31 DEGREES THIS MORNING....!!

Not sure what these are, the info said India asses, they look like Kulans a type of Onager.  Onagers can not be tamed and are pretty dangerous to work with.  Peaceful Valley Donkey Rescue has 4 of them, they picked up as strays a few years ago.  Texas has canned hunt ranches, where people that don't want to waste a lot of time, can go and kill an animal of their choice.  The ones at PVDR probably escaped and of course the ranch wasn't going to go looking for them.  They have to be kept in special high pens because they can jump, anyone working with them have to be aware at all times of where they are.  Mark told me about one of the workers leaning on the fence on one side of their pen a few years ago, talking to someone.  This was a smaller pen only about 30 feet square and the Kulans were on the other side watching him.  He was talking, not paying attention and all of a sudden his arm had been bit and he had been kicked.  By the time he reacted, the Kulan was back with the others, watching him.  Mark said they never tame one little bit.  But they sure are a pretty animal.  

Still not having to put on fly masks, which is a good thing.  At the rate they were tearing them up and losing them, where we couldn't find them, we wouldn't have enough masks to last if the weather stayed warm enough to keep the flies happy.  I'll wait until after the holidays to order masks for next year.  I order in the winter, when Colorful Equine probably isn't as busy.

We had a little bit of excitement around here yesterday.  John and Doug were out doing whatever it is guys do and I was on the computer, as usual.  Doug comes in yelling, couldn't tell what he was yelling about, but it seemed important.   I finally understood that John had fell off the ladder and was laying on the ground.  Memories of about 4 years ago, flashed thru my mind, when John fell off a ladder in the courtyard and compound fractured his arm.  Sure enough, got out to the feed room, where they had been trying to run an antenna thru the roof and ceiling, and he's moaning on the ground.  Said it was his leg, so I started poking and prodding, didn't get much reaction thank goodness.  Although he was a little touchy with the muscle and tendon behind the knee.  Then he complained about his ribs.  Poked them a little bit and not much reaction, so we decided to get him up and standing.  That went good, and except for complaining about not being able to take a deep breath, he was good to go, even did chores.

This morning he's still complaining about breathing, had to cough a couple of times and didn't enjoy that.  But the leg is OK except when he turns the ankle.  So I think he's going to be OK.  Now as to what happened.  For quite awhile after the earlier fall, he wouldn't get on a ladder, then he started getting on one and I guess had become a little too complacent.  Doug had been holding the ladder, but John told him to go in the feed room and see if the antenna was coming thru the hole.  While Doug was gone, John over reached the ability of the ladder to stand on uneven ground and down he went.  I think it's a guy thing.......LOL

Had some real nice people out today to visit with the donkeys and do some grooming. Now that it's cooling off, we're starting to have more visitors.  The donkeys really enjoy getting groomed, some of them like Frijolita will yell and scream until someone grooms on her and then when they go on to someone else, she starts yelling again.  I think she got groomed 3 or 4 times.

I'M ALMOST OUT OF THE DOCTORING BUSINESS......!!!

It's amazing what a couple of weeks of nice weather will do for skin problems.  We're still doing doctor patrol every morning before they go out after breakfast, but for the most part I just check the ones that need it and do a little touch up, with my homemade salve.  

When I first started using it, I was going thru a lot of it everyday, because of waste.  Using cotton or a gauze pad to scoop it out of a container, means you scoop out more than you need.  Since nitrofurazone has caused cancer in rats, and I'm a cancer survivor, I don't want to scoop it out by hand.  I tried gloves and there was still a lot of waste and my hands are so small, even small gloves end up hanging off the ends of my fingers........... soooo.......... time to put on my thinking cap.  

By the time you add DMSO to the nitrofurazone it makes a runny salve, not bad, but in the summer you have to keep it in the frig.  I have 60cc syringes and some of them even have caps for the end.  Why not put the salve in the syringe and just squeeze out as needed, and smear around with a gauze pad?  Voilla'...........really works good....well except for getting the salve in the syringe, that is a little dicey, it's not runny enough to just pour into the syringe, of course not.  I think a tongue depresser would probably work really well, BUT, who has one of those laying around and I don't plan on going to the doctor anytime soon to see if they'd give me one.  I tried an ice cream stick, which was really ineffective, so my latest tool is a plastic knife.  But the idea is a keeper.........!!!  

