THE DONKEYS THINK WE'VE LOST OUR MINDS..........!!!

 This morning Buddy was acting colicky laying down and wiggling around.  Between that and seeing how much weight Rosie and Coquette have put on, not to mention Gizmo the little mule is starting to plumb up nicely too.  So..........I made the decision that everybody's time out of their pens is going to be sharply curtailed for awhile.  The problem with this scenario is, if the beans don't get eaten, the beans will still be there when they do get out.  Once the beans fall, if it rains on them they will turn black and the donkeys won't eat them.  But in the meantime there are beans everywhere and every time the wind blows more beans fall.  Our whole acreage is pretty well covered with mesquite beans, so there is no way we could rake them up. 

Buddy got a colic dose from Equine Colic Relief USA, and Coquette, Rosie and Gigi got to stay in the pens too.  Doug let the others out at 1pm, much to the disgust of these four.  As of tonight the whole herd will be staying in all night until 1pm tomorrow.  Using this routine, they will get about 4 hours out in the afternoon, but that's all.  I don't know if even 4 hours will be a problem, or if the beans on the ground will continue to be a problem.  We'll just have to see.  I know one thing, they are NOT going to be happy.

When we got home from John's radiation treatment, Buddy had passed some poo, in fact quite a bit with plenty of beans.  And he was acting normal, wanting out of that pen.......!!!  LOL

BUDDY BRAT LOOKING OUT OF DONKEY PRISON..........THANKS DOUG

 COQUETTE WANTS OUT.......THANKS, DOUG

The vet clinic called today and said Penny is doing OK.  She still hasn't eaten much, but they did more x-rays and said she is impacted with mesquite beans.  She actually passed a couple of wads of them and they saw plenty in the x-rays.  Although they did take her out in a grassy area and she ate some grass.  She's had an IV with glucose and will get another one, plus they will tube her again with water and add oil this time.  Hopefully things will start moving soon. 

WRAPPING LEGS

For those that don't know much about equine feet, this is a nasty looking foot.  Actually for those that do know equine feet, this is a nasty foot.  This is Gus' right front and is the reason he spends quite a bit of time in feet made of casting material, used for arm and leg casts on people.  

The casting material works very well to give his foot the support he doesn't have internally because of long term chronic laminitis.  He has been stable for years with no reoccurring founder or laminitis, but the damage has already been done and as he gets older his foot becomes less stable. 

We are encouraged by the growth coming out at the top.  It will never look good, but it is growing out with better shape to it. 

As you can see the bottom half is contracted and scary.  He's actually walking and standing pretty good for him.  The foot itself isn't flaky, although he does have a vertical crack down the front that is trying to become permanent.  I hope as the better looking foot grows out, and better equipped to hold his weight, the crack will become less important and hopefully give up.  

Courtney and I would like to keep him out of the casting material as long as possible.  If he can make it to the monsoon season starting in July without it, she'll put it back on, thru the wet, humid time.  Of course that brings up another problem, stinky feet, somewhat like wearing sneakers all the time in hot, humid climate.  So far he hasn't had a problem with white line, or other feet problems, thank goodness.  

The wrapping legs headline tells what I've been doing almost every morning lately.  Almost every morning I add a leg or two, to my list.  Boaz, Quilla and Penny have now been joined by Coquette.  Coquette's leg sores are different than the other ones.  Hers seems to be internal, rather than sun or fly caused.  Last year they got ahead of me and was really a problem.  So this year I started early, checking her legs.  I should have trimmed the long hair off her legs when I clipped her earlier this week, because this morning she had a full blown case of sores.  I left the hair on with the idea that maybe it would help to slow down the sore problem.................nope, didn't help.  Now there are sores to contend with, not sure I can use the clippers, might have to just use scissors.  

Her blood test for Cushings came back normal, so she is probably just insulin resistant, although her numbers were within normal range.  She just needs to be taller I guess.........LOL

LAST CLIP JOB DONE......!!!

I guess we saved the best for last.  Daisy just patiently stands when you clip her or anything.  She had very good training, unlike most of our gang.  Quilla is just as good, not because of training, so much as he is just a sweet boy.

When Linda was here she helped clip Daisy to learn and then did Quilla by herself.  That left darling Coquette to be done.  Coquette isn't bad, but she is opinionated on where on her body you can clip without a fuss.

John and I got our "toys" together and headed out for battle.  She was actually pretty good about most of her body on both sides.  Equine are right brained/left brained, which means just because one side is easy to work with, doesn't mean the other side will be as easy.

One hind leg was OK, the other one, not so much.  Also under her jaw on the right side.........have no idea why.  She threw a couple of warning kicks which is really irritating.  So I tried a simple version of scotch hobbling, and forgot that donkeys are really quite agile on 3 legs.  As I said I wasn't in full scotch hobble mode, didn't really have a long enough rope, so we danced around and around for a few minutes, until the idea of using the redneck squeeze went thru my brain.  Got her in there and managed to get her finished, in between the pipe railing, with my hands still intact.  Actually except for under the jaw she stood still, so we got done pretty quick.

Doesn't look like the same donkey does it?  The flies are already starting on her legs, she is one of the fly magnets, that has to be doctored all summer or covered up with leg wrappings.

I'm waiting for the results of her blood test for Cushings Dr. Lindsey drew when she was out to see Tula about her mouth.  Coquette has long hair as you could see in the picture, but she might just be a long haired type of donkey. There are quite a few different breeds of donkey, from all over the world with different characteristics.  She's very likely insulin resistant at best, it's impossible to get the 25 plus extra pounds she is carrying off of her.  Our donkeys are fed a typical diet for insulin resistance anyway, but without putting her in a pen 24/7, we can't control what she browses off the property.

