, but his immune system is so lousy, any fly on the property goes to him or Cisco.  Flies are the carriers of the eggs, & of course sheaths are prime property from a flies point of view, since everyone has on fly masks & they can't get to the eyes.  


Wednesday, May 25, 2011

BEFORE & AFTER................!!!


As you can tell from the tension on the rope & the set of the front feet, this was NOT what she had planned today...........!! 

YEP........ THAT'S YOURS.........!!!
That's just a small part of her hair.  It was very windy, as I found out every time I went down wind........!!!!  I learned to keep my mouth shut real quick.  Who knew there was a pretty skinny girl under all that hair.


Just pretend you don't see the little love handles on her side.  Believe me they are much smaller than they were a couple of years ago.  She looks a lot more comfortable, although this morning it was 42 degrees.  She might have been wondering where her "coat" was about 5 o'clock this morning.  I left the hair on her legs below the knees, gives the flies something to have to work thru if they want to bite.  We have some type of fly that eats protein.  They will eat hair until it's gone & they can get to the good stuff........!!!!  They can leave some nasty bloody areas if you don't catch them in time.  

Gus is still keeping his boots on & roaming around quite a bit.  We'll see what Courtney thinks tomorrow.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011


This is how Gus' feet looked this morning when he came in from a night of roaming around........!!! YIPPEE!  Looks like the vet wrap to keep the straps from coming loose is going to work.  

Daisy & I have a "date" this morning to see if I can get some of that hair off her.  John won't be here, so if my hands give out, I'll have to quit & try later.  John has never clipped an animal, so I'm not sure I want to turn him loose with a big set of Oster clippers anyway..........!!!!  (G)  My experience is pretty limited, & from over 50 years ago, so if he did have to do the clipping, all I can say is.................poor Daisy girl........!!! (VBG)  She is real good to stand still so that's a big help. 

Monday, May 23, 2011

 Yesterday afternoon I decided to try the boots on Gus again.  I had a time trying to keep them on him the other day, but he was not very comfortable yesterday afternoon, wouldn't even go out of his pen.  

One problem was the velcro straps on the boots have curled.  Besides them coming loose on their own, he also was pulling on them with his mouth.  I had an idea to run some duct tape around the straps, to hopefully keep them from coming loose.  John said to try vet wrap, so it wouldn't get sticky.  Yesterday after I put on the boots, the next thing I know he's across the driveway, snacking on brush.  When it came time to feed, he followed me back to the pen fairly comfortably.   I didn't know what would happen overnight.  This morning when John went out, Gus was across the wash missing a boot.  I didn't look forward to trying to find a black boot on 30 acres of mesquite trees & brush, but when John went over to feed the chickens there it was by the pen.  And the vet wrap was still in place.  His feet are so upright, even though I pulled the straps as tight as I could, he just walked out of it I guess.  

Also this morning Rusty had knocked a big piece of scab off his pastern cut.  I assume it will eventually heal, but he isn't much help.

Tonight I got an e-mail from Mark Myers.  He runs Peaceful Valley Donkey Rescue, the largest donkey rescue in the U.S.  A man died a few weeks ago down by Elfrida & had 22 equine, mostly mules & donkeys.   A daughter contacted me from N.J. & said there were 5 donkeys, all jacks........!!!  There's no way we could take 5 jacks, but Mark can absorb 5 donkeys into his operation fairly easy.  Her brother had already contacted Mark, so I thought that was the end of that.  Before Mark can picked them up & take them to California they have to have blood drawn for a Coggins test.  I guess they had a vet out today, & weren't set up to draw blood from unruly donkeys.  So Mark got in touch with me to see if I have any ideas........!!!!  Hmmmm!  Most of the vets I know won't go that far, especially for a "rodeo".  I have one possibility, she was willing to bring a dart gun when we had Paladin gelded because he was suppose to be wild.  Didn't need it thank goodness.  So she has a certain "spirit of adventure", just not sure how much adventure she's willing to go for.........!! (G)  Stay tuned...........!!!

Sunday, May 22, 2011

NOT TODAY

Daisy is starting to look like a Yak again.  She is on pergolide, but isn't showing any signs of shedding at all.  

I was going to try to trim her this morning, not sure my hands will last, but I can always do it in 2 or 3 sessions.  When John went out to clean pens, he asked if I wanted her left in the pen to await her fate.  I had him let her out because lately they have been either going below the house or up by the hay barn.  So this morning they went over to Burroland.........!!!!  We have something to do tomorrow, but Tuesday she & I have another "date with destiny".  

