SUPERIOR IS A "WRAP"

 Yesterday morning John and I got up at 2:30am to feed donkeys, so we could leave by 4am to get to Superior hopefully before the races started.  Our neighbor let them out later in the morning and we made it with about 15 minutes to spare.  

Suzanne had the table all set up, all we had to do was show up and sit down.  

I didn't really get to see the start of the race, I stayed with the table.  Later I did get to see Lynn and Muzzy come in first place for the 12 mile race which was pretty exciting.  

This is a young lady named Jennifer, winning the 6 mile race with her team mate Koshare.  Suzanne had taken him with her to Superior.  She had planned on helping to clean the trails after the race and taking him with her to load trash or whatever in his saddlebags.  Suzanne had paired Jennifer with Ruthie, as Jennifer was a 1st time burro runner.  Found out she is a fast runner in people races, so the plan changed from Ruthie to Koshare.  She came in planning to win and that's exactly what she did.  In fact Koshare timed the fastest time on the trail of all the burros running.  I'm not sure how they figure the time.  He ran a 4 minute mile a few months ago in a race, his team mate was an ultrarunner and managed to keep up with Koshare.  It's not for the whole race, I just don't know how they measure it. Jennifer works in the health care industry and quite a few of her fellow workers came to cheer for her and Koshare.  I would imagine she is now hooked on pack burro racing......!!!  LOL

Animals always get sick on week-ends or holidays, at least ours always do.  Friday morning Charley the dog that showed up at our place a few weeks ago was very lethargic.  He's usually not a lethargic type of guy and our local vet is closed on Friday.  I called a vet in Willcox and they actually got him in that morning.  

A lot of vets seem to have taken a lesson from people doctors.........rely on tests, not experience.  They came up with a list of what they wanted to do and I picked out x-ray and said we'd  wait on the others.  From experience an x-ray can save you a lot of money if there is cancer involved.  Showed a area that looked like he might have swallowed a bone or something.  He doesn't have access to anything and the few treats we've given him, he doesn't eat.  He runs outside and buries them.  \

So I agreed to blood test, and they sent him home with antibiotics and steroids.  He had something going on temp. 103.1.  He was pretty much back to his perky barky self by Sat. morning and has continued to act normal for him.  They are suppose to call in the morning with the test results of the blood draw.  Since he's so lively, they'll probably just tell me to continue with the meds twice a day till they are gone.  I doubt they will know what the weird area in the x-ray is.  

Big Gus is finally off his twice a day antibiotics as of this morning for cellulitis.  His legs are staying dry so hopefully when he's finished with about another week of pills they will continue to be dry.  

Some pictures from the races at Superior

Sasha and her team mate Clare, Suzanne said Sasha kept going to the sidelines where there were kids that would pet her.  Unusual behavior for her, she was abandoned on a property over by Willcox, no one knows for how long.  She's pretty independent and usually a little standoffish.  I guess she's decided kids aren't a threat.

This is Button a 3 month old orphan that Michele at Lucky A Ranch is raising.  The mother wouldn't have anything to do with him, and the owners were going to shoot him.  Thank goodness someone got in touch with Michele.  She and her daughters spent Friday night at Superior in the hotel.  They sneaked Button in, put an adult incontinence diaper on him and no one knew.  This is Kristen showing him where the finish line is and teaching him how to be a pack burro racer.

This is Michele and her daughters.  If you look closely you will see a brown blob on Michele's lap.  Button has his own red saddle bags.  

Siggy and his handler took 3rd place in the costume contest.  He was a green elf.

Jackson and LaRoy are completely bonded, Maryann and Teresa knew they had to stay together, looks like LaRoy took advantage of a rest break to use Jackson for a pillow.

ARE WE READY FOR SUPERIOR?

 This week-end is the 3rd annual burro race in Superior.  Well, I guess it isn't really the 3rd annual, covid last year cancelled the race, but it will be their 3rd race.  Four years ago they held the 1st burro race in Arizona in over 30 years.  It was a great success and hopefully will grow every year.   

