LIFE IS JUST ABOUT TO GET INTERESTING, I THINK........!!

Yesterday, we took Boaz and Lynn to their dental appointment.  Dr. Debra comes to our area once a month and does appointments at the local horse sale barn.  When we got there she was working with a horse and 2 women were there.  There was also a cute little white something or other in a pen.  At 1st I thought it was a foal, then a mini horse.  Come to find out it was a mini-mule named Snowball.  He is about 15 years old and we don't know his life story.  But he's been thru the Mike's auction 3 times in recent history, because he doesn't play well with other animals.  He was very studdy acting and also hard to catch.  The woman said once he is caught you can work with him, lift his feet and lead him.  The last trip thru the auction he sold for $385 (told you he was cute) and this woman lost the bid, but told the bidder if it didn't work out to call her.  After 2 weeks, she got the call, picked him up and found out his behavior left a lot to be desired.  She brought him in for Dr. Debra to examine to see if he had been gelded properly.  SURPRISE......!!! he's never been gelded.......!!  I guess no one cared enough to help him be social and no one ever bothered to check to see if he had been gelded, they just passed him around, poor little guy.  

I tried to stay out of the fray, but John went over to "visit" and decided he needs to be gelded and socialized............SIGH....!!  The woman was more than happy to give him to us, BUT first considering his history with other animals, we have to build a stud pen, for the little guy.  That means something he can't put his head under a corral panel, lift it up and take off.  So John has some supplies to buy and get installed on Pancho's pen.  We never have an empty pen for very long it seems.  Today John called Adobe Vet Clinic and they can't geld him until the 11th.  

Rather than pick him up, put him in the pen, drag him out of the pen a few days later to haul him to the vet, we made arrangements with the people to pick him up the 10th and we will leave him in the stock trailer overnight, he has to be in Tucson at the vet clinic at 8AM, then bring him home and start getting acquainted. 

Poor little guy, I hope this gives him a chance at having a less stressful life.  Being a mule is going to make it a little different.  Mules have their own rules and relationships are usually on their terms, not yours, especially if they have been abused or passed around.  

Didn't have my camera, so no pictures yet.  In the interest of him starting a new life, we thought a new name might be a start.  Snowball doesn't do anything for me, but I've always wanted to name a white donkey Casper, after the friendly ghost.  Maybe the name Casper will be a good change for him. 

Lynn got her snaggle tooth pulled and Boaz got his overly long wolf teeth ground down.   They both needed other stuff done too, but those were the biggies.  This morning Lynn was diving into her hay and more than happy to take treats with her lips, something she hasn't been doing for the last month, while we waited for our appointment.  Boaz never had problems eating, but I'm sure he feels a lot better with those wolf teeth being shorter and a couple of nasty hooks gone.  

PANCHO MIGHT HAVE HIS FOREVER HOME......!!

A couple of days ago I received an e-mail that gets sent out to all the equine rescues in Arizona, whenever there is a special situation, like owner going in hospital, animals need rehomed, need emergency hauling, anything that might be helped by the rescue community in Arizona all knowing about it.  

Bonnie and Clyde were adopted from an Arizona rescue a few months ago and were doing great, until the woman went out a few mornings ago and Clyde had died in the night.  Probably his heart, this seems to happen with donkeys more than you would think.  We've had 2 and also a horse, basically drop dead or die in their sleep while laying down.  

Although the people have an Arab and a mini horse, Bonnie is very lonely, so the emergency call went out for a male donkey.  Hopefully, this is  Pancho's destiny.  He has been in foster care, he also was in a home and proved to be too smart for his own good, as far as escaping to go visit the neighbor's grass, and was returned to us a couple of years ago.   

The people came out today to see him.  He was really busy trying to keep the other boys away from Tula, but was friendly enough that the people want to add him to their family.  We will do a home study Tuesday and then we will haul him later in the week.  We could probably take him when we do the home study, but I'd rather not, even though it would save us a trip.  They gave all the right answers, I know their vet and they've had the same farrier for 20 years.  