One day it was cool enough, John left fly masks off for the day.  It was such a treat to see their faces for a change, I'd almost forgotten how beautiful their eyes are.  

Everyone are still on short rations, even though the mesquite beans are gone.  Occasionally someone finds a few and we see the beans in their poo, but they certainly aren't getting very many.  They are also a lot more interested in coming in at feeding time.  John has upped the hay a little bit, but they are still only getting about half of a full ration, especially the fatties, like Rosie, Coquette and Buddy Brat.  Rosie lets us know if she isn't being properly fed, she ate 2 of the cedar boards in BlackJack's shelter last week.  She will eat wood whether she is fed or not.  I've had people ask if she cribs........no she doesn't, she simply eats wood..........LOL 

THIS IS SOOOOO WRONG.........!!!

This is the view this morning, out my kitchen door, doesn't exactly look like the sunny southwest, does it?  LOL  This isn't really expected this time of year.  According to the experts, the monsoon was over the 15th of September.  So I guess this is an early winter rain, which usually hits between Christmas and New Year.  

I know one thing it isn't appreciated by the donkeys.  I have never been able to figure out why a highly intelligent animal such as a donkey will leave a perfectly good shelter to stand out in the rain and look absolutely miserable.  A few of them, prefer to be in the shelter, BUT, if the gate is opened, they will go out like it is a requirement for them to do so. 

Time Marches On.........!!

It seems like there is always something going on around here, it certainly helps to stay flexible.  LOL  Every morning when I doctor with my excellent vet tech, John I never know what I'm going to run into.  Right now I have 3 of them with what I assume is bacterial infections on their legs, or shoulders or in Rosie's case, whatever she has had on her belly all summer long.  It seems to less weepy when I use the homemade salve or is it because it is getting cooler?  Who knows.  Quilla's legs absolutely got ahead of me for some reason.  The problem with using a salve is unless you cover it with bandages or something, it ends up with dirt caked on the sores.  This morning I ended up "diapering" both front knees and wrapping the rest of his lower legs separately.  If anyone knows of a workable way to wrap a knee and leg together I'd like to know how..........!!!  

Coquette has it on her legs and shoulders, but she's actually doing pretty good with just socks on her legs.  I tried socks on Quilla, but he has sores on his knees, that stick to the socks, which rips the scabs off when it does try to heal..........SIGH!  So far hers is just on the canon bone "ie" shin bone.  They are all improving, if I can just keep Quilla sores from sticking to something. Next summer I am going to be ready with nitrofurazone at the 1st sign of skin problems.  

Heard from Reba and Rusty's foster mom.  She said they  really enjoy having them with their mule Ruthie.  They make a little herd, although she says the 2 girls won't answer Rusty when he gets lost, but they will answer each other.  Poor Rusty, he thinks he's a ladies man............guess not..........!!!   LOL  She said Rusty has excellent hearing, anytime he hears the barn door, he comes running from wherever he is and does a western type slide stop in his stall, just in case she might have something for him to eat....!!  Her parents live in a little house on the property and the mules all go down to visit every morning at 8am.  Her mother isn't very mobile and really enjoys seeing them.  It sounds like they are enjoying all the extra attention, we didn't have time for here.  Reba still isn't real friendly, but she was never anything but a pack mule to be used.  But Kris said if they are paying attention to Rusty and Ruthie, next thing they know Reba is standing real close, so maybe she will decide that letting people into her space has it's rewards.  

Also talked to Sarah about Wister and Ruger.  They have fit in very well, although they still aren't thrilled with the little 4 year old girl.  I guess it's OK if one of the parents are holding her, but when she's on the ground they still aren't sure.  She said Wister is the dominant one, even if he is the youngest, which surprised me.  They went into this home as fosters because the family planned on getting some goats which is going to happen in a couple of weeks.  The donkeys are to be protectors of the goats, which means no chasing, no picking up by the neck and no stomping them.  If any of those things happen, I would imagine they will be coming back real quick.  I have my fingers crossed, because it would be an excellent long term home for them.