                                Here's information on what's going on in Superior this week-end

If you are in the area by all means this is going to be a lot of fun.  If you've never seen a burro race or even if you have, I can't think of a better way to spend a Saturday.

Seven of our donkeys will be running in the race and we will have a table set up with t-shirts and stuffed donkeys available.  There will also be an auction for one of Gretchen Klett's plaques she has graciously donated to Forever Home to be silent auctioned off at our booth in Superior this week-end.  Highest bidder will get the plaque ..........!!!!  Our donated plaque is on the right, and the plaque on the left will be donated to Lucky A Ranch, a non-profit rescue SE of us in McNeal, Az for them to auction.  Gretchen is very involved with donkeys and shares her talent with rescues.  She has a business called One Herd Art, that shows how talented she is using different mediums.   

If you go to Superior Saturday, by all means come by our booth and say "HI" and maybe bid on this lovely plaque.

Big Gus is doing well after his trip to the equine clinic in Gilbert,  His legs are staying dry, Suzanne has been washing them every morning with chlorhexidine and he is getting liquid antibiotics twice a day and prednisone for the next 3 weeks.  I guess sometimes with this type of bacterial infection they don't get over it and have to be on medication forever.  With him that isn't something to look forward to.  He's actually done pretty good, but he's starting to question what we are giving him.  When he turns down peppermints you know he is suspicious.....!! LOL

This morning he visited with Suzanne at her RV.  

BIG GUS WENT TO THE DOCTOR, RATHER THAN THE DOCTOR COMING TO HIM

 Yesterday Suzanne and I took Big Gus up to the Equine Clinic in Gilbert.  Dr. Jeremy has been treating him for cellulitis in his rear legs for about a month, it's getting better, but still needs attention.  Dr. Jeremy was unavailable and it was time for another shot, so we went to plan B.  

Over the years we've been up there more than once, Jenny's hoof resection, Cisco's bulbous growth on his sheath, Bell's sialolith cyst, Penny's colic surgery, and many more in between.  A lot of times, all of those problems couldn't be done in the field and had to be done in a hospital/clinic, so we would make the 3 hour haul, and sometimes left them there.  Jenny ended up staying up there over a month.  

Awaiting his fate........!!

For him....... he was good didn't say it would be easy

                                      Sometimes you just have to overpower him with bodies

                                                        His legs got a trim and a bath

We noticed today that Saddik's plaque on his grave is missing.  It had come loose and was laying in front of a rock at the head of the grave until someone figured out a way to keep it from falling off again.  We're pretty sure we know who took it unfortunately, which is sad when it is someone you know.

Saddik showed up in our wash in 2015, a half starved gangly pup about 9 months old with Valley Fever He really was a nice dog with lots of personality.  I think everyone that ever met him, liked him.  Unfortunately his life was cut short by a vehicle one night when he was suppose to be home.

WAS GOING TO FREEZE TONIGHT..........

 But the weather people now say it won't happen until tomorrow night.  It was 38 degrees this morning, so we all bundled up for chores.  Of course by the time everyone was fed we'd shed the coats and were enjoying the sun.  The desert is a strange place for weather.  It's nothing for us to have 50 degree swings in a 24 hour day, which means you dress in layers.  Right now we are having pretty strong wind and they say it will be windy all night, and  tomorrow night is suppose to be below freezing.  Time to drag out the sweat pants I guess. 

Yesterday we took 5 of the minis to Echo Hope Ranch down by Hereford. What a beautiful place  close to the San Pedro Riparian Area, lots of huge cottonwood trees and they even have a pond with catfish in it.    Lots of people coming and going all day long, and the donkeys were a big hit.  The 4 boys, Jackson, LaRoy, Siggy and Harley are old hands at entertaining people and getting lots of petting.  Sasha was the only girl.  She was found on a property where the people had left her to  take care of herself.  She's warmed up quite a bit with so many people coming by.  But she still looks at people like, "what are you going to do to me"?  She finally got into standing by the corral panels close enough so people could pet her especially the kids.  Being out like that is really good for her confidence, so we'll take her out as much as we can.  

