THE GANG IS READY FOR BREAKFAST

 

I guess we were late going out this morning, almost everyone was at the gate.  As soon as John went out, most of them disappeared into Burroland.  Justin tried eating on the gate, but found out metal isn't as much fun as wood I guess.......LOL  

I've had pairs of Whinny Warmers for years and have been debating putting them on Pepper to help keep his poor old knees a little warmer.  Good idea, BUT, they are a tussle to get on and he has a problem standing on 3 legs for any length of time.  John and I went out yesterday morning to give it a try.  He did pretty good, we ended up raising his hoof enough to get the sox started over the hoof.  Then John let Pepper lean on him to take some of the weight off that foot and I pulled and tugged to get it clear of the bottom of his foot that was still on the ground.  They now have hock and knee covers that can be used in conjunction with the warmers.  I've just always pulled them above the knee, but you have to keep pulling them up.  I would imagine the "covers" would stay on the knee much better. 

Anyway he looks pretty spiffy, hopefully they will help keep his legs warm. 

Yesterday we hauled Dixie to her new home.  Terry had been looking for a girlfriend for Jill aka Molly, since Jack decided he'd rather hang out with his big buddy Leo.  She's a very sweet little girl, well mannered and cute as a button.  

 

She was being sold on Craigslist, but really didn't need to go out in the real world, because she is knocked-kneed and has a significant underbite.   As a mini, actually she is half shetland and half mini horse, with those legs she doesn't need to have kids piling on her back.  She's only 3 years old, so she could have a long life of mistreatment in the wrong hands.  Not a problem with Terry, her home is FOREVER and EVER.  

Heard from Terry that Jack is being his usual obnoxious self.  He's decided that she can't get close to anyone else.  Of course she isn't in the same pen with them yet, so all he's doing is running at the fence, making ugly faces.  I think he has some form of OCD, his world is his world and it has to run according to his rules.  LOL

VISIT TO ANOTHER RESCUE

Yesterday I went to visit Horse'n Around Rescue in Hereford about 50 miles south.  I had met Teresa and Steve, a couple of times, but had never seen their place or visited with their rescues.

First of all let me say they are on a cattle ranch, which means grasslands, like in acres and acres of pasture.  Needless to say I was thrilled to be able to see horse, mules and donkeys in what could pass for their natural setting.  They have them in groups of Old Guys, others that need a little extra feed, healthy, and some so healthy they are off site.  That's where the mules and 2 of the donkeys were.  

Chocolate Drop and his mom Judy were part of the off site group.  Of course I had to see the mammoths.  Teresa said Judy had some fly damage on her face and wanted me to see it, but Judy didn't seem to think it was necessary and made sure we didn't get too close. They put a fly mask on her when they saw the sores, so she shouldn't get any worse.

Chocolate Drop her "little" boy" seemed to think some attention was just fine.  I think he would have stood there as long as I would mess with him. 

 CHOCOLATE DROP

Speedy was on the ranch, with the healthy group.  He's in his 20's and actually had lived most of his life on Ft. Huachuca at the riding stables, with a job as the official greeter.  Last year the post commander and the post vet decided to get rid of unneeded equine at the stables.  Speedy and some elderly horses got pink slips.  They started out looking for people to adopt them, then they decided to euthanize all of them, which did not go over well, with people that had histories with all the animals, especially Speedy.  I guess he was quite the character and had a lot of friends.  At the time Terry, a friend tried to adopt Speedy and got such a run around for weeks and she finally gave up.  Obviously the commander and the vet weren't equine people and really didn't know what they were doing.

Terry ended up adopting Jack and Molly, the 2 little mini mules from us.  Needless to say her life hasn't been the same since..........LOL  Her horse Leo and Jack, have some sort of bonding thing going on, Jack insisted from day one that Leo was his buddy and Leo feels about the same.   They are inseparable, which I'm sure Molly, now known as Jill appreciates.  Jack could be a nasty little boy with her, seemed to think he was in charge, wouldn't let her eat, just in general a brat.  He could almost walk under Leo's belly, so don't think he'll be pushing Leo around any time soon. 

SPEEDY

I guess once the word got out and the commander's ears got sore, they decided to figure out if they could find an equine rescue to take them.  Horse'n Around was willing and I think took them all.  Of course my interest was in Speedy.  Teresa said he misses all the people and going on at the stables, he really loves people.  So even though he has lots of area to roam and horses to interact with, she says he really perks up when people come to visit.  I was just one person, not that exciting, but I did my best..........LOL

Boaz's snakebite is healing beautifully, not even treating it, just attempting to keep it and his scarred knee covered with a sock.  Not an easy task, he can get them off almost quicker than I can put them on. 

UPDATE ON MINI MULES......!!

