MELVIN & JACKSON ARE HERE FOR AWHILE

We picked up these 2 boys in Tonopah this week.  They will be boarding here thru the Summer, attending "Longears Summer Camp", while their family enjoys cooler Colorado.  They usually get hauled back and forth every year.  This year the owners are seeing if staying in Arizona works out best for the boys.  

This is Jackson, so now we'll have 2 Jackson's for awhile.  He has the softest hair, even softer than BlackJack's.  He's about 20 or early 20s, very friendly.

This is Melvin, meeting his new neighbor Beefy.  They both mouthed, after Beefy lunged at the corral panels, not sure if he is sending mixed signals or not......!!   Melvin is a  BLM donkey, I think he's about 8 years old.  When we got there and went in their area, he started kicking out.  I thought, this is going to be fun, as I get older I also am getting slower and John is even slower than I am.........!!!  LOL  Really didn't look forward to trying to figure out his personality, while trying to stuff him into the trailer.  The owners always load Jackson first, he pretty much hopped right in.  Melvin wasn't sure this was what he had planned that day, but he was willing to go along and went in the trailer pretty quickly thank goodness.  

 

Uneventful trip home, except for the crazy drivers.  They like to play chicken with semis and obviously stock trailers.  I can imagine how frustrated truck drivers get daily having to deal with people cutting them off and just not driving past their hood with 50,000 pound plus trucks.  When hauling animals you like to stop slow and easy, so they can keep their balance.  No close calls, but we did shake our heads a few times at some of the "interesting" moves people do when driving.  

When Melvin met Beefy for the first time,  no fireworks, as long as Melvin stays away from Beefy's girl Bonnie.  The poor girl can't get a break.  A couple of days ago, Big Gus decided he'd have a go at being "the man".  He's over 40 years old, who knew his memory was that good....!!! LOL  How he sneaked around Beefy without getting knocked down we'll never know.  I wasn't here but I guess Suzanne and John watched with amazement, said the old guy seemed to know what he was doing.  By today he was back to keeping an eye on the driveway gate, in case  someone is slow enough he can make a run for it...........!!!

Bonnie has finally had enough and she spends most of her time, trying to escape Beefy.  He spends his time, being about as obnoxious as he can be.  The big problem is...........Bonnie.  As a jenny she is programmed to behave in a certain way and she does, which of course Beefy sees as encouragement.  Leaving one or the other in their pens, really doesn't help the problem, it just starts over as soon as they are both out together.  I am happy to report that her feet and legs are holding up well, she isn't favoring her front feet, but she is sick and tired of the "game".  Can't blame her, he's pretty pushy and obnoxious.  

The boys settled in nicely, so far they haven't been out of their pens.  We like to have all 3 of us here when we let them out the first time and have to get them back in their pen for evening feeding, in case one of them equates being out with being.........free.....!!! Maybe this week-end.  

   

Melvin likes to get up close to see what you are doing.  I spent quite a bit of time trying to get a picture of them together.  But he insisted in being right in my face.  

Casper, the little white devil mule was seen on the wrong side of the perimeter fence yesterday.  We thought he had reformed, but guess not.  It's probably been close to a year, since he was getting out on a regular basis, and we assumed he had turned over a new leaf, obviously not.  We don't know if he's been getting out all this time, or if because it's spring and all the plants are leafing out he's just started up again.  Either way we really can't keep him in without refencing 30 acres..........don't think that's going to happen, the donkeys seem perfectly happy on the property.  We don't think he travels far, but we really don't know for sure......LOL

IT'S GETTING HOT...........

 So far we're not putting on fly masks.  There's flies but 2 or 3 on the donkey's faces isn't going to be a big nuisance.  My fly traps are catching quite a few and this time of year they are the ones with the little white round butts, which I think are fly eggs that haven't been laid yet.  The more I catch in the traps the less hatch out, at least I hope so.  

