DARN, LOST ANOTHER MOBILE VET..........!!!

This has been around for awhile, but I think it's cute..!!!

Found out Dr. Megan has left for the Prescott area.  Her husband works for the DEA or one of those organizations and got a promotion, so off they went.  I don't think they had been in their house a year.

I really hate to lose her, she was bright, caring, and very good at what she did.  Don't know if Dr Nancy plans on getting someone else or not.  She tries to go it alone, which really makes it difficult for emergencies.  If you have a problem when you get up in the morning and call, she probably has a full day of appointments.  So at best your emergency is going to have to wait until after hours.  

I hope we'll have everything done for the Open House, this Saturday.  Now the weather is trying to make it difficult.  Tonight and tomorrow night are suppose to be really cold, and the high in Tucson for Saturday is suppose to be in the 50's, which means probably in the 40's out here.  Most of the time the weatherman isn't right, hopefully this will one of those times.  

All the donkeys are doing real good right now, even old Pepper is "up and at them", this morning he was pawing at the stall mat in front of his gate, until we could smell rubber burning.  The mat has to be there or he will dig a hole big enough to fall in.  He's eating real good now.  He's still very thin, but compared to earlier this summer, he looks pretty good.  

Boaz's knee is getting some scar tissue around the edges, so the open area is getting smaller.  Hope this continues.  At one time I had it down to about the size of a dime stretched out, in the middle.  Maybe over the winter I can get it healed over. 

AND THE DIAGNOSIS IS.................

 THIS IS CHARLIE AT TMR RESCUE IN TEXAS.  HE WAS FOUND IN A PUDDLE OF WATER AFTER BEING BORN, AND REJECTED BY HIS EMACIATED MOTHER.  HE'S HAD A ROUGH TIME, WAS A PREEMIE AND ALL THAT ENTAILS, AND HAS HAD TO WEAR CASTS ON HIS KNEES TO HELP THEM STRENGTHEN.  HIS MOM, DAD AND 2 OTHER JENNIES HAVE SINCE JOINED HIM AT THIS RESCUE, ALTHOUGH HE IS STILL LIVING IN THE OFFICE AND RIDING AROUND IN THE GOLF CART.....!!

Scratches..........!!!!  They did a scraping, actually more like a gouging out with a scapel, which Gus really didn't appreciate.  He is such a mellow, laid back fellow, but he did protest after about the 3rd "gouge".  No mites or other critters showed up, which is good. 

The vets said rather than start out with all the fancy stuff, to try Listerine first and see if it helps.  We actually seem to be on the downward side of the problem, I've managed to keep everyone dry and hair is growing back recently.  So I'm actually continuing with the Underwood Horse Medicine on most of them, & trying Listerine in a couple of areas.  

Dr. Megan said she thinks Jack the mule's little circles are some type of bug bite, we just don't know what kind.  We haven't had a problem with mosquitoes yet, don't have chiggers, not ticks, so I don't know what it might be.  I'm still slathering his spots with thuja zinc oxide.  The bright pink goes well with his black hair and he really stands still and lets me massage it in.  At first I had a hard time catching him in a little pen, just to put a halter on him.  Me thinks, he likes massages and animal crackers. 

Update.....!!!

 Cheyenne converting an admirer, thanks Jamie for the picture...!!

Rusty is on the mend, he's been kept in his pen the last few days to not only monitor his intake and out put, but to keep him away from the beans.  

Yesterday morning Rusty had "puddin nose" on one side.  I called Dr. Megan had said call her if there was any changes, so I did even though it was Saturday.  She said start him on Tucoprim, and also said she had thought the "colic" was probably a secondary problem.  She had said his lungs sounded a little noisy, Friday when we took him into the clinic.  

So he's been getting his Tucoprim mixed into applesauce, dumped into his mush.  I was going to just mix the Tucoprim into the mush, but for some reason he isn't eating it very well right now.  Loves his hay, but John had been "chumming" his bermuda hay with a little alfalfa.  Unfortunately the little bit of alfalfa hay we had is now gone, so he'll just have to eat bermuda.  Might let him out for an hour or so before afternoon round-up this afternoon, surely he won't be able to get into too much mischief in an hour.  