 

Well, it looks like the little darling's foster home will become permanent.  Doesn't sound like they've worked at behaving themselves and fitting in very much though.  Terry and I have been comparing alternate names we have for them, she has quite a list, and I added a couple to her list she hadn't thought of......!!! LOL

Terry is an animal person, anyone that has 6 pot bellied pigs and geese, obviously isn't put off by behavior that is a little out of the ordinary.  I guess everyone including the neighbors are thrilled with them, except for George the donkey and 39 year old Zeke the mule.  Zeke has given up to the enviable of the little beasties being there.   I would imagine George, who is very sweet and gentle like my Cisco is put off by Jack's "busyness".  Cisco never liked him either and didn't want to be around Jack at all.  Unfortunately Jack could care less and just presses on with his agenda, if he ends up in their face, so be it.   

From what Terry says Jack and her big horse Leo are bonded.  We knew Jack liked horses, whenever there were horses in the neighborhood, he would do all he could to get as close to them as possible.  He'd try to talk to them, not sure that squeaky little piggy voice wasn't a turn off.  I never saw any of the horses get excited over what he had to say.  

This will be an excellent home for them, and they will keep everyone, human or animal on their toes.  

This morning we checked the bandage on Gigi's hip.  It was such a mess when she came in I haven't really been paying much attention, just changing the bandage when needed.  I gave it a good look this morning and there's no sore there, it's just an area about the size of an orange, that is completely bare of hair and I don't see any hair growing in.  I would imagine over the years she's had bed sores on that hip from having to lay down so much, and eventually it destroyed the hair follicles.  Right now the winter hair is covering the bare spot, but I would imagine this summer it will be bare.  

I also noticed the knee on her worst front foot, the one with the elongated shoe is getting chewed up from her laying down in the sand.  So I put a knee cover left over from Pepper and Daisy having the same problem on her.  Let me say, she does NOT appreciate any touch below her back.  So to get the cover on tight enough to stay on was a lot of fun.  John was shoveling animal crackers in the mouth and I was trying to get the Velcro done.  She's getting better, but there's a long ways to go.  

I wish I had more time to work with her and Rosie, but don't think that's going to happen anytime soon.  ANY VOLUNTEERS..........???   LOL

THE GIRLS ARE OUT........!!!!

We let Gigi and Rosie out this afternoon.  It's went pretty well so far, although I did go out with animal crackers to see if they'd either come up to me or let me come up to them............!!! NOT going to happen.  Everyone pretty much ignored them, although Cheyenne one of the minis did run at Rosie a couple of times.  John told Cheyenne to leave her alone, as fat as she is, she could have a heart attack if she starts running around.  

Gigi will probably need some bute tonight.  The pen they were in was flat, level and soft, so our ground is a lot different.  

 Rosie telling John "what for", before she went out

I hope getting them in their pen tonight isn't a problem.  After the experiment with animal crackers and how it went, it might get interesting.  

Gigi is on the extreme right headed towards the other donkeys.  Rosie is between Boaz and a behind Penny on the left.  Everyone seems to be getting along just fine. 

John is busy this afternoon covering the shelters with chicken wire to hopefully cut down on Rosie's shredding of the boards.  She's keeping us in kindling that's for sure.  

Heard from Terry on how Jack and Molly are fitting in.  She said everyone seems just fine with them being there............except of course for crotchety old mule, Zeke.  Terry said Zeke is still sore from his evening of trying to intimidate Jack or he has decided it isn't worth his time.  Either way he is ignoring the "midgets" as her neighbor calls them.  

She said Jack came out with both barrels and everyone learned real quick that he had 2 rear feet he was more than willing to use.  I guess he got into a posturing and threatening contest with Leo the big horse until they finally settled down and started running and playing.  The donkeys even got involved in running around for awhile.  This morning she said Leo and Jack were napping in the sun together with Molly on guard.  So I would say they are fitting in nicely, well except for poor old Zeke.  Terry said they are making sure he gets extras during this transition, not sure that will make him any happier......!!!

MOLLY AND JACK WILL BE LEAVING THURSDAY

The woman that came out to see them never got back in touch with me, so I assume she isn't interested.  Thursday we'll haul them to Terry for fostering and possible adoption, IF, they behave themselves.  Actually Terry has told me about some of her other animals and it sounds like they'll fit right in.......!! LOL

Terry use to come out and groom every week, before she got so many animals of her own.  She also took Rusty as a friend for her old mule Zeke.  Zeke hated Rusty guess he saw him as a competitor, so Rusty came back.  She even took Tula one time to see if she could get Tula more people friendly.  Didn't work, and while Tula was there she turned Terry's 2 donkeys wild.  For some reason all the other donkeys see Tula as the head jenny, doesn't matter where she is. 

It will be a great place for Little Jack Horner and Miss Molly Brown and they will get more attention than they would here.  Now if we could just find homes for Ruthie, Wister and Ruger.  They are about the only ones we have adoptable, unless someone might be willing to take on a project.  

This is Boaz's knee as of this morning.