Gus seems to have reached a wall, with his feet.  The last few days he hasn't gone out of the pen area, I assume because his feet are bothering him.  Courtney is coming Thur to see if she can get him a little more comfortable.  She's afraid to take too much sole off, the x-rays show he has quite a bit of rotation, which means there probably isn't much holding his coffin bone up off the ground.  But even though I've soaked his feet & wet down where he stands to eat his hay, the bottom of his feet are just like steel, there is no give to it at all.  So as his feet grow out from the top there is no place for the new growth to go & everything gets bunched up.  Poor little guy.  Hopefully she'll have some ideas when she gets here. 

Friday, May 20, 2011

I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO SAY..............!!!

There is nothing to be said, I can't even imagine what the x-rays would look like on a foot like this.  Pancho has had attention since this picture was taken, but if you go to 
you can see how he has to stand even after being trimmed.  This should be criminal, the people should spend time in jail & should never be allowed to own another animal...........!!!!!!!  This is one reason John won't allow me to carry a gun when we go on a bonafide neglect rescue. Imagine this poor guy standing on those feet day after day, trying to get around enough to eat, drink, & survive.  As the people  went on with their lives. 

Lefty was also rescued, I'm assuming Pancho is the 10 year old, & Lefty is the 4 year old, because I don't think a hoof could get this bad in 4 years. 

The chances of him having quality of life is slim, no matter how much effort Crossroads puts into trying to help him.  I hope they can turn him around.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

EHV-1 UPDATE

There isn't any from what I can tell.  At any time on the internet you can read, "there are no cases in AZ".  Then you can read "my friend up in "fill in the blank"  had to euthanize their horse".

This is a link to an official hand out  from Dr. John Hunt from the Arizona Department of Agriculture.

http://azda.gov/Main/EquineHerpesVirus.pdf

It is from yesterday, so of course there could be changes.  We have to assume the state will apprise the public of any changes in a timely manner, & hopefully people will quit adding their little bit of "make it exciting" information.
* * * * * 
New York City 1908


Not much going on here, which is a good thing.  Summer doctoring is getting busy.  I have 2 that have bare legs that have to be kept covered with sunscreen or they bleed.  Jenny the mammoth has trouble every summer with an umbilical hernia getting open & crusty.  I don't know if the flies open it or if it opens on it's own.  I try to keep it covered with thuja zinc oxide.  Sha'ba & Cisco both have problems with summer sores on their sheaths.  Must not forget Rusty & his cut below his fetlock, still doctoring that too.  Of course there is always the morning inspection for cactus spines, or cholla sections.  Yesterday Justin had a piece of cholla stuck on his shoulder.  I guess he rolled on it, poor little guy.  I used my trusty comb to flip it off him & not on me.  I've flipped cholla on me a couple of times, & it really makes me feel sorry for them when they get a piece stuck.  One time Buddy got a piece caught in his mouth......YUCK!

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Isn't this a sweet little face........???    Hmmmm maybe, but right now Cheyenne is on John's "list".  Yesterday when I went out for evening chores, I noticed the dogs barking, dust flying & John yelling, "GET IN THERE"......!!!!  I went in the feed room, & when John came in he said Cheyenne had slipped a cog..........!!!  Usually Lynn, Justin & Cheyenne go in as a family group, with Pepsi tagging along.  I guess when Cheyenne went in she was standing in the gate, John went ahead & gave her a piece of carrot thinking of course she would continue to walk into the pen.......NOT!  She spun around & ran out of the pen.  Of course the more he pointed her in the right direction, the more she headed in another direction.  He finally "captured" her & all was well.........until tonight, when she decided she didn't want to even go close to the pen.  So we ignored her, went ahead rounded up everyone else & watched her stroll around here & there, & even went past the pen a time or two.  

By the time John brought the hay she was more than willing to go in the pen, guess she decided this being independent wasn't working out so good after all.  Curious to see what she does tomorrow.  

Last night Sha'ba choked & I think he choked on an animal cracker.  It took about 2 hours for him to clear.  It seems like when they choke it's usually at night, when a vet isn't readily available, so I was glad he got OK.  When Quilla choked on celery awhile back, I called the vet & she didn't get near as excited as I always do.  


If you haven't heard about it there is an outbreak of EHV-1(Equine Herpes Virus-1) in some of the western states & Canada.  This is not something to mess with & already has caused some deaths.  It is transmitted by contact & also airborne, so it's very easy to pass around. 

http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=18253

Shows & play week-ends are being cancelled, & the BLM is cancelling their adoption dates until August. 