We forgot our pop-up shade, and all 3 of us were pretty pink by the time we got home.  Won't do that again..........LOL

John not only went with us, but he helped when he could.  He doesn't get around the donkeys much, they could knock him down without meaning to, but there's other things he can do.  We got him a super duper walker last week.  He  says it's like a Cadillac compared to my old one he's been using, it has a seat and a compartment to put stuff in.  We must have saw at least 6 or 7 walkers like his, so of course everyone was comparing walkers like people compare cars.....!!

This morning the 5th wheel went to a new home. We had planned on remodeling it into an office for Suzanne and a bedroom, where people could stay for a couple of days with the donkeys.  But it had too many issues and we decided to go in a different direction.  

It found a home, it will be remodeled and will be put to good use.  Now we're headed to Plan B.........!!  We're looking for a construction office, that we could divide into 2 areas and also maybe have an area for our stuffed donkeys and t-shirts we take to event to sell.  Right now all that stuff is in one of our bathroom.  It would be nice to have it on display, so people could browse if they want to. 

We've been really really busy recently, but we plan on taking Charley, the blind/ deaf dog that found his way to our place, to an eye specialists as soon as we can, to see if there is any way to help his sight.  We think he might be able to see shapes or shadows in bright light, but not much.  He's learned his pen which is about 30x70 and he has a doggy door that goes into the feed room, which he learned the 1st day he was here.  The feed room has A/C and heat, although he likes to spend most of his time outside.  We think he was a ranch dog, although he is house broken.  When the farrier was here trimming the donkeys, he got all excited.  Dogs go crazy over the hoof pieces the farrier trims off, Charley acts like he knows all about hoof trimming.  

He has some treats that look like a rib bone with meat on it, I'm sure it's probably all grain of some kind, but it looks real.  Every time we give him one, he gets all excited, takes the bone, goes outside and buries it immediately.  We have no idea how many he's buried, and can't figure out if he's saving them for later, or getting rid of them. 

TIME REALLY FLIES THESE DAYS IT SEEMS......!!

 We are all enjoying the cooler weather and even got a little bit of rain today.  Spring is my favorite time of year, but fall is a close second.  I'm sure the donkeys are enjoying the cooler weather, although they are still having to wear fly masks.  Suzanne has been taking them off at night, even though some of the flies get up before we go out for chores.  But not many, and the donkeys appreciate not having the masks on at night.  They are ready to have them back on, even Casper and Tula.  They are usually evasive if you try to do something to them.  But they will stand real still if they see a fly mask in your hands.  

Yesterday about half the herd got pedicures.  Suzanne will be taking most of them up to Superior for a race on Oct 23 put on by the BRAY club and the town of Superior. Last we heard they had 67 teams signed up, so it should be a lot of fun.  

Justice isn't going but he was on the list.  When Justice came here a few months ago, it had been awhile since he had been trimmed.  He favored one of his back legs and rested it most of the time when he was standing.  The first time Dan came out, Justice was pretty sure he didn't want his feet done.  Dan is a pretty laid back guy, but was also pretty sure, Justice was going to get his feet done.  The battle was all over the pen and he finally threw himself on the ground, which actually made it easier for Dan to work on him and put him at a disadvantage for continuing the fight.  

The next time Dan came, I gave Justice Dormosedan but he was in a fighting mood and pretty much shook it off.  Dan said next time to not drug Justice, he had an idea.