This picture is from the Tombstone race a few weeks ago.  Renee and Siggy are behind Kelly and Harley.  Harley looks like he's really stepping out, strutting his stuff.........!! 

Busy as usual, Suzanne set up a booth and took 5 donkeys over to Willcox last week-end for a 3 day event.  We had a perfect spot where the people filtered in from the parking lot, they all had to walk right past our space.  It even had permanent shade for the donkeys.  We were invited back next year and were told we'd have the same space, so I guess they enjoyed having the donkeys there.  

 Suzanne got everything set up before we got there. Saturday two of our volunteers, Susan and Debra came over to help out.  A lot of interest in the donkeys by adults and children alike.

TABLE BEFORE THE WIND STARTED BLOWING

Suzanne and all 5 donkeys, not easy to get all 5 of them in one shot.

Bella is the only one watching me, the boys are watching the direction the people come from.

Two little girls that spent quite a bit of time visiting the donkeys

Bella seemed to enjoy her outing, that's only the 2nd or 3rd time she's got to go out in public.  Always before her hind legs were too weak for the trailer ride and in fact she went down in the trailer a couple of years ago on a short trip.  We won't haul her on long trips, but if she enjoys being in the public, she can do short trips.  Her legs seem to be a lot stronger than they were when she came here.  

Beefy is still acting like a silly teenage boy that just discovered "girls"............!!  Bonnie the new girl is his favorite.  She likes him too, most of the time.  We have been keeping one in at night and the other one in during the daytime.  Beefy spends his time in solitary pacing back and forth, up and down the side of his pen.  As soon as they are out together he runs to wherever she is and whispers sweet nothings in her ear.  LOL   The last couple of days we've let them out all the time just like the other donkeys.  I sure hope he doesn't keep memories of entertaining the ladies forever, so far it's been 5 months since he was gelded.  I don't know how long he was a breeding jack, but he seems to know his job.....!!  

Tomorrow John and I are headed up to Tonopah to pick up a couple of geldings that will be boarding until probably October.  For years they have travelled back and forth from Colorado with their family, that prefer Arizona winters to Colorado's.  One of the geldings is over 20 years old and the woman has to have a hip replacement this week, so they thought they'd see if boarding works out for them.  Over the years we've boarded quite a few equine.  We always tell the people that it isn't like regular boarding, where they are kept in their own stall and paddock.  They will be out with the rest of the herd, of course Casper will try to let them know he's in charge for a couple of days.  Then they can spend the whole summer just being donkeys.  

It looks like Ruthie may be going to a forever home soon.  Jennifer is by herself on 10 acres of grass and trees and needs a new best friend.  Ruthie came back last year after being out as a foster for another jenny for 6 years.  She is such a laid back mellow donkey.  Eileen came out to visit and thinks she will be a good friend for Jennifer.  We will do a home study hopefully later this week.  Stay tuned.........!!

CHANGES ARE HAPPENING AROUND HERE

Suzanne and the donkeys made it home last night about 7:30pm.  She would have been here earlier but a fatal accident, slowed her progress down.  She had to backtrack which added time and mileage to the trip. 

 Sasha and Mamacita got a new home and stayed in California with Karin Usko and her husband John. We didn't get to say goodbye, but this will be an excellent home for these 2 girls.  Karin had spoken for Mamacita's expected baby last year.   They train BLM burros so they have a better opportunity to get good homes, but wanted a couple of minis also.  One of the BLM burros named Rita loves minis. Suzanne said Rita has already adopted the girls as her new best friends.  

Poor Bella, the girls were part of her herd.  She was rather lost when they left for the week-end.  Siggy and Harley were part of that herd also, so I'm sure they will hook back up, it just won't be the same.  We interfere so much in these animals lives, we decide where they will be, who they will be with and disrupt their natural ability to make decisions for themselves.  I always get a kick out of seeing an advertisement selling a horse that says, something about not riding anymore and he needs a job.  That's human talk, not horse talk.  That horse would probably prefer just to stand around under a tree and watch the world go by. rather than have the life he's use to disrupted and have to learn to try to please new people.  I read something that makes a lot of sense to me.  People are almost never satisfied with their animals accomplishments.  We always ask for more, we expect them to do better, be quicker, and do it without complaint.  "do it again, and just a little bit better than the last time"  I wonder if animals ever think........... "why should I try, it's never good enough"......?