Day before yesterday Jill's former Mom called after she got a letter I wrote her, questioning her surrendering Jill to us, without first asking.  I don't think she still sees that asking someone to take care of Jill until they find a new place to board her, and then sending a surrender letter a week later, is a little bit out of the "norm".  She said that when they won the bid for Jill at the local auction, Lisa one of the owners of the auction house came to them and said if they ever wanted to rehome Jill, she would be interested.  I told the woman there wasn't a problem with Jill staying here until we found a home for her, but if she wanted them involved, to have them call me.  

Mike the other owner of Robertson Horse Sales called me and said they had someone that would give her a real good long term home that had been looking for a nice donkey like her.  We talked for awhile and I decided that this would probably be a good home for her, so John hooked up the trailer and we hauled her to them.  I told Mike that we wanted her to come back here if it didn't work out, and he agreed.  So we're again down to only 2 donkeys over our limit.........!!!  

Seems like I spend more and more time every morning doctoring, mostly stable fly damage.  Poor Quilla has polo wraps on all 4 legs as of this morning.  I'd been keeping ahead of the stable flies on his rear legs, but noticed this morning they had battled thru my chemical barriers and drawn blood.  When it's humid it seems like the flies really are bad.  Penny's front legs are bare like Quilla's and at first I thought it was probably fly damage.  But the flies don't bother her at all hardly, although her legs are both scarred.   As "squirrely" as she was with her front legs, when she came, I have a sneaking suspicion someone has roped her front legs, because there are actual wound scars on her legs unlike Quilla's that are just bare.  

Little Jack the mini mule is another one the flies or something seems to love.  He has round swollen places about the size of a dime all over his shoulders, and some on his belly, and of course the usual stable fly bites on his front legs.  Every year I buy 6 jars of Thuja Zinc Oxide to last me thru the summer, but this year I'm going to have to reorder it looks like.  Coquette also has some of the same stuff Jack has, and an added problem that seems to be some sort of skin condition.  It's dry, flaky, and builds up on her neck and behind her shoulders running down into her "armpit".  This morning I combed all the residual build up off and greased her up with zinc oxide.  It doesn't seem to bother her much if at all, but if you run your hands across it, the dry flaky stuff just flies.  Dr. Megan said we could do a scraping to find out what it is, but so far I've been able to keep it under control.  I can use that money to buy more zinc oxide.....!!! LOL  Same thing with whatever Cisco and Boaz  have on their legs.  I'm pretty sure what they have is called jack sores.

Although the experts lump jack sores, summer sores, & habronema all together as one, I'm not really sure they are.  I'm certainly no expert, but I can spot habronema larvae damage at 20 "paces", it looks like it looks.  What Cisco & Boaz have is an area covered with gooey serum, if you pull on the hair it comes right off the skin without leaving an open sore.  It's generally below the knee & above the fetlock, on the outside of the canon bone.  A couple of days of Underwood Horse Medicine and the hair starts coming back in and usually they don't have another break out in that area until the next year.  And what are the little closed circles that Jack the mini mule has?   

BOY, WE'RE HAVING FUN NOW.......!!!

We spent this morning at the vet, with Rusty the big white mule.  He's been rather lethargic the last couple of days, not much interested in eating, unless we bribed him with alfalfa mixed in with his bermuda hay.  

Of course none of them are very interested in eating hay and mush right now because of the beans.  John keeps saying they are about gone, then the wind blows and a new batch blows down, which of course causes a feeding frenzy.

They have become a little bit more cooperative about coming in, although not enough to make it a quick process.  At least Penny and Coquette finally realize that one of us will be dogging them for the rest of their lives if they don't go thru that gate and head for the pen area.  But we have to instigate the movement towards the gate, which means we have to find them.  

Dr. Megan said Rusty was her first official probable mesquite bean colic this season, I doubt if he will be her last.  He had no gut sounds when we went in although he did have some faint ones yesterday.  Decent looking poo, a little dehydrated, relatively perky, and he peed in the trailer.  He got tubed and we're suppose to try to get him to drink this week-end, dehydration can really be a problem.  She doesn't want him eating unless it's a watery mush, which I have a feeling isn't going to be a real big hit with Rusty, he has definite ideas about how food should be served.  

Got an interesting letter yesterday from Jill's family.  They sent a letter of surrender and said they were giving her to us......!!!!   HUH?  Not even a request, guess no good deed goes unpunished.......!!! She is a very nice donkey, big enough to be rideable with very good manners.  Oh! well I'm sure we will be able to find a better home than being in a boarding situation.   

Eloise

This is Eloise looking over her new home yesterday.  It wasn't easy to get her to hold still long enough to get a picture.  She hit the ground almost running, trying to see everything at once.  

