AND THE BEAT GOES ON........ (WHY WE'RE NEVER BORED....!! )

NIGEL LOOKING FORWARD TO STEAK..!!  THANKS, LINDA

Have you ever wondered when the merry-go-round was going to stop?  I've given up on that, might as well enjoy the ride I guess..........LOL

Miss PennyPacker is doing good, still in her pen until tomorrow after breakfast and her last penicillin shot.  She is such a pain to catch and work with, that we've left a halter on her.  There is no way I would let her out in the brush with a halter on, so she's had to stay in the pen.  Talk about a cranky girl.  During the day she has the run of all the pens on that side.  If she sees anyone out, she immediately runs to whichever pen is closest to the humans and starts pleading her case to get out.  

But she is eating well and seems to be healed from her dental appointment, John, Lynn and I will be almost as glad as she is when the shots, twice a day is over.  Actually she doesn't mind the shots, it was the banamine by mouth that caused her to have a hissy fit.

Lynn is strong enough to stay with her and hang onto the halter, until we can get a lead on her.  She hasn't had to have banamine for a couple of days, so it's been going better.  She'll let us walk up to her, pet her and usually get hold of the halter.  She'll even let you stand by her holding the halter without much fuss as long as you don't try to lead her or try to take charge, before someone shows up with a lead.

We were putting her in the redneck squeeze, but the last couple of times, she's let me give her the shot with Lynn holding her with the halter and lead.  The squeeze was absolutely vital when we were putting something in her mouth, for our safety.

Remember Casper the little hellion with attitude that is being fostered by our neighbors, because they have a fence like this rather than barbed wire?  Although he doesn't seem to care for other equine, he does like to visit thru the fence. Linda got this picture of Leddy and her 3 dogs checking up on the latest neighborhood gossip, I guess. 

Lynn has cleared out another ATV/Golf Cart path over here on the 10 acres, it even has a roundy-rounder, so you can go 3 different directions if you follow the circle.  We always enjoyed in Europe and the Middle East, having less traffic lights, with the circles the traffic kept moving.  Of course in the Middle East the traffic lights would have just been a suggestion for most of the people anyway.........LOL  They did really good in the traffic circles though, it was amazing. 

We've been trying to find a little ATV,  just my size, but so far Craigslist hasn't had it.  And I'm too cheap to buy a new one.........LOL  I want to get out and try out Lynn's trails.  It should be much easier to find wayward fly masks and polo wraps with the trails and an ATV.  Even if the missing items aren't in the path, the ATV will make me a little higher, so I can see farther.  Just got to find an ATV, before fly season.

Fly season must just be around the corner.  My 1st shipment of fly predators should be here Friday, poor little guys.  The days are nice and sunny, but the nights are still getting cold.  I guess they will burrow down in the poo pile, otherwise they'll be rather short lived, I'm afraid.

Now as to why we are never bored...........   Linda found out that Tombstone is having a St. Patrick's Day parade as a salute to the military and it's free to participate.  She's been looking for races or something to get Leddy out in public, and even though this isn't a race, I'm sure it will give him lots to look at..........!!!

Well you can't just take one donkey, so we decided to also take Justin, since he's been in "training" for racing.  Then we decided to also take BlackJack, since he's an old hand at this impressing people with how neat donkeys are.  So now how do we decorate them?  Linda's good at ideas, I'm mostly the nod my head in agreement type, artistic I'm not.

A friend of Linda's is coming over tomorrow to see about sewing blankets for Leddy and BJ.  Leddy will be 1st in line, and his blanket will probably have a rainbow and a pot of gold on it.  Then Justin will be following him, dressed as a leprechaun.  Well you can't just have one leprechaun, so Pepsi has been added to the party.  So 2 little leprechauns will be following the pot of gold.  BlackJack will be following with a St. Patrick's themed blanket, with Forever Home Donkey Rescue on it.  At least that's the plan at this time, we'll see what the seamstress comes up with.

A good friend of Lynn and Linda's is coming down from Colorado for a few days and was suppose to get here on the 19th of March.  The parade is on the 18th, so now he is going to come in early.  He's an older man and wants to participate in the fun, so now there will be a golf cart all gussied up, leading the donkey rescue part of the parade.  So now we've got to figure out how to decorate the golf cart.  Thanks goodness we have 2 golf carts, otherwise we'd have to decorate the cart after chores that morning, and I'm sure we'll have enough to do without that.

The last couple of days Cisco has been limping on his right front.  Hoof is a little warm, doesn't bother him to poke and prod it.  His legs are so arthritic, that was my first thought, but doesn't look like it.  Could be an abscess I guess, just have to watch him.

This is one of my favorite pictures of Cisco, from a few years ago.  He still loves to eat cactus at certain times of the year.  We can tell when he's been "snacking" when we put our hands on his face.........OUCH.......!!

LOTS OF PROJECTS GOING ON RIGHT NOW

 Justin in training and everyone else coming along for the adventure

Very little gets done around here without "help".  They remind me of cats, anything going on or anything new on the property, gets their full attention, until they ALL check it out. 