Talked to the neighbors about bringing Casper back to see if he had mellowed towards Gizmo.  John had seen them standing beside each other with the fence between them and thought maybe Casper had decided to be friends.  Lara said he still lunges at the fence, kicking and biting, so I guess not.  Unfortunately he couldn't stay here long term, unless he decided to respect our 4 strand barbed wire exterior fence, instead of doing a combat crawl under it .........LOL  Sure wish I could find someone that has no geldings, just a mare or two to see if it's all horses or just geldings.  He's OK with donkeys, in fact he liked to hide in the herd, when we caught him outside the fence and he had scooted back under the fence.  Guess he thought we'd think he had been there all the time..........!!! 

DAISY'S SPA DAY........!!

Well maybe that's a little over the top, but she did get body clipped for the summer.  

THIS IS BEFORE

LINDA LEARNING HOW TO CLIP

FINISHED PRODUCT, SURROUNDED BY HER HAIR.  

She's very cooperative, just stands and waits for the next animal cracker.  I think she probably appreciates getting rid of all that hair.  

Linda was interested in helping, and she did a great job.   We'll probably do Quilla tomorrow and maybe Coquette the next day.  I'm only good for about one a day.  Quilla is good too, but Coquette, not so good.  She seems to want to keep her hair.  The 1st year I did her, we had to use the squeeze and she still managed to squirm and wiggle.  When I got thru, she looked like she had been thru a leaf shredder.....!!!  And I didn't care, by then, if fact I thought about not clipping her the next year.  But she was a little better, at least I didn't have to use the squeeze.  So we'll see how this year goes.  

I called this afternoon to see how the girls were doing in their new home.  Tim said they are doing just fine and they are really enjoying learning about donkeys and the way their minds work.  They've gone on "family" walks on leads.  He's talked about using them for packing on trails, which would be a lot of fun I would imagine.  Maybe it will happen, he seems really interested.  

I guess Midnight the bitchy horse next to them is continuing to be obnoxious.  He said he thinks the girls are teasing her, to make her lunge at the fence.  I wouldn't be surprised, donkeys usually have a sense of humor and once they figure out she can't get to them, it's their game......!! 

BRRRRRR.........!!!

I know how he feels....!!!

I hate to keep harping on the subject of weather, but this winter is really getting old.  I had to start a fire in the wood stove this afternoon, because it never got warm today in the house, too many clouds I guess.  Passive solar houses are really nifty neato, UNLESS there is no sun.  It also doesn't work if you aren't home the evening before to build a fire.  

Loaded up and headed for the track

Yesterday was the 1st race of the season.  I did OK, not as well as I'd like.  I finished 3rd in the heat race, which lined me up in the 3rd row for the main event.  I was running 5th and doing OK, when the car started acting up and the gas pedal was mushy.  Needless to say running 5th with 12 other cars behind you just waiting for an opportunity to improve their position, gives you incentive to do something, anything.  I pulled up to the wall and pumped the gas pedal like crazy and all of a sudden it came out of it.  So away I went and it happened again.  Of course by this time a lot of the cars behind me had taken advantage of my misfortune and were ahead of me.  I was just hoping to get to finish, but with 7 laps to go the race director started yelling in my radio, for me to get off the track, I was dumping gas, so I got off ASAP.  So I got scored in 12th place.  I can't believe I finished ahead of 5 other cars....!!  LOL

John has been busy today trying to figure out what happened.  So far no definitive answers.  Probably something to do with the computer, but he can't figure out what that would have to do with the gas pedal.  

Yesterday morning when we fed, I went ahead and mixed up feed for evening feeding.  I made up all the pans and put them in our big igloo cooler with ice packs for Doug to feed when it was time.  Last year Amy was still coming to clean pens and she'd mix up pans, but I think this is going to work out pretty well.  We have to be at the track so early to sign in and pill draw for my starting position, there's no way we can feed.  Having Doug here really helps.  

Gus is finishing up his meds for possible ulcers tomorrow morning.  I don't think he has ulcers, he eats too well.  He isn't as touchy as he was, we are pretty much leaving him alone to give the Previcox a chance to get into his system if the problem is his joints.  This cold weather is hard on everybody that has arthritis, man or beast.  

Got back the results on Quilla and Daisy's ACTH test for Cushings.  It's been a couple of years since they were tested and Daisy is putting on a pretty heavy winter coat.  She is always pretty hairy and gets body clipped in the spring, but since the vet was here for Gus I thought it would be a good time to test them.  Daisy's numbers are almost perfect on 3mg of pergolide a day, so I guess she's just going to be hairy.  I never asked her owner, maybe she has always had long hair, I just figured it was the Cushings.  Quilla's numbers weren't quite as perfect as hers, but they were pretty good on 1 1/2mg of pergolide a day.  After Dr. Karla left I thought I should have had her test Coquette.  She's not really old enough to worry about Cushings, I pretty sure she is Insulin Resistant and there is too much donkey in her skin, she came in fat and I've not been able to get it off her. 

THE EXPERTS ARE ON THE PROBLEM

I went to my blog server and voiced my disapproval of not being able to download my pictures, without Google's nose in my business.  Seems like I'm not the only one, quite a few people jumped onto my message, and now the Forum moderator has asked us all for some information to try to figure out what is going on.  So we'll see, seems like it would be easier to go to Google and ask them what they are doing, but maybe I don't see the "big" picture.