My good friend Patti came out this afternoon for a visit.  She makes it out about once a year, but we always have a good time, when she does.  
 

TIME FOR A PLAN "B" I GUESS

Every summer the same donkeys have skin problems.  I'm sure it has something to do with poor immune systems.  Not all the sores are the same, some are big dried scabs on their legs and shoulders, generally.  Some are oozy serum wounds, that grow as the serum drips down the leg.  Some don't bother the hair, others make the hair fall out in patches.  And right now I have 3 of them with dried black hairless areas on their lower legs.  I've always thought the stable flies caused the sores, but am beginning to wonder if the sore starts and the flies follow.  I know stable flies are vicious whether it's before or after. 

It would be great if you could take them to a vet and they say, it's this or that and here's what will fix it.  Of course that doesn't happen.  Since there are so many different looking situations, they generally have to do a biopsy or scraping for analysis and a lot of times it comes back without a definitive answer.  So they throw something at it, if it works great, if not, we'll try something else..........Very frustrating.  Sun does seem to make it worse, that's just my theory.

Years ago we had to take a donkey to a vet in Tucson, no local vet available for a skin condition.  The vet gave me a homemade remedy of nitrofurazone and DMSO. Nitrofurazone has been out of favor the last few years, because of it's reputation as a cancer causing substance. And DMSO has been used for years by people with arthritis without the backing of the FDA. 

In this case the two were mixed together, using the DMSO as a carrier to help the nitrofurazone be readily absorb into the skin. 

The vet that came out earlier this summer for Boaz's legs that had sloughed off most of the skin, did a biopsy, and it came back as bacteria infection.  She gave me a salve that looked suspiciously like what I used years ago.  So I asked her if it was nitrofurazone and DMSO and she said yes, with a couple of other things added.  I don't know what the other stuff was, but I am trying these two things as of this morning to see if it works. 

Other than skin problems, everyone else seems to be doing great.  Although I'm afraid my fly masks aren't going to make it to the end of fly season at the rate the "fur" kids are tearing them up.  It's bad enough when the geldings get to playing, of course the fly masks are the 1st thing to get grabbed.  But now Saddik, the dog likes to join in the fun.  He thinks of Pancho as his personal friend and takes his mask off almost every day.

The mesquite beans aren't all gone, but almost......!!!  They are back to having access to Burroland all the time except at feeding time.  There's a lot of desert grass over there they really like, but it's getting pretty depleted too.  They have been on starvation rations for weeks and haven't really cared, it was almost more effort to get them to come in for feeding, than it was worth.  But the last few days they've been a lot more interested in hay, and some of them are running the pens when John lets them out, to see if anyone left anything to eat.  For the most part no one is leaving anything and John has upped everyone by 1/2 a pound of hay.   He's not going to be in any hurry to get them back up to normal.  As long as they don't start getting frantic, which I don't think they will, he'll just slowly start adding hay. 

ANNUAL DONKEY WELFARE SYMPOSIUM AT U.C DAVIS

https://www.facebook.com/DonkeyWelfareSymposium/videos/1076015392410249/

This video is really interesting, shows a lot of what goes on in the rest of the world and the need for education.  In many parts of the world donkeys are still a valuable addition to a poor family. 

This symposium started a few years ago, and is a gathering of donkey experts from all over the country for a 3 day conference.  Donkeys are finally getting some of the respect they deserve, which is a good thing.  

Jake kicked John yesterday, very close to a place we won't talk about...........LOL  What really got John was, he had just given Jake a carrot, and Jake spun around and kicked.  One of the girls is "entertaining" and I would imagine Jake saw John as a threat.  Must be a guy thing............!!!!  John didn't appreciate my reaction I don't think, but it seemed pretty funny to me.......!! 

HEH..........HEH.............HEH........!! CADDYSHACK TIME........!!!