We had her on a lead & almost had a wreck with Tio.  He got so excited when he saw her he started acting like a silly little boy.  Laura said he's usually pretty mellow, but he was bound & determined to see her up close.  She pretty much ignored him, but I didn't, since I was the one doing the leading.  The idea of getting caught in the middle of an excited little boy & a girl that was trying to ignore him, & see all the new stuff, really didn't appeal to me at all.  John & Laura were trying to catch up, all in all it was probably one of those "video" moments, but we were all too busy...!!!!  We stuck Tio in a pen, much to his disgust & gave Eloise a chance to investigate.  Laura said after we left she let him out & he behaved himself.  

Jackie has a sore foot, so he just watched for the most part thank goodness, don't think I would have enjoyed trying to foist off another one.  

Today we took little Cheyenne to the local vet clinic.  Her teeth were just floated in February, & already are starting to wear funny again.  Dr. Voss up at Gilbert said she might have some TMJ.  Dr. Megan said she also might have some arthritis in the jaw joint, not a whole lot can be done for either one.   So we will continue to feed her mush & feed her by herself, so she doesn't have to compete with the other minis.  She also probably is not emptying her bladder completely, & ends up dribbling.  Not much to be done for that either, Dr. Megan would also like a urine sample like Dr. Voss asked for.  Probably not going to happen until, pigs fly......!!!!  I have seen her pee once since we brought her home from Gilbert in February, & there was no way to "save" any of it.  John said we could put her in the garage & wait for her to pee on the floor & suck it up in a syringe.  No telling how long that would take, she'd have to get comfortable in the garage, she's never been inside that I know of.  Then she'd have to be comfortable peeing on a concrete floor, that is going to splash on her legs.  All in all I don't think so.......!!!

LITTLE WISTER THIS MORNING, HE IS GROWING LIKE A WEED

Yesterday morning old Pepper, choked on hay.  I would imagine his molars are getting worn down close to the gums & no longer grind the hay.  I tried to clear him for a couple of hours, before we hauled him to the vet.  As he did the last time he cleared by the time we got there, but he got tubed anyway, just to make sure.  Dr. Megan said there was a little bit of resistance at the top of the stomach, so it's probably a good thing we went ahead & tubed him.  Otherwise he might have choked again at suppertime.  

We had to go down to Sierra Vista yesterday afternoon to say good-bye to an old friend from Saudi that stopped in the area on his way to California.  While we were there we stopped at Lowe's to see if they had a shredder/mulcher thingie.  

I read about using them to chop up hay to feed those that can't eat regular hay.  We thought about getting hay cubes, but most of them are alfalfa.  

They had this one, so we brought it home & it is simple enough.......well except for the learning curve of NOT trying to chop it in an 18 gallon open bucket.  John said there is a reason the chopped hay, leaves or whatever goes into a closed zipped bag.  It is also a good idea to wait until the motor COMPLETELY stops before opening the bag......!!!  But other than a few slight problems like that, John said it works very good, cuts all the hay about 2 inches long.  

He's even decided to chop hay for Cisco & Cheyenne, since they both have trouble chewing up the longer hay.  

Heloise is suppose to get here in about an hour or so.  The weather is blustery & chilly today.  We were going to put her into an overflow pen, but it has no shelter.  Since she will be staying in for a couple of days to get use to us, I decided to throw BlackJack out of his pen & into the overflow pen.  He doesn't care, in fact he stayed in that pen for a few months not long ago.  As long as he gets fed he could care less where he is. 

I'll try to get pictures of Heloise when she gets here, it will be just about feeding time & John is on a jeep tour.  Depends on if the herd is more interested in seeing the new girl, or more interested in eating....!!!

R.I.P. JENNY BIG GIRL

The vet just left, & John is digging.  Unfortunately he's getting very experienced at getting the hole just the right size.

The vet drew blood on Buddy Brat & Cisco & we decided to take both of them into the clinic, to have Buddy's sarcoid taken off his sheath.  The clinic has a new freezing machine that Dr. Megan said would be perfect for Buddy's little match head size growth, but they don't take it into the field.  And in order to get an endoscope done on Cisco, we have to go to the office, so we'll just take them both at the same time.  She agreed that a lot of the swallowing problems Cisco is having could definitely be caused by being used as a roping donkey.  And the endoscope might not even show anything even if they manage to get it down his throat, which might not happen.  