While Frijolita and Ruthie were gone, Tula was the "entertainment" committee for the boys.  It's really interesting to watch the dynamics change from day to day.  Started out with Boaz, Beefy and Casper chasing after her all day.  Next day Oscar decided he wanted to participate, he let Beefy know he wasn't giving up with feet and teeth.  Boaz was still a player and insisted on staying right beside her.  Next day Oscar found something else to do, now the players are, Justice and Casper from afar, just watching the show.  Yesterday Boaz found something else to do, so Beefy is pretty much the only one left in pursuit of Tula.  They were all out together last night, and will be together today as soon as the tours are over.  It will be interesting to see what adding Ruthie and Frijolita to the herd will do to the game.  

Bonnie so far is a loner, she does her own thing and pretty much ignores the other donkeys.  She's walking really good, her gorilla tape bandage is still on her foot.  Tyler will be out the 3rd of April to check on her.  I think she is doing really well and might not need his expertise after that trim.  She is really well behaved and a very nice donkey.  We'll find out how bad her summer sores get when the weather and flies ramp up, which probably won't be too long.  The mesquite are budding, which the old timer's say is the start of spring.  

I guess one walk down was enough for Oscar, he has been going in his pen at feeding time, like that is what he's suppose to do.  WHEW......!!!  Glad we don't have to do another one......!!! LOL 

Might have 2 more boys coming in next week, to board over the summer.  Haven't seen them, just know one of them is named Jackson.  We've never had 2 with the same name here at the same time.  Well we did have Gus and then Big Gus.  The boys are standards, so I guess we can have a Big Jackson....LOL

OSCAR HAS SETTLED IN

 Well, he was a little hesitant at first, of course Casper the little white mini mule had to act like a brat and let Oscar know, he wasn't welcome.  Casper always does this for a day or so, I guess it's a mule initiation of some kind.  Only Casper seems to know the rules....!!  LOL  

Of course at the same time the girls are trying to catch the eye of the new guy and Beefy and Boaz are trying to keep the new guy away from "their girls.  The word chaos comes to mind. There would be mass squabbling going on and then things would quiet down, then someone would bray and it would start all over again.  

After the first day or so, Oscar decided he was still interested in the girls and and let Beefy and Boaz know in no uncertain terms he was in the fight.  He's very quick with his hooves and I'm pretty sure the bite on Beefy's neck was Oscar's contribution to the fun.  After one day of intent attention Boaz removed himself from the battle.  That was about the time Suzanne headed for California with 10 donkeys for the RUN WITH THE BURROS event put on by California Breakfast Burritos.  She took 4 of the girls with her, which cut down on the available girls to chase.  

It finally came down to just Beefy, Oscar and Tula for the most part.  Last night at roundup time, John got Tula in her pen and Beefy and Oscar decided they weren't leaving her pen area.  About 1 1/2 hours later, we managed to get Beefy in his pen and Oscar in his pen.  Beefy wasn't really a problem, although John would get him within sight of his pen, Tula would bray and he'd run back to her pen.  Don't know how many times they did that, but John wasn't amused.......!!! LOL

In the meantime I'm on the trail of Oscar, all over the 10 acres and a couple of side runs into Burroland.  With donkeys once you start you have to finish, or they win.  Of course I couldn't run with him, but I certainly could keep him in sight and let him know I was back there.  I don't know how many times we got all the way to his open gate and he'd mosey past like it wasn't even there and around we'd go again.  I'm proud to say, I didn't fall over rocks or tree branches enough to fall, which hasn't always been true in the past.......!! LOL

This morning he followed Susan one of our volunteers into his pen like he'd always done it that way.  I'm really glad, I didn't want to do it again at least for a day or so........!!!  Usually once you walk them down once or twice, they realize they aren't in charge and will cooperate.  But if you give up, in their mind they won and next time they expect to win again.  

