YUCK.......!!!

Well it has rained almost constantly for 2 days and no end in sight.  I keep telling myself we need the rain having been in drought conditions for 10 years more or less.  

The donkeys are wet and grumpy, not hungry, although I would think they would be, to try to keep warm.  I think they blame us for the weather.  Believe me I'm not anymore thrilled about it than they are.  I do know not to try to touch them, wet donkeys are not happy when touched.

I'm glad Pepper is not having to contend with the weather, it would be almost impossible to keep him dry and comfortable, and he would still try to follow his usual routine.  Judging from what my "bones" feel like, he would be miserable I'm afraid.  Maybe things do happen for a reason, who knows?  

We were suppose to go out to the pavement track this afternoon to practice, but that isn't going to happen.  A little bit of moisture on pavement and you are going to go someplace you don't want to be, doing something you don't want to do, like survive a spin, hopefully without hitting anything.  Or there is always the dreaded wall, to squash against.  That can really tear up your car, so you REALLY don't want to do that......!!!  

In the pits last week-end

The 1st race of the season called the Chilly Willy runs next week-end.  I will be in the Phoenix area, so won't make the show.  But they are having a couple more practices this week, I will get to one of those, to get a little more practice.  Our next race won't be until the 28th of Feb, and they have quite a few practices between now and then.  I will try to make all of them, I need all the experience I can get.  I don't want to go out there and be a nuisance and I'm sure the drivers that know what they are doing, don't want that either.....!!! LOL 

MY WORLD IS A LITTLE BIT SADDER WITH PEPPER GONE.........!!

 2005

Last night at bedtime he was down in his pen with just John and I to try to get him up. We tried pulling him up with the halter and John helping his back end, but weren't accomplishing much.  John went to get the tractor so we could move him on a 4x8 piece of plywood dragging behind the tractor.  Went to all that trouble and I guess he decided no ride for him.  He managed to flop around and get on his feet.  We had to steady him for awhile until he got his legs organized.  We encouraged him to go down into the wash with animal crackers, which was fine with him.  The ground was so much softer in the wash and was a good place for him to lay down or just stand.  So what does he do..........follows us back up the side of the wash, thought we should have some more animal crackers, which of course we did. 

This morning he was in his pen waiting for breakfast, I of course made sure he had extras and many more Fruit Loops than he normally got with his pergolide.  We were trying to watch for when he got done eating, but he managed to lay down before we could stop him.  We  wanted to get him out of the pen, where it would be easier for John to use the tractor to move him, but as usual, Pepper did his own thing. 

Dr. Nancy and Tanya got here on time and for the most part it was an easy transition.  She had to find the vein thru his old tough hide and he got tired of being poked and fussed a little, wouldn't have expected anything else from him.  He never was one to "go along to get along".

2010

 Pepper came here in 1997 or 1998.  He had been a family roping donkey.  I think that means they didn't dally the rope when they roped him.  You can see thru the years he got much greyer.  He actually was black in his hey day according to the owner.  

We have no idea how old he was, but he was here 16-17 years and was with that family till the kids were grown.  On tours we usually told the people he was on the wrong side of 35, which was probably pretty close.  

If determination and enjoying life counted for anything he would have lived forever.  But between the cracked hip, blown knee and 2 feet that were a jumbled mess inside, not to mention Cushings disease, even though the ears were up (never saw them any other way) and the eyes bright as diamonds, it was time to let him rest. 

I hope he is running on strong legs as he was many years ago, with those ears up and finding all the mesquite beans he can hold.  We always said, he could always hear a bean pod hit the ground at 100 yards.  They are all special, but some are just really special.  

  2013

THE APPOINTMENT HAS BEEN MADE........!!!

Yesterday morning Pepper laid down and thru out the day tried a few times to get up but couldn't make it.  Around 2pm we tried to help him up, but weren't making any progress.  Amy and her son came to clean pens and with their help he finally made it to his feet.  Of course he was stiff from laying down so long, so really looked pathetic.  But immediately started mugging us for cookies.  We were feeding early to go watch the races at the dirt track, so went ahead fed and took off.   As we were leaving we noticed he was out of his pen walking around in the wash.  Amy said after we left, he laid down in the wash and managed to get up without help.  That's a very small step forward at this stage unfortunately.  His front feet are cold, which I assume means the circulation isn't good.  Between his bad hip and 2 bad front feet, he's just about out of options.   