This is Gigi this morning, when we doctored her bed sore.  Tyler thinks she is improving much faster than he expected, especially on the right front, that has the elongated shoe.  Tyler and Nancy were talking about doing a tendonectomy if she couldn't walk on that foot flat.  But she seems to be able to use it very well.  She's spending more time up and less time down, and I am giving her less bute each day.  Once she is off the bute, we will start letting them out of the pen.  Can't wait for the fun of trying to get Rosie back in the pen, she is the "squirrelist" donkey we have ever had, yet she will come up and get right in your face. 

2013 IS JUST ABOUT OVER......!!!

This year has gone by so quickly, but I guess it's time to get ready for a new one.  This year has been a good one, no big crisis'.  I just wish we could get our numbers down, unfortunately most of the donkeys and mules we have left aren't really adoptable for the most part.  The brothers Ruger and Wister are adoptable and actually are starting to hang out together, which is what I was hoping for.  

Their mother Ruthie would be adoptable, but we don't have anyone to go out with her.  It would be nice if Boaz could go with her.  But I'm afraid his knee would be a deal breaker for someone wanting to adopt.  

This is what his leg looked like this morning when I was changing bandages.  I've been using the balm and powder from Source One Naturals and it's looking less angry and seems to be drier, so I'll continue using it for awhile.  I sometimes think medications work and then seem to lose their effectiveness. 

Boaz and Ruthie have been together for at least 4 or 5 years and would be a good pair.  But that probably isn't going to happen for the above reason.  

Of course there is also Jack and Molly the mini mules.  They will take a special home that really wants them.  They've settled down a lot and really are a lot of fun to be around, but when it's all said and done they are MULES.  

Coquette would be very adoptable, she has been worked with and likes people.  BUT, she and Penny are totally and completely bonded, at least from Coquette's point of view.  Last night starting at about 1am, Coquette had lost Penny.  She kept calling and yelling, John finally got up, went out in the cold to make sure nothing was seriously wrong.  She was standing out in the pen area, yelling, no one else in sight.  It went on until about 4am, when we assume she finally found Penny, because they came in together for breakfast.  They like to hang with Pepper for some odd reason.  We think, Coquette was busy doing something, when Penny and Pepper went someplace else and Coquette didn't get the memo.  Penny would be a hard sell, and we won't separate them.

This morning we looked out the kitchen window and saw Buddy Brat and Cisco play fighting.  Not that unusual, except Cisco  was a roping donkey in a school that taught roping and was loaned out for the students to take home and practice on.  Needless to say his legs are shot.  He usually moves at a slow steady pace rather than grabbing neck and pushing and shoving.  I had wondered who had been slobbering on Buddy's neck, now I think I know.  He is on CosequinASU, which is an outstanding joint supplement and it seems to be working for him.  This is what makes rescue worthwhile, when they once again act like donkeys.  

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE...!!

BANQUET OVER, ON TO BIGGER AND BETTER THINGS

The banquet was pretty good, nice steak dinner, and then on to the important stuff, like handing out plaques and money and everyone congratulating everyone else.  Of course some of them weren't speaking to each other at the end of the season, but I guess time heals old wounds and "there's always next year" to "get" them.  

Before we left for the banquet John let all the kids out that were thru eating, which was about half of them.  When we came home, we left the courtyard gate open on the way into the house.  I went down to fill Mother in on all the happenings and show her my plaque, and when I came back, John was standing in the great room, commenting on the fact I had left the gate open.  Really.............how did he know?  Perhaps because there were mini donkeys and mules roaming around in this forbidden area.  I opened the door and suggested they vacate the area, which they all did quite nicely.  Someone did leave a message concerning my narrow mindedness I guess.  

 

Didn't see the culprit, although when I opened the door, Jack the mini mule was standing in the neighborhood, and he's real easy to blame......!!!  LOL

BlackJack was one of those left in because he wasn't done eating in the afternoon.  John had left BJ's pen unlatched, so he could push it open.  Usually if nothing is happening and he is stuck in the pen, he will start banging on the corral panels hard enough to move them and the thought was once he figured out it was moving he would continue to bang until he could get out.  

That didn't happen, instead of banging on the corral panels he decided to dig a hole to China.  This morning when John was filling the cavern in with a rake he noticed this:

 Not the ballpoint pen, but the pot shard.  We've found them before on the property, even found a corn grinding rock called a metate when they were digging the laterals years ago. One time we found a shard as big as a hand that had been charred, probably was a cooking pot . 

Did find out the track plans to have the Hornets race for 6 race days in January.  They are having big money races for the Modifieds and Late Models two week-ends in a row.  They use us for cheap filler, so the "real" racers have time to work on their cars if needed.  

We have a slight problem, my car is laying in pieces in a friend's garage.  Had to pull the motor and transmission to get to the differential to lock it.  John and I have been discussing this ever since we found out last night.  His answer was to run the Toyota, you know the slug he drove the last race night and I lapped him......!!! LOL  

I go out every race to win, not to "have fun", which is what John said I would have.  DON'T THINK SO....!!!   