Should be a great forever home for a very personable little donkey.  This will actually put us below our self imposed limit for the 1st time in a LONG time, makes me almost afraid to answer the phone.!!!  LOL

Courtney is coming out this week, to assess Gus' front feet.  He seems to be slowing down, so he might need the casting material put on again.  His heels have to be so "over the top" tall, he might just need to be trimmed a little bit.  I leave that decision to Courtney, she's kept him going when most farriers would have said they couldn't do anything else.  I don't think "can't" is in her vocabulary, she also kept old Pepper going for years, we ended up with John and I holding him up on 3 legs, when she would trim him, he was so frail.  It was just about this time last year when we finally had to say goodbye to the old man, his legs just finally gave out.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed about Lynn's tooth.  I don't worry about it falling out, I worry about it getting infected, as loose as it is, there's plenty of gaps to get food caught around it.  We'll keep a close eye on her, until Dr. Debra comes back down the 1st week of March.  

Got to get her in "cuteness" shape.  Kartchner Caverns got in touch with me, to take donkeys out for Earth Day, April 16th. Last year we took Ruger and Wister and they were a big hit.  I had planned on taking BlackJack and Frijolita this year, but was requested to bring minis.  I didn't even remember talking about minis, but obviously someone in the park system did...!!!  We are going to take all 4 of the minis, so there will be no waiting to pet.  Actually minis are usually really popular, they are small enough to not be threatening to people that have never been around large animals.  Children especially are more comfortable around them. 

UGLY MOUTH.........!!!

I didn't get as good a picture as I wanted of Lynn's mouth.  John had noticed she had a snaggle tooth.  Her mouth has always been a little creative, one of the results of breeding for smaller animals.  Her mouth has either too many teeth or too large of teeth, not exactly sure.  As someone with a small mouth and full size teeth, complete with wisdom teeth trying to break thru many years ago, she has my sympathy.  She has had teeth pulled which has allowed for some shuffling around and it looks like the cleanest one on the bottom closest to my thumb has lost the shuffle battle.  It's really loose, but not loose enough for me to have the guts to grab it with a pair of pliers and hopefully jerk it out with one "gentle" pull.  I've observed over the years that even though an equine tooth seems ready to come out, that isn't how it usually happens.  Poor Penny put up with about an hour of pulling and tugging to get one out.  Granted it wasn't loose to start with, because of her broken jaw it was not where it should be and was causing problems.  

Dr. Debra doesn't come back until the 1st week of March, so Lynn is on the list and we'll keep an eye on it.  She doesn't like it messed with, hopefully it won't get infected between now and then.  Looks like she could use a good brushing, because her teeth are so crooked, they seem to collect food.  

UNFORTUNATE SATURDAY NIGHT.....!!

My last night for points in racing did not go well.  Actually that is an understatement.  I only ran 3 laps in the main event before one of the other racers decided to door slam my car.

 This is the damage from him leaning on me. 

This is the damage after I lost control, hit the wall, lost my steering, went back down across the track into the infield.  I might add without hitting anyone or getting hit again.  Slid to a stop and the firemen came over and said "you're on fire, get out".  

Let me say I envy drivers that can get in their car and get all their gear on and organized in nothing flat, or take it off.  I don't happen to be one of them, John usually "dresses" me and makes sure everything is as it should be.  Of course he isn't in the middle of the track, so I start fumbling and bumbling around.  By the time I managed to get everything unhooked, one of the firemen came up with a little bitty fire extinguisher, and put out the fire.  I'm still not out of the car and because of my fire suit pants, probably not going to get out before the races are over...........so........one fireman grabbed under my arms and another one reached in and grabbed my feet, and out I came.  I have no idea what John was thinking, he said he was just glad they got me out.  But I have a feeling it looked like dragging a body out........LOL  The rest of the night so many people came up to ask if I was OK, never thought so many people would care about a crazy old woman.  That was rather nice, considering my car is totaled..!  That was the last point race, and the guy responsible for the damage was 2 points behind me for 5th place.....!!!  hmmmm, I wonder......????   No, surely he wouldn't do it on purpose, would he?  

Of course by the time we got home early this morning, Doug was asleep.  But this morning we heard about how the evening went.  

A few days ago, while we were gone Doug found the gate to Burroland off the post on the back side two days in a row.  We blame Frijolita, she is our gate challenger, although the rest of them seemed to appreciate her efforts and went with her.  We have been limiting their time in Burroland to cut down on their access to mesquite beans.  Guess they decided to take matters into their own "hooves".  