This is how he looks this morning eating prickly pear cactus, you will notice his stance, looks very uncomfortable, although it doesn't stop him from roaming around.  To him, it seems to be a minor problem in his day to day ritual, he presses on with his business as best he can, with the ears up and the eyes bright.  

Not being able to get up is about the final straw in this journey.  Granted, Amy said he got up in the wash, which is very soft small gravel.  So many of these old guys realize when they can no longer get up, and will try to stay on their feet, which of course means they don't get their heavy REM sleep.  Just adds another level of being uncomfortable to their lives.  

The  vet will be here Friday at noon, to help him on his final journey.  Can't tell you how much we will miss him.

BUSY DAYS...........!!!

Two of our alumni Hanna and Remington that are in their forever home in the Sacramento, CA area

The last couple of weeks we have had workers here working on the outside of the house.  Our house is rammed earth, 2 foot thick walls, made from the same adobe, that adobe blocks are made from.  The earth walls are then stuccoed and painted.  

Adobe is known for developing cracks and in our case we had used paint, which has a stretchy quality.  Unfortunately if any water gets behind it, you end up with a bubble or at worse a large area that breaks down.  So between the cracks and the other issues, it was time to get it back in shape.  

A friend in Tucson had some remodelling on her house recently and recommended the crew.  I must say, she wasn't wrong.  They were quick, efficient and did an outstanding job.  The house looks great and I really like the flagstone in the courtyard that I commented on earlier.  Unfortunately the cracks will probably come back, they usually do.  One of the pleasures of having an adobe house. 

Yesterday I took Anubis the dog into Tucson for a vet appointment.  The last couple of days she had been lethargic and not able to eat.  She acted like something was wrong in her mouth.  I got the dogs some pigs feet that had been cooked someway to make them really crunchy.  I thought they would last a few days, but after a couple of hours they were gone.  I thought maybe she had a piece of her treat in her gums or something.  Nicki and Anubis both are very energetic when it comes to chewing on bones. 

They did x-rays of her neck and the vet thinks she might have some stenosis, narrowing of the spinal column in her neck.  The radiologist will read the x-rays tomorrow and let us know.  We came home with prednisone and Tramadol for inflammation and pain.  She is doing better, really enjoys the ham the pills are hiding in.  They sent home Greenie Pill Pockets and she made a judgement call on those.  Not sure what the problem is, but the hickory smell doesn't do anything for me.  I'm also giving her some pumpkin to counter act the constipating qualities of prednisone.  She's had a problem with that before, don't care to go thru it again.  

We are taking one day at a time with Pepper.  It looks like his other front foot is collapsing.  He's still getting around although each day seems to be a little more difficult. He's spending more time laying down, but still gobbling his mush and interested in going out of his pen, if only to lay in the wash or in the sandy area beside the feed room.  The ears are still up and he's still involved in what's going on around him.  I'm not sure we're doing him any favor, but his eyes are bright,  he mugs us for cookies and tries to run us down if we aren't forthcoming with said cookies.  I hate to play God, it's not so difficult when there is no question it's time.  Years ago we went out in the morning and Snowy an elderly frail white mule was down and bleeding from thrashing a long time during the night trying to get up.  The vet was here within the hour.  It wasn't an easy call, but if we had gotten her up, which was questionable, it would have just been a matter of time.  Pepper's foot seems to be growing out straighter above the dished area on the bottom half.  I keep hoping he will improve as that grows out and as the weather gets warmer.  But if in the meantime he loses his "spark", we'll have to let him go. 

I AM WORRIED ABOUT PEPPER

Pepper laid down on his left (good) side after breakfast and has not been able to get up as of this afternoon.  He's sat up on his chest a couple of times, and did some paddling with his feet, but hasn't been able to get up.  

John is gone to Tucson, Amy is coming out later to clean pens and maybe we can get him up.  But, I'm not sure getting him up will do any good long term.  If he can't get up on his own after laying down, it might be time to let him go.  I hate the thought.  Today is Saturday, no local vet available, so that gives us until Monday to see how it goes.  If he doesn't get up on his own, or if we do manage to get him up and he goes down again, I'm afraid it's time.