In 52 years I have learned, if I dig in for my position for awhile, and then give up, I usually get my way.  So now John is talking about trying to get the Kia back together by January 11th, and he said if he did, then he'd take the Tojo and race it.  Guess he didn't mind me lapping him while he was "having fun"......!!!!  We'll see, besides the locking and getting it back together, the front end needs some beefing up before I go back on the track.  The fan shroud is pushed back into the radiator from contact with assorted items, like cars and tractor tires and one more "contact" would probably get the radiator.  That will take some engineering and welding, which John can't do, so we'll have to beg time and effort from guys trying to get their cars ready.   We'll see how it goes.........!!

OPEN HOUSE UPDATE

SOME GUESTS MAKING RUTHIE AND WISTER HAPPY

 Saturday was a beautiful day and we had a steady stream of people coming to see the donkeys for most of the day.  Mike and Teresa came up from Tombstone and presented us a nice check from Mike and Zeke's walk-a-thon in September.  They say this is the last walk, but Mike was talking about what a wonderful time he had, meeting so many people and said he'd never laughed so much.  So I'm not sure that is his last walk.  We'll see.....!!! 

Sunday was cold and windy.  We almost had more volunteers to show people around than we had guests to visit with the donkeys.  Since there weren't many people to show around, we all came in the house, ate chili and vegetable soup and had a great visit.

BOAZ TRYING TO GET PEOPLE'S ATTENTION

Unfortunately while we were inside having fun, the donkeys weren't appreciating being in their pens with nothing going on.  

We didn't realize how unhappy they were, until this morning when John went out to round them up.  Some of them were within sight and weren't the least bit interested in coming in, others weren't even around. 

We think that 2 days of being "confined" with the 2nd day being rather "slow" was too much, they decided that if that was how it was going to be, they'd just as soon not cooperate.  They got out today, so hopefully tomorrow morning they will be more cooperative. 

Reba the big red mule, figured out the game really quick.  John put Coquette and Penny's bunk close to the fence, so people could put pellets in there.  Coquette gets a little excited sometimes and fingers have been known to suffer.  Penny because of her missing teeth and her distrust of people, has a hard time picking pellets out of a hand.  She does much better with an animal cracker held by thumb and finger.  But they both did great, Coquette didn't eat any fingers and somewhere along the way Penny figured out how to take pellets out of a hand.  They also thought it was a fun game and made sure they were standing by the fence when the people came by.  

Jack, the mini mule was obnoxious as usual.  He wants all the attention, all the treats, all the "oxygen" and Molly can just stand over there someplace out of the way.  We've seen her double barrel kick him, but unfortunately she doesn't do it often enough from my point of view.  He loves to put those short little ears back and act silly.  What's funny is, if I yell at him, the ears come up and he looks like a perfect little angel............brat......!!!!

30 DEGREE MORNINGS ARE GETTING OLD.....!!!

Considering it's getting closer to winter I better get use to it.......but I don't have to like it.  At least the days are warm and sunny, so far.

Chores have gotten a lot easier, without all the hot weather, and flies to worry about.  Right now, Boaz and his proud flesh knee is about all I'm doctoring, except for Jack the mini mule's nose.  Boaz's came back from his "gig" at weed control with his knee bubbled up with nasty looking over growth.  Over the years I have tried just about everything they recommend for proud flesh up to and including surgical removal 3 times............except for xxTerra......!!!!  I hate this stuff, it's primarily used to remove sarcoids, a type of immune tumor.  I'm not really sure his knee isn't a little of both, sarcoids and proud flesh.  The vet has never really said and they look enough alike, that I sure don't know.  Don't know if the vets can tell the difference without testing either. 

So I have tried using xxTerra for a few days.  It's certainly made a mess, it basically "melts" the area, so you have all this bubbly gooey mess running down his leg.  I think I'll clean it off and see what happens.  I can always have the vet debride it again, but hate to put him thru that.  He's a good patient and the knee is never going to look normal again anyway.  My main concern is to stop the over growth of cells permanently.  So far they keep coming back.

Jacks nose looks like it's been peppered with a shotgun, little circles of hair missing.  It seems to itch because we catch him scratching it till it bleeds.  He'll leave it alone if I put Thuja zinc oxide or Banixx on it.  John came home with Banixx one day when I sent him out to find something for infection.  Recommended by the local feed store, because I already had everything else they sold I think.  

Anyway it does seem to work pretty good on Jack's nose, although I'm put off by the smell.  It smells just like Listerine.  Makes me wonder if it is just expensive Listerine.  Listerine is what Dr. Voss recommended for Gus' leg sores this summer, so who knows.  

