Saturday we went down to Tubac to an art festival.  A few weeks ago Leigh Morrison came out to take pictures of the donkeys to paint for the festival.  When we drove past where she was set up outside her studio painting, one of the first things we saw was Cisco on display, along with a lot of her other paintings.  How exciting is that...........!!!!!!  

We parked & came back to visit & look at all the paintings.  She took this painting of Frijolita out of the display & gave it to me.  As anyone that has been in my house knows, I'm about to run out of wall space, but managed to find a prominent place for it. 

I took her head shots pictures of some of the donkeys, didn't really know if she would be able to use them or not, but she thought they were great, & said to watch her web-site in the coming weeks.  

Today Dr. Megan came out to look at Jenny's foot.  She agreed that it isn't doing as well as it was last time she was here.  Too soft & mushy, where the abscess was, & has tracked up into the coronary band.  She says we need to figure out some way to dry it out.  I have been using Wonder Dust, which I don't like, it definitely isn't very drying.  She recommended Kopertox or Thrush XX by Farnam, which you paint on with a brush.  So we'll try that & see if it helps.  She wasn't too worried about the proud flesh.  The Wonder Dust has controlled it, but not got rid of it.

After the Vet left, we loaded Chantilly in the trailer & took off to deliver her to her new home.  Got there & they already had Lily in her small pen, so Chantilly could get use to the "lay of the land", so to speak without having Lily in her face.  They are going to keep Lily in over night & let her out in the morning.  The 2 horses just looked at her like, "Ye gads, there's another one".  Chantilly has been around horses before, so she just looked at them, went over, touched noses with one & went on about her business of checking everything out.

 Checking out the new place

 Guess what they are watching?

Comfortable enough to take time out for a dust bath

Poor Lily in her pen missing all the fun

Lily actually acted like she was afraid of Chantilly.  She looked at her & then tried to run around in the little pen, about 12' x 20'.  Chantilly basically just ignored her, so I don't think there will be any fireworks when they get together tomorrow morning.  

Win or lose, I'm REALLY glad the election is OVER......!!!! 

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. 

Poor Jenny, she might think this is what her "health" care is coming to.  I've been watching a "glob" on her hoof where the abscess blew a few weeks ago.  When the vet was here she didn't say much about it, just that it needs to grow out.  

A few days ago it looked to me like it might be getting bigger & of course every few days it would bleed like crazy.  A couple of days ago, I poked it with a knife & Jenny didn't react..................Hmmmmmm..........possible proud flesh? 

Never give someone with a little bit of knowledge, tools with which to do something.  First I pulled & pushed on it.  No reaction, then I cut at the base with scissors, just a little bit.  No reaction to that.............so, it's time to either press on or back off.  I've had a scalpel for years, have no idea why I bought it, but it's been up in the cabinet, still sealed, just waiting for an opportunity to do it's thing, I guess.  

I've watched vet's remove proud flesh, so I know what happens, as soon as you start cutting, blood gushes.   Couldn't ask John  to help, blood makes him queasy, so it was just Jenny & I.  She was eating her hay, & since there are no nerves in proud flesh, it doesn't hurt when you cut into it.  Just took a second or two to cut off whatever was outside the hoof wall, took a lot longer to slow down the bleeding.  I finally covered it with Wonder Dust a caustic product I hate, but it does a good job of taking care of proud flesh & she didn't even act like anything had happened.  I'll watch it closely, hopefully it will go away, without a bunch of drama.  

Heard from Boaz & BlackJack's weed control boss today.  She said about another week & they should have most of the weeds eaten down, so we'll go get them the 22nd. 

IT'S A GO.........!!!

Just talked to the vet & everything is a go for us to pick up Jenny tomorrow.  The vet said she's still laying down, but every day she lays down less.  So we'll feed early tomorrow & head out.  Lysa will come over, clean pens & let everyone out when they are done eating.  

Vic will come over & feed in the afternoon in case we don't get home at a decent hour.  They will show us how to wrap her foot, so we'll have to be there for awhile.  And a friend from Saudi that now lives about a mile from the vet clinic is going to try to come over & visit.  Nancy has come over before when we were up there, but it's been a couple of years ago.  It will be good to see her again, if she makes it. 

Mr. Boaz is in the dog house.  Last night when John did round-up for supper, everyone came in except Boaz.  We fed & he still hadn't showed up.  John went over to feed the neighbor's dogs, (long story) & guess who he saw over there?  When Boaz saw John & John called him, he came "arunning", stuck his head under the smooth wire that runs across the wash, & quickly was on this side.   Hmmmm, I told him he just ruined his fun, by showing John where he was going back & forth.  

This morning the bandage on his knee looked like he had been chewing on it.  I've been using Wonder Dust on it daily for quite sometime & it is looking better.  I wonder if it is starting to irritate some of the tissue that has feeling in it?  I try to not get it on anything except the proud flesh, but I'm sure it doesn't always stay where I put it.  

I've got some silver nitrate ordered & will change over to it, when it gets here.  

No races Saturday night.  The pump in the well where they get water to water the track "croaked".  There's no way we could race without the track being wet down.  It's dusty enough when they wet it.  

That's OK, getting Jenny Friday & racing Saturday was going to pretty much fill up our "dance" card.  Next Friday John is suppose to have an angiogram, which he is really looking forward to.........NOT!    We still haven't figured out the logistics, he's suppose to be at the hospital at 6am for an 8am procedure......!!!!  He's been having a little breathlessness & palpitations & has a lousy family history for heart disease.  The doctor saw something that caught his attention, so this is what he wants done.  

So John will load the race car Thur night, in case he isn't feeling real peppy Saturday.  I can drive to the track & our son & grandson will be racing that night, so they can do whatever needs to be done, like reloading it on the trailer.  I'm not into all that chain & tie down stuff.....!!! LOL

GOT HIM...!!!

We just got home with Bijou a little while ago.  He's a cute little bugger, hairy as he can be.  Not sure how all that mane & tail is going to hold up in the mesquite, but I guess we'll find out.  I could roach his mane, but it's taken him a long time to grow such a pretty one, so we'll see how it goes, once he's out of the pen.  

I think the majority of the herd are over on Burroland, so far Rusty, Jack, Ruthie & Ruger are the only ones that know he's here.  Ruthie & Ruger are trying to figure out what he's doing in their pen.  At least they will still have a pen, once the "musical" pen dance is over at feeding time tonight.  BlackJack will be eating in the outside bunk, which he will think is great, because he will get fed first.  That's the only way we can keep him from "helping" us feed everyone else........!!!

He does have some nasty looking feet, but he's walking good right now.  Susan said he has good days & bad days, so we'll just have to see how it goes.

Putting Wonder Dusty on Boaz's leg hasn't been going all that well.  If the area is dry or scabbed over, it doesn't give the Wonder Dust a chance to do it's job.  This morning I put a soaking wet wash rag on his leg, covered it with a Walmart bag, & vet wrapped it.  Left it on for about an hour, & quite a bit of the dry stuff came off, although not around the edges.  The vet said she might have to cut away the edges to get good clean tissue.  We'll take him in to see her next week, hopefully by then I will have a lot of the over growth off, if I work on it every morning.