UPDATE:  I have been checking on him, about every 30 minutes and the last time I went out he was up, getting a drink.  Looked at me like, "what is your problem" and started mugging me for cookies.  I didn't have any on me, but rushed into the feed room to get a hand full.  The last I saw he was making his way out of the pens at a rather slow pace.  His right front foot is really nasty looking.  I would imagine the inside has collapsed.  New hoof that is growing out from above looks like it might be a little less saggy, if we can keep him going until the indented hoof below grows out.  YIPPEE, at least for another day.......!!!!  

UPDATE:  He only stayed up about half and hour and has been laying down every since in the soft sand where they all like to lay.  I am very worried about him.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

PEPPER HAVING A "SNACK"

Not my choice of snack, but he's spent most of the morning since we let him out, abusing this poor prickly pear.  I don't know how they do it or why, but it seems to be important at certain times of the year.  Not sure what vitamins or minerals are in prickly pear.  They don't bother the barrels or the cholla at all.  In the spring and fall they will come in with greasewood i.e. creosote bush breath too.  According to the vets I've talked to, they won't eat greasewood........guess this bunch didn't get the message.......LOL 

GIGI

Gigi has been struggling since Tyler took the shoe off her right front foot.   I checked her foot a couple of days ago, it's not hot, started at her shoulder and felt all the way down to her foot.  Didn't find anyplace that was ouchy, so I don't know what's going on.  I've got a call in for Tyler, but haven't heard back so far.  She's laying down like she did when she first came here.  Hopefully she isn't getting an abscess.  I can't imagine trying to soak her foot, although she did let me lift her foot to make sure she didn't have something caught in the bottom.  Of course that was after John put her in the "redneck" squeeze, she just will not allow us to do anything with her out of the squeeze.

This year for Thanksgiving we went to some friend's house and had a great time.  Unfortunately when you go out  for  the holiday there isn't any leftovers, which John is always ready to tell me about.  SIGH......!!!  I promised him that I would fix him a holiday dinner sometime between  Thanksgiving and Christmas.   Well I looked up and discovered Christmas is coming pretty quick.  So today is the day I make good on my promise.  I cheated by cooking a turkey breast and getting John  2 drumsticks, since he loves the drumsticks and sandwiches.  And I'm cooking all the other stuff that goes with it, dressing, potatoes, gravy, waldorf salad, and of course pie.  Was going to do pumpkin pie, one of his favorites, but my frozen pie crust looked like a road map with all the cracks.  You can use a cracked, put together crust with a pudding filling, not with pumpkin.  I learned years ago the crust will float to the top, which makes for an interesting visual.  So it's one of my favorites, chocolate........!!!  LOL

Needless to say for 2 people there's going to be a lot of leftovers, I've never been able to cook, just a little bit of all that stuff, so John should be thrilled for the next few days......!!!!

Our cold, high humidity weather lately has been hard on old Pepper.  His knees are really bad, but it doesn't stop him from wandering all over the place, I just hate to see him gimping around.  I put a cover on his worst knee a couple of days ago, and it seems to be helping.  

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

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

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

 This is how her feet look today

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

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

ON PEPPER WATCH..........AGAIN....!!!

I know he doesn't do it on purpose, but it seems like a lot of our time is spent worrying about the old buzzard. 

He's been laying down more often lately, usually on his good side, thank goodness.  He's also developed a dry cough, and since I'm the type of person that looks, "for the zebra, rather than the horse" my 1st thought was lung worms.  We've never had lung worms that I know of but donkeys are known for being carriers.  A lot of horse owners don't want donkeys around for that reason. Ivermectin takes care of lung worms and I'm giving him antibiotics, Tucoprim, just in case it's something else. 

A couple of days ago he was laying down when it was time to come in for feeding.  When he got up he could barely walk on his right front, which is the one with a bad knee.  I picked the foot up to make sure there wasn't something else going on and noticed his sole is lower than the sidewall.  It looks like it's going to slough off, but with him it's hard to tell.  He has a lot of rotation and the hoof grows crazy, not to mention we don't know for sure exactly where the end of  his coffin bone is.    Courtney has kept him going a lot longer than we ever thought possible. 

I gathered up some foam, vet wrap and duct tape to make a boot for him.  I have Soft Rides, but hesitant to put them on him for a couple of reasons.  One is, because of his gnarly feet, not sure they would stay on and number 2......... although they are fairly light weight, not sure he could walk with the extra pound or so.  By the next morning he was walking a little better and has continued to improve, so hopefully we bit the bullet..........again. 