John and Doug have been having lots of fun lately.  The donkeys of course resent having their time over in Burroland, curtailed and I've mentioned this a little bit.  The minis have figured out how to go under the floating fence over the big wash and go do their thing in the forbidden forest..........LOL

John has fixed it, Doug has fixed it, they both have fixed it and every morning some or all are over there.  It's somewhat like the old movie CaddyShack, when they destroyed a golf course to kill a gopher and the end of the movie was the gopher looking over the top of his burrow, chattering as I recall.  It's been decades since I saw it, so can't be sure of all the details.  But that is what this battle of wills is turning into.  At least the big donkeys haven't figured it out yet.....!! This morning the tractor was involved.  I haven't been out to see what they did, but I'm sure it will be effective.............MAYBE.........LOL

Last night when John came in from letting everyone out, he was sporting a mangled finger.  It seems when he gave Rosie her animal cracker, she got his finger by mistake and held on.  When he screamed (If you've never had an equine clamp down on a finger, you don't know what you're missing)  it scared her and she tried to run..........with half his finger clamped in her teeth.  John said he was running with her, hoping she wouldn't bite down more.  Thanks goodness they were still in the pen, so she couldn't go far.  She has always had to be watched, she opens her mouth wide and will lunge for a treat, if you don't tell her "easy" and get her attention.  If you just stick it in front of her mouth all bets are off and you are on your own, as John found out.  The finger isn't broken, although it is still swollen and  missing some of the skin.  Education can sometimes be painful, I'm afraid...........LOL

We are going to be race car poor, before this racing season is over.  After last Saturday's destruction, it's been pretty much a lot of people concentrating on getting me another car for next year.  I went in on Craigslist being nosy and found a car up in Phoenix.  It's just a street car that had been backed into, had very little damage to a door and door post, but the insurance company totaled it.  Peppy little car, with a little more horsepower and a good price, so we brought it home.  Told our son what we got and let's just say he wasn't overly impressed.  He wants to REALLY upgrade since we have to start all over anyway.  So I told him to find a good one at a "cheap" price.  Low and behold a friend of his ran across an ad for an actual already race car..............up in Phoenix, of course.  So John and I are heading back up to Phoenix tomorrow to see if it's as advertised.  If so, guess we'll bring it home too, why not........the more the merrier..........!!!  We could probably sell the 1st one to another racer, it would make a good race car, but we also might just keep it, in case we need it in the future.  That old, bird in the hand is worth two in the bush thing.  It's not always easy to find a replacement race car, especially if you would like to have it in a hurry, so having a project sitting around, is a good idea. 

AUCTION MULES AND DONKEYS

If you would like to get involved in helping save equine from being sold for a one way trip to Mexico, here is a group that is trying to help.  As most of you know almost all rescues are over extended as usual.  But that doesn't stop people trying to help find homes and safe places for animals thru no fault of their own have fallen on hard times. 

 http://www.auctionhorsesrescue.com

https://www.facebook.com/auctionhorses

If you would like to get involved here is some links to a group that is trying to make a difference.

UNFORTUNATE SATURDAY NIGHT.....!!

My last night for points in racing did not go well.  Actually that is an understatement.  I only ran 3 laps in the main event before one of the other racers decided to door slam my car.

 This is the damage from him leaning on me. 

This is the damage after I lost control, hit the wall, lost my steering, went back down across the track into the infield.  I might add without hitting anyone or getting hit again.  Slid to a stop and the firemen came over and said "you're on fire, get out".  

Let me say I envy drivers that can get in their car and get all their gear on and organized in nothing flat, or take it off.  I don't happen to be one of them, John usually "dresses" me and makes sure everything is as it should be.  Of course he isn't in the middle of the track, so I start fumbling and bumbling around.  By the time I managed to get everything unhooked, one of the firemen came up with a little bitty fire extinguisher, and put out the fire.  I'm still not out of the car and because of my fire suit pants, probably not going to get out before the races are over...........so........one fireman grabbed under my arms and another one reached in and grabbed my feet, and out I came.  I have no idea what John was thinking, he said he was just glad they got me out.  But I have a feeling it looked like dragging a body out........LOL  The rest of the night so many people came up to ask if I was OK, never thought so many people would care about a crazy old woman.  That was rather nice, considering my car is totaled..!  That was the last point race, and the guy responsible for the damage was 2 points behind me for 5th place.....!!!  hmmmm, I wonder......????   No, surely he wouldn't do it on purpose, would he?  