It was 17 degrees here this morning, Doug's water is frozen until later in the day.  Of course all the water buckets have to have ice broken and netted out.  At least the heater is still floating in the Rubbermaid tank.  Although everyone has small bucket in their pens, we also have 2 other areas for water and they are both heated, so they have access to open water all the time when they are out of their pens.  

The reason I mentioned the heater floating in the Rubbermaid is a couple of days ago it wasn't.  It was sitting on top of the insulated box around all the faucets that go to the feed room, pens, etc.  None of us know how it got there, someone had to grab hold of it floating in the water, and hang onto it long enough to drag it out, when the electrical wire probably stopped it from going any further.  Over the years it's never been a problem before with the donkeys.  But, Saddik the new dog was not here before.........so he's getting the blame, unless we catch one of the donkeys dragging it out.  

Although they don't enjoy the cold weather, I'm pretty sure they are all enjoying, no fly masks, no polo wraps or socks on their legs and no doctoring.  I'm going out this morning and gathering up all the fly masks to decide which ones are salvageable which ones to throw away.  I think quite a few of them are still good, but I'll still have to get in touch with Colorful Equine to order a supply to start out next spring. 

We'll be taking Jake home to his herd Friday.  The little ones are big enough to take care of themselves and the other jenny hasn't had a baby, so we'll give it a try.  If she does have a baby, we could always go back and bring Jake back here, if we thought it was necessary.  He's really a nice donkey, gorgeous and very sweet and mellow.  I'm sure he will be glad to get home to his family.  The 8 donkeys adopted together by one couple, were a active herd, Jake was the herd jack, 5 jennies and 2 weanling jacks.  It's not often a little herd like that would get to stay together, so this is a special situation.  They now have 3 more little jacks to have gelded in the spring.  It would have been cheaper if Jake had thrown jennies instead of jacks........LOL  One of the jennies got her neck trapped in the fork of a tree this summer, probably broke it and couldn't walk, so had to be euthanized, unfortunately. 

Since we are in a cold snap, John has upped everyone's hay, which they seem to appreciate.  At least they aren't leaving any, like they were during mesquite bean season.  Except for the 3 fatties, Coquette, Rosie and Buddy Brat, the others all look pretty good, so I don't think a little bit of extra hay to help keep them warm, will be a problem.

NO PICTURES TODAY

I'm not sure what is going on with my blog.  For some reason it won't let me download pictures from my computer, which is what I usually do.  Instead it wants me to sign in with Google and download from my on line account................HUH.........????  Didn't know I had one and that isn't what I want to do anyway.......!!!  So I'll just press on and hopefully I'll be able to figure out what is going on.  

After the Great Garage Caper, John did find some damage.  One of his racing posters disappeared except for the 4 thumbtacks at each corner and a little bit of the poster that was under the thumbtacks.  Who to blame, who to blame..............Rosie was there and she is our alternative eater of wood a paper.  What's really funny is she didn't leave a scrap, she at the WHOLE thing, about 2' x 3'......!!! LOL  

Actually weight wise everyone is doing pretty good right now.  Most of their mesquite bean access has disappeared, and the only ones still obese are the usual, the a fore named Rosie, Coquette and Buddy Brat.  I am going to continue trying to get weight off those 3, but I think it is a lost cause, unless I starved them, which I won't do.  It also would be dangerous because of hyperlipidemia, where the liver releases fat into the blood stream and basically suffocates them.  

Thursday we will take Penny and Daisy to have their teeth done.  Penny is going for a follow up appointment and Daisy has been quidding a little bit.  She's about 30 years old more or less and hasn't been checked for a few years.  We're trying to decide whether to take Coquette with us or not.  She is permanently attached to Penny as her BFF...... to the point of being absolutely skitzo if Penny gets out of her sight.  I can imagine what she would be like, if we put Penny in a trailer and hauled her out the gate.  John's afraid she will stress too much.  We've actually taken Penny a couple of times and Coquette was OK when we got home, so I don't see it as a problem.  We'll see how it plays out I guess.  

We are also getting ready to take Jake back to his home.  He's the young BLM ex-jack that had been a herd boss, until last spring, when he was captured, gelded and actually adopted by a couple along with his whole family of 5 jennies and 2 weanling jacks.  Of course the girls were PG and we were afraid the babies would get hurt if Jake had not forgotten his JOB...........!!!!  So he's been here about 2 months, while the 3 new little jacks, get a little bigger and stronger.  Jim says the 3 little ones, usually hang out as their own little herd, and not as attached to their mommas, as they would be if they were by themselves with just momma to play with.  Jim says the mommas don't even care if they wander off.  Jake actually isn't real hormonal, at least not as much as Pancho.  Pancho becomes a little tiger when the girls cycle.  Sometimes he and Boaz will spar a little, so far Jake just watches the show.  He's really a nice, well behaved young man.  We had waited for awhile because there is still one jenny that hasn't had a baby, but she isn't acting like she's going to.  I'm sure if she is PG, as soon as we haul Jake home she'll have her baby........LOL

Time Marches On.........!!