Donkeys usually react very well to a Scotch hobble, compared to his last 2 trims there was a vast improvement in his behavior.  Donkeys seem to realize when the game is over and they lost the battle.  He might not even need to be hobbled next time, if he sees Dan carrying it......!!!  LOL  

Since he's been here running around all over the place, and play fighting with Cochise, he isn't favoring his foot as much as he was and doesn't rest it much either.  We had him x-rayed and he has at least 2 bone chips in that foot. I had a woman interested in adopting him when he came in as a companion for her young gelding.  It sounded like a perfect home for Justice, but I didn't want to send him  out if he might need vet care in the future for that foot.  It looks like moving and exercising is the answer hopefully for the long term.  

For everyone that has sent pumpkin for Cisco, we can't thank you enough we have a nice little stash that hopefully will help see him thru the crisis.  I was in Walmart today and they didn't have the Great Value which we try to get if we can.  Some people sent organic pumpkin and brand names.  There is a difference, the color is brighter and the smell is stronger, Cisco doesn't seem to be picky, he eats it all.....!!    Suzanne said she heard another story about the shortage, yesterday.  If they keep talking about it, it will be like the great toilet paper hoarding situation last year, people that don't even like pumpkin will be buying it.......!! LOL

Here is Cisco enjoying his morning ration of pumpkin.

SANDAM WAS A SUCCESS.......!!

 Suzanne gave John and I a play by play account of the week-end and it sounds like everyone had a great time, thanks to Carolyn Lee and her family.  The 2nd annual Sandam Burro Jam was held on their property, camping, music lots going on.  Wish John I could have watched all the fun, but since neither of us were going to be running anywhere, and the stay at homes would want to be fed as usual, we were more valuable at home.  

Sasha and Siggy with their team members, Kelly and Renee

Sasha and Kelly

Frijolita and Rachel finished 3rd in the 6 mile race.  Buddy Brat finished 4th in that race with Diana.  Not sure where everyone else finished, I know none of them finished first or last........!! LOL

Big Gus has developed cellulitis in his hind legs, in 24 hours there is a lot of drainage which of course gets mixed in with all the dirt he walks thru and he ends up with a really icky looking foot. 

I've really been amazed at how cooperative he has been.  Of course he loves attention especially if none of the others are around.  He doesn't like to share with the other donkeys.  Dr Jeremy drew blood today to see if there is something else we need to do except keep it as clean as possible

Yesterday when I was washing his leg, I was rubbing in the soap, and all of a sudden this little guy, who is now pickled in alcohol and a few dozen of his friends came wiggling out of the hair on Gus' leg.  There has to be openings in the skin where the liquid is draining from.  But there aren't any wounds or sores for them to be in I wouldn't think.  They just seemed to be in the hair and some of  the hair came out when I started making sure they didn't stay on Gus. 

 It is in a pill cup, a little less than 1/2 inch long and everyone that has seen it, says it has little bitty legs almost like a centipede.  They are so small I can't see them.  We've talked about seeing if the UofA might be able to tell us what it is, so far no one has even tried to guess what it is.  

We're still getting in pumpkin for Cisco.  Almost all the boxes have come in without any information on who the order came from.  We've been able to personally thank a few of the people for their generosity, but for the most part, we've gotten boxes of pumpkin and no name to go with them.  

Today we got a box with a name on it.  I would have known when I opened the box that it was from Debi in Ohio.  She sent a box of pumpkin last year when there was suppose to be a shortage with all sorts of goodies for everyone on the property, people, dogs, cats, and of course pumpkin for Cisco.  Not only were there goodies for everyone again, she wraps each can of pumpkin, last year I think it was Christmas paper, this year pretty orange and green tissue paper.  Thank you Debi, what a fun surprise and Cisco will really enjoy the pumpkin.  

 

YOU'D THINK I'VE BEEN ON VACATION........!!!

 I was shocked to see how long it has been since I updated the blog.  I'm sure I could have found something to write about in that length of time......!!!  I'd promise that it won't happen again, but probably shouldn't do that..........!!!  LOL

 John is really doing good with his therapy and recuperation from his broken hip.  He even did a tour today, he said he wanted to try it, and he did just fine.  Of course we only have half the donkeys we usually have.  Suzanne left yesterday to go to a fun race north of Phoenix today and took all the donkeys that are healthy and like to run.  Haven't heard yet how it went I'm sure everyone had fun.