Yesterday morning John noticed Cisco rubbing his ear.  He had icky problems in his ears all summer, off and on.  I had quit watching him since it got cooler, but sure enough he had some type of slimy, gooey, smelly YUCK in there.  Animax i.e. Panalog is what the vet usually uses for ear problems, but I can't remember what she used to clean it out and I'm a little cautious about putting stuff in an ear.  Thanks goodness he has "donkey" ears, and I have small hands.  I rooted around with a rag to get rid of most of the yuckies and then squirted in the Animax.  That bad thing is I got the stuff on my hand and could smell it all afternoon.  Hopefully I can get it cleared up, otherwise we'll have to take him to the vet and do a culture I guess. 

Everyone else seems to be doing good.   I hesitate to say Rosie is losing weight, but she does look less fat.  As fat as she was, less fat is a good thing.............LOL  Tyler will be coming out Monday to check on Gigi's foot with the shoe.  She is walking very good, almost without any limp at all although her shoulders are still deformed because of walking oddly for 11 years.  We will have had them a year in January and hopefully one of these days Tyler will be able to take the shoe off and leave it off. 

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 

SICK DOG

PICTURE TAKEN A FEW YEARS AGO FOR AN ARTICLE IN GRIT MAGAZINE.  THANKS SUE HANSEN AND OF COURSE DAISY AND BIG GUS IN THE BACKGROUND

Anubis. had been acting funny for a few days and over the week-end was very lethargic.  We took her into the vet Monday and she has a swollen lymph node behind her jaw, although a blood work-up was pretty much down the middle except for a slightly elevated calcium number, which could be a sign of a tumor somewhere.  They took x-rays and one reason for her bloated look is she was full of.......well let's say she hasn't pottied lately.  So the decision was to run 3 liters of IV fluid thru her over the next couple of days and see if that made things progress along.  They ran an IV, sent us home with 2 bags and instructions.  You might know the port wouldn't work for us, so we took her back yesterday morning and it wouldn't work for them either.  Pulled it, and decided to just run the fluid under her skin, like they do with little puppies and kittens.  So that's what we did and it worked out just fine.  She is a very mellow dog and just laid on her bed on the courtyard the whole time.  We have her on the courtyard so we can see if she eats, drinks, poos, and pees.  So far she's eating, drinking, and peeing............still no pooing.  We're taking her in today for further evaluation and to decide what PLAN B will be.  The x-rays showed no tumors or anything out of the ordinary, but with her colon so full, there could be something in there hiding.  It's amazing she is still eating, you'd think her system would say, "don't send anything else down here".  

Pepper got down in his favorite "bed" in the wash yesterday afternoon.  Amy and Morgan were here cleaning pens and heard a lot of grunting.  Checked on him and sure enough he was on his right side.  I was going to get the ropes, but they said they could flip him just using his legs and they did.  That's probably much easier on him, but John and I need the leverage of the ropes and having some distance from his hooves if he thrashes.  Must be nice to be younger and stronger..............!!! LOL  Amy is like me, she likes the old guys, so Pepper is one of her favorites.  Actually she adopted Big Gus in the picture above about 5 years ago, and a few years later Rambo i.e. Bo, so she has 2 of our alumni.  She still thinks Gus is fun and entertaining, not everyone would keep that thought after being around him for awhile.  He is highly intelligent, very curious, and needs to be entertained, which is a dangerous combination........!!! LOL  When he was here, which he was twice, John use to come in with the latest Gus story and say, "I'll be glad when he's gone".  But when he was gone, John would come in and say, "you know I really miss Gus". 

I've about decided to not actively look for a new home for Pepsi.  When he was here before he was pretty attached to Lynn one of the other minis.  When he came back he hooked up with Lynn again and Pancho isn't as important these days.  Lynn, Cheyenne and Justin actually belong to Courtney our trimmer.  She brought them to us almost 7 years ago for weight control and once the weight was gone, well they just kinda "hung" out here.  If she ever takes them back, she might end up with 4 instead of 3...........!!!!! 

Hey, just had an update on Anubis, John came in and said she had been in my tomato vines on the courtyard.  I guess she finally had to go, and wasn't willing to go in the tiles, so the tomatoes were the next best thing.  That's OK, they weren't doing very good anyway.  I don't think she put out as much as I saw on the x-rays, but at least it's progress in the right direction.  