John fixed it and I guess he did a good job.  Doug said when he came out to round them up for evening feeding, everyone was easy to get in, except Lynn and Cheyenne were missing.  Of course he panicked, said he looked all over the 10 acres and they weren't anywhere.  Amy and Morgan came to help feed and clean pens and so the 3 of them started looking.  Amy started yelling she found them.........over in Burroland, headed towards the closed gate to finally come in for supper.  This morning those two were back over on Burroland again.  But, they goofed up, Doug was watching when they came to the fence and tried to get back in from where they had went out.  Heh! heh!  Busted.....!!!  Our land is not exactly flat, there is a lot of difference in the topography and the fence in some areas isn't low enough to stop a determined mini I guess.  That particular spot won't be usable in the future though.  

The flies are really bad right now, I guess they are trying to complete their life cycle before it gets cold.  I don't think they have to be so frantic, it usually doesn't get to freezing around here until late November. 

STARTING TO FEEL LIKE SUMMER AROUND HERE

Not my idea of nice weather, but that's what happens as we move out of spring.  Hasn't made it to 100* yet, but it won't be long.  The nights are still getting chilly, so I'm waiting to body clip Daisy and Quilla. 

Looks like Wister and Ruger will be going to a new home up by Flagstaff this month.  Sounds like it will be a good fit, but it's a long way up there to do a home study.  So we will make one trip, and as I told Anna, if we didn't think it would work out for the boys, we'd have no qualms about turning around and bringing them back with us.   She has reining horses and says she's admired donkeys some of her friends have, so she isn't a total newbie to equine.

ANOTHER PICTURE FROM KARTCHNER CAVERNS EARTH DAY CELEBRATION

Lynn must have poked her eye last night, it was closed and dripping this morning.  Rusty the mule is limping on a normal looking cool front foot and Penny's legs are starting to look like a science project because of flies.  I wrapped her front legs in polo wraps a couple of days ago.  She lost one of them yesterday and I noticed the flies were just moving up her legs to above the polo wraps.  So this morning I put some IMMUNE ONE HEALING BALM on her legs and put men's crew socks on both front legs.

Thuja Zinc Oxide is my usual "go to" balm for cuts or anything that needs to be protected from flies, BUT, it is heavy and gets on everything.  Immune one balm is less sticky, gooey and all that, so I could put it on and rub in, so that it almost disappeared.  Then put a sock over it.  If I tried to put a sock over zinc oxide there would be zinc oxide everywhere, except where I wanted it.  And the Immune One seems to start healing and drying up wounds real quick.  Penny was actually pretty cooperative, although she refused to take an animal cracker from me.  She took them from John like no big deal, but I swear she pursed her lips if I tried to give her one. 

Gus' legs are already covered as is one of Rosie's front legs.  For some reason the outside of her knee on one leg gets all tore up when she lays down, guess she has bony knees.  Boaz's scarred knee is doing really good, so far it's holding it's own and hasn't gotten bloody thank goodness. 

Sounds like business as usual around here..............LOL

 Mike Robertson, John, Lynn, Dr. Debra and Cheyenne, chowing down on "real" grass....!!

This is a picture from when we took the girls in for "dental" day.  Mike Robertson owns the local sale barn, and lets Dr. Debra work there when she comes to Benson once a month.  That works out well for her, she doesn't have to drive all over the county, her patients have to come to her.  

Mike is a very special person, I don't think I've ever met anyone that is as amiable as he is.  Considering he runs a sale barn, which means he is in contact with lots of people on a regular basis and has been for a long time, it's amazing how kind and generous he is.  He's the one that wrote a book of short stories taken from his life, called what else............Cowboy Stories. 

I can't say either of the girls were little angels, in fact they both got happy shots, because of bad uncooperative behavior.  There isn't a lot of room in their mouths anyway, and Lynn insisted on chowing down on Dr. Debra's arm.  Cheyenne was just bratty.  Lynn's mouth was pretty good considering she has a lot more teeth than she has room in there.  One of the problems with breeding for down sizing, the teeth didn't get the memo.  Cheyenne has problems chewing, and has had for a couple of years, so she gets mush and a little hay to play with.  We found out she is using the hay to pack into her cheeks to protect from her teeth.  Her lowers aren't lined up as they should be for side to side chewing and the uppers have worn in such a way that they are long on the outside of the lowers, so long in fact that she can't chew sideways like they normally do.  If Dr. Debra had taken off enough of the uppers, so she could chew sideways, she wouldn't have much tooth left.  So she took off the sharp points and a little of the length on the lowers, so they wouldn't continue cutting into the roof of her mouth.  