Then it was on to Jenny for evaluation.  I unwrapped her foot, & on examination, Dr. Megan said she could feel swelling clear up above the coronet, & that we had lost some of the hoof integrity on either side of the abscess area.  There was very little doubt that the foot was not going to get better.  I was surprised the material that I thought might be cartilage that was sticking out of her foot, was just more proud flesh.  She said proud flesh on lower legs & feet, can behave in lots of weird ways.  

Jenny was the first one that I couldn't stay with, we had just too much time & effort together, & she was still healthy & happy, just couldn't walk very good.  John stayed with her & said he was petting & talking to her when she went down.   She was going to be euthanized if we hadn't taken her 5 1/2 years ago, & she had over 4 years of relatively good life, so I guess I will have to be satisfied with that.  

Good-bye my big girl.....!!

 When we went out to feed Friday night Boaz didn't show up.............hmmmm..........!!!  Boaz has a "nose for news", when it comes to finding a weak spot in the perimeter fence, so we figured he was on a walk about as the Aussies say.

John headed for the wash, which is the usual place if someone gets out, because it's impossible to actually "fence" across the wash effectively.  No tracks & no Boaz.  I went back in the feed room to mix feed & John ranged out further.  It was getting dark,  & since we didn't know how long he'd been out, no telling where he was.

I got the feed mixed, John hadn't come back, so I jumped in the golf cart to go out & see if I could see him from the road.  As I got out to open the gate, here Boaz came trotting down the road.  I opened the gate, he came in & started running & braying, guess he figured out he was missing dinner, ran in his pen, turned around & brayed at me like, "where's my treat"?

John finally showed up & said he never did see Boaz, so we have no idea where he was, & John hasn't been able to find where he got out.

Something killed our last guinea Friday night, just ate the head, which I think is the M.O. of a skunk.  She was "mature" & slept on the ground rather than roosting up high.  We always shut her & the 2 remaining old hens up every night, but whatever it was, pulled the chicken wire & staples loose to get in.  John redid the wire & staples, so I hope it doesn't get in again.  Unfortunately if there is a weak spot in the wire, skunks or raccoons will find it.  One of the hens sleeps in the nesting box, the other one goes up real high on a ledge.  The one on the ledge is probably pretty safe, but the other one, is pretty vulnerable.

Still doctoring Jenny's foot, I think sometimes we go 1 step forward & 2 steps backwards, but she's still interested in going out & doing her thing.  Yesterday I cut off as much of the proud flesh as I was comfortable doing.  John asked if he could help, but he has a weak stomach, when it comes to blood, & with proud flesh there is a massive amount of blood for the amount of cutting you do.

When Dr. Nancy cut the proud flesh off Boaz's knee, she of course cut every little bit she could find off.........but.........she also used a dehorning iron to cauterize it.  That goes way beyond my "pay" grade......!!!   I'm not going there.......!!!   (G)

So I took off what I was comfortable doing, finally had to put a pressure bandage on it to stop the bleeding & left it on.  I'm suppose to soak her this morning, so I'll see what it looks like when I unwrap it.  Dr. Megan says she can deal with the proud flesh later, but we need to get the internal oozing under control.

 I agree, but in the meantime, I REALLY dislike proud flesh.

Vincent Van Gogh, painting

Steve a volunteer is coming out tomorrow to trim some of the trees.  A few days ago John asked me to go around & mark which limbs I want gone, so I used bright colored plastic tape to make them.  You can probably see where this story is going.  We're on poo watch to see if we can figure out who has developed a taste for plastic tape.  John thinks it's either Ruthie or the minis, Cheyenne in particular.  It's bright pink, so should be easy to find.  Guess I'll take Steve around & "show" him where to trim.  LOL

When I took the diaper off Jenny's foot this morning after 2 days, it was pretty wet.  Dr. Voss said to soak every 2 days & I thought leaving the diaper on would be OK.  I can't tell if the moisture is what the epsom salts & betadine is drawing out of the hoof, or build up from the foot being wrapped.  It was never that damp when we were re-wrapping every 5-6 days, so hopefully it is the poultice doing it's job.  

Talked to Dr. Megan & we decided that I'll see what it looks like in the morning & if it's still too damp, I'll start changing the diaper twice a day.  I'm about out of the metronidazole, & the vet has to order it, guess they don't keep a lot of it on hand.  We're just about out of options at this time.  Dr. Voss told Dr. Megan that the only thing left would be another resection.  I doubt that her foot would take it, & if there is infection in her foot, she doesn't have much coffin bone left for them to remove.  So I really hope this works. 