LOOKS LIKE AUTUMN IS FINALLY GETTING HERE

How do I judge that?  That lack of stable flies in my fly trap.  For some reason those particular flies seem to have a season.  I don't know if they need the protein for reproduction or what, but that would be my WAG if I was guessing.  With the reduction of stable flies, I'm starting to remove leg coverings and using Swat or Thuja Zinc Oxide instead.  I think we're all looking to the day when the fly masks get washed and put away and no more doctoring.  Not there yet, though.  

This time of year we have plants that have seed pods we've always called stick tights, probably because they travel around by sticking tight to anything they come in contact with.  We have at least 3 types and each one seems to have their own time to be a nuisance.  Obviously there is something tasty where this type grows, it might be the plant itself, I don't know.  Reba has had her nose buried in them for quite sometime, judging from the vast number of the little monsters on her mask.  The fuzzy material obviously is a great gatherer.  They have to be picked off..........one.....at a time..........SIGH!

This is one of the new masks Michele brought out to see how they will work.  The material is really slick and hopefully not as "friendly" to the stick tights.  So far, so good, she comes in with a few, but nothing like with the other mask.  The mask had ear covers, but I had to cut them off.  Reba has more ear than a horse would.........LOL  Besides she's not a fan of having her ears messed with, I would imagine at some time in her life her ears have been used to control her. Love the design..........thanks Michele.

Have a woman interested in coming out to visit with Pancho and Pepsi.  She recently lost a donkey she had for 15 years and said not only does her family miss him, but the neighbors too.  Keep your fingers crossed.  Right now Ruthie, Ruger and Wister are out on weed control duty, but the way our weeds are drying up, it probably won't be long until they come home.  So if we find a home for the 2 boys, we won't have to put up another pen, right now the pens are full. 

Pancho and Pepsi, dropped right in the herd, like they had never left.  Pepsi actually moved in with the other 3 minis.  They were a herd for years and he remembers.  Pancho hangs with them sometimes, although he also hangs out with some of the jennies.

Speaking of jennies, this morning Pepper was up on Penny trying to figure out what he was doing up there.  How the old buzzard can even get up there is amazing.  I asked John how he got down, we're always afraid he's going to fall and break something.  John said he just sort of slid down and his legs held him up.  He's in a good time right now, eating good, moving good for him, laying down on his left side, so he can get up.  He is such an interesting study, lately he's been coming in almost every time with the "A" team.  That's the fast movers with Tula in the lead.  It's a loose knit group, always Tula, Frijolita, Daisy and usually at least one of the boys, BlackJack, Boaz or Quilla.  It's amazing that Pepper can keep up, he's usually in a rear, but he hangs in there. 

RATTLESNAKE BITE?

A few days ago, I noticed Boaz had a "wound" right below his naked knee of scar tissue.  It didn't look like a cut or anything normal, so my first thought was snakebite.  We've had 3 bitten in the past, one a little lower on Sha'ba's leg years ago.  It didn't even swell, probably was a dry bite, because of the close proximity of the canon bone to the skin and very little tissue in between. 

About 4 years ago Quilla got bitten on his muzzle and we almost lost him.  After 2 weeks we had to take him to the vet clinic up in Gilbert because he was crashing and beginning to founder.  Usually on large animals, their bodies will process the venom, although a lot of time they have to have support treatment, lots of IV's, etc.  In Quilla's case, they did a sonogram of his innerds and discovered he had fatty liver disease.  The liver couldn't process the venom.  He's fine now and the weight loss was good for him.

A few weeks after Quilla, we noticed a bloody blob hanging from underneath Daisy's jaw.  I didn't even call the vet that time, she never acted like it bothered her, kept eating, so I just treated it with a penicillin wash and it healed up nicely.  The first few days I was afraid it would break thru into her mouth, but thank goodness it didn't.

Daisy's jaw

Boaz's wound, was gooey and odd looking like the flesh was dissolving, so I put Animax on it and kept it wrapped.  I did call the vet Wednesday but she wasn't going to be available until Monday.  So I guess I saved myself a vet bill, because this morning it was well on it's way to healing.  

I don't remember what time of year Sha'ba's bite was, but the other 3 have been this time of year.  I think the snakes are moving around trying to get fat for hibernation and maybe get caught out more than they usually would. 