It seems like there is always something going on around here, it certainly helps to stay flexible.  LOL  Every morning when I doctor with my excellent vet tech, John I never know what I'm going to run into.  Right now I have 3 of them with what I assume is bacterial infections on their legs, or shoulders or in Rosie's case, whatever she has had on her belly all summer long.  It seems to less weepy when I use the homemade salve or is it because it is getting cooler?  Who knows.  Quilla's legs absolutely got ahead of me for some reason.  The problem with using a salve is unless you cover it with bandages or something, it ends up with dirt caked on the sores.  This morning I ended up "diapering" both front knees and wrapping the rest of his lower legs separately.  If anyone knows of a workable way to wrap a knee and leg together I'd like to know how..........!!!  

Coquette has it on her legs and shoulders, but she's actually doing pretty good with just socks on her legs.  I tried socks on Quilla, but he has sores on his knees, that stick to the socks, which rips the scabs off when it does try to heal..........SIGH!  So far hers is just on the canon bone "ie" shin bone.  They are all improving, if I can just keep Quilla sores from sticking to something. Next summer I am going to be ready with nitrofurazone at the 1st sign of skin problems.  

Heard from Reba and Rusty's foster mom.  She said they  really enjoy having them with their mule Ruthie.  They make a little herd, although she says the 2 girls won't answer Rusty when he gets lost, but they will answer each other.  Poor Rusty, he thinks he's a ladies man............guess not..........!!!   LOL  She said Rusty has excellent hearing, anytime he hears the barn door, he comes running from wherever he is and does a western type slide stop in his stall, just in case she might have something for him to eat....!!  Her parents live in a little house on the property and the mules all go down to visit every morning at 8am.  Her mother isn't very mobile and really enjoys seeing them.  It sounds like they are enjoying all the extra attention, we didn't have time for here.  Reba still isn't real friendly, but she was never anything but a pack mule to be used.  But Kris said if they are paying attention to Rusty and Ruthie, next thing they know Reba is standing real close, so maybe she will decide that letting people into her space has it's rewards.  

Also talked to Sarah about Wister and Ruger.  They have fit in very well, although they still aren't thrilled with the little 4 year old girl.  I guess it's OK if one of the parents are holding her, but when she's on the ground they still aren't sure.  She said Wister is the dominant one, even if he is the youngest, which surprised me.  They went into this home as fosters because the family planned on getting some goats which is going to happen in a couple of weeks.  The donkeys are to be protectors of the goats, which means no chasing, no picking up by the neck and no stomping them.  If any of those things happen, I would imagine they will be coming back real quick.  I have my fingers crossed, because it would be an excellent long term home for them.

My good friend Patti came out this afternoon for a visit.  She makes it out about once a year, but we always have a good time, when she does.  
 

Sacred Datura

This is a patch of jimpson weed on our property.  We actually have quite a few patches of it.  It's a member of the nightshade family, consequently it is poisonous and also is an hallucinogenic.  The Indians called it Sacred Datura, used it in their religious ceremonies and unfortunately it has been discovered by people that like to get high.  I guess it is quite dangerous, but that isn't always a deterrent.  It's dangerous to animals too, but the donkeys stay away from it.  If they were hungry they might try it, but believe me this bunch are not hungry. 

 The "fatties" are still staying in the pens at night, much to their disgust.  The beans are just about gone on the 10 acres, we haven't went over to Burroland to see how things are going over there.  We haven't really heard that many cows over there, hopefully they have been sneaking over there quietly.......LOL

The weather cooling off is helping with the skin problems, I'm down to Boaz, Rosie and Coquette needing to be doctored.  The salve Dr. Lindsey sent is still working.  I asked and she said I could use it on Rosie, so I'm trying it on her belly, so far, so good.  

I've got my fingers crossed the fly masks last till the season is over.  We only have one new mask left and some of the ones they are wearing are getting rather ragged.  

Falena is walking very good since Tyler opened up her abscess.  Unfortunately she has a big gouge missing from the side of her foot, and it is going to have to be covered for the foreseeable future, to keep it clean.  I'm pretty good at making a gorilla tape boot, but in our rocky soil, they don't last but a few days at best.  I dug thru my stash of foot covers and dragged out one of Jenny's, she wore after her hoof resection.  It's lightweight and would be perfect, BUT, Jenny was a mammoth and Falena isn't.  Even with the diaper wrap, ETC, it's still pretty big on her foot.  It does stay on, but it gets turned.  I don't know if it bothers her to be turned or not.  It's really hard to find boots that will stay on donkeys anyway, their feet is not shaped like a horse or pony, and they can just walk out of a lot of them because their foot is so upright.  

When Tyler was here last week to open up Falena's abscess, he also shod her rear foot that keeps trying to turn under.  He also put a shoe on Gigi's crooked front foot.  It's really made a difference in her ease of walking.  I'm not a fan of shoes, but have about decided that Gigi will probably have to have a shoe the rest of her life.  I'll see what Tyler says the next time he comes.  We've tried giving both of them chances to go barefooted, but after a few months their feet get wonky again. 

SO FAR, SO GOOD.......!!

 GOLDFIELD NEVADA 1904

 
Saddik, was back to normal the next morning, doesn't even act like anything happened.  He sure was glad to get his breakfast, we broke it up into a couple of feedings, so he wouldn't get sick.  He spent the night in the stock trailer and we did sneak him some water.  It's just too hot here to have an animal going without water for too long.  

So he's back to playing with the donkeys and trying to take off fly masks.  That seems to be a fun thing to do, no matter what species is involved.

We're heating up again, suppose to be in the 100's for the next few days.  Usually by this time I am fighting skin problems all over the place.  So far this year I've had a few outbreaks, Boaz has been the worse so far and a few days of Underwood Horse Medicine seemed to take care of the problem, the hair is growing in really well.  Haven't had any bloody legs, because we covered legs before it became a problem.