Sunday, May 15, 2011

http://www.centredaily.com/2011/05/14/2712504/operation-donkey-brings-iraqi.html

This is an article about Smoke, the donkey from Iraq finally making the trip to the US.  One of the big sponsors was Big Ass Fans which also is involved with  Longhopes Donkey Shelter in Bennett, Colorado.  I talked to Kathy the director, not too long ago &  she had been contacted to see if she has someone that would be a friend for Smoke, which I'm sure she will do, no problem.  

Yesterday was a fun day, although it got rather long before it was over.......!!!   Got up early to feed, so we could go over to Willcox to an open house for Healing Hearts Animal Rescue & Refuge.  WOW, do they have a lot of room.  Their pens are huge, most looked like an acre or more.  Wide open spaces, makes me envious, no mesquite limbs to run into.  They've only been out here for a few years, moved down from the Phoenix area, for more room for their farm animals.  The farm was a defunct ostrich farm, which I guess is why all the pens & shelters are so large.  They have 41 horses, llamas, goats, even John's favorite..............hogs........!!!  A couple of them were even larger than Nikki, the one that attacked John earlier this year.

We got to see Last Chance & Missy Moo also.  About 4 years ago we were involved in their rescue, picking them up north of Tucson from a woman bringing them down from the Phoenix area.  They were very sick little veal calves she had saved from becoming veal, but had no way to take care of them.  I got in touch with Sybil that runs the Oasis Bird Sanctuary, who also was a nut for cows & she & the staff at the Oasis bottled raised them.  Last year Healing Hearts agreed to take them, & have Chance castrated, which he was long overdue to have......!!!   As the only cows,  they have a big pen all to themselves. 

One pen had a spotted large standard donkey, a little gray mini donkey & Britches the little mini mule.  

What a little cutie, & from what the manager said, so traumatized from her past life, she will never trust people or as the manager said, "let people into her rather large bubble of safety".  Her opinion of people is about the same as Tula's. 

Met the livestock inspector for this area.  We hadn't had any dealings with them since we took in Trudy a few years ago, & had to have her euthanized.  He seemed real nice, I gave him a card in case he gets in some burros.  He said a year or so ago, they had quite a few show up from the Mexicans using them to bring drugs across the border.  They don't bother to take them back, they just turn them loose once the drugs are unloaded.  

We had to rush home to feed early, so we could get the race car out to the track.  This is military appreciation month & the track has a special race each year between some of the commanders at Davis Monothan Air Force Base in Tucson & some of the Chief Master Sargent's.  They called last week & asked if we'd bring my little car in to be used.  I think there were 7 cars total.  What a goat rope that was.......!!!!   They didn't even let the people hot lap or get use to the cars at all.  Just dumped them in & turned them loose basically.  When they came up to get in the cars we told them whoever drove my car couldn't be much bigger than me or he wouldn't be able to move.  So they pointed to this little guy, a little taller than me & not very big around.  John asked him what he did when we were strapping him in & he said he was an A-10 Warthog pilot.  I tried to tell him everything he needed to know in about 3 minutes before they lined up to go out on the track.  Just before they went out, since he was starting on the outside pole, I ran out to tell him to get out in front & just stay there.  He told me he probably had a target on his back, because he was the wing commander........!!!! YIKES I swear he looked like he was about 25 years old, certainly not old enough to be a Colonel.  

He managed to finish 3rd, probably would have done better, except he ran off the track where I always run off the track.......!!! LOL  He got the full flavor of racing, besides running off the track, he hit a couple of cars, got hit a couple of times, got in the middle of traffic, which means everybody was banging on him at once.   He really seemed to have fun, he was still excited when he got back to the pits, & thanked us over & over.  I told him if he thought that was fun, he should come out sometime when our son Rod is racing the Super Stock, & we'd put him in that.  

I had to apologize to one of the women I race with, for orange paint all over the back of her white & pink car..!!!!!!!  She said that was OK, I guess her driver left her paint on someone else's car..........!!

Of course by the time we got home, our guys had been in their pens longer than they liked.  When I got out to open the gate they were already yelling.  John came in from letting them out to tell me Gus' pen was open, I guess I hadn't gotten the side gate latched & he figured it out.  Either that or he's learned how to open it.  We've had to start clipping Frijolita's gates, after finding her out or where she didn't belong 4 or 5 times we figured out it wasn't us.........!!!  So maybe Gus has been watching her......!!!

