110* DEGREES THIS WEEK-END...!!

PANCHO AND I THINK SELENA.....DOUG NEEDS TO UPDATE HIS CAMERA DATE....lol

I sure am glad I'm not racing this week-end, it is suppose to be a scorcher....!!!  They say (which I always take with a grain of salt) that our El Nino this year will be very strong for the first time in 10 years or more.  If so it should be a good year for lots of rain.  

When I race I have to sit in staging before my race for as long as it takes for the race before mine to get finished.  When it's hot it is really hot in the car, with a fire suit and helmet on, even if the race ahead of mine is efficient.  Our good friend Larry will be racing, hopefully once the sun goes down it will cool off quick.  If it's humid it won't.......!!!

The donkeys are all doing pretty good, I can't get over how little doctoring I'm having to do, so far this year.  I only have about 5 that I have to doctor every day, and even then, no bloody sores and bandages like in the past.  Just places I have to keep covered with thuja zinc oxide.  I finished the 3 treatment, 2 weeks apart on the three I suspect might have neck worms.  Rosie is the worst one, she has 4 places on her belly that have to be doctored all summer every year.  I'm sorry to say her belly is still icky, but I don't think it's as bad as it has been in the past, so maybe the extra worming is helping.  

I finally broke down and bought cordless clippers.  So many times I run across mats or something that needs to be trimmed and it's not worth dragging out the "industrial" strength massive heavy duty clippers.  I usually just grab a pair of scissors and whack away.  On the long haired ones, like BlackJack he ends up looking rather moth eaten.  I've put it off, most clippers are for dogs or if they advertise for horses, they say for bridal paths, whiskers and fetlocks.  In other words probably not up to getting thru, sweaty matted donkey hair.  I went on e-bay and picked out 5 or 6 for John to read about and decide which one to try.  Of course he picked the most expensive one.  I don't know if he actually read up on each one, or just figured the more it costs the better it will work.  LOL  Anyway when the clippers get here, my first victim will be BJ.  The little bit of Poitou background he has makes his hair long and very fine, so of course it mats easily, especially in his armpits.  I really hate to go under there, with a pair of scissors, it's too easy to gather up skin.  He's really very good to work with and even forgives easily as long as there are cookies to be had, but I hate to hurt them if it isn't necessary.  

Salena and Falena have settled in really well.  It was almost like they remembered the routine.  Unfortunately right now we have no routine.  The beans are going into full ripen and fall mode and getting them to come in and eat hay and mush is a battle.  They are only getting about 3 or 4 hours access to Burroland each day, which they seem to think is unacceptable.  They get out about 1-2pm and are expected to show up for feeding around 5pm.  NOT HAPPENING..............!!!  John has to go over there 4 or 5 times and find a few at a time.  I've tried to show him how to do it effectively.......LOL  I go over with a riding crop, find Tula, start swinging the crop, jumping around like a mad woman, screaming at the top of my lungs.  She and all the ones with her, know it's time to go to the pens, and they take off at a rapid rate.  Along the way the others usually catch up, so I end up with the whole herd, running like their lives depend on it.  It's up to John and Doug to get them in the pens, because I've usually shot my wad on finding Tula and doing my "I'm going to kill you" dance, and end up slowly following them.  If I have to go find them, they better get moving.  John will find them and tell them to go.  So they go, but at their chosen speed.........maybe.  If we have to get involved in making them do, what they know they should do, from my point of view, it shouldn't be on their terms, they need to "fear" for their lives...........LOL

PENNY WAS BETTER THIS MORNING........!!!!

 CUTIE PILE...!!!

Not by choice, I'm afraid.  John set up the corral panel squeeze, he acted as the Judas goat & she followed him in, well actually she was following the animal cracker he was offering. 

We did her face, that went well.  The front legs were just almost more than she could stand.  She almost fell on the ground she was so afraid.  My WAG (Wild Ass Guess) is she has been used for roping & they roped her front legs.  Perhaps the missing hair on her legs isn't all from stable fly damage after all.  We did a lot of touching the legs, moving down 1/2 an inch & offering a cookie.  She finally almost accepted it, to the point that I could put some Thuja Zinc Oxide on her bare legs.  She tried kicking with the hind legs a couple of times, which got her yelled at & no cookie.  Finally was time for the hind legs, not anything I was looking forward to.  

She has absolutely no problem with you touching her hind legs, she doesn't even flinch.  That's why I think the front legs have been roped, guess they never roped the rears.  Wonder if her back being hunched could be from being flipped.  I would hope not, but I guess it is possible. 