Well, forget that....!!!  I took a time out to go doctor after everyone got thru eating.  A couple of days ago Boaz lost one of his socks.  His leg looked good and I didn't bother to put another sock on.  When John and I went out to doctor (he's my vet tech...LOL) the 1st thing I noticed was Boaz's leg from knee to hoof looked like it had been painted with shellac.  Got some water and a rag and started trying to soften it up.  As it softened the hair started sloughing off to slick slimy skin.  Only one little bloody spot thank goodness.  This is the same thing Cisco has had in the past and looks different than what Boaz had on his body that is healing.  SIGH..........  Thank goodness my new supply of Underwood showed up earlier in the week, looks like I'll be going thru quite a bit of it in the next few days. 

Coquette usually has skin problems like Boaz had, but clipping her seemed to halt that problem, at least so far.  She also hasn't had any dandruff, at least that's what it looked like.  Of course now we can see all her fat pockets, so now she is on Magnesium Oxide again.  She doesn't mind the Mag/Ox but she sure doesn't like the short rations.  Of course she knows who leaves hay, so when we let her out, she runs the pens, running off anyone that got there first. 

I've got a problem with my stable fly trap.  The way it is built lizards can get in and of course can't get out.  So far my murder rate is 3, saved 4.  That isn't an acceptable ratio, so I'm think of taking it down for awhile.  I'm not really catching that many flies, they seem to be more prevalent later in the summer. 

BOY, I'M GLAD THAT'S DONE.......!!

 My back and hands are glad this is over.  I won't be using either the rest of the day.........LOL  This is Coquette on drugs..........!!!  It's a good thing I just went ahead and just gave her the Dormosedan, rather than try to reason with her.  Even drugged, she tried to be uncooperative, but couldn't override the stuff.  She would have been a lot of fun without drugs, I'm sure. 

BEFORE

Quite a difference huh?  Her stored fat also shows up much easier.  This poor girl has been on a diet since she got here, almost 3 years ago, she only gets 4 pounds of hay a day and all she can find.  She must be finding plenty, I know she runs all the pens looking for leftovers as soon as we let her out twice a day.  In fact when we turned her loose, she went directly to Penny's bunk to pick up scraps and she was still pretty groggy. 

AFTER

IT'S AMAZING HOW MUCH HAIR COMES OFF ONE DONKEY.  WE'VE GOT MORE THAN THE LOCAL BIRDS CAN HAUL OFF, THAT'S FOR SURE........!!!  lol

THIS PICTURE MAKES ME LAUGH.....!!

Hope it makes you laugh too.  You have to admit it's certainly different.......!!

The test for Valley Fever came back for Anubis and it was negative, which is a good thing.  Of course that leaves us not knowing what is wrong with her.  My personal opinion is stroke, the vet won't say.  If we want to continue trying to figure it out, we'll have to take her to one of the specialty clinics in Tucson.  We went to one of them with one of the cats years ago and since they have all the fancy machines you can get any type of test needed.  

This is how she looked yesterday, very lethargic, although the predizone (spelling doesn't count) is keeping her appetite good.   She finally went poo today after 3 days and quite a bit of pumpkin.  And today she isn't quite as rocky on her feet.  She was stumbling so much she would fall on her face.  I left her harness on, so we could pick her up when she fell down.  

Today she is stronger and more engaged in her surroundings.  She also has more control over her tongue.  It would go out the right side of her mouth and she didn't seem to have the ability to pull it back.  Today was better.  I'll watch her over the week-end and see if she continues to improve, before calling the clinic.  

Poor Rusty the mule.  He's still gimping around on his bowed tendon and swollen fetlock.  He got them at different times on the same leg.  My experience on bowed tendons is, you can treat it, keep them penned and it takes weeks, or you can let them decide on how much they move around and it takes weeks.......!!!  At least for donkeys.  Since he's a mule, I hope he has enough sense to take care of himself like a donkey and not have to be babied like a horse.  He seems to be doing OK, spends time laying down and hanging around the pens.  He likes to slowly paw the air and look sad.  I've told him I can't fix it, but he seems to think I should.  

I finished clipping Quilla today.  I got a little bit better with the clippers, finally got them adjusted, boy does that make a difference..........LOL  Daisy will be next and then Coquette.  Coquette is going to be a challenge.  I'm trying to decide whether to give her a chance to behave herself, or just go ahead and drug her.  The last time I wish I had drugs........!!  

Tonight at feeding time John said Boaz had a bloody place on his lip.  Sure enough, I took 5 or 6 habronema larvae out of a place about the size of a dime.  Didn't notice it yesterday, it's at the back corner and hard to see.  Just finished a 5 day Pancur Power Pac worming for Rosie.  Not sure a Power Pac kills habronema, but figure it can't hurt.  

We're doing pretty good so far with skin problems.  I wish someone would do a study on the link of summer skin problems and poor immune systems on equine.  And find a cure............!!! 

OUR FAMILY IS GROWING........I HOPE NOT PERMANENTLY......!!!

One of the neighbor's asked a couple of days ago if we had seen a skinny brown dog running around.  We hadn't, but last night we did.......!!! When we were feeding he was hanging around on the perimeter watching what we were doing.  Doug said hi, and that was it, he's been in our hip pockets ever since.  Nice young large dog, (look at those feet) has been around people, has some manners, has had his toenails trimmed recently, so I'm hoping someone didn't dump him.  That's always been a problem out here unfortunately.  