Friday, May 13, 2011



Blogspot has been off line since Wednesday & just came on this afternoon.  I have no idea what they were doing, but there was no access to either my blog nor was I able to update the blog.

We got the car trailer we went to look at last Friday.  Actually the people were interested in an ATV, & we just happened to have the Big Bear we got a couple of years ago & haven't used much, so we did a little trading, with everyone thinking they got the best deal........!!!  

We are finally into fly season with fly masks on everyone.  Daisy was the first one to lose her mask, & so far we haven't found it, don't know where she lost it.  John put a bright yellow one on her so now she REALLY looks like a Daisy...........!!!!  I'm afraid we're going to have to body clip her this year, she really is shaggy & doesn't look like she's going to do much shedding.  

Gus hasn't be going out of the pen area the last few days for some reason.  His feet aren't hot nor does he have a heavy pulse in his legs, but he doesn't seem to be comfortable when he walks.  I've been wetting the ground where he eats, much to his disgust.  I have to do it before he comes back in the pen, or I get very sad looks, like he thinks I'm trying to drowned him or something.  If he isn't there to see the water splashing on the ground it doesn't seem to be quite as traumatic for him......!!!

This morning I noticed BlackJack was going around in the pens looking for leftover hay.  He was in Daisy's pen, & he started walking really fast & looked kinda puffed up before he went around the corner of her shelter.  Good planning on his part to "scare" whoever might be there, but unfortunately there wasn't anyone there.  When I told John about it, he said he'd seen the same thing when BJ went into Pepper's shelter.  He's pretty much all bluff anyway, if someone confronts him, he will find somewhere else to go or something else of interest.  But if he can get the upper hand with bluffing, he's the man..........!!!! LOL


Tuesday, May 10, 2011

 THE GOOD OLD DAYS

My Mother bless her heart loves to cook with celery, but will only use 1 or 2 stalks & then gives it to me to use.  I always have celery in the frig, so it's a little bit of an overload when she "shares".  A few days ago she gave me a package with 2 bunches in it.  I've known for a long time that celery is a great snack for equines especially the ones that shouldn't have sugar.  So last night everyone got a 1/2 stalk of celery in their food pan to see how they would like it. 

Seemed to be a big hit with everyone except Pepsi, BlackJack & Rusty the white mule.  BlackJack doesn't eat apples, citrus or anything that might be healthy.  He was raised with a little boy & prefers, french fries, pizza.....you know things a kid would share.........!!!!!  (G)  

Unfortunately Quilla must have swallowed his piece because he choked.  Celery wouldn't break up like pellets or mush would, so this could have really been a crisis.   I watched him for 1/2 hour or so, & he didn't seem to be stressed, just wasn't eating, & laid down in one of the dirt bathing areas.  Called the vet, & you can imagine what her first questions was............"why were you feeding them celery?"  That's isn't the first thing I've done that she's "wondered" about, & I would imagine it won't be the last.  

We agreed that a shot of banamine would be a good idea & she said to call her in half an hour to report.  The second time I checked on him, he was up & eating hay..........!!!!  If my hair wasn't already gray, these guys would make it so. 

Saturday, May 07, 2011

 This is the face Daisy shows visitors to get them to pay attention to her.  No one seems to be able to resist......!!! 
Thanks, Mike


Gus was really good this morning.  He came over from Burroland with the gang, all of them late of course, & was walking really good.  Usually he is one of the first ones in his pen, but I guess if he hangs around with the herd, he'll get as ill mannered as they are.  

It's time to put fly masks on everyone, yesterday the flies were starting to congregate on faces, so I'll go thru my stash of masks & figure out which ones fit who.  We're going to start out giving them access to Burroland during the day when they have masks on, & see how it goes.  Right now 10 are wearing masks every day & so far no one has lost a mask.  With Honcho, Buddy Brat & some of the others gone that thought masks were toys, it might not be a problem.  

I hung one of the jolly balls Claire brought in a tree yesterday, we'll see if they play with it.  They've been hauling them around, although they don't bring them back to the "toy" box.   So I thought I'd see how this works.  I haven't caught anyone playing with it yet. 

The Ritchie waterer seems to be a big hit, we've seen quite a few of them drinking out of it.  Now I'm thinking about replacing the other Rubbermaid waterer with a Ritchie, haven't said anything to John yet.  This Ritchie is a little high for the minis, & they make a shorter one, that would be just about their size. 