Everyone else seems to be doing just fine.  Pepper has not been down on his right side in weeks, which is great.  He's also eating much better than he was this summer, that's not to say he's getting fat.  On a scale of 1 to 10, he is about a 2 and I'm not sure that isn't being generous.  Let's put it this way, if authorities ever saw him, I'd probably get arrested for animal abuse....!!!  But he is perky, alert, ears up and will knock you down with his favorite weapon, his head, if given the chance.  Hopefully he can put enough weight on to make it thru the winter without having to be blanketed.  If he has to wear a blanket he has to stay in the pens, which is a fate worse than death for all of them.  We tell them about equine that have to stay in little pens all their lives and they just don't seem to care, they want OUT....!!!! Pepper is one of the worst, he will dig caverns in the sand at the gate, deep enough we've all fell in them numerous times.  Last week John put a 4x6 stall mat at the gate and now the old buzzard paws at it so hard you can smell the rubber.  He can't hardly stand up, but he can use his legs to dig holes and paw rubber mats....!!! 

JACK IS SURGING AHEAD IN THE BATTLE OF WILLS

Poor John, I'm not sure he's really up to this battle of wills.  He's at a disadvantage because the fencing is barbed wire that has been up for over 20 years on T-posts.  T-posts over the years don't always stay in place which means the wire gets loose.  Plus there is the added feature of the large wash the fence goes across.  And Jack knows very well he can get thru the fence, if he just finds the right spot. 

We let them into Burroland yesterday afternoon, took an hour and 15 minutes to get them all back over here.  That's a lot of exercise for John and I, much more than we wanted.  We managed to get back with no major wounds.  Trying to keep up with donkeys in the mesquite and brush, not to mention all the dead limbs on the ground trying to trip us.  Wouldn't be so many limbs, but when they are trying to reach the beans, they break off limbs.  A lot of the limbs on the trees hang at just about eye level, but we managed to survive those too.  It's not very effective for 2 "mature" humans to try to round up a dozen donkeys on 20 acres, that have no intention of cooperating.  Our only trump card is to just keep at them, so they know we are behind them, until they finally give up.  What gets me is you can tell when they are ready to go to the gate.  Before that if you manage to get them in the gate area, they just go past it like it isn't there, usually at a high rate of speed.  Once they make up their minds they head for the gate by the shortest route at a walk.  I had a whistle I blew once, won't do that again.  It took us forever to even find them after that......!!!! LOL  Rusty the white mule was under a tree eating beans like a Hoover, ignoring me.  When I blew that whistle, I found out just how fast a 34 year old mule can move.  Of course all the others left too, at warp speed. 

I guess Jack isn't satisfied with the rationed time over in Burroland, so this morning when John rounded everyone up, Jack was missing and Molly was standing by the fence looking into Burroland.  John's already found out where Jack wiggled thru, just has to fix it.  I've always heard "if your fences won't hold water, don't get goats".  That might be a good thought for little black mini mules too......!!! LOL

Yesterday morning Daisy came in with a bloody nose on one side.  Equine aren't known for having nosebleeds, there is usually a good reason, gutteral pouch,  and ethmoid hematoma are a couple of reasons you really don't want.  Of course there is the exercise reason well known in the racing industry.  I doubt that Daisy would ever have an exercise nose bleed, not her style.  I cleaned her nose out and it felt like there might be a scratch in there.  I put some Vaseline in her nostril and this morning it isn't draining, so hopefully that's what it was.  She probably stuck a stick up her nose.

Mike and Zeke are home.  I haven't heard how the parade in Kingman went this week-end, I hope they made it.  Zeke picked up a piece of wire in the sole of one of his feet and went lame.  They were within about 20 miles of Kingman, but Zeke's health and well being, is more important than pressing on.  I hope he doesn't get an abscess, which is pretty common with a sole puncture, the place closes over because it's such a small opening and traps dirt and bacteria. 

JACK IS SURGING AHEAD IN THE BATTLE OF WILLS.......!!!

John just came in and asked if I could watch the gate to Burroland, while he went to run Jack back.  Heh, heh, heh, I'm sure glad I'm not involved in this little mind game.  Actually he was almost within sight of the gate and let John put a halter and lead on him.  

I had a problem while I was waiting for them to get back..............BlackJack....!!!!  He wanted to "help" me with the gate.  The problem with BJ is he knows we aren't going to kill him or beat him with a stick, he figured that out years ago.  I do have a buggy whip that he will react to, but anything else is not much of a problem as far as he is concerned.  He was determined to get into Burroland, no matter what I said or did.  Once I found out John had a halter on Jack, I locked the gate till they got there, much to BJ's disgust.  

John is out there even as I type...........pounding more T-posts, he watched Jack start at the end where he was getting out, trying the whole fence line across the wash.  When he got to the end where it goes up the bank, he managed to squirm and wiggle thru the area where it starts up.  It's not actually wide enough for him to get thru, but he managed. 

I'm thinking of starting a betting pool, for when the next escape is.  Can't wait for Boaz to come home, he's another fence challenger.  Well, one thing John will find out exactly where his fences need repair...!!! Ha! 

NOT SURE WHO'S WINNING THE WAR...........!

I know John would like to think he is, but this morning he had to go retrieve mini mule Jack from the neighbor's side of Burroland.  I guess he was waiting for the dogs to come out and run the fence with him.  