I left feeding him to the guys and finally ask today how much they were feeding him.  I don't think a cup here and a cup there is adequate for a young dog that doesn't look like he's been eating regularly for awhile.  Well I forgot about the turkey Doug fed him last night....!!!  LOL  We'll start out with 3 cups three or four times a day and see how that goes, I'm not that familiar with feeding large dogs, so we'll have to see what works. 

I took a couple of pictures and put them on our local community Facebook page, so hopefully he's just lost.

Today was the day to start clipping the hairy ones.  Decided to start with Quilla, here is a before shot.

This is what Cushings looks like

Got out all my toys, ready to go to work .....and...... both of my blades were dull.  I tried "chewing and gnawing" for awhile, tried both blade sets and bless Quilla's heart, he just stood and let me chew.  I did about 1/2 of the other side of his neck and decided it wasn't worth it.  Came in the house, sent off the blades to be sharpened, went on-line and bought 2 more lets of blades.  Jeesh!  So hopefully by next week I will have four sets of blades, surely one of they will be sharp enough to do the job.  Daisy and Coquette are waiting their turn too, that's why I decided to get more blades. 

HAPPY NEW YEAR......!!!

The flagstone is done and the new gate installed.  I'm going to miss the redwood gate we'd had since the house was built.  Unfortunately over the years the donkeys had almost destroyed it by pushing on it when they wanted us to come out and play, and chewing on it when bored.  It was starting to look rather bedraggled. 

The cracks in the walls have been fixed, but they will wait about a week to come back and paint.  We have to hose the walls for about 4 days to help the salts and minerals to leach out. 

The donkeys are happy to not have to stay in their pens, when the guys are working.  After the first couple of days, they actually became resigned to their fate, and stopped yelling so much.  We did let Pepper out every day.  His legs are so creaky that he needs to be able to move around as much as possible.  He's been laying down more since it's been cold, I would imagine those old legs don't handle cold very well. 

Gigi is finally walking pretty good for her.  After Tyler took her shoe off last time she got really lame.  I guess it changed the angle enough that she had to readjust her walking.  And I'm sure the cold weather doesn't do her any good either.  

Everybody else seems to be doing good.  Not sure they enjoy the cold weather but I'm sure they are happy to not have to wear fly masks, and get doctored, so it's a trade off.  Since it's been cold John upped their hay, even the fatties, so I guess we're not going to do diet control for awhile. You can bet, Rosie and Coquette will enjoy it for as long as it lasts........LOL

GRADUATION DAY FOR GIGI.........!!!

Well Tyler is giving it a try.  This is little Gigi's shoe off her right front foot.  It will be a year next month, since we picked her and Rosie up, to keep them from being shot and buried.  

This is what her feet looked like when we picked her up.

 This is how her feet look today

As long as she doesn't start trying to turn that right front foot backwards, she won't have to wear the shoe again.  The other 3 feet although they looked pretty gnarly last year, never tried to turn backwards or anything like that.  She still isn't a very good candidate for farrier care........LOL  Let's put it this way, every time Tyler comes he seems to think she should be friendlier.  I think that on a regular basis too, but so far she's not interested in giving up her independence.

This morning John almost had a mess.  Coquette is trying to entertain the boys and this morning when John was putting everyone in their pens, she came into Pepper's pen, which is beside her pen.  Pepper picked up on the subject and started trying to figure out his plan of attack.  Unfortunately Pancho was also at the ready.  John said it didn't take long for Pancho to decide to get rid of the competition, by lunging at Pepper with his mouth open.  John started yelling, I asked him if he threw himself in front of Pepper to protect him.  Guess not, looking at a mouthful of donkey teeth seemed to make him think yelling would take care of the problem, luckily it did.  Well except for Pepper, he was still trying to figure out his next move once Pancho left the area..........!!! 

BRRRRRRR........!!!

 HOW CUTE IS THIS?

Eighteen degrees this morning 21 degrees yesterday.  But, in the desert those cold temps don't usually last long.  Yesterday was nice, sunny and warm, today looks like it will be a repeat.  Too bad we couldn't put off chores until about 9 or 10am.  Don't think the donkeys would allow that.......!!!

I picked up my super duper fly trap this morning, the one that seems to be real good at catching lots of stable flies.  A couple of days ago I noticed a praying mantis on the outside, waiting for flies to land where she could get to them.  Yesterday morning she was still hanging on the side in the cold.  I guess she warmed up enough to move yesterday afternoon, because she was gone last night and wasn't there this morning.  I'm not sure about the life cycle of praying mantis.  I know this time of year we see lots of big fat ones, which I think are females with eggs.  It seems that they probably lay their eggs, maybe in the ground, I don't know and then die in the cold.  One of these days when I run out of things to do, maybe I'll look it up.  I've seen little tiny ones less than half an inch long earlier in the summer.  If they only live one season they sure grow quick, since most of the ones we see this time of year are 4 inches long or more.  

Since it's getting cold the starvation rations have been upped, much to Rosie, Coquette and some of the others pleasure.  Rosie is quite a "beaver", she will chew on just about anything wood and has started dismantling her plastic water bucket.  I don't know that she is that hungry, she doesn't try to run John down when she sees the hay bucket.  She is very nervous for a donkey, and I'm not sure her chewing doesn't have something to do with her personality.  It's not cribbing, actually I don't know if donkeys crib, never heard of one.  