Suzanne has reported in from California, she's had a great time, except for the wind.  One of the pleasures of spring I guess.  She said there were gusts of 50mph which can get pretty miserable.  

Here are some pictures from California to share

Don't know for sure but think this is waiting for the race to start

 Siggy and Mamacita

A closeup of stuff on the table between wind gusts...LOL

A customer with his new best friend, have no idea what it looked like by the time he got it home.  I think it's probably an indoor type of donkey.....!! 

Harley is trying to tell his team mate, the trailer and hay is that direction

Wonder what Siggy is thinking about?  Judging from the tightness of the lead and the set of his ears he might be thinking, this isn't what I had planned for today........!!! LOL

WELCOME TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD OSCAR........

This is the new boy Oscar this morning for his first outing.  He's been here a few days in his pen to acclimate to being stared at by the herd.  We let him and Bonnie out this morning before the others.  She's been going out all day for a few days and is walking really well considering how she was walking last week.  She seems comfortable stays by herself and the others haven't bothered her.  Jennies are a lot easier to introduce into the herd, less drama.  The boys have to decide who's boss.  Casper the little white mini mule has been talking "smack" all morning whenever Oscar gets close to his pen, I'm sure Casper thinks running at the corral panels and squealing is making Oscar go away, but Oscar just ignores him and goes on about his business.  

The next big step will be letting Beefy out for about an hour before round up for feeding tonight.  He hasn't been out with Bonnie, only at night when she is in her pen.  Unfortunately she's a typical jenny with an attractive new guy in town.  When she's out she spends time by his pen, behaving in a very unladylike way, which means his pen has to be fixed.  So far he hasn't torn it down, and hopefully all the introductions can be made and herd integration take place before that happens.  Our pens aren't heavy enough for a determined mammoth, he just hasn't figured that out yet.  

Last week-end was the 3rd annual Donkey Dash in Tombstone.  We had our usual booth and 4 of our minis were in the race.  

Mamacita got to see her last baby Nugget for the first time since he was a baby.

They seemed to recognize each other.  Mama had been a breeder for a guy that sold the babies and we were told she had 5 babies, Nugget was her last one.

Nugget and his team mate Lisa seem to have a difference of opinion at this stage of the race.  Glad they decided to work as a team for a first place finish in the 6 mile race.......!!  

 START OF THE RACE

Fun video of the day

BONNIE UPDATE........

 Dr. Jeremy was out again today.  Suzanne messaged him yesterday because Bonnie was still 3 legged lame and holding that front foot up if she wasn't laying down.  He said he would come out today.  You might know by the time he got here early this afternoon, she had probably blown the abscess on her own.  She's not walking 100% sound,  but he said he doubts that she will for months if ever.  She's going to have to grow some good hoof  and  hopefully internal structure to replace what she's got now.  

John and I are going to watch race cars tonight at Tucson Speedway, but will help Suzanne feed a little early.  Once we have everyone in their pens, we will let Bonnie out to roam around for awhile while we feed everyone else.  She'll get a little exercise and not have to worry about nosy donkeys in her business.

Yesterday Siggy and Beefy were hanging out together.  I told John when Beefy first got here and Siggy was following him all day long, jumping up and biting Beefy's butt, they would probably end up buddies.  If so, it will look rather silly, but stranger things have happened.  The last day or so, they haven't paid much attention to Bonnie.    

BONNIE HAS SETTLED IN........

She's not going out yet for a couple of reasons.  Beefy is bound and determined that he is the answer to her prayers, and I might add, she seems to think he just might be........!!1  LOL  He is pretty loyal and is getting exercise running around and around her pen.  He seems to think there is a way in, if he can just figure out what it is.  