No dogs, but when he saw John arriving, John said he picked up the pace.  John went out wide and when Jack saw he wasn't going to go away, John said he brayed, well actually he doesn't really bray, it's more like a pig grunting with a little squeal here and there, and took off running for this side.  John had left the gate to Burroland open, just in case, and Jack beat him back by minutes....!!!  John on 2 legs didn't stand a chance.....!! 

While they were eating, John used the T-post driver (one of his "favorite" tools) and drove 3 T-posts into the wash.  That fence across the wash is usually not actually attached to the ground, so when the wash runs, it will float up, rather than get torn out.  But little Jack Horner knows that now.  Hopefully the monsoon season is over for awhile.  I let everyone out of their pens while John was playing with the driver.  Jack went right over to his escape spot, stuck his head under the wire and started pushing and shoving.  John just stood there and watched him.  He said Jack tried and tried and finally figured out it wasn't moving like it did.  John came in crowing about how he'd outsmarted Jack.  But the next time he went out he couldn't find Jack, came in to get me to watch the open gate while he went over to retrieve Jack..........again......!!!!  Heh! Heh! Heh!  Couldn't leave the gate open, because now all the others were out too, without someone standing guard.  

John decided to look down below the pens before we went over to Burroland and he found the little monster calmly eating mesquite leaves with the herd.  It scared John enough that he pounded some more T-posts all across the wash to the other side, so the whole thing is attached to the ground.  John said he knew it wouldn't take Jack long to just walk down the fence from where he had been getting out, till he got to the unattached fence to wiggle under. 

Guess days like this is why we're never bored...........!!!!! LOL

I HATE WEEVILS..........!!!

What an interesting name, it suits them.  You kinda have to purse your mouth to say the name and can continue to purse as you wrinkle your nose at the thought of the little beasties.....!!!  LOL

I am not as grossed out as a lot of people are about them.  In West Texas in the 50's before everyone had a freezer to stick flour in to kill the little critters, it was common place to have them in any and all flour products that came in the house.  That's what they made flour sifters for, to sift the little monsters out of the flour so you could use it.  Done it many times, had a head start in Saudi Arabia when we lived there on a lot of the wives.  The flour products downtown reminded me of the 50's in West Texas. only more so.  When there is more weevils than flour, even I will admit defeat though.  A lot of the wives saw one or two, and developed a case of the vapors immediately.  They were some of the same ones that soaked their raw eggs in bleach water and wondered by the yolks were green.   Egg shells are porous, guess they didn't know that.........!!!! LOL

We've been buying rolled oats for the guys that don't have enough teeth to do the job.  Tried crimped oats and they just passed straight thru, which is why we weren't getting whole oats.  I noticed the other day there were weevils in the container that was just about empty.  YUCK...!!!  John bought a new bag this week and guess what..........????  It came with a healthy eco-system.  I know they won't hurt the donkeys, but it just gross to have them in the oats.  I've heard of people mixing 2% diatomaceous food grade earth in with feed to keep the weevils at bay.  Went on line and ordered some.  In the meantime I guess I'll just close my eyes, when dipping out oats for the kids.  

The couple that came out to see if they wanted the mules called this morning.  She liked Jack, he liked Molly, didn't like Jack at all because he looks too horsey.  They also were too big, although they are well within the mini measurement of 36 inches at the withers.  And  they didn't want to fight the battle of the mesquite beans.  Boy, I can certainly agree with that!  As for the other "problems" I told her that was just fine, that we want a home for them where they are both appreciated for what they are.   It's hard enough to get John to agree to adopt any of them out, so we aren't trying to get rid of them.  John would be perfectly happy if none of them ever left. 

JOHN HAS OUTSMARTED JACK, FOR THE TIME BEING

 New Forest, England............  "Can we help you?  Do you have treats?"

At least the little brat hasn't gotten out since the last time....!!! LOL  What gets me is he isn't over there trying to figure out how to get out again or anything.  It's like, no big deal, but it sure was for the couple of days he was going thru the fence at warped speed. 

I guess we're getting desperate about the mesquite bean problem.  John asked the guy we got Reba from if he knew anyone that had some cows to loan out.  Just what we need someone's cows to worry about.  I doubt that anyone would be interested in moving cattle around just because we need them to eat beans.  Wednesday at evening feeding time we heard cows west of us on the road.  I took the golf cart out to see what was going on.  I found cows wandering around, ignoring the abundance of mesquite beans EVERYWHERE down both sides of the roads.  Why would they bother to go on our property to eats beans, when they would have to walk over beans to get there.......!!! 

Then John came up with a brilliant thought..........there are at least 4 range bulls out there wandering around and at times fighting.  What if we had cows in Burroland and the bulls decided they wanted to entertain the new girls?  I would imagine most cows this time of year are already pregnant, but if not, I'm sure our fences wouldn't even slow them down if they had a reason.  Then we could not only have to go find them, but try to figure out which cows were range cattle and which ones weren't.  I think we'll forget about borrowing cows, it could definitely get complicated in a hurry.  

