I GET TO DO CHORES BY MYSELF TONIGHT.......!!!

 

John is doing a jeep tour tonight, so he won't get home until bedtime.  He's done these tours for years and really enjoys telling people about the flora and fauna of the desert and some of the history of the area.  

He gets to dress up like a cowboy and wear a gun.  Lately he's been trying to wear spurs on his civil war Union cavalry  boots.  Somehow wearing spurs to drive a jeep load of tourists seems a little odd to me, but I guess it works, the people love the guys being dressed up.  Each guy dresses as he sees fit, the company doesn't tell them what to wear.  John started out as a modern cowboy, jeans, shirt, boots and cowboy hat.  As time moved on he evolved into a 1870's type cowboy.  One of the guys is Mexican and dresses like a vaquero.  They all have fun playing dress up I guess.  

So, I will be chief cook and bottle washer for feeding tonight.  The donkeys don't understand the difference between 2 people feeding and only 1 little person feeding and get rather impatient.  Once they are in the pens, it doesn't matter, I'M IN CHARGE.............WoooWooo.......!!!  LOL  

I'm still working on Boaz's knee every other day.  There is a very stubborn area in the middle that just refuses to heal, so later this month we're hauling him in for another scraping.  Hopefully this will be the last time.  He's such a good boy about it.  I do wish he'd quit "entertaining" the girls, at least he thinks he is I guess.  I change it every other morning and he manages to mess it all up by evening.  It usually is still covering the wound, but certainly isn't as pretty as it was when I put it on him.  

Heard this morning that Crystal Ward died in a house fire overnight.  She has made DVD's about training donkeys and was quite well known in the donkey world.  Haven't heard what happened or anything.  Mark Myers from Peaceful Valley Donkey Rescue, said she has a will that gives all her donkeys to PVDR.  Not sure how many she had, do know Mark is just getting home with 50 he picked up from the BLM in Utah.  Guess he'll be headed to Placerville, CA pretty quick, unfortunately. 

MISS PENNY PACKER IS SO BRAVE

No explanation needed, I hope....!!!  Spent a lot of my childhood watching Roy Rogers and Trigger, catch the bad guys.....!!!

This morning when we were doctoring I decided it was time to work with Penny on picking up her feet.  Although at first she was a fear kicker, she's really been good lately, no kicking.  Of course we haven't ask anything of her except to try to stand still, when I need to wrap her legs. 

Mark Myers from Peaceful Valley Donkey Rescue, the largest donkey rescue in the U.S. has recently put some "how to" videos on You-Tube.  One of the first ones he put up was how to pick up hooves on a reluctant donkey.  After watching it a couple of times I decided to try it with Penny.  It isn't anything dramatic, just put a rope below the fetlock and get them to raise the foot off the ground without having a hissy fit.  

Penny isn't a fan of halters and ropes, so we had to put her into the "redneck" squeeze to put a halter on her.  Then we tied her up short, and John stayed in position to feed animal crackers as needed.  She didn't seem to mind being tied all that much, which was a surprise as evasive as she is about ropes and such. 

The more I work with her the more I am sure her front legs have been roped.  I started with a front foot.  When I pulled up on the rope, she almost collapsed on the ground, I think she would have hit the ground, except I was in the way and she was leaning on me.  Back legs no problem, in fact she even let me pick them up by hand, not using the rope.  Other front leg, same scenario, almost collapse.  I did manage to get each one up for a second or two. 

The best thing out of the whole experience is, she never offered to kick at all.  Hopefully if we keep working with her we can get her desensitized enough that Courtney can trim her feet.  Because of her hunch back I guess, her rear feet grow pretty weird.  

We have a routine I guess.  In the morning when they go out of their pens, they head for the Burroland gate to wait as long as necessary.  They see John coming and they start milling around, trying to get the best position to get in there as soon as possible.  John opens the gate, and they disappear.  They are much easier to round up in the afternoon, although we still have to go over to get them, rather than they coming over on their own, which is how it's suppose to work.  John rings the bell before he goes over to find them, with the idea that they will hear it and come on over.  So far that hasn't happened. 

DONKEYS ON THE MOVE.........

PICTURE DOWNLOADED FROM MARK MYER'S TWITTER PAGE

Saturday morning, Deming, New Mexico, Mark headed back to Texas with 2 trailers full of donkeys from the rescue at Hacienda de los Milagros. 

WE DID IT..........!!!!!!!!!

Check out Morning Bray Farm's wonderful blog.  Thousands of people across the world gathered together with a goal to stop the donkey roping in Van Horn, Texas this week-end.  They sent e-mails, called & in general used all resources to stop this from happening.

According to the city, the roping has been cancelled.  The battle has been won, but the war goes on against this horrible use of donkeys.  Mark Myers at Peaceful Valley Donkey Rescue has offered to take the donkeys, but so far no word on if that will happen or not.  If they don't go into sanctuary, it's a good bet that they will stay in the donkey roping "circle" until they are used up.  

We should celebrate winning the battle. So if you could, after reading Justina's blog, send a big thank you to the good people of Van Horn.  Believe me, they got plenty of harsh judgemental messages in the last week.  We need to let them know we appreciate them taking the high road & doing the right thing.

This morning when I let Mocha & Tucker out, Boaz was waiting for her & she thought Boaz might be the answer to her "prayers".  She displayed, Boaz tried to make the "parts" work like they use to before gelding, which of course they don't, thank goodness.  All the time Tucker is braying & getting in the way.  Mocha peed, Boaz peed & here comes little Tucker, I don't think he had a clue, but he did his little bit for the cause.  Then he jumped on Mocha, fell off & started nursing.  "WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE"?  He's rather confused on his place in the world right now I guess..........  (G)

Won't matter after March 30th, he has a date with the vet.  We'll haul him & Mocha in for his "brain surgery", I hope it goes well.  I cringe every time one of them has to be gelded, it's such a barbaric surgery.  And he's such a little baby.  But it will be a lot easier on him at this age.

Recently Mark Myers at Peaceful Valley Donkey Rescue gelded 200 in 3 days. The Vet students from Texas A&M come to his Miles, Texas sanctuary when he has a big group to geld & learn their trade in the field with the teachers overseeing the operation.  I wonder if all 200 survived?  With that many the law of averages comes into play, especially with inexperienced students doing the work.  I hope it was a good experience for all involved.  

Heading out in the morning to pick up Gus & Quilla.  We'll feed in the morning, Lisa will let them out once she gets the pens cleaned up, & Vic & Lora will feed at the regular time in the afternoon.  Their pens are waiting for them, & we'll feed them when we get home.