Of course Siggy, the 28 inch micro mini thinks she's pretty cute too, which of course Beefy sees as a threat to his inside track.  He went after Siggy a couple of times and we were afraid if he caught Siggy, he might hurt him because of the size difference.  Couldn't rely on Siggy to give up, he thinks he's 10 foot tall and bullet proof and has no problem wading right into the middle of trouble.  So for a few days, Siggy had to stay in his pen during the day and Beefy stayed in his at night.  Of course Bonnie had to put up with both of them day and night, don't know if she got any sleep or not......!!! LOL

Things have settled down and the boys have reached a level of acceptance and they can both be out together now and Siggy seems to have decided to find other things to do.  YEA.......!!

Tyler and Dr. Jeremy came out earlier this week and trimmed Bonnie's feet.  They decided not to open up the abscesses since they are so close to the coffin bone, so she got her worst foot packed with Epsom salts and wrapped.  The last couple of days she has been pretty gimpy on that foot.  They think she's probably trying to open that abscess on her own.  One thing about abscesses, they can go from barely able to walk, 3 legged lame to instant soundness, if the abscess opens and drains.  She's not 3 legged lame, but she certainly isn't very comfortable.

Suzanne takes videos almost every morning when she comes out and heads for the feed room.  She never knows who's out there until she opens her door.  Looks like there was quite a few out there for this video.  They like to stand in the middle between Suzanne's RV and our house.  As soon as the sun comes up it shines in that area and as a bonus they have access to both doors when they open.  It's usually Suzanne's first, but I guess they don't want to take a chance on someone coming out and they not know it.  

Yesterday afternoon Dr. Jeremy and soon to be "Dr." Haley, her graduation is just around the corner, came out to draw blood for Coggins testing of the donkeys going to California for the Run with the Burros next month.  Suzanne will take 9 donkeys for the 3rd year in a row to this event.  The 2nd of April will be the 3rd annual Tombstone Donkey Dash , we will have a booth set up and some of our volunteers will be running or walking donkeys.  There will be one more race this spring before it gets too hot, in New Mexico.  This will be their 1st pack burro race on May 7th, 2022.........!!  No more races in the Southwest until the weather cools off in the fall.  There will be races in Colorado all summer, where pack burro racing is the summer heritage sport for the state.   

MEET BONNIE......

 

This is Bonnie a couple of days ago, when she got here after a pretty long ride from the Phoenix area.  I knew she had a problem in the summer with sores on her legs which of course the flies love, which causes more sores.  I did not know she has been chronically foundered, probably over a long period of time, and it doesn't look like she has had regular hoof care for a long time if ever.   The next morning she was a little more comfortable and has improved a little more each day, although she is still laying down more than what would be normal.

I got in touch with Dr. Jeremy and Tyler.  Dr. Jeremy came out, took x-rays and besides having ugly feet, she also has abscesses in both front feet.  He called Tyler before he left and they will be out Monday to open up the abscesses and get her feet trimmed.  

She's a real nice donkey, easy to work with and already greets us when we go in her pen.  Of course she expects treats and so far she doesn't care what it is.  

She has a bed sore on one hip, that I'm working on.  Hopefully if she doesn't lay down as much it will heal quickly.   We put wood shavings down for her to lay on.  Unfortunately they stick to everything, including her bed sore.  I put some Vaseline on it tonight, covered it and hopefully in the morning, it will have softened the wood shavings so I can get them off without having to do a lot of scrubbing.

Busy, Busy, Busy..........

 Well, John and I aren't as busy as Suzanne is.  She's been to Empire Ranch with donkeys week-end before last and last week-end she took donkeys up to Black Canyon north of Phoenix for the 2nd annual Black Canyon Donkey Derby.  It sounded like a good time was had by all, and our Harley finished 3rd in his race.....!!!  John and I stay home and take care of the ones that didn't go.  