Cisco is the only one getting doctored now.  I'm still putting Animas in his left ear.  It's much better and doesn't have that YUCKY smell.  Because of the gooey texture of the Animas I can't tell if the ear is dried out or not.  I'll doctor for a few more days and then see what happens.

Pepper is still getting Tucoprim and we haven't heard him cough, so I guess whatever he had is going or gone.  It's been 5 days which is the minimum for giving antibiotics, so a couple more days will just be a little extra insurance.  

Well, it looks like my racing days are probably over.  We were told at the driver's meeting Saturday night that the track had been leased by USAC for 3 years.  USAC runs open wheel cars like sprints, 1/4 midgets, not stock cars.  The latest rumor is we're done, USAC will only run 6-9 programs a year and we won't be part of the program.  Unfortunately the closest dirt track is at Casa Grande, half way to Phoenix.  It's exactly 120 miles from our gate, the reason I know that is we raced up there years ago, when we had less donkeys and were younger.............LOL  If we went up there I would have to race Bombers or factory stocks or something like that.  Nothing wrong with that, but I've got a perfectly good Hornet with a rebuilt back-up motor sitting in the garage.  We use to get in about 4am, and it was hard then, can't imagine what it would be like now.  

I finished 2nd in the main event Saturday night and 2nd for end of the year points.  So I can't complain, just wish we had someplace to go play.  

IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME SINCE WE DID A HOME STUDY

I always love to go visit with people that are enthralled with donkeys and want to add them to their family.  Bobbie and Jim are those people and are interested in Ruthie, Ruger and Wister as a family group.  They have 10 acres of perfect donkey country, lots of rocky ground and even some "over hill and dale" country" to give them exercise.  BUT.........isn't there always a but?  They spend most of their time in Tucson, although they have a routine of spending time on the acreage on a regular basis.  But, there is the worry of the donkeys getting hurt or maybe getting out.  Without a daily routine of having people around, there is a good chance even though that trio is very people orientated they would learn to rely on themselves rather than people and probably lose some of their friendliness.  

So right now we're on hold, they have been talking about moving to the acreage full time, but don't know when.  We'll see how it goes, I can't imagine anyone else showing up wanting to adopt 3 donkeys, any time soon.  So I think the donkeys are pretty safe for now.  

Bobby and Jim's place is just a "hop, skip and jump", from 2 of our alumni, Nina and Benny.  In January they will have been in their forever home 8 years.  I never thought we'd find a home for Nina.  Her nose had been ripped open and not doctored, so she has an open nostril, which has to have Swat put on it each morning during fly season to keep the little buggers at bay.  When Susan and Tom came out to see if they wanted to adopt these two, I had to show Susan Nina's nose, she didn't even notice it and didn't see it as a problem.  

Since we were in the neighborhood we had to stop by and see how they were doing.  They looked great, a little fat from mesquite bean season, but like we told Susan, we've got 5 or 6 that are in the same situation.  Bennie came over to me and put his head on my shoulder.  I don't know if he remembered me or not.  He was always very friendly and I don't think has ever met a stranger.  Nina is a little more reserve, but more than willing to accept any and all attention.  I didn't have my camera, but have some pictures from when they were here.

NINA

BENNY BEING A HAM, WITH A TOUR

Anubis finished up her antibiotics this morning and seems to be feeling much better.  I didn't realize how lethargic she had been acting recently.  Now she's back to jumping around and wanting attention. Having bad teeth can be bad for people or animals I guess.  She's actually missing some of her side teeth, Dr. Nancy and I decided probably from the raw beef bones I get the dogs occasionally.  To say she has always been an enthusiastic chewer is an understatement....!!!  

Every night when it gets down in the 30's, I expect the flies to take the hint, but so far they are hanging in there.  There are less and less each day I think, but John is still putting on fly masks every morning and I'm sure the donkeys appreciate them.  But doctoring is down to just a quick look before we let them out in the morning.  Coquette is my only patient now, even Cisco is doing well.

Reba went to her dental appointment and was absolutely the best patient ever.  Dr. Debra said Reba got "best behaved" award for the day.  She had some hooks, but nothing really bad although she did have one tooth that was longer than the others.  Next month we'll take Penny in for a check up after having a tooth pulled last month.   Because she has had a broken jaw, and had a tooth pulled Dr. Debra wants to make sure everything is doing OK. 

GETTING CLOSER TO WINTER, BUT WE STILL HAVE FLIES

We usually have to leave fly masks on until in November sometime, and it looks like this year will be no exception.  At least it is cooling down.  Last night when we came in from the races it was jacket weather, really chilly.  Didn't realize how chilly, until I hopped into bed..........YIKES........those percale sheets were really cold.  So this morning I stripped the bed, put on the mattress heater and covered it with flannel sheets.  I hate a cold bed, you jump in, curl in a little ball and warm up pretty quick...........at least where your little ball body is.  Unfortunately if you want to turn over or stretch it's cold, cold, cold, all over again.  We usually turn the heater on before bedtime.  When it's time to go to bed, I turn the heater off, jump into bed, and I don't think there is anything else that is quite as "yummy" as jumping into an overheated bed, from a chilly room.  I don't like to sleep warm, so I never sleep with the heater on.  John on the other hand, just wants the chill off and then doesn't mind sleeping with the heater on low.  Good thing we have our own controls.........LOL

The donkeys have been fairly cooperative lately, must have something to do with the absence of weeds and mesquite beans.  They are still on short rations and really aren't acting all that hungry, although some of them make sure to check out all the pens to see if anyone left any scraps.  Once it starts getting down in the 30's at night, we'll up their hay to help them keep warm.  It will be hard to take weight off the "fatties", like Rosie, and Coquette during the winter, but I think we can keep them from putting anymore weight on, hopefully.  