Got ready to go and Suzanne noticed the lights needed some attention, broken wire.

John and I are holding down the home fort, so far it's went really well, we haven't had any problems.  This morning Susan a new volunteer came for morning chores.  She's been here a few times and really is a lot of help, she even weighed hay this morning.  John said she has a good feel for when the bucket has about the right weight of hay in it.  She's coming back in the morning, so we're really having a pretty easy week-end even though Suzanne is gone.

 

Last year just about this time the word started spreading that there was going to be a canned pumpkin shortage.  Cisco gets a can of pumpkin daily to help his elimination system run smoothly, so we started buying all the pumpkin we could find and pretty quickly ran all the local stores out of pumpkin.  Thanks goodness by January the problem had pretty much fixed itself and pumpkin was available.

Here we go again, same thing this year.  It didn't take but a week or so for us to grab all the available cans in the area.  I put a message on facebook and people have been sending pumpkin from all over the country for this old guy it's amazing.  I'm sure the FedEx and UPS drivers would like to know what's going on.......!!!  LOL   Cisco dearly loves his pumpkin and we're not sure he would even eat his mush if it wasn't top dressed with pumpkin.  We usually get a dirty look if we're too slow getting the pumpkin "plopped" on top.    

Jasper is one of our "expert" gate openers, he's really good at it and can open gates quicker than we can stop him.  He's usually discreet and if we catch him he tries to look innocent and finds something else to do.  Suzanne caught him the other day and he was so focused on getting it open, he didn't even notice her, silly boy.  He did get it opened......!!!

This is what happens if we leave the courtyard gate open.  It doesn't take long for some nosy donkey to come in to see what we're doing.  

 

WHAT A SAD TIME THIS IS..........

 Friday morning John Henry didn't come in for breakfast, which was very unusual, he was always one of the first to go into his pen at feeding time.  We found him on one of the trails in Burroland headed for the pen area, but down.  I came in to notify Dr. Jeremy and when I went out he had gotten up and Suzanne was with him.  He was disorientated, walking in circles and would go down after a couple of minutes.  That has to be scary for them, to not be able to walk straight and to lose balance.  He kept trying to stand up and walk, so we got him in the wash a large area with nothing he could hurt himself with.  We stayed with him until Dr. Jeremy got here and he worked with John Henry for a couple of hours with IVs and different medications, with no change.  The prognosis was not good and the decision was made.  

He had only been here a couple of months, but was such a wonderful donkey we all really enjoyed being with him.  So gentle and so easy to work with, loved people and seemed to know he was big and we weren't.   

John Henry with Suzanne's granddaughter Richelle

RIP John Henry, you will be missed

WHAT DO DONKEYS DO WHEN THEY ARE BORED?

 Because John is nursing a broken hip if something is going on early the next morning we sometimes shut the gate to Burroland, so the donkeys have to stay on the 10 acres for the night and it's easier to round them up.  

After such a night, when we came out the next morning the cat claw tree had been molested with about 15 feet of it's bark missing.       

 Looks like they might have eaten some of it, but left the rest on the porch of the feed room probably as a message to not forget to open the gate again...........!!! LOL   

 

They've actually gotten into the routine of seeing the golf cart and usually heading for the pens most of the time for which I am grateful, since I'm usually the one having to chase them.  The last couple of mornings, most of them have been in their pens when John and I come out.  

Big Gus has finished his antibiotics, but is still staying in the Burro Barracks, which is about 1/4 of an acre until his legs are better.  That way we don't have to go out and find him.  Today we had a new volunteer Susan, and she helped me soak and clean his worst leg. He started out with a little bit of attitude, but she entertained him while I washed and as long as she was giving him her undivided attention he was happy and standing still.  He is such a ham and soaks up attention like a sponge, so it worked out good for all.

John and Big Gus discussing how many cookies a donkey should have......!!