Today we went into Dr. Nancy's to make an appointment to get the neighbor's dog body clipped.  Boofer is some type of long haired cattle dog.  Last fall he managed to get completely covered with stick tights, which with the long hair makes for a tangled mess.  He is basically feral, he will let you pet him, but if you have anything in your hands like scissors or make any move other than one hand to pet, he's gone in a flash.  So this isn't going to be easy.  They loaned me a rabies noose and gave me some sedative to be given in a muscle.  Our plan is............he is deathly afraid of gun shots, whenever he hears them, he finds John and becomes his shadow.  We will first try to get him in the garage, get the noose on him and stuff him in a crate.  If that doesn't work, we'll have Doug shoot off a gun outside the garage, which usually turns him into a puddle.  Our appointment to get him clipped at the vet depends on if we can get him in a crate or not.  Once he's in the crate, they can gas him at the clinic.  If we can't get him in the crate, we'll have to figure out something else.  He is so matted, I'm sure he's got sores, doesn't stop him from running all over the place like he belongs here.  I'm going to take my big Stewart clippers, in case they want to use them, instead of ruining their clippers.  I'm sure there is a little bit of everything in those mats, including rocks........!!! 

As of this morning everyone has fly masks on.......!!!!

FINALLY........SPRING

I guess I should pay more attention to the passage of time.  I think this has been the longest I've gone without updating the blog.  The last week hasn't been all that busy, not sure what happened.

We've been in the 90's the last few days, the mesquite have leafed out like crazy and the weatherman says get use to it. Still not putting on fly masks although there are flies out, they just aren't bad enough to start with the masks...........yet........!!!  

It sure helps with Doug here to help with feeding and being here to let the donkeys out, when we come in late, like after the races.  This week-end when we got home at about 2am and I opened the door to get out of the truck, I heard this little tiny pathetic voice calling from the direction of Cheyenne's pen.  Sure enough she had gotten left in at 10pm when Doug let them out.  That isn't the 1st time someone has gotten left in, just the 1st time for Doug.......LOL  We have 4 pens that are actually a pen within a pen and it's pretty easy to forget, if you get distracted.  She was happy to get out and the other 3 minis were waiting by the pen for her, so they could go do donkey business.  

I've had to start keeping thuja Zinc Oxide on Cisco's sheath, even though he's getting benedryl every day.  That will be an all summer project, otherwise he gets itchy and scoots on the ground until it's bloody.  Of course that makes the flies happy............SIGH

It's about time to think about body clipping Quilla and Daisy, my 2 Cushings kids.  The last couple of nights have only been down in the 40's, so if we don't have any nights in the 30's for the next week, I'll probably get out the clippers and relieve them of that excess hair.  When Quilla came back from Claire's he had only been on pergolide a few days.  One thing I noticed was his hair was curly and sticking out all over the place.  We decided to up his pergolide as he was still on a minimum dose.  A few days after the change I noticed his hair was laying down, it's still long, but it didn't look quite so wild.  Must be the pergolide.

Tomorrow we are taking Cheyenne and I think Lynn to see the donkey dentist.  Cheyenne quids quite a bit.  She is fed a mush, John gives her a handful of hay for fun, but she chews it up and spits it out for the most part.  Recently both Daisy and Penny have quidded off and on.  Daisy is 30 years old, although she's always passed her check-ups and of course Penny has had a broken jaw.  But right now both of them aren't quidding, and John has found some quids in Lynn's bunk, so it will be her turn.  

Well the races Saturday night weren't too bad I guess, although my battery quit with 7 laps to go.  With the newer cars that have computers, the battery has to be working or the car won't run.  This is the 2nd time this has happened, last year at the dirt track it quit before I even got on the track........!!! John's tried new batteries, using the alternator, not using the alternator and even has added a switch, so we can disconnect the battery when the car is just sitting.  It will do just fine for awhile, which lulls us into thinking it's fixed...........then........SURPRISE...........!!!   Poor John, he felt so bad.  BUT, it might have been a blessing in disguise.  All the tires were brand new and you know how long it takes to wear out a new tire 30,000 miles or more......... It only took 18 laps on a 3/8's mile track to take all the tread off the outside of the right front tire, it was down to the metal cords.  It probably wouldn't have made 7 more laps without blowing out, which is a one way trip to the wall.  I'm really not interested in meeting the wall, if I don't have to........!!! 

We took the car into our son, Rod today.  He called tonight and said the spring on the right front is probably original and is very weak, which means the tire was rolling over on the side, especially in the corners.  John has changed struts many times, and after 3 years of pretty rough dirt track racing, probably should have thought the springs might need to be replaced too, but it's hard to keep track of all this stuff sometimes. Besides the stupid battery problem is very distracting.........