Now that may all change tomorrow, we'll see.  She seems willing to meet us half way, especially if we don't run out of cookies....!!!

I have a big problem with a couple of rock squirrels & my tomato "farm" of 4 plants on the courtyard.  They have discovered this new food source & this morning John showed me where they had hauled off 2 green tomatoes & left them outside their hole under a Christmas cactus.  Later on in the morning the tomatoes were gone, guess the little thief needed a snack.  GRRRRRR......!!!  I'm really not willing to share the bounty, although I'm not quite sure what to do about the problem.  I've hung strips of pink plastic on the trellis to flop in the breeze.  Since we found the tomatoes by his hole this morning, I would imagine the wiggly pink strips aren't much of a deterrent.  Oh! well there is a family down in St. David that have a truck farm, guess I can buy tomatoes if I have to.....!!! LOL

This is how Boaz's knee looked this morning.  It's really looking much better, thanks to Kris' idea of using Silver Nitrate I think.  I have found out she was right about making sure you don't get it on anything you don't want stained.  The first couple of days I was SOoooo careful with the syringe, making sure it didn't drip.  

You should see the counter in the feed room now, not to mention my hands.  Between the cast that is getting rather grubby looking, & all the staining from the Silver Nitrate, I'm afraid to touch anything edible. 

The tissue on his knee is much thinner.  It still thicker than a "normal" knee, but it really is looking good.  

I also have been trying another remedy for a yearly problem we have with stable flies making bloody sores on Quilla & Gus' lower legs.  Quilla has no hair on his legs below the knee on one side where the flies have eaten all the hair & destroyed the hair follicles, so the hair doesn't grow back.  The flies love it, & of course it sunburns.  

I've tried sun screen, thuja zinc oxide, putting on different types of coverings that keep the sun off & in general anything that sounded like it might work. Most of them do the job, but are messy, or in the case of coverings end up missing & I've already discussed my lack of sewing abilities.  

Somewhere I heard about using WD-40 to cover areas like they have.  Figured it wouldn't hurt to try, so every morning for the last couple of weeks, I hit them with a "spritz" of WD-40 & rub it around with a gauze pad to cover all the bare area.  So far..................no flies or sun damage.....!!! Whoo, whoo......!!!  The flies are out in force, I just took down 5 full fly traps last night, & replaced them with new ones.  So the flies are out there, John says we'll see how it goes, when the monsoon season & humidity gets here.  So far though, it's the quickest & easiest fix............!!!  Quick & easy is my middle name.........!!!! LOL

OBTW

I took this picture of Rusty the mule when we brought him home from the vet this afternoon. 

Like I said yesterday, if he didn't perk up I was calling the vet this morning.  They said bring him in, so off we went.  Boy they were busy, had 2 or 3 horses getting shod, one getting acupuncture, a couple of alpacas, have no idea what they were getting done.  Weird little animals...........!!!  In amongst all that Nancy was spaying & neutering in the clinic too.  But she managed to keep everything moving along, by running back & forth.

She did another rectal on Rusty & said it still didn't feel right.  So we decided to do an ultrasound/sonogram.  Rusty got a shave on both sides, although she actually spent most of the exam with the probe inside him.  They shaved him on both sides, down to the skin.  He is pink skinned, so to keep him from getting sunburned, he will have to be protected by Thuja Zinc Oxide, until the hair grows out.  Hence, his little pink patch, there's one on the other side too. 

She said his kidneys are larger than she would think they should be, but she didn't find anything else that look suspicious.  So he got the usual, Dex, Banamine & Vit B-12.  Also got some acupuncture, she was doing a horse, & popped Rusty with 5 needles, one in the end of his muzzle.  As soon as she did that, he started eating grass hay like it was good...........!!!!  She said that is a spot to enduce eating.  WOW! 

I'll give him B-12 & Banamine for a couple of days, & hopefully he be OK.  When we got home & put him in his pen, he started eating leftover hay immediately.

Gus was walking good this morning much better than the last few days, so I guess Courtney's trim did some good. 

FINALLY, got the Silver Nitrite I ordered ages ago.  I ordered it off the internet & when it didn't show up I got in touch with the company.  They said they sent it by mail, of the 12th of April, had the mailing number & everything.  I checked on the internet using the number, & sure enough it was given to the post office on the 12 of April, & the next information said it continued on it's journey the 23 of April..........HUH.........????  When was it doing sitting for 11 days.  The shipper asked them, & was told they had no more information than was available on the web.  I'll try to get it mixed up tomorrow & spray it on Boaz's proud flesh.  I'm anxious to see how it works.