When so many of the donkeys leave for a couple of days, the dynamics of the herd changes.  Usually Frijolita leads the "A" team as they move  around the property.  Tula is actually the head jenny, so we assume Frijolita is her sergeant.  With Frijolita gone, Ruthie stepped into the job of leading the herd.  Tula never leads, but the herd recognizes her as the head jenny.  I don't think she wanted the job, she really hates it when the boys come into her pen.  John and her have a game they play to get the "riff raff" out.  She watches John and when he is in the right place, she will run out of the pen and of course the boys follow her.  She sees John heading for the gate, and runs back in, so John can close the gate before the boys figure out what happened..........!!! LOL  You can almost see her smile when she outsmarts them like that.  

Kelly one of our volunteers ran with Frijolita at Empire

This is La'roy and Jackson with the vets that did the health checks at Empire.  They ran the course with the boys and had a great time.  

Suzanne and Mamacita at Empire

Black Canyon was a 3 day show.  Besides the races they also had other events like obstacle courses, poop bingo, children's games, and a costume contest.  I didn't hear for sure how many teams there were, but the least number I heard was 58 teams running.  

The next race will be in Tombstone the 2nd of April, the Desert Donkey Dash.  On April 9th the California Breakfast Burritos will have a race in California.  We will not be renting any donkeys for Tombstotne, although some of our volunteers will be running in the race with some of our donkeys.  Suzanne will be taking 10 donkeys to California for that race, so she will have a couple of busy week-ends again.  I think that is about it for races this spring.  It won't be too long before it gets too hot to be outside and expect the donkeys to want to run.  When it gets hot all they want to do is to find shade and stand there until time to eat again. I think they might be a little bit smarter than people, actually I think that quite often..........!!! LOL

Tonight Beefy wanted to play games when it was time to go into his pen for feeding.  He and the "A" team were the last ones in, I went over to Burroland the 20 acres of wild country "ie" donkey playground.  He's still getting raspberry leaves because he is still being too obnoxious with the girls.  Poor Frijolita has "hickeys" all over her body.  Well, they are bite marks, but we've been calling them hickeys.  The raspbetty leaves  seem to help him behave.  He was gelded in Dec, and it will probably take about 6 months for his hormone level to drop to gelding levels.  

Tonight he followed the girls down to their pens and as usual didn't want to leave.  Usually after a couple of minutes of insisting he'll follow you to his pen.  When I have to go out and bring them in, I try to make it as unpleasant an experience as possible and if I can get them to run for the pen area, that's a good thing.  They don't need to come in at a stroll, it's not like they don't know what time it is.  If we're late they usually let us know about it.  

By the time, they got to the pens, Ruthie wouldn't take a carrot from me.  She changed her mind when I went out of the pen and closed the gate, so she got her carrot. Next time she will probably be less cranky about being so mistreated......!!  

Beefy was watching and when I told him to go where he belonged, he just stood there like he had no idea what I wanted him to do.  Got him moving at a pace a turtle would be ashamed of.  Then he went off trail, got him back, he went around the corner and headed the opposite way from his pen.  John had to stand guard to keep him from wandering everywhere but where he was suppose to go.  GRRRRR......!!  Once John was blocking his best opportunity to make me pay for expecting him to be a good boy and go in his pen, he headed for his pen and walked right past it.  Got him turned around and he went in his pen just like it was his idea.  He probably won't do it again, almost everyone of them have tried to see how far they can go at least once or twice.  That's why with donkeys if you start something, you have to finish it, no matter how long it takes

The morning parade

SPRING WINDS.....OH! GOODY......

 In the desert we usually get lots of spring winds, a couple of days ago, it was so bad in the afternoon, they closed I-10 highway east of us because of the blowing dirt.  Almost every year they have accidents in that area because of the dust.  It wasn't too good here either, we tried to keep our mouths shut when outside...!!  LOL

Friday night Suzanne loaded up 10 donkeys and headed for a fun run at Empire Ranch put on by the BRAY Club in the Sonoita area SW of us.  