LYNN IS TRYING TO WORK ON HIS QUAD AND PEPSI IS "HELPING", WHICH OF COURSE MAKES THE PROJECT TAKE MUCH LONGER, THAN IT WOULD "WITHOUT" HIS "HELP".  

We've all learned to work around our helpers, otherwise we'd never get anything done.  This morning Lynn was digging a trench in the pens on the west side.  We've used hoses ran along side the pens for years to fill the water buckets.  Last year Lynn, ran water to each pen on the east side, so this year he's completing the job on the west side.  

He said Pepsi checked out the trench, jumped over it, which is not something they all would do.  I guess you never know when a snake or some type of monster might be in that trench and jump up to grab a donkey......!!!   Lynn said when Pepsi got thru checking everything out, he peed in the trench.  We're trying to figure out just exactly what that means.........LOL

Some friends of Lynn and Linda came out a couple of times on their way to Florida.  They had a lot of fun with the donkeys and as usual the donkeys did their best to be entertaining.  BlackJack is always available for letting kids sit on him for pictures.  He was raised with a little boy and probably would let kids ride on him, but we've never let anyone try.  

Years ago a church got in touch with us, for a donkey to use in a Christmas play.  They wanted Mary to ride in on a donkey.  I told them we'd get back with them and we started trying to figure out who would be the best candidate.  We decided on Cisco, I got on his back, he took 2 steps and locked up big time.  I don't think anyone had ever been on his back in his life and he wasn't interested in learning to be ridden, so no one went to the Christmas show unfortunately.  

  

We're not exactly sure what Cheyenne was trying to do to Ted, but he was a good sport about it.....!!!  

Lynn has made a 7/10's of a mile trail over on Burroland that is wide enough for a golf cart or his quad.  It's really going to be neat, especially when looking for donkeys, fly masks or leggings.  We can drive around and see much more than stumbling thru the mesquite like we've always done before.  

He's taken everyone for rides and it's pretty exciting, in some areas, the mesquite are "real" close, so you better be paying attention....!!!  His best time is 1.46 minutes, which is an average of 17mph.  That might not sound very fast, but believe me, things zip past pretty quick on a lot of the trail and some of the turns are pretty tight.  

So now I'm in the market for a small quad so I can be lazy and ride instead of walking or stumbling over rocks and dead limbs the donkeys have pulled off the trees.  We found one on Craigslist in Tucson, but it was too big.  Years ago John bought me a Big Bear, and big was right, my little legs could just barely reach the pegs and it wasn't very comfortable for me to wrestle.  Hopefully we can find one that's my size.....!!! 

Linda took all the pictures this time, except for the quad picture, which was about 10 years ago.  We traded it for a retired U-haul car trailer, that we use to take my Hornets to the track.  Hope the people that traded got as much use out of it, as we have out of the trailer.  It was a couple and she was quite a bit taller and heavier than I am, so she probably didn't have a problem with it.  

It's starting to warm up at night, so we're probably going into spring, although it will be awhile before the mesquite trees bud.  That's when spring starts according to the old timers.  

We've also got a crew putting a new roof on the garage, and carport.  The shingles don't hold up well out here in the desert sun, so we've decided to put on a metal roof.  Metal roofs are really good in the desert and we don't want to have to do it again in a few years, although the shingles lasted about 25 years, so I guess we really shouldn't complain too much.........!! 

THERE'S A PLACE IN THE WORLD FOR DECEPTION.......

After getting chewed out by my vet about "no animals have ever refused to eat the Neoplasene" I'm giving it another go, although my heart isn't in it.  I asked her if she had ever tasted it and she hasn't....!!!  Aha, could be why she has no qualms about ordering it..........LOL  

So the last few days I have been chumming little Pepsi with a mixture of oats and pellets, believe me he thinks his ship has finally come in.  I added a little molasses last night and his body language said, "bring it on" as he dove into it.  Usually the minis get about a 1/4 cup or less of timothy hay pellets mixed with a large spoon of soaked beet pulp and Lakin Lite a local bermuda/alfalfa hay pellet.  So he's getting a 1/4 cup of oats, 1/4 cup senior, 1/2 cup of timothy pellets and a spoon of mush.  This morning I added about a tablespoon of molasses WITH a tiny dab of the offending product and he ate it........!!!  As tiny as that dab was I could have ate it, if I didn't hate molasses.......LOL  So I will up the ante until I get to 1cc of the nasty stuff twice a day or he refuses to accept anymore at a lesser amount.  The place below his eye never broke open or became a wound, which is a sign of no cancer cells, so we'll just do what we can and hope for the best.  

Had a good night at the races last night, finished 3rd in the heat race and won the main event.  It's always a good night when you win.  Thankfully the car suffered no major damage, John's just going to wash it on the trailer and it will be ready for battle again tonight.  They have a big 2 night show for the modifieds and "allow" us to participate.  These back to back nights are very tiring for old people.......!!! LOL

. 