Our only chance now will probably be when all the weeds and grasses are no longer available for them to eat, and they will hopefully be more interested in beans.  The ranch has a spring-like area that stays flooded most of the summer, whether we get rain or not.  Can't see it from our place, but would imagine it is a rather tasty lush grassy meadow. 

WANNA FEEL STUPID, TRADE BRAIN POWER WITH A MULE........!!

 This is just "SO" not right......!!!

At least I wasn't involved............but John was.......!!!!  

Yesterday John went out at 2pm to start feeding, so we could go to the races.  Found everyone but Jack the mini mule.  That's unusual, he is almost always within eye sight of Molly whether she wants him there or not.  We went ahead and fed everyone, still no Jack.  I went out and walked the 10 acres, then John walked the 10 acres and I went again.  Call us slow, but we decided he wasn't on the 10 acres.  I walked the perimeter and then went out on the roads in the golf cart.  John chose to go over on Burroland to look.  He had heard the neighbor's dogs barking and thought he might be over there.  

I finally came back and there was Jack in the pen with Molly, obviously John had found him.  Sure enough he was over running the neighbor's dogs along the fence.  John used his belt around Jack's neck to drag him home.  Of course all this made us late to the track.  I had a friend draw for my starting position in the heat race.  I started outside pole, that's probably a much better draw than I would have done.  She drew terrible for her husband, he had to start all the way in the back of his race.  

I finished 2nd in the heat race and 4th, again, in the main event.  I actually had a 12 year old Birthday boy ride with me as part of his birthday celebration.  He had a great time, I took his brother for his birthday a few months ago.  There are 3 more kids in the family, guess they'll all go before it's over. 

Got home late, went to bed got up this morning.  John went out, came back in & said he needed help to get Jack back on the 10 acres, he was over in Burroland.  It wouldn't have been such a big surprise, but John had fixed where he "thought" Jack had gone thru the fence about 2am this morning.  Obviously not..........!!  

We got chores done and I let everyone out.  A few minutes later John came in and said he needed help to get Jack out of Burroland............again.........but this time he had shown John where he was getting thru the fence, and it wasn't where John thought it was.  By this time Jack had decided we were messing up his lifestyle and became a little evasive.  That means taking off like a startled deer.  John was guarding the gate, so I was doing the hazing, or trying to.   I wasn't keeping up too well, but I stayed close enough Jack knew I was still there.  Once he decided I wasn't going away, he leisurely walked to the gate.  

John tells me he fixed it, but has not guaranteed Jack can't get out again.  Guess we'll find out when we do chores later. 

RAINY DAY.........!!!!

Donkey is clear, not sure about the woman....!!!

Today has been a dreary misty day, rather unusual for this time of year.  I doubt that we got a tenth of an inch of rain, but at least it hasn't been sunny and hot, so I guess I shouldn't complain.  

Peppers sleazy pjs came today, but I can't see if they fit since he is wet.   Maybe tomorrow will be a little drier, certainly hope so, I'm suppose to race tomorrow night for the first time in almost 2 months.  I'm anxious to try out my power steering.  I've had the car out on our dirt road up to speed and it feels pretty good, but won't know for sure, until I'm on the track. 

A woman that has mini horses and drives them is coming out Sunday to see if she would like to add Molly and Jack to her family.  She shows the horses, I think it would be fun to show the mules.  They really have settled down since they've been here, and I think they would make a cute little team.  Actually she turned a yearling molly mule over to us about 6 years ago.  Anita had bought her at auction and found out a few days later that she had infected openings in her belly.  The vet said put her down, but Anita said no.  They did meatball surgery, rigged up a thing on their pick-up so they could get her off the ground and walk her around.  It was over 2 weeks before Molly could actually stand on her own and quite awhile before she healed.  Once she healed she was hell on wheels and Anita was afraid she would hurt her little horses.  Molly was Miss Personality and we found her a wonderful home with a group of people that had a organic farm.   So Anita has some idea of what mules are like, which is a good thing.

Our skin problems are winding down finally.  Everyone seems to be doing pretty good.  Pepper's rubbed places on his shoulder and hip are healing.  I think I actually see a little hair fuzz growing in, so hopefully he's going to have some hair grow back.  He's going thru another "thin" time and looks like a walking skeleton.  I hope no one turns us in for abuse......!!! LOL  He eats good, but it just doesn't turn into fat, muscle or even just flesh I guess.  

Haven't heard anything good or bad from Karla about the 3 "happy wanderers", so I assume they are staying where they belong. 

DONKEYS HELPING SOLDIERS.........SEPT 24, 2013

  

Got this from Mike's wife Teresa this morning.  This is the logo on shirts they've had made up for the Walk in September.  They are in white only, this will be on the back and Tombstone, AZ will be on the front.  They haven't figured out the postage cost yet, but the shirts will be $10.  I'll put out a link once they get the total cost, in case anyone would like to get one.  The money will go towards buying all terrain wheelchairs for veterans, that want to be able to go out away from the sidewalks and enjoy nature as they did before becoming wheelchair bound.  The chairs cost about $15,000 each, Mike and Zeke would like to raise money for as many chairs as they can, and also a few bucks for Zeke's fellow donkeys.   