OBTW, we chickened out on the termite tenting project.  A friend had treated for termites and had studied the pros and cons of different methods.  She had even checked with the UofA and after all the rigmarole  of finding a place to keep 4 cats, and making sure all food stuffs were kept safe, and at least 3 days of major disruption, there is no guarantee that next week a swarm of dry wood termites wouldn't come in again.  Besides our house is not conventional, we don't have open spaces in the walls and an attic.  We have 2 foot thick adobe walls, and our ceiling is the roof, with a coating of painted foam covering it.  So there is no place that needs to be permeated by the gas they use.  We know of at least 3 different areas in the house, but they can be treated locally by a different method.  Need to call the company Susan recommended this week and get the little devils sent to termite heaven.....!!! LOL

LOOKS LIKE I'M GOOFING OFF........!!

It's been a week since I updated the blog, I think that is a record, don't think I've ever done that before except if I was gone someplace and usually I'm not gone that long.  

There really hasn't been that much to write about.  It's cooling off, which means less doctoring for skin conditions, which is really great.  Last night John took off the fly masks for the night.  Usually in the summer during fly season, we just leave them on, because the flies get up before we do. 

We had to take Anubis the dog, back to the vet again.  She was in awhile back for being lethargic and as the x-ray showed, full of, well let's just say she hadn't been going "regularly" for some reason.  Got that all taken care of and she started limping around 3 legged lame.  My "expert" opinion was hip, but Nancy said it's her knee.  I have been giving her Previcox until I could get her in and she's almost back to normal.  According to Nancy, Previcox is one of the great inventions in the world, for man or beast.  Hmmm......maybe I'll trade my Aleve for Previcox.  Anyway, while there they said they'd clip her nails and break off some teeth plaque.  In the process of teeth cleaning we found out she has one tooth that is loose and another one that has shrunken gums, exposing part of the root.  So now she gets to go back in next Monday for a snooze and removal of 2 teeth.

I'm giving a couple of the donkeys Previcox and it has really made a difference in their ability to walk around comfortable, old Pepper for one.  Nancy said that equine assimilate it differently and while dogs can take 227 mg or more, equine are much more sensitive and only should have 57mg or even half of that.  Who would ever think that equine should have much less of a type of medication than dogs?

The picture above is Boaz's knee, I took the picture to show Nancy that it is "finally" healed.  I think she was as excited as I was, 3 surgeries, lots of doctoring and wrapping over almost 3 years.  That little spot at the top, seems to be where he puts pressure when he lays down.  It hasn't been open in quite awhile, but I keep an eye on it.  I'm just glad I don't have to keep the knee wrapped all the time.

I told her about the problem with trying to get Pepsi to take the cancer medicine Neoplasene.  She said to mix it up with a double handful of grain.............YIKES....!!!  I can't imagine what he would look like after 3 months of that diet twice a day, the Goodyear blimp comes to mind.  This morning we separated him from Lynn and Justin and I gave him 1/2 cup of oats, with 1/2 cup of senior feed.  I added a teaspoon of molasses with a "dab" (do you know how small a dab it?) of the offending medicine.  NOPE...!!!  He did eat hay out of the other end of the bunk, but that's as close as he would come to it.  So tonight I'm going to see if I can get him to eat the oats and senior feed without anything added.  I'm sure he will think that is just fine, then maybe I can add molasses and that will probably be OK too.  After that I'm sure when I add a "dab" of you know what, I will get the judgemental look as he stands there and everyone else is eating.  SIGH!  She said she had never had one refuse it.  John said the owners probably told her they were feeding it, but weren't.....!!! LOL

We are not going to do the Cascabel Christmas Fair this year.  I think we've done it 6 or 7 years and it's a lot of fun.  Even though we don't have much to do, to get ready it's still a lot of work.  I'm sure there will be some disappointed people, every year we had people come that had been here before.  What I found interesting is the kids that remembered certain donkeys or mules, especially if they weren't still here.  A lot of people remembered Sha'ba, I guess because his ears had been cut off and most people had a hard time accepting the fact that there are people in the world capable of such cruelty.

 

RIP, SHA'BA.......he still loved people 

WHAT TO DO, WHAT TO DO......!!!