They had the drivers bring candy for the kids that were dressed up for Halloween.  Our grandson and his wife brought Kyler out after he hit his neighbor's up for candy.  

They didn't have Hunter for Halloween, he's with his Mother in Phoenix, so I don't know what he had for a costume.   Kyler's lion outfit was really cute and he seemed to have plenty of candy by the time he got to Grandma's car and candy.......!!

NOT SO GOOD NEWS FOR PEPSI

Who knew tarantulas start out little, never saw one this small.  

John almost ran over this little girl, (she has spinners on her butt, makes her a girl) with the hay cart in the hay barn.  But he saw her before it got messy.  Poor little thing is already missing a front leg and I don't think they regenerate if they are missing.  John's company he does jeep tours for, has a tarantula and a snake they take out for "show and tell" with the clients.  The tarantula has had a broken leg before and they fixed it with super glue.  Since spiders have an external skeleton, the super glue will give the leg structure until she sheds.  But this little one doesn't have a leg to fix.  John put her in the back of the hay barn and when he checked on her she had buried herself in the hay.  

I got a call from the vet clinic Monday and was told Pepsi's tumor is a sarcoma rather than a sarcoid.  So we took him in yesterday and Dr. Nancy shot chemo directly into the incision.  We also were sent home with Neoplasene, which I wasn't familiar with.  Also a wound balm I'm suppose to use, after the injected chemo sloughs off the cancer cells that might be left.  Dr. Nancy said if the tissue doesn't slough off, then she got it all.  But the lab report said the edges weren't clean.  

I will be giving Pepsi the Neoplasene by mouth, twice a day for 3 months.  I have always tasted anything I am going to stick in their mouth.  Let me say one thing, a lot of the oral medicines that need to be given, do not taste good............this one is no exception.  I have tasted Baytril, and Metronidazole and a few others that rated high on the "yuck" scale.  I do think this one has them all beat.  I can't even begin to describe it, I also haven't figured out something to kill the taste........SIGH...it's going to be a long winter, I'm afraid.  Last night I tried Dr. Nancy's suggestion, honey, well actually I used molasses, stronger flavor between 2 small graham crackers.  Pepsi wasn't impressed and it was very messy.  

This morning I tried peanut butter and powdered sugar, which isn't as messy.  He readily took the cookie, but didn't eat it with relish,  I'm hoping it will grow on him.  

I know their taste buds are different than ours, otherwise they couldn't enjoy orange rinds as much as they do.  But this stuff is really going to be a hard sell I'm afraid.  Wish me luck.......!!!

UPDATE:  John went on a tour today and asked his nephew Bob about the spider leg.  Bob does a lot of the tours and is the company's "go to" guy.  Anyway he's quite a spider expert.  He said she will be able to grow back a leg.  The next molt will grow a small leg and the molt after that the leg should be almost the same size as the other ones.  

PEPSI HAD SURGERY

 Pepsi contemplating whether it's worth it to come into the courtyard of the house..!

  

Not what he had planned for the day.  When we took him and Rosie to the vet Tuesday, I must say, for a little guy he can be a real handful.  Nine months in a home that let him get away with whatever, has turned him into a real brat.  I thought we were going to have to rope him, which would have been a whole lot of adventure I'm sure.  But John managed to get a lead rope around his neck and I got a halter on his squirmy little head.  Next problem trailer loading...........jeeesh!  He just wasn't going to make any of it easy.

Rosie was reluctant but not as much trouble as the little guy.  Got to the vet decided to check Rosie's belly spots in the trailer.  No sense in asking for problems, Nancy knows our animals are not always polite and cooperative..........LOL  Nancy thinks it might be a worm like neck worms i.e. thread worms, since I've spent the entire summer, clearing it up and it coming back.  So she will get wormed weekly until cold weather and I'll continue doctoring the 3 areas on her belly.  I told them when we went in I didn't want to hear any remarks about her weight.............LOL  She's lost about 60 pounds, needs to lose another 100 probably.  But the mesquite bean season set us back on her "diet".  She is unhappy with the amount of food John gives her and has eaten the door off the well house.  This morning when John went out she had the hinge and a little bit of the attached wood in her mouth, chewing on it.........!!! 

 I wish I had a camera when John took Pepsi out of the trailer to go into...........the big cave that eats little donkeys, or as we refer to it, the large animal part of her clinic.  Actually a video would have been better.  He jumped out of the trailer, looked around and locked all 4 legs, in the "NOPE" position.  It took 4 people, John and a vet tech pulling on the lead, Nancy pushing and shoving along with a guy in to have his 4 alpacas looked at.  Poor Pepsi, I couldn't even get in there to help, he was surrounded by a sea of people, and his little hooves were digging  channels in the dirt, as they literally dragged him about 30 feet.  I'll say one thing he never changed his mind...............LOL

Needless to say his cooperative thoughts were not working, but a happy shot took care of that.  My diagnosis was wrong, it wasn't an encapsulated eye lash, it was a little tumor about the size of a large pea.  Sent it off to see if it is cancer, if so, we'll have to take him back to have chemo shot into the area, in case she missed any cells.  It was loose and didn't have irregular edges, so hopefully it will be OK and if we're lucky it won't be cancer......!!  