Pepper is getting down more and more, but he is still Mr. Perky, wants to go out, although his legs don't work too well.  If his mind was in charge he'd have no problem, but the body won't allow that.  I know most people wait too long in these situations, I know I have.  That will be a terrible appointment to make, I'm preparing John, large animals just can't function if the legs won't hold them up.  So far he is only going down when he tries to lay down in a dusting area.  If we find him where he has fallen, then it will be time for sure.  Hopefully it won't be on a holiday or week-end. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

EVERYONE WILL STAY IN TODAY

MAKES YOU WANT TO SMILE, DOESN'T IT? 

We're going racing tonight, and to speed up round-up we have decided to leave them in for the day rather than fight the fight.  Needless to say we are NOT going to be very popular.

Last night when John went to let them out at bedtime, he came in and said Pepper was down in his pen and unresponsive, although he was breathing.  By the time I got my shoes on, rounded up a flashlight and got out there, he was standing up, rather shaky on his front legs.  I'm afraid his body is going to give out before his brain, his legs are so wore out.  Usually 3 of the fatties get the run of 7 pens, so we moved him to one of the end pens, once he would move, so they could have the other 6.  I think he was probably in REM sleep, because except for shaky legs, he was his usual obnoxious self. 

John checked on him this morning and he was standing by the gate, swinging his head around, which means he isn't happy, all that green stuff and beans out there and we've ruined his schedule...!!! LOL  He was walking a little better too.  He might be putting too much mileage on those legs, searching for the best goodies.  Last night I had to go all the way to the north fence of Burroland with a halter to get him.  It took us forever to walk across 20 acres.  For one thing you must go on the trails he prefers, or you "ain't" going.  Since we don't know which trails are preferred, it's rather hit and miss.  If you try to go on the wrong trail, you end up with 4 hooves dug in, until you make the right decision.  Sometimes you can throw the lead across his back and he will show you, but he was pretty slow last night and not willing to move without encouragement, ie animal crackers.

The track hasn't decided if we will race tomorrow or not, they are having a 2 day event and added us tonight just a few days ago.  I would imagine they will take a vote at the driver's meeting about tomorrow.  My vote would be no........these 2 day events just about kill both of us and it really messes up the donkeys schedule.  Of course they would prefer there was no schedule or pen time at all........ just greens and beans..........LOL   It hasn't rained for a couple of days and the weatherman isn't predicting rain until a 10% chance late next week.  By that time the greens should be shriveling up and not be quite as tasty.  John noticed a couple of days ago, they are ignoring the beans that have been on the ground for awhile and are turning brown/black, which would be really good, if they won't eat them.   

MORE OF THE SAME

 Courtney made it out last night and was amazed at how much hoof wall everybody had grown, in this monsoon.  And frog, lots of frog, some were as much as 1/2 inch longer than the hoof itself.  So this morning I'm dealing with sad looks and "my feet hurt" looks.  

It's been awhile since Pepper got down on his right side, but this morning he was down in the wash and had been for quite sometime.  

Unfortunately there was a pretty good size limb right above him and I was afraid he wouldn't be able to get up with it there.  So John cut it off, had to take it off in pieces because of the weight.  Didn't want it to fall on Pepper's head.  

 This is Pepper after he got up trying to figure out if there are any beans close enough for him to get to them.  He checked out the limb and you can see in the foreground where he laid long enough to dig a hole with his head and legs.  The hole he digs if he's been down for awhile makes it difficult to flip him over.  He got trimmed last night.  By the time Courtney got to him it was dark, she works with a headlamp.  She came in his pen, petted him, picked up a foot and said, "is this Pepper?"  He has put on so much weight this bean season she didn't recognize him until she looked at his foot.  He is looking really good for him, unfortunately everyone else is putting on weight too.  Frijolita is really plumping up nicely, it will probably take all winter to get the weight off all of them, and then we can do it again next bean season.............SIGH

 

Here is a picture of Miss Reba the mule, with one of the masks Michele fixed.  She wanted to try the dangles to see how they worked.  They seem to be working just fine and one good thing about the mules, they don't lose their masks.  

It looks like we'll be racing Sat and Sun this Labor Day week-end.  Weren't suppose to, but the track put out the word to see if the Hornet drivers were interested.  Most of them are, I'm not really, putting us on the program with less than a week of warning is a little much.  Besides one of our driver's that has to work both days can't come, and she's in 4th place.  She suggested having non-point races, which would be fine, then I wouldn't have to go.............BUT..........I don't trust the track not to change their minds about having points once the drivers get there and start complaining because there aren't any points.  I'd hate to not show up and then find out later they decided to make them points races. 