SO FAR, ABOUT AN INCH

 So far, so good on the hurricane sending too much rain our way.  It seems to be going east of us, so I hope New Mexico is enjoying it.  Reminds me of being in the midwest during tornado season, to say you get information overload is an understatement.  Even had our local volunteer fire chief, call and asked if we'd like some sand bags.  

The donkeys are tired of being damp and walking in wet mud I think.  We learned a long time ago not to touch a wet donkey, they really don't like it.  That leaves underneath their jaw as about the only place to scratch.

Yesterday when we picked up the mail, there was a package there from Michele, that has been fixing fly masks and making knee protectors.  

Looks like she has been busy.  I promptly took a couple out to see how they would work.  Because of the rain, Quilla's was wet this morning, and I had to take it off.  But I think they will work just fine, when the weather dries out a little.  

Thank you, Michele, your efforts are much appreciated.  

 

COQUETTE WITH A KNEE COVER

 

 

 

 

QUILLA WEARING ONE ON HIS CANON (SHIN) BONE

This is almost a "what is it", piece of equipment.  This is the stable fly trap I've been using for about a month or so.  All those little spots and dots are flies.  The dark circle is dead flies.  Right now it is too cool for the metal to heat up and dehydrate the ones that are alive.  But unless they figure out how to get back out the opening, they'll be there when it does heat up.  At least they aren't out chewing on donkey legs.   I'm thinking about getting another one for next year, hopefully 2 traps will catch twice as many flies......!!! 

Got a call this morning that my uncle Jerry has died.  He was one of the relatives I got to visit with, when I went back to Missouri with Mother.  He wasn't just an uncle, he was my big brother, and hero when we were growing up.  He was 9 years older than me, and was always doing something interesting, building model airplanes that flew, putting a motor on his bicycle, lots of guns, lots of cars.  He was always trying to get rid of me, but it seems like I was always with him, watching all the fun.  One day he and his cousin, tied me and the neighbor boy up on a bed using our belts.  Needless to say we weren't going anywhere until someone let us loose, and Grandma wasn't home.............!!! LOL  I guess in this day and age that would be child abuse, but to me it is a fun memory.  I wasn't allowed to touch his car, so one time I hid behind the front seat because I heard him tell Grandma he was going to town.  When he backed out of the driveway, he noticed me, opened the rear door of the car, grabbed me and slung me out the door and went on his merry way.  I'm pretty sure that also would have been child abuse......!!!  He was probably responsible for me being more interested in cars than dresses and hanging out with girls.  I didn't know his 2nd wife that well, but even when his mind started going, she said I was about the only relative he remembered and still talked about.  I'm going to try to go back for the funeral.  John's in Tucson today, and Hazel didn't have plans yet, so we'll try to figure it out when he gets home. 

100 DEGREES AGAIN........???

 HOW ABOUT JOHN'S SHOES, THEY ALMOST GLOW IN THE DARK.....!!  lol

What happened to cooling off and the end of the monsoon?  Guess we'll have to wait for awhile longer.  I think Tucson had 3 days in a row over 100 degrees this week.  Today is cloudy so it's not going to get so hot, but it might rain.  The closer we get to the week-end the higher the chances for rain, in fact 50% for Saturday, the next race night.  SIGH!

Had good races Labor Day week-end, I won both heat races and both main events, couldn't do much better than that.............LOL  Unfortunately they weren't point races because they added the Hornets just a few days before the week-end.  It wouldn't have been fair to drivers that already had other plans. 

Pepper is still mostly laying down on his left side.  About twice a week he gets down on his right.  Usually it's in the wash where the sand is soft and deep.  Probably because it's so soft, he loses his balance going down and his weak side goes first.  We just take one day at a time, he is still interested in going out and surveying his territory and will let you know if he thinks he's been in the pen too long.  

A couple of days ago, I noticed Boaz had a wound of some kind right below his knee with the scar tissue on it.  I cleaned it up, wrapped it up and this morning removed the bandage.  It looks to me like a rattlesnake strike, the flesh is starting to look icky.  Called the vet and they said bring him right in.  Unfortunately I let him out after I doctored him.  John and I walked all over the place and couldn't find him, so I called them back and said I'd make an appointment Friday if it doesn't look better when I change the bandage then.  John had already hooked up the trailer, so while I was calling, he was putting it back where it belonged.  Came in and told me while he was backing the trailer up, Boaz came waltzing by from somewhere.  Grrrr.!!

Our "fat" farm is growing, the minis and Frijolita are getting added tonight.  We haven't had any rain for awhile, so the "weeds" are drying up pretty quick, although if it rains some more, they will probably perk up again.  Most of the mesquite beans have fallen and we have noticed the donkeys don't eat beans after they have been on the ground and start turning brown, which is a good thing.  Because of the lack of goodies to eat, we're going to try just keeping them in at night and letting them out during the day.  Their necks are getting hard and cresty, so we'll keep watching them and if being out half the time doesn't work, they'll go in for the duration.  The other 6 will continue to stay in 24/7.  Rosie and Buddy Brat are capable of eating enough in a hour to equate what the others eat in 4-5 hours.  Actually Penny and Gigi wouldn't have to be in the pens, but Rosie and Coquette would have an absolute hissy fit, if their best friends weren't with them.  Coquette especially stresses really bad if Penny is out of her sight.