Of course by the time we got home early this morning, Doug was asleep.  But this morning we heard about how the evening went.  

A few days ago, while we were gone Doug found the gate to Burroland off the post on the back side two days in a row.  We blame Frijolita, she is our gate challenger, although the rest of them seemed to appreciate her efforts and went with her.  We have been limiting their time in Burroland to cut down on their access to mesquite beans.  Guess they decided to take matters into their own "hooves".  

John fixed it and I guess he did a good job.  Doug said when he came out to round them up for evening feeding, everyone was easy to get in, except Lynn and Cheyenne were missing.  Of course he panicked, said he looked all over the 10 acres and they weren't anywhere.  Amy and Morgan came to help feed and clean pens and so the 3 of them started looking.  Amy started yelling she found them.........over in Burroland, headed towards the closed gate to finally come in for supper.  This morning those two were back over on Burroland again.  But, they goofed up, Doug was watching when they came to the fence and tried to get back in from where they had went out.  Heh! heh!  Busted.....!!!  Our land is not exactly flat, there is a lot of difference in the topography and the fence in some areas isn't low enough to stop a determined mini I guess.  That particular spot won't be usable in the future though.  

The flies are really bad right now, I guess they are trying to complete their life cycle before it gets cold.  I don't think they have to be so frantic, it usually doesn't get to freezing around here until late November. 

HE'S NO LAP DOG.......!!!

We've tried to explain this fact of life to Saddik, but so far he doesn't seem to understand the problem.  He really is a nice young dog, whoever dumped him, probably did him a favor, they obviously didn't appreciate him.  He's still taking medication for Valley Fever, the last blood test still had high numbers.  He'll be tested about every 3 months, hopefully next time the numbers will be lower.  

It was 44 degrees here this morning, John is finally giving up on his shorts in the morning.  He puts them on later, but for morning chores he's putting on his usual winter wear AKA sweats.  

Yesterday we had to go to town for the day.  Doug was going to let them into Burroland about 1pm, so they could gorge themselves on whatever there is to eat over there.  He said he went out about 1 and was surprised to not see any donkeys standing by the gate.  Usually they just stand there waiting for someone to fix the problem.  When he got over the wash he saw why no one was waiting.  Somehow they had gotten the gate off the back hinges, enough to give them room to squeeze thru and not need to wait for one of the stupid people to do their job.........!!!  LOL  My first thought was Frijolita, she is our little gate manipulator. 

I guess they were having a good time over here, because when it was time for afternoon round-up, it didn't go smoothly.  In fact Cisco never did come in.  After everyone was fed and he still hadn't showed up, I asked John if he had seen him.  John said he had seen him 2 or 3 times, happily munching away on stuff, so we didn't have to worry about him being down somewhere.  Usually whoever doesn't come in during the round-up will come waltzing in  before we're thru feeding.  After it got dark, John went out to see if possibly Cisco had come across and went in his pen.  No he hadn't but when John was coming back to the house, he saw him coming across the wash.  I'd loved to be able to channel their minds to see what goes on in there.......!!!!  

This morning after chores here comes a County truck thru the gate, hmmmm....... I'd just as soon they stay in their office and play video games, rather than be out trying to justify their jobs.  John was in the hay barn weighing hay and that's where the truck went.  When he left I went out to see what was going on.  John said the permit we got for the hay barn was still open in their files..........REALLY.....???  That was in 2006, guess they ran out of video games.  Or some big boss came thru and saw the back log.  

The BLM does the same thing on their mustang/burro adoptions.  We got a jenny from a family, they had for 4 or 5 years.  We adopted her to a retired vet in California and a couple of years later the BLM got in touch with the original owner saying they wanted to see the donkey to make sure she was being taken care of properly.  ?????????  Where was all that interest and concern, for all those years?  So we had a flurry of phone calls and paperwork going around and around, so their files would look tidy.  They wanted a vet to verify the burro was taken care of, no problem the retired vet's sister is also a vet.  

Now if the BLM spent as much time and effort with the 50,000 mustangs and burros they have in holding pens, with no shade and no room to move around.  Or if they had as much concern for the mustangs and burros that are killed and injured during the round-ups they insist are necessary.  Better quit before I really get mad..........!!!!