Last night at feeding time, Lynn, one of the minis was very lethargic not even interested in treats and was laying down.  My WAG (Wild Ass Guess) based on "been there before" is gas colic from eating mesquite beans.  Gave her my old stand-by remedy, Equine Colic Relief, USA and we watched her.  She wasn't really uncomfortable, but you could tell she wasn't happy. 

This morning she still wasn't up to par, but was better.  Tonight she's back to normal, begging and eating normally.  

They have not been over to Burroland for 3 days, we've been going to town and it just hasn't worked out to let them out for 3 hours in the afternoon.  Tonight when we were feeding I took time out to go over on Burroland to see how the bean crop was doing.  A lot of the trees don't even have beans, which is good.  Some of them still have beans on the trees and some have beans on the ground.  But I didn't see any area that was "carpeted" with beans, so we might not be so "anal" about them going over there for a longer time.  I only got to check the top half of Burroland, so in the morning we'll check the rest of it, hopefully it will be about the same.  

We actually have 3 or 4 different types of mesquite trees on the property and very rarely do all of them have a bumper crop, or no crop.  I assume they have different requirements in order to have a good season.  We always pray for a bad crop.......!!! LOL

John got home about midnight after rescuing the car.  Turned out to be a loose distributor cap.  Simple fix, but something that will not let you go anyplace until it is fixed.  John had towed it to one of the garages in town, it was an easy find,  so she was on back on the road pretty quick. 

DENTAL DAY.........!!!!

Dental day is always "interesting",  & this time we knew we had some nasty mouths.  Both Reba & Penny have let us know their mouths had problems.  And of course we had others that had not been here the last time Bert came thru.

First of all I have to compliment all the mules & donkeys, they really did great, even Penny.  I had warned Bert that she is a fear kicker, but she didn't kick once.  She's really so much better than she was when we got her about a month ago.  

 

 PENNY WATCHING COQUETTE'S APPOINTMENT

 

 OOPS.....SHOULD HAVE DISAPPEARED WHEN SHE HAD THE CHANCE

 

 LITTLE CHEYENNE & TALL, TALL, SIMON

EVEN JACK BEHAVED HIMSELF

Out of 22 animals, only 5 needed work.  Tula was not checked because the only way you can work with her is to put her in the squeeze.  Then if she did need teeth work, the corral panels would be a real obstacle to try to work around.  Bert said the reason their teeth are in such good shape is because they are out here eating brush, mesquite beans, (Yes tiz the season we're starting to find a few beans here & there in poo)  & chewing on sticks & tree trunks.  So I would imagine her teeth are just fine.  And Wister won't need to be checked until he's about 15 months old Bert said.  His teeth are perfectly aligned, unlike Tucker's were.  Tucker had a significant overbite, although his molars all lined up like they were suppose to.  Don't know as he has gotten older if his lower jaw has grown longer or not.  I'll have to ask his Mom next time I talk to her. 

Reba the big red mule had some nasty hooks & waves, Quilla needed a little bit of work.  Little Cheyenne, has been having trouble eating, even though her teeth had been done by a vet not long ago.  Two of her molars were enlarged & deformed.  Welcome to the world of minis, the smaller they breed them (she's only 32 inches tall) the more problems they have.  Simon took off some of the deformity so she can move food more easily around in her mouth.  The way it was, the teeth were up against the inside of her mouth & it was trapping the food.  That is probably why she has been turning her head in an odd way when she eats.  

Lynn had some sharp points & then there was Penny.  I doubt if she has ever had her teeth done.  She had hooks & displaced teeth, ramps, steps, waves. almost a perfect example of all the things that can go wrong in an equine mouth.   Dr. Weaver had said her mouth smelled that she probably had some abscessed teeth.  Bert said the teeth were fine, but all the hooks had chewed into her cheeks & he could even feel the back of the hair follicles, it had eroded that deep & was infected, poor little girl.  Got her all cleaned up, so hopefully once the inside of her cheeks heals, she won't have anymore trouble.  I can't say she appreciated all the attention, but she really was pretty good.  

Bert is a teacher in a equine dental school in Idaho, when he's not on the road.  He goes from Oregon to Texas on a circuit & has for years.  He said he spends about 2 weeks at home out of 2 months.  He doesn't ever tie them up & uses no drugs.  A lot of dentists work at with a vet & the vet automatically gives them drugs, whether they need it or not.  The animals all love Bert, he said he has a camel that is in love with him, that throws a fit as soon as he sees Bert..........how funny. 