PEPPER IS GOING TO BE THE DEATH OF US........!!!

At evening feeding time yesterday Pepper, the old codger, choked.  Not that unusual for him, the mush was probably a little bit dry.  I noticed his respiration was high, and he was kicking with a hind leg, which is unusual for him.  

I tried my usual choke fixes and it seemed to clear, but he was still breathing fast and acting uncomfortable.  Finally he laid down for awhile and wiggled and squirmed while down there.   I gave him some banamine and Equine Colic Relief USA, which I've used more than once and really seems to help with gas colic.  Mesquite beans certainly could cause gas colic and I was hoping that was what he had.   He did feel a little warm, so I took his temperature.  When I "inserted" the thermometer I got a very loud, long equine "blessing", so I assume the colic stuff had done it's job........  I ordered 3 more bottles this morning to have on hand.  Can't say I'm too thrilled with a blessing of mesquite bean aroma at that close a range though............LOL

Before we got done with chores, Pepper was up and picking at his mush.  When John went out to let them out at bedtime, he was banging on the gate to get out.  So out he went, our theory is, we'd either find him in the pen, which he hates, or find him on the 10 acres.  

When John got up this morning he went to find Pepper, found him under a tree, ears up and eating for all he was worth..........!!!!   Bit the bullet again, old buzzard.......!!! 

Courtney was suppose to come yesterday afternoon to trim and Pepper is one that has to be trimmed on a regular basis.  He isn't easy to do anyway, because of his legs, it's very difficult for him to stand on 3 legs, Courtney usually ends up almost holding him up on her back.  She got hung up and is coming this afternoon instead, so hopefully he'll be able to stand for her.  I watched him walking this morning, when John had to go with a halter to get him out of the trees.  He reminds me of a puppet with strings, being worked by someone that doesn't know what they are doing, the legs go every which way.  But it doesn't stop him from going out to see what's out there.......!!!  

I raced Saturday night, won my heat race and was ready for a good night.  About half way thru the main event, when I was running 2nd to the guy that is in 1st for end of the year points, the car started acting up.  It would run good in the straight away, and almost die in the corners.  Needless to say I didn't stay in 2nd very long, talk about frustrating........!!!!  These times are one reason why I don't run a Go-pro camera in my car, they have audio.........!!!  LOL  Managed to squeek out a 6th place finish, they moved me up to 5th because the guy in 5th didn't go to tech after the race.  But he like most of the "grown" men running in the Hornet class whine and squalled and they put him back in his position.  After the races I went to talk to the race director, who actually is a good friend and he agreed he shouldn't have been put back, and said he would change it..........  starting to need a score card to keep track...........I told him no, just leave it like that, BUT, this makes a total of 15 points I've lost in 3 different calls by officials this year.  Getting into 1st place by the end of the year is getting farther and farther away, I'm afraid.  For one thing the guy in 1st, NEVER has a bad night, he doesn't always win, but he's almost always in the top 3, unlike me, I have highs and lows, it's seems.........!!!

Talked to 2 guys that know foreign cars and they both said fuel pick-up, either the fuel pump or a lack of gas for some reason.  The main reason for a lack of gas if the fuel pump is OK, is not enough gas in the fuel tank.....!  We don't like to have too much gas in the cars because of the weight, but we do like to have enough to finish a race.  John has been putting in a couple of gallons at a time, but can't remember for sure when the last time was..........!!!  Needless to say he is really hoping the fuel pump went bad.........!!! LOL

PENNY'S DOING GOOD....!!

 I hope she knows what's she's doing.....!!

After a couple of uncomfortable days, she is pretty much back to eating her mush.  Well she would be except the mesquite beans, are now ripe and falling.  Everyone seems to think they are actually vacuum cleaners disguised as donkeys and Penny really seems to enjoy the beans.  I just hope we don't have a lot of wind anytime soon, to blow all the beans down at once, or they won't even bother to come in I'm afraid. 

It's taking John longer and longer to round everyone up at feeding time.  And of course Mr. Pepper is so slow even if he starts over from Burroland at a decent time, it takes him forever to get here.  Plus the fact he usually lays down in the big wash to rest before making the final push to get to his pen.