Friday, May 06, 2011

JAKE 20.3 HANDS


You know the old saying, "I'm so busy, I don't know if I've found a lead rope or lost my horse?", that just about describes what is going on here right now.  What's really bad except for John doing jeep tours, there's not much to show  that we're busy.  When John does jeep tours in Tucson, I get to do chores by myself.  Not a big deal, but it does take longer for one to do what two usually do.  Yesterday he had 2 tours so he missed both feedings.  The donkeys always let me know how SLOW I am, that is once they manage to roam around & find their pens.......!!!!  I don't understand the reasoning behind roaming around lost, it seems to be a donkey thing.  

Today we're going to look at a car trailer.  Of course it isn't close, so that will take most of the day.  Tomorrow we are going to help at the annual Open House at the Oasis  Bird Sanctuary.  John parks cars & I help with keeping the food tables filled.  We'll run home from that feed, & head for the race track, not to get home until about 2am.....!!!  Sunday is Mother's Day so we'll take Mother out to eat.  Crunch days like this is when it would really be nice to have someone living on the property to help, because the donkeys don't care that we're busy.....!!! LOL  We keep talking about building a RV pad with utilities & putting out the word.  So far it hasn't happened though.  

Everyone seems to be doing good right now.  Gus was a little ouchy yesterday & I saw him parked a couple of times.  This morning he seems to be OK, so maybe he just overdid the day before.  I've given up on John getting the "swamp" built for him to stand in while he's eating, so this morning I dumped his water bucket there.  It soaked in pretty quick, but at least the dirt is wet.  Of course I got a dirty look & he tried to avoid standing there, but finally did it my way.  I'll probably keep dumping until John gets time to get the tractor out.

Of course I'm still doctoring Rusty's pastern cut & probably will be for quite sometime.  It's doing good, just going to be a long time before it's healed.  Yesterday I noticed the flies had finally found it.  Yesterday was the first day we've actually seen many flies.  I checked my fly traps & sure enough they are doing a rousing business.  I put out another trap, to make sure all the flies have a opening to join the rest of their friends & relatives if they want.......!!!! 


Tuesday, May 03, 2011

LAKOTA CAMP 1891


We're getting tired of having ice on the bird baths, not much at 32 or 33 degrees, but considering it's the Merry Month of May it is a little unusual for SE Arizona.  Can't imagine what the summer is going to be like........!!!

I raced my little car again Saturday night.  Didn't do great, finished 8th again.  Pretty bad considering I started on the front row.  But I did a little "agricultural" racing a couple of times which gives everyone a chance to pass you.  Oh! well I'm having fun, although I do wish John would quit bringing every new scrape & ding to my attention...........!!!!!  Dirt track racing is a contact sport from my point of view, & he knows that from back in the old days.  The first race I was in, I brought it back with both front fenders curled back to the fire wall...........!!! LOL  What is really sickening is the car was a 1957 Chevy hard top..........!!!!  

Sunday Courtney came out & trimmed those that needed it, even little Cheyenne got trimmed this time.  The minis usually self trim, but she had one foot that wasn't growing real straight.  She did real good considering we never put a halter on the little ones, & she hasn't been asked to lift her feet since, who knows when.  She's was a perfect little lady, with her it could have gone either way, she can be a little terror if she wants to, just ask the other donkeys & mules......!!!

I had soaked Gus' feet in the morning, but that & all the soaking I've done on him, hasn't touched his rock hard feet, his soles & frogs are just like steel, no sloughing off of dead material at all.  We're trying to figure out how to build an effective "swamp" around his hay bunk.  I want to get something to bury, fill with sand & add water.  John seems to think just wetting down the area will work............. Hmmmm....... I can see his point since I'm the brains & he has to be the brawn.  We'll try it his way & see if it helps.

Courtney was afraid to do too much with him, since he seems to have contracted tendons in the back of his legs, that will have to come down gradually over a period of time.  But she took off quite a bit & right after he was standing "ouchy".  But by the next morning he was doing pretty good, & doesn't seem to be "parking" his front feet as much, in fact I haven't seen him park since Sunday, so I think we're on the right track, it's just going to take some time.   She said she could really tell a difference in the way his body looked, so I guess he's losing some weight.  It's hard to tell when you see them everyday, I guess I should take a weekly picture for comparison. 

Jenny got left long again, just a little touch up.  She is walking so good, we want to make sure we don't mess her up.