Of course there were stitches, seven of them that have to be removed in 10 days.  And in the meantime we have to put salve on the area twice a day.  This means we have to catch the little monster twice a day to put on the salve.  So far he isn't giving up, we have to get a halter on him, put him in the Redneck Squeeze, snub his head to the corral pipe and hope for the best.  You would think he would give up, but so far shows no inkling to do so............. SIGH....!!!  I will remove the stitches, which should really be entertaining, unless he makes up his mind that we are actually not hurting him and that we are going to accomplish the task, with or without his cooperation.  Wish me luck.......!!!!

The race track added us to the 2 day program this week-end at the last minute.  It's going to be non-point races both nights, so I told John we wouldn't go.  But he wants to at least go Friday night.  Our son is racing at the asphalt track Saturday night, so we'll go there, since my races aren't point races.  I tried to talk John into driving my car Friday night, but he said he won't drive it.  I don't know why, if he wrecks it, he has to fix it..........LOL

Hunter and Kyler came to visit today

The great grandkids came out to visit yesterday.  Seems like donkey poo was quite a hit.  You can't say we don't go all out to entertain them........!!! LOL 

This is a perfect place for little boys to get dirty and Kyler and Hunter did their best.  Our grandson e-mailed that they were both asleep before they got out to the mailboxes, when they left for Tucson.  I'd turn them loose and go find them later, but you know how parents can be.........LOL  I'm sure when they get a little older I can loosen up the parents to let the kids get hurt and dirty.  

Anubis is back to normal, we kept her on the courtyard for 3 days and she was ready to go back to her pen.  She has always had spaying incontinence which is one reason she could never be an indoor dog.  Nicki couldn't be an indoor dog, just because he's Nicki, talk about a bull in the China Shop.....!!!  The vet gave her a prescription for a hormone pill to see if it would keep her from dribbling.  She's been on it for a few days and there is definite improvement, hopefully it will cut down on my bed washing duties and I'm sure she'd be more comfortable.  

I won my race Saturday night.  This is starting to be a lot of fun........!!! LOL  I do have to quit running into other cars with my "back" bumper though..........!!!  This is the 2nd race night in a row, that someone has tried to remove my poor little bumper.  I don't take it personal, but John is starting to complain.  He gets tired of putting it back on and of course the more it has to be worked with, the less he has to work with. 

We are taking Rosie and Pepsi in to the vet tomorrow morning.  Pepsi has a growth below his eye, my "WAG" is........ an encapsulated eye lash.  Buddy had one of those a few years ago, and it looks about the same.  But we'll see what the expert thinks.  

Rosie has been fighting 3 areas on her belly almost all summer.  They are open and bloody.  I will doctor them, really doesn't seem to matter what I use and they will heal up nicely.  I will stop doctoring and a few days later they will be drippy and oozy, doctor again, heal again, and so it goes. 

Everyone still has their fly masks on.  A few days ago I think maybe we could start trying to take them off.  But on 2nd thought I think the flies are building up for their last ditch effort at being obnoxious.  My neat little stable fly trap is doing a rousing business.  I ran out of the special bait, so put some raw meat scraps in the dish and haven't noticed any difference in the amount of flies getting trapped.  I wish there was some way to kill them every day.  It's not getting warm enough now to basically "cook" them, so they just gather in the top day after day and eventually die.  Liquid nitrogen comes to mind, but I don't have any of that laying around.  Couldn't use sprays, because then it wouldn't draw the flies in if it smelled wrong.  ANY IDEAS..........?????

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.  

MY NEW BEST FRIEND........!!!

Well, maybe not my best friend, but I've been watching her build a magnificent web, and catching snacks for her larder for the last couple of weeks.  She's on the courtyard, where I soak Cisco's hay every morning and night, so we have a lot of contact.  She doesn't even move when I'm in the area.  One morning I came out after a low of 41 degrees and she was hanging on the web, like above.  I touched her and she didn't move, so I was afraid she had gotten too cold.  But later in the morning after she had a chance to warm up, she was running all over the place.  I haven't seen her early in the morning again, so assume, she got caught out that night and is making sure it doesn't happen again.  

I think everyone is enjoying the cooler weather, less flies, less doctoring.......although the donkeys are still wearing their fly masks and need them.  Less flies doesn't mean, NO flies unfortunately.