Some vets still float teeth & I assumed that when they are in vet school they might get a week or two of training on doing teeth.  Let's face it, vets learn a little bit about a lot of things in school, & probably don't spend a lot of time on any one subject.  I'm sure they are expected to fill in the blank spots of their education on their own as best they can.  Bert said they usually spend about 8 hours on dental, & that includes dogs, cats, equine, etc...........!!!  Wow....that's not much when you figure they are actually learning about different species in that 8 hours.  

Some vets resent equine dentists, I guess they don't want the competition...........BUT.......... I would think there is enough work out there for all.  I certainly can't call a vet & have them show up immediately, whether it's for medical or dental, it's going to probably be days before I can get an appointment, unless it's an emergency.  So I don't understand the logic, they should appreciate the dentists & what they do, I'm sure some do, but some don't. 

JUSTIN'S FLY MASK FOUND.....!!!!

Two days ago, Justin came in without his mask.  Lately Wister gets blamed for all fly mask removal.  Since he's figured out how to get them off, we see him pulling & tugging on just about anybody.  Even Rusty the mule has to put up with the game.  Once Wister gets ahold of the mask he's like a bulldog, he hangs on as long as he can.  In Rusty's case, if Rusty raised his head up high, he could probably sling Wister cross country.  He usually just stands there patiently waiting for the little monster to let go.  We've never seen any of the donkeys besides Ruthie his mom discipline him.  They all seem to put up with his baby shenanigans with good humor.  

I didn't have an extra mask that would fit him, so we've been diligently looking for his.  This morning John just happened to be down in the wash & saw the mask up on the bank, in a place we would have never thought to look.  So now we have the mask & no Justin, they are all over in Burroland for the afternoon.  The Vel-cro on that mask is about worn out, so I think we'll put that mask on Lynn & use her mask for Justin.  So far Wister hasn't messed with the girls's masks, so Lynn should get along OK with worn out Vel-cro.  

That's our son's Super Stock car next to my little Hornet Saturday night.  Now that's a REAL race car.  I'm not really sure what he thinks about me racing, but he can't hide...........  We run the same number & the cars are both orange & white, so he can't disown me......!!! LOL. 

De-worming Day!

Well, we've had a fun filled morning.  Today was worming day..well for everyone except Rusty the white mule, & Tula the Wild Child.  They will be wormed later in their feed, because it's not possible to worm either of them with a tube wormer...trust me.......!!!  

I got on my smock with big pockets, filled the pockets with wormers & away we went.  John follows behind me with cookies, so it's not a big deal.  At least that's what I thought until I got to Gus.......!!!  He smelled that wormer & became a Dr. Jekyll......!!!   Talk about shocked...!!!  Gus is about the most mellow laid back guy you could ever meet, but there was no way he was going to just stand there & be so ABUSED.....!!!!  John got the halter & lead & we finally had to tie him up & even then it was a hassle.  Surprised me, most of the guys just stand there at liberty & it's over in a second.  

Headed on down the line to the minis.........hmm........Pepsi is a good boy the other 3 not so much.  Lysa got here to clean pens just about that time, which was good, because the halter John was carrying was too big for a mini & he's never learned how to make a halter out of a lead.  We got Lynn first, not too bad, Cheyenne was pretty good once we got her, Justin.........not what he had planned today.  Lysa finally got the "lead halter" on him & he took off like a race horse.  Lysa isn't one to give up, she hung on, managed to jump over one of the hay feeders that was in the way, but he finally got away.  She got him again & this time we had him in a corner.  One thing about donkeys they know when the "jig is up", he just stood there like it was his idea........!!!!!!  LOL

We saved the best for last, Jack & Molly the mini mules.  We figured they would be a real rodeo.  I think Lysa was disappointed, I know I was shocked.  She put the lead halter on them & they both were really good.  In fact Jack kept getting in our faces to see if we had more...........well I think he was really after the mandatory follow up cookie. 

Just talked to Cathy & she said Ruthie & Aaron are doing great.  Said things couldn't be better.  Breezy the horse has been with them,  Aaron follows her around too & Ruthie doesn't seem to care.  Shasta the dog has been in to visit & that went fine too.  So all in all it sounds like everyone is happy.

I had warned her about his running up behind you & she said she really appreciated the head's up, because he's been "practicing" his "style" on them.  He's going to think all people are grumpy, but this is something that has to be stopped as soon as possible.  Right now he weighs less than 100 pounds, but even at that, those little hooves would hurt, & later on as he grows it would be harder to break.  She said he seems to be getting the idea, so hopefully he will find something else to do, that isn't quite as dangerous. 