It was 20 degrees here this morning.  We covered my tomato plants in the courtyard with a sheet, but a sheet was no match for 20 degrees.  It's a shame there is lots of green tomatoes on the pathetic looking plants.  I'll pull them out & prepare for next year I guess.

Yesterday morning Jenny was 3 legged lame on her bad foot, & would not eat her hay.  Not eating the hay was easy, she's been on SMZ antibiotics for weeks, & I guess they finally got to her stomach.  Need to get the good bugs back in her digestive system.  Patti had me use Florastor a few months ago when Jenny didn't like the antibiotics I was giving her, & she was eating within 24 hours, so I tried it again.

Dr. Megan called Dr. Voss in Gilbert to see if he had any brilliant ideas on her foot.  His best guess was perhaps another abscess trying to pop.  Dr. Megan had been hesitant about soaking because Jenny's hoof is not that sturdy because of the open area.  But Dr. Voss said to soak in epsom salts & betadine for 1/2 hour every other day.  After soaking he wants the open area packed with a Sugardine poultice. 

I planned on soaking her foot when she came in last night for supper.........BUT......when John went out to do round-up, she was below the house & not interested in moving or even taking a treat.  We went ahead & fed everyone else, of course by then it was dark.  So I loaded up my soaking "toys", & thrashed thru the brush to where she thought she was hid.  Mixed up some sugar & betadine to a dry paste, plastered it on & wrapped with brown gauze.  She still wasn't interested in moving or eating when we came in to go to bed. 

This morning John set the alarm (YUCK) because we were taking Gus & Quilla up to Claire's for the winter.  I dreaded John going out to do round-up, because I figured Jenny was still where we left her last night.  When I went out, she was already in her pen, & John said he looked over towards Burroland & here she came with Ruthie, & Pepper leading the parade.  She was walking pretty normal for her, slow & steady.  She was also ready for her breakfast.

It tried to rain last night, didn't do a very good job, just barely dampened the ground.  I figured it had probably ruined my gauze bandage, but it was still on.  I decided to not mess with it, Dr. Voss said to leave it on between soakings, which will be tomorrow.  I'm anxious to see what it looks like in the morning. 

We hurried with chores, the 2 boys almost hopped in the trailer, guess they figured we were going to do something fun & away we went. 

Claire & David were happy to see them, & the boys were more than happy to get out of the trailer after over a 3 hour ride.  I think they knew where they were, they sure acted like it. 

 David, Gus & John

 Quilla, Gus, Doc, & Thunder's head

The boys coming to say good-bye

Got home after 7pm to a bunch of grumpy donkeys.  They really expect to be fed on schedule & don't seem to understand being fed late at all......!!!!  Couldn't find Pepper at first & John was afraid he was down someplace & we wouldn't be able to find him in the dark.  But finally, he came waltzing in, at his own speed, thank goodness.  If my hair wasn't already grey, this old buzzard would make it so.  Between him & Jenny, I am becoming quite a worry wart.  LOL

Saturday we went down to Tubac to an art festival.  A few weeks ago Leigh Morrison came out to take pictures of the donkeys to paint for the festival.  When we drove past where she was set up outside her studio painting, one of the first things we saw was Cisco on display, along with a lot of her other paintings.  How exciting is that...........!!!!!!  

We parked & came back to visit & look at all the paintings.  She took this painting of Frijolita out of the display & gave it to me.  As anyone that has been in my house knows, I'm about to run out of wall space, but managed to find a prominent place for it. 

I took her head shots pictures of some of the donkeys, didn't really know if she would be able to use them or not, but she thought they were great, & said to watch her web-site in the coming weeks.  

Today Dr. Megan came out to look at Jenny's foot.  She agreed that it isn't doing as well as it was last time she was here.  Too soft & mushy, where the abscess was, & has tracked up into the coronary band.  She says we need to figure out some way to dry it out.  I have been using Wonder Dust, which I don't like, it definitely isn't very drying.  She recommended Kopertox or Thrush XX by Farnam, which you paint on with a brush.  So we'll try that & see if it helps.  She wasn't too worried about the proud flesh.  The Wonder Dust has controlled it, but not got rid of it.