This morning while I was languishing in bed and putting some thought into getting up, I heard a large bird run into one of the bedroom windows.  We've actually had less bird strikes this year than we usually have, which is good.  Large birds are REALLY loud when they hit.  I got up to look and right below the window was sitting a Sharp-Shin hawk.  As soon as he saw me he move away but stayed on the ground, so I assumed he had hit the window, which is unusual.  Birds of prey rarely strike the windows.  I stood real still, but he still knew I was watching him, so I moved to another window to sneak a peek.  He went back right underneath the window with purpose, picked up a dove, which was what had hit.  A Sharp-Shin is a small hawk, not much bigger than a dove, and he had a hard time getting off the ground, but he finally made it.  We've had hawks learn to fly birds into the windows, makes hunting a lot simpler for them, I'm sure.  One time John's sister was complaining about the prey birds hanging around where she fed the birds.  John's nephew told her "well it is a bird feeder you know".........she was not amused.............LOL

Had a lady come out to visit with Pancho and Pepsi.  She has a rescue heart, already has a "family" of them from what she said, including a blind weanling horse.  He was born with cataracts, has been checked, and there is nothing that can be done to give him even minimal sight.  She really liked the boys, but on second thought, decided her plate is pretty full, she also works.  I appreciate her putting thought into making a long term decision and deciding not to adopt.  Pancho has been in 2 homes in a little over 2 years, for no reason except people changing their minds, basically........no commitment to making it work. 

GOING TO THE MOVIES?

Well John and BlackJack aren't exactly going to the movies, they are going to be in a movie, tomorrow morning starting at 7am...........!!!  Why can't they start at a decent hour, like after chores are finished, chores are much more fun if two are doing them and only half the work.........!!!  LOL

BJ is the only one of us that has had experience packing, but it's been a long time, at least 15 years.  The pack saddle is not that old, but the straps are dried out.  There is nothing more frustrating than trying to work with leather straps that have the flexibility of a piece of metal.  John soaked them in water for 2 or 3 days and then slathered on as much Lexol as he could.  But it hasn't made much difference.  Of course all the straps needed to be adjusted since the last time it was used on obviously a larger animal.  

When I say he's the only one with experience, that is really important information.  Some of you know John was never around large animals until we got BlackJack.  He still has creative ways of putting on halters sometimes... and we won't even talk about tying a quick release knot.........!!!!  I had horses as a girl, BUT, that has been a LONG time ago.  My experience was with riding saddles, not even sure I ever saw a pack saddle up close. 

But the show must go on.  We put the saddle on BJ last week, but without all the "stuff" that hangs on it, like shovel, ditty bag, you know all those things miners use.............or at least to give the perception of things miners use. 

I wouldn't say BJ was the most patient victim, but then again it took us forever to get the straps adjusted and all the other donkeys were out doing donkey stuff and he knew it.  

I really surprised myself....I still remembered how to tie the cinch straps.  I would imagine most saddles now have buckles.  John was impressed, so was I............BJ.........not so much, I'm sure.  

Hopefully they will only be needed tomorrow, one movie that John, BJ, Cisco and Buddy Brat were in was only suppose to be one day, ended up 4 days of mostly standing around waiting and waiting some more.  

We were told it was going to be a Western, Zombie, Comedy............I don't even know what that is, although I said something to JR our grandson and his wife and they both laughed and seemed familiar with the concept.  I didn't even ask if they watch them, don't want to know.  But the latest we heard it's going to be a heavy rock video.......!!  I don't know anymore about that than the other, I'm afraid......!!!  LOL

Have a woman coming out to visit with Pepsi and Pancho next week, keep your fingers crossed.  Also had someone else interested in them, but they have 80 acres which would be a lot of acres for 2 little miniatures or in Pancho's case almost mini.  So I'm going to see if they might be interested in Ruthie, Wister and Ruger.  Eighty acres for 3 donkeys would be like donkey heaven, they wouldn't even need to be fed except for something to have them come in once or twice a day and check in.  The people have a large stable for their horses and some boarders, that all stay in stalls and paddocks, so all that land is going to waste from my point of view..........LOL

Doctoring is getting almost boring............YIPPEE....!!!  No leg wraps on anyone, the flies are respecting the Swat or Thuja zinc oxide. 

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. 

PANCHO AND PEPSI ARE BACK

 Pancho is a large mini or small standard and Pepsi is a pretty small mini

I got a call from Judy Saturday asking if we would take Pancho back.  Originally these people had taken Ruger and Pancho and after about a year, called to see if they could trade Ruger for another donkey.  Ruger had discovered dry dog food on the porch and was going thru their fence to get out and they weren't willing to improve it.  They came out and decided little Pepsi might be OK, so we traded Ruger for Pepsi.  

This time it took less than a year before Pancho started getting out and going over to the neighbor's.  Judy said she thinks he enjoyed the walk back home and the treats he got along the way.  Probably so.  They said they'd keep Pepsi, but I told them we would have to take them both back, because we never leave a donkey in a one donkey home and they agreed.  

They actually loaded pretty good considering there wasn't a small pen to corral them and it seems they have been allowed to get away with evasive behavior.............as in "I don't think I want you putting that halter on me"............LOL  But it wasn't too bad and once they figured out the "jig" was up, they pretty much gave up.  