I'm going to call the clinic up at Gilbert tomorrow to get an appointment for Cheyenne & Cisco.  Both of them eat like something is wrong.  They've both had their mouths checked & teeth floated.  Cisco was losing weight until I started giving him enough mush so hay isn't a big player.  Cheyenne has lost weight also.  Yesterday we moved her into Pepsi's pen so she can eat by herself, & Pepsi got thrown out with Justin & Lynn.  Pepsi had always eaten by himself, the few times we tried putting all 4 minis together to eat, the other 3 pushed him out.  But he's either gotten more assertive or they've gotten tired of the game, because they don't seem to care now.  She seems to enjoy her mush, but it takes much longer for her to eat it, & if she tries to eat hay, she quids most of it.

So we'll try to take both of them up to the clinic next week & see if they have any ideas.  I'm sure they will, we haven't stumped them yet, & we've taken them some "unusual" cases.  

WE MADE IT....THE BOYS ARE HOME

 THUNDER (MR T.), CLAIRE, SHIRLEY & GUS' BUTT

When we got ready to leave Quilla was at the other end of the field.  I went to halter him & Claire went for Gus.  Quilla saw me coming with that halter & he took off, of course he made a mistake of going where the other people were, which ended his break for freedom.  "ME" thinks he likes the good life with all the attention, rather than "camping" out at Longears camp.......!!! LOL

 DAVID SAYING GOODBYE TO THE BOYS

 We got home about 8:30 last night.

Our neighbors had fed everyone else, so once the boys were put in their pens & got their hay, the rest were ready to go out.  We left Gus in overnight since he was in a different pen than when he was here before, but Quilla went out after he ate his hay.  He came in with the herd this morning, although later we saw him "fratching" with Boaz.  Boaz wasn't here when he left, so they had never met.  It wasn't anything mean, just boys introducing themselves.  

When we let Quilla out this morning he headed for Burroland, Gus hung around the pens a little while, but now he's disappeared, so I don't know if he went over there or maybe down below the house. 

Our ground is a lot harder than what Gus is use to, but we'll try it without boots & see how it goes.  Claire said he went without boots most of the time he was up there, so hopefully it will work out.  

Lynn is turning into a real cougar I guess.  This morning she was trying to entice Tucker of all things.  At least he's more her size, she usually tries to entice Boaz, which isn't possible.  Tucker doesn't have a clue, but he's more than willing to join in the fun.

Still soaking & doctoring Jenny's foot.  Didn't soak it last night & this morning a piece of hoof about the size of a dime fell off up by the coronet.  At least I can get the antibiotic in better with that piece gone.  I don't know if we could get her in the trailer to haul her to Gilbert, but I'm starting to try to figure it out.  They can IV antibiotics right into her leg above the hoof, which would probably work much better than by mouth or squirting antibiotics into the open areas of the hoof, which is what I'm doing.  They would have to keep her for a few days to do it more than once.  That wouldn't be a problem, I just don't know if we could get her loaded in the trailer with that bum foot. 

JENNY BIG GIRL

It's been rather peaceful most of the day today.  Of course Jenny is still in her pen.  Unfortunately she was almost 3 legged lame this morning.  I guess she needs to be moving in order to keep that long term abscess from bothering her.  It's only about 1/5th of the way down her foot, so if it keeps plugging up & making her lame, she'll be dealing with it for months.  I soaked her foot in epsom salts this morning, & if she isn't better in the morning I'll soak her in White Lightening.  The gas should kill off any bacteria that might be lurking in there. 

Rambo & Zorro for the most part behaved themselves.........well after Lynn who is a mini, wiggled by this morning for her close up view of the new boys.  They both got rather lively, till John ran her off.  She hasn't come back so far, so I guess she was just looking.  Jenny is serious about it unfortunately.  

Tomorrow we're going to probably put a halter on her & lead her far away from the boys.  Hopefully she'll find something else to do & forget about them.  If not the next plan of attack is to lead her over to Burroland, hopefully with some of the others following, & shut the gate for the day.

If we could get all of them over on Burroland, we could let the boys out to see what they will do.  I don't want the old boys to get hurt by getting in the way. That's how Pepper got his cracked hip we think, trying to be in the middle of all the fun.  Years ago we saw him knocked down a couple of times.  I'm sure he got knocked down at other times when we didn't see it.