 Suzanne washed some legs on a few of the donkeys and some of them have some sort of "gunk", hard bumps that just won't come off, lots of them.  We're wondering if it might be from some of the weeds, maybe the donkeys are allergic to them, who knows.  Boaz and Ruthie have the bumps up on their back, so we will probably be doing a lot of bathing donkeys over the next few days.  Most of the donkeys do not appreciate water on their bodies, so one or two a day will probably be about all we can handle............!!!  LOL

Thought I'd share some more of Roger Thompson's pictures....

 

Not sure what Suzanne and I are doing, but it doesn't look like we're working very hard.......!! LOL

Buddy enjoying some mesquite leaves........

TALK ABOUT BEING BEHIND..............!!

 It has been brought to my attention that I haven't updated in quite awhile.  It's been busy, missing 1/3 of our crew makes a lot of difference, with what gets done and what doesn't.  The good news is John is really doing good, every day he does a little bit more.  He's actually doing his exercises, which surprised me.  Usually when he's had exercises to do, after a few days he gets a little lazy about them.  I guess he really wants to get rid of the walker and get back to doing what he wants to do.  

Gigi one of our long time sanctuary donkeys crossed the rainbow bridge a couple of weeks ago.  She had probably been born crippled and never had foot or vet care until we were called by a neighbor to take her and her friend Rosie to keep them from being shot and buried.  

 This is what her feet looked like when she came here.  Over the years she had regular trimmings and had to wear shoes on both front feet to keep the feet from twisting to the way they were for years.  She had a good life with Rosie, they even had a boyfriend Jasper.  The last few months she started to lose mobility, it became harder and harder for her to move around, although she still was going out with her friends, just not very far.  

We use quality of life to make the final decision and it's never an easy decision to make.  She was still eating, still going out, still begging for cookies............but it was time for her to rest from a lifetime that could have been so much different if her owners had a vet put a cast or brace on her legs when she was born.  It would have only taken a week or so at that age to shape her legs, so she could have enjoyed a better life.  

This picture was taken 8-9 years ago when she came to the rescue, she was a very pretty girl.

Suzanne took this picture of Gigi begging for cookies recently.  RIP Gigi we will miss you.

A lot of people know Big Gus he's pretty memorable is you've ever met him...!!!   We've been doctoring his hind legs which swelled up and looked terrible for the last couple of weeks.  Dr. Jeremy came out and as long as we've had donkeys and as much cactus as we have on the property we've never had a problem with cactus thorns like this before.  He had lots of them, Dr. Jeremy used clippers to get as many out as he could.  If you start talking to other people it sounds like it can be a rather common problem............who knew.....!!! 

 

  Rather yucky looking isn't it?  It's finally getting better and as of today, I wasn't able to find any pus when I wash his legs, although he's got about 6 sores, but they look pretty dry.  Suzanne has been taking his temperature twice a day along with checking his respiration and heart rate.  He's over 40 years old and we've known for quite sometime that he has a heart murmur, and his heart rate has been pretty high, until the last couple of days.  

Of course he needs to be on antibiotics, which for his size is 8-9 rather large tablets twice a day.  We tried grounding them up and mixing with molasses for a few days. Gus is very good at using his head as a battering ram, which makes getting molasses which he apparently doesn't like down his gullet an adventure.  

Last night Suzanne wasn't here, which meant I got to give him his antibiotics by myself.  We had tried animal crackers, ginger snaps, of course the rejected molasses and pretty much got a look from him like, "is this the best you can do?"  In desperation I tried peppermint candy.  Much to my surprise the greedy boy would take 2 tablets with each peppermint and it worked again this morning....!!!   YAY....!!  I'm also giving antibiotics to Rosie and Boaz, so far Rosie is no problem, put the 5 pills between 2 ginger snaps and they're gone.  Boaz is getting a little reluctant, although he is still taking the pills with cookies.  I'm holding the peppermints as a last resort  with him.