Speaking of fellow donkeys, it's amazing how much more interested they are in coming in at feeding time, now that they are "trapped" on the 10 acres.  There are beans here, just not quite as many.  John checked Burroland today and the cattle haven't "discovered" the open gates yet, so he sweetened the deal with piles of salt in the middle of each gate opening.  It shouldn't take them long to find the salt and hopefully all the beans too.  John said you can't imagine how many beans are on the ground over there, not to mention how many are still up in the trees.  This has really been a good year for beans, for some reason.  Last year we didn't have very many at all.  

This afternoon Jack & Molly the mini mules were doing their running thing again.  They sure get those short little legs moving, I don't see how they keep from running into trees or rocks, as fast as they go. 

Wister is becoming a big boy

Wister is becoming a big boy....!!!  Thanks Jamie for the picture

I think we got 3 or 4 sprinkles this morning about daybreak, so now we have humidity.  That seems to be all we get.  All of our friends in different areas have gotten inches of rain, we barely have 1/2 inch total.............!!!!  When it's humid for days at a time, the pens start smelling like an outhouse.  Although the pens are picked up daily, & we cover the "pee ponds" with dirt, the humidity lets us know the pee is still there right under the surface.  If it gets really bad, John will use the back hoe & dig out the pond, sometimes he has to go 2 or 3 foot deep to get it all, & bring in fresh dirt/gravel.  

I seem to be getting a handle on the skin problems for the most part.  We're still taking Gus in tomorrow for a scraping, even though I'm managing to keep his legs dry using Columbia Vet Powder, which is powdered zinc oxide.  

This is Jack the mini mule's shoulder, both sides & his belly looks like this.  Never has been wet or gooey, he had raised welts about the size of a pea & the hair sloughed off to this.  He's the only one that has this condition, all the rest are legs, except for the dry flakes, some of them have on their necks & backs.  

Still fighting the battle of the mesquite beans, no one is interested in coming in to eat, & more than likely will leave hay.  John has cut what he's feeding them at least in half, some of them even more than half.  So if they usually get 5 pounds of hay a day they are getting 2 1/2 pounds or less.  They don't seem to care at all..........brats......!!!  

Buddy was looking so svelte, at least for him.  It will probably take all winter to get the weight he's put on off again.  

BlackJack & Frijolita both have crests normally & they are getting bigger.  I'd really hate to have to pen them, but it might come to that if the beans last much longer.  Makes me wish we had a dry lot. 

NO, I HAVEN'T DISAPPEARED OFF THE FACE OF THE PLANET........!!!

Good grief, talk about camera hogs.....!!!!

I was shocked to go in and find out I haven't updated since Sunday.  I guess time flies when you're having fun, or in my case up to my eye-balls in "skin" conditions.

The last few days I've spent a lot of time washing and doctoring assorted legs and in Jack the mini mule's case shoulders chest and belly, plus legs.  I think I am dealing with 7 animals total, let's see, Reba left front knee, Gus, both rear legs, Quilla all 4 legs, Boaz 2 legs and his knee that never has healed.  Coquette, legs and mane area, little Jack's assorted areas, and Cisco, 4 legs, mane and back area.  Of course I have to keep an eye out on the others, because whatever is on their mane/neck area seems to move around.  Never had anything like that before Coquette came here.  It's not sores, some itching, but not really scratch until it bleeds itchy, lots of dry flaky material, you can comb out with a flea comb.  I've been putting Avon Skin so Soft on those areas and it seems to take care of it.  

Back to the leg problems.  I spent most of yesterday afternoon on the internet, prowling around.  I talked to a friend and she mentioned something about equine keratosis............hmmmm........never heard of it.  I know about keratosis on people, which is a type of precancerous scabby sore a lot of people get on their forearms.  Never heard of it in conjunction with equine. 

After wading thru lots of information, I'm beginning to think I have maligned flies all these years.  I have blamed flies for the damage to Quilla's legs and some of the others also have leg damage.  If they in fact have keratosis the flies are drawn to the damaged skin rather than causing the damage.  

One thing I found and haven't been able to find it again which is what usually happens unless I book mark or print out information is............ equine keratosis might be a result of a poor immune system and/or fatty liver disease.........BINGO..........!!!  Quilla has been diagnosed with fatty liver disease, the others haven't been diagnosed, but I'd bet money there are some more fatty livers in the bunch.  Cisco's immune system is a mess always has been, and I wouldn't be surprised if Gus doesn't have immune problems.  Last year he had a nasty sore on the front of one of his hocks, that was scraped.  Came up as staph, strep and something else.  I asked the vet where he could get all of that and she said it's everywhere in the dirt & the air, but usually isn't a problem.  Monday we're taking him into the vet for another scraping.  I'd like to think they all have the same thing and one diagnosis will cure everyone, but I doubt it. 

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?