After the Vet left, we loaded Chantilly in the trailer & took off to deliver her to her new home.  Got there & they already had Lily in her small pen, so Chantilly could get use to the "lay of the land", so to speak without having Lily in her face.  They are going to keep Lily in over night & let her out in the morning.  The 2 horses just looked at her like, "Ye gads, there's another one".  Chantilly has been around horses before, so she just looked at them, went over, touched noses with one & went on about her business of checking everything out.

 Checking out the new place

 Guess what they are watching?

Comfortable enough to take time out for a dust bath

Poor Lily in her pen missing all the fun

Lily actually acted like she was afraid of Chantilly.  She looked at her & then tried to run around in the little pen, about 12' x 20'.  Chantilly basically just ignored her, so I don't think there will be any fireworks when they get together tomorrow morning.  

Win or lose, I'm REALLY glad the election is OVER......!!!! 

Courtney got here last night & did some trimming.  With Gus she just took a little bit off all over the bottom, didn't try to lower the heels or shorten the toes.  If he likes them the way they are, so be it.........!!!  He's walking just fine this morning, she was worried that anything she did might upset his walking.  

She agrees, Jenny's rear foot looks horrible.  She is still on antibiotics, & the x-rays taken a few weeks back, looked decent & didn't show any infection anywhere.  But since then she's blown an abscess on the front on her hoof about half way down.  The area just keeps getting more cracked & now is up into the coronet band with an open slit about 2 inches long.  

I have a call into the local vet clinic to see if Dr. Megan can come out again & evaluate the situation.

The good news is, Courtney thought her front feet looked good.  She's wearing boots all the time on the fronts, & it seems to be making her more comfortable, so she walks around more, which helps to improve the circulation in her feet, we hope.  

Heard from Honcho & Simmons new Mom.  She said they are doing just great, & are really entertaining.   Cindy seems to appreciate Honcho's overbearing personality, which is wonderful.  Not everyone would think he was "cute", when he pulls some of the stunts he is capable of pulling.  She says now that it's cooling off, she wants to start clicker training, at least with Honcho.  He knows the basics & is a big show-off, so they should have a lot of fun. 

VET WAS OUT THIS MORNING

This is what Jenny's foot looks like when it bleeds

I figured Dr. Megan might as well come out & see what she thinks of Jenny's foot & see if there is something else we should be doing.  I sure like having a mobile vet in the neighborhood again...........!!!!

She was pleased with the hoof growth at the coronet, it is coming in smooth & hard.  Of course right below it is where the abscess popped a few weeks ago & it is squishy & icky.  But like she said & I had already thought of, if it's open that a good thing, as long as there is any foreign "stuff" in there.  She said to continue giving her SMZ & soaking a couple of times a week.  So I guess I wouldn't have needed her to come out, except she did take x-rays to compare with the ones taken up at Gilbert, when Jenny was up there in April.  It will be good to know what's going on in there for sure..........as long as it's improvement, don't want to hear anything else.  

All in all a good experience & Jenny actually was a good girl, raised her foot when needed & didn't try to lean on the Vet. Wasn't real happy with the x-ray business, but I have seen her worse.  According to the clinic at Gilbert she not only kicked but actually landed a good one on one of the techs.  I've never seen her kick, although she will lean on you or use her head to slam you up against a wall or corral panel, if given the opportunity. 

Dr. Megan said the bleeding is probably because there is so much blood in the area of the new granulation tissue, that it doesn't take much to make it bleed like crazy.  At least I think that's what she said, I need to get a tape recorder, I sometimes think I forget more than I remember, when someone tells me something........!!!

We only have one more night of racing the 13th of October.  Unfortunately last Saturday night I blew another motor.  We're beginning to think Kia Sephias don't have the endurance a Toyota Tercel has......although it is faster...!!!! LOL  So John went to the guy that had borrowed the Toyota & got it back.  That was the deal originally, he could borrow it, but if I needed it to race for points I'd take it back.  He had wrecked it a few weeks ago, & it was sitting in a shop with money owed on it, so he didn't fight too hard.  He had painted it blue & yellow (UGH), so John is busy getting it ready to paint.  Stopped on the way home from picking it up & got about a dozen cans of spray paint...........!!! LOL

BEFORE

AFTER, I hope......Hard to believe it's the same car....!  This is from last year. 

He is going to "try" rebuilding one of the Kia motors.  He's a Chevy man, could rebuild a Chevy with his eyes closed I think...........BUT..........according to him, there is a lot of difference between a Chevy & a 4 cylinder overhead cam motor.  I'm sure he'll figure it out, & there's some guys around that should be able to help him, if he gets stuck.