They are in really good shape, not fat like everyone else on our property.  I'd like to find another home for them as soon as possible.  Unfortunately almost all my calls lately have been people looking for home for their donkeys, or people wanting one donkey as a horse companion, which we don't do, unless it's a donkey that has already been a horse companion and is confused about who they want as a buddy.  We've had 3 over the years that preferred horses. 

I raced Saturday night............!!!  Won my heat race, but the main event was a little rough.  Actually it was a whole lot rough.....!!!  LOL

On the 2nd lap there was a wreck in front of me and I had to stop on the track or plow thru it, which would have been really rude.  Because I stopped, I got plowed into which ruined the trailing arm on the left rear. 

This is the trailing arm, I might add trailing arms are usually straight.  John and some others had to take it off, just to get the car up on the trailer, because the wheel wouldn't go around.  I drove the rest of the race with the wheel and accompanying flat tire not rotating at all.  

Because I stopped on the track to avoid hurting or killing someone, they put me in the back on the restart.  I had worked my way back up to 7th, when something happened on the back straight away, haven't seen the video yet, so don't really have a clue.  I just know it was messy and my car ended up on fire.  The firemen got all excited, because I wasn't getting out quick enough.  I was afraid they were going to reach thru the window opening and drag me out, so I really tried to hurry, I really did. They have to realize I don't move as quick as some of those kids do......!!! LOL  Raised the hood gave it a couple of squirts with the extinguisher, and it was ready for the wrecker to haul it back to the pits. 

John hasn't had a chance to look it over, but so far besides the trailing arm, and tire, the radiator is u-shaped, which wiped out the 2 cooling fans for the radiator.  The fire was electrical, so it will have to be rewired, just don't know how extensive yet.  

As soon as John can get the front cut off, we'll drag it into our son to rebuild the front. 

 The white blob in the back window opening is actually the rear bumper cover.  I'm not sure when it got lost don't know if someone picked it up or if it was dragging.  When you are in one of these "adventures" you don't have a real good idea of what really happened, until you see the video.  The people that used to put videos on you-tube  aren't at the dirt track anymore, so I'll have to wait until Video Bob sends me a copy later in the week to figure it out.

ROSIE GOT A PEDICURE

Yesterday afternoon we had 2 couples show up for a tour.  It seems recently this has been happening more often.  We like to know when people are coming, that way we have some sort of control over where the donkeys are.  But if we aren't expecting anyone, the donkeys are usually out roaming around.  If they are on the 10 acres it isn't too difficult to find them, they usually find us since they know the pleasures of having visitors, even if treats aren't involved.  If they are in their pens we give the people cups of pellets to feed them.  But there would be too many opportunities for someone to get hurt if food was involved when they are out,  up close and personal.  They do enjoy all the petting and attention though.  Yesterday John had to ring the bell, most of them were over in Burroland.  I think the people got to see most of them anyway.  Actually I think the people enjoy being "in amongst them", more than seeing them in pens, but if given the choice we prefer the donkeys be in their pens. 

Courtney made it out yesterday afternoon about chore time.  She said she was late because of doing too much talking along the way.  I didn't notice she was late, she usually gets here about chore time.....!!! LOL  

John and I have been working on Rosie lifting her feet.  When she and Gigi came in of course Gigi's feet were beyond horrible, Rosie's were just horrible.  Gigi was of course the priority and she has done very well with her elongated shoe arrangement Tyler put on her.  But it was time to see what we could do with Rosie.  I asked Courtney if she wanted to try.  It was up to her, as we always have Tyler in the "wings" for these adventuresome situations, bless his heart.  He can bring a couple of strong boys with him, Courtney is by herself except for 2 old people that should have better sense.  She said we'd try it, so we put Rosie in the redneck squeeze, got a halter on her, tied her up short, put a rope around a front foot, lifted and ....................... Courtney went to work........!!!!!

Courtney didn't use the power tools there was a limit to what we wanted to throw at Rosie.  But she actually did really well.  No big hissy fit, no drama queen thrashing around and no biting.  The biting was important, the other day we had quite a "discussion" about lunging with mouth open, headed for "MY" arm, when she didn't appreciate me trying to lift her foot with a rope.  I didn't appreciate it and it took 5 or 6 "discussions" to get her to understand it wasn't going to happen.  Thanks goodness she didn't try it on John, he'll stand there flat footed and wonder what happened.  Obviously he's never been bitten badly by an equine.....!!! LOL  If so, he'd be much more alert.  

She didn't mind her foot being lifted with a rope, but Courtney tried to just go in and lift her foot with her hand...........Nope.......not going to happen.  Put the rope around and that's just fine.......!!!  It is so much fun to watch their minds work.

I had not looked at the bottom of her feet, Courtney said the hoof wall had collapsed and it was across the bottom of her feet.  Quilla's feet were like that when he came in.  I guess collapsing like that doesn't cause long term problems, she is walking just fine this morning. 

I took this picture of Boaz's knee yesterday.  That little map of Vietnam in the middle is why we are taking him into the vet later this month for evaluation and probable debriding again.  It is healing, but seems to have reached a level and isn't moving any further.  I have really been impressed with the Source One products.  When we took Pepsi down to his new home, Judy gave me some of the balm and powder, to see if it would help on Boaz's chronic knee wound.  I'm beginning to think the middle is proud flesh, which has been a problem and the Source One is keeping it at bay, but hasn't been able to get rid of it.  So maybe with a little help from the vet we can get this healed. 

SUNDAY MIGHT BE AN ADVENTURE

The couple that has Ruger and Pancho came out yesterday afternoon to see if they could find a replacement for Ruger.  I don't think the man is that enthralled with donkeys, but his wife seems to really like them.  She wants to keep Pancho and decided that little Pepsi might be a good fit. 

 

This is Pepsi looking into the courtyard trying to figure out if it's worth getting yelled at, to go into the "forbidden" territory.  

He's been here for about 6 years, he came in with Shag a beautiful little bay mini horse.  They were both overweight and 11 days after they got here, Shag broke a rear leg above the hock and had to be euthanized.  He had been born with a club foot and a weak rear leg, which is the one that broke.  He was having too much fun running around I guess.  

I think Pepsi and Pancho will get along very well, they are both pretty laid back and not demanding.  Very unlike Ruger probably has become.  It sounds like he's pretty well done what he wanted to do for the last year.  I thought they'd been gone for 2 years, but they went out the 3rd of Dec 2012.  We've taken back others from similar circumstances and it's like starting all over again, they don't really think you should be in charge, after so long of doing their own thing.  

The problem Sunday will be, if he hasn't had a halter on, he's not going to be the least bit interested in having one on.  I have called the people and asked that they put a halter on him, so we'll see if that happens.  They don't have a little pen available, so whatever we can do to not get him riled up will be a help.  I've walked them down before but I think the area he is in is about 3 or 4 acres, I'm getting too old for this..........!!!!!   LOL

Doug is up for another adventure after going out to visit Mike and Teresa the other day, I guess he said he will go along to help.  

Woke up to a drizzley rain this morning, and it drizzled off and on all morning.  So far we've had more drizzle than rain, but in the desert we'll take what we can get.  I hope by Sunday it clears up.  

This is what Ruger looked like when he left, I'm anxious to see what he looks like now.  Wister is more of a roan, even though they are full brothers.  Ruger better not think he should be in charge, because Boaz who is his daddy will put him in his place, real quick. 

WISTER IS GETTING IRRITATING.....!!

BACK WHEN WISTER WAS CUTE AND NOT DRIVEN TO BE OBNOXIOUS....!!! 

Not just for us humans but for a lot of the donkeys.  He has developed a taste for fly masks, doesn't seem to care who's as long as he can get hold of it and pull it off......!!!  Over the last few days we've lost count of the masks out there.  John found 3 this morning and there is at least 3 more out there......somewhere.  Wister does know enough to leave Boaz alone I guess, at least so far.  Justin and Pepsi the minis seem to be his favorites, probably because they are smaller than he is and easier to de-mask.......!!!

Yesterday morning when John was out looking for fly masks, I saw him hot footing it back to the house.  I went out to see what the hurry was and he said we had a problem.  It seems Friday afternoon or evening the UPS truck came by and left a package.  Nothing wrong with that, except the driver, rather than putting the 43 pound box of supplements from HorseTech.com in the chest, put by the gate, specifically for that purpose, decided in his infinite wisdom to put the 43 pound box, BESIDE the chest.  

The reason for the chest is years ago, a friend use to send us about 40 pounds of home grown potatoes from Pennsylvania annually.  One year we didn't find the potatoes sitting by the gate before the donkeys did.  I can't say they liked potatoes, but they certainly spent a lot of time looking for something better in the box.  The box was torn up, eaten and there were potatoes strung everywhere. 

So we got this brilliant idea to put a chest out there big enough to hold just about anything.  We even put a label on it UPS/FEDEX, not very complicated and rather self explanatory.  At least we thought so.  

Thank goodness supplements even peppermint flavored are rather concentrated and must not taste too good, although they ripped the box and the bag they didn't really get into the supplements very much.  

As soon as I got back to the house, I e-mailed UPS my thoughts on the problem.  I also told them not to send that person out here again.  

This is not my first run in with UPS drivers.  Years ago, the drivers would open the gate drive in, drop their package the try to get back out before the donkeys found the open gate.  This is why they leave packages at the gate, they aren't allowed on the property.  I realize they are on a time schedule, but if they had to help round up donkeys, it would pretty much ruin their schedule.  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.  

I was hoping our new banner would show up better & you can't hardly see little Buddy Brat peeking around the right side of the banner.  I would imagine he was looking for more people to come by to pet & feed him timothy pellets.  It didn't take him & Pepsi very long to figure out the "drill", people come by, gush & make over them, do some petting, feed some pellets, maybe do some more petting.  Pepsi even ended up with lipstick on his nose......!!!!  

He also turn into a "attention" monster.   He decided that all the attention should be his, & let Buddy know this was HIS show & Buddy could stand over there & be quiet.  Of course we let Pepsi know that his behavior was unacceptable & made sure Buddy got his share of attention.

This morning was crisis management as usual, when we have to haul donkeys someplace early.  Lysa was coming to clean pens this morning, but we needed to feed before we left.  We finally decided that we'd load the boys, & John haul them to the Rummage Sale, while I fed.  I followed later in the van.

Let me say that donkeys have a way of ruining the "best laid plans of mice & men".  Buddy went in the trailer like a veteran.  Pepsi hasn't been in a trailer for almost 6 years, & decided he wasn't going.  We figured he's a mini, how much trouble can he be?  Quite a bit, actually.......!!!!!  We found out you can get 3 legs off the ground & still not get him in the trailer.  We also found out that he is a kicker under the right circumstances, & this seemed to be them.  He doesn't just kick once, he kicks like a machine gun.  Good Grief............!!!!  We finally got the front feet in the trailer, I looped a rope around one hind foot, & managed to get it on the trailer floor more or less.  Then John literally dragged him into the trailer by 2 ropes, one on either side of the trailer.  The one leg on the ground he wasn't willing to lift, until the last instant & it got scraped up a little.  

When he got there, John said he hopped out of the trailer, walked like a little trooper to the pen, John opened it, & "NOPE, not going in there".  John said 2 guys saw the problem, came over & literally picked him up & threw him in the pen.  I asked if John told them he might kicked, said he didn't have a chance, Pepsi was already in the pen.   Thank goodness he isn't a mammoth..........LOL

We wondered how it would go when we got ready to come home.  Just about like it went in the morning, until 2 women & a man helped.  They even knew what they were doing, so it went pretty good.  John said when he got them home & opened the back of the trailer, there was no problem with them getting out, guess there's "no place like home"............!!!!  

We're taking Cisco to an equine dentist tomorrow.  He's been acting a little off lately & eating real slow.  I checked his mouth & didn't find anything, but I'd like someone that knows what they're doing look.  Yesterday afternoon I noticed a bunch of flies, around one of his ears.  I got a flashlight & looked inside........YUCK!  He had a big raw strip about an inch wide that is about 5 inches long.  At the bottom of it is a place that was gooey & slimy.  I've never seen anything like that.  So far I've sprayed the inside of his ear 3 times with Vetericyn.  The difference is amazing, the gooey spot is dry & the red raw strip is scabbed over.  Thank goodness he is very docile, spraying liquid into their ears usually isn't a real big hit.  He lets us know he isn't thrilled, but at least he doesn't try to hurt us..........!!! 

GLAD I'M NOT A FLY WITH LOTS OF EYES......!!!

JEFF, BRIANNA, ZEKE, TERESA & MIKE IN TOMBSTONE

The first eye went so well, they are doing the other one next Thursday........!!!!!  Seems rather quick, but I can't get new glasses until they are both done & healed.  So the sooner the better I guess.  Just wish it was later in the day, or we lived closer to Tucson........... Or they did house calls.  That's not going to happen, they have their cataract surgery down to a well ran assembly line.  And they still manage to make you feel like you're the only one they are interested in.  At least until you go into the twilight zone, after that who knows what happened.......LOL

Tomorrow morning we are taking either the 4 little minis, or Buddy Brat & Pepsi down to Sierra Vista for the Care for the Horses Rummage Sale.  Ann has been having this for a few years & it has become quite a happening, they usually do really well not only with donated items, but make money to continue their good work.  We've taken donkeys down before, for the people to pet if they want.  I think last time it was BlackJack & Chester.

Speaking of BlackJack we are going to bring him & Boaz home Monday.  Karla called & said the weeds are pretty much gone, so the boys have done their job & it's time to come home.  They might be disappointed when they get here, the donkeys that weren't picked for weed control, have made sure no weeds survived here, so there isn't much to browse on.  

Still working on Jenny's foot with the proud flesh, & it seems to be doing pretty good.  Proud flesh can grow into a monster almost overnight, but can take a long time to control & get rid of.  

Last night I used a rag to clean off some of the stuff the Equaide had destroyed.  One rather large piece about the size of  a half dollar, (if anyone remembers what they looked like) came loose real easy..............and started bleeding all down the front of her foot.  At least it wasn't a sprayer, but it didn't want to quit.  Equaide is great stuff, BUT, it doesn't stop bleeding like Wonder Dust.  Sigh......!!!  So for a couple of days I guess we'll use plan B, Wonder Dust.  Hopefully if I don't mess with it for awhile it will stop being such a problem.

I've been putting off having Courtney come out because Jenny's foot is compromised right now & her other feet seem to be doing OK, in boots.  The other one she comes out for is Gus.  For the last 2 or 3 weeks, he has been walking pretty normal & willing to walk fast, chases John down for treats when it's time to go in the pens.  It seems like usually he gets ouchy after a trim, so I've been putting it off.  But, I'm sure if his feet get a little too much growth, he'll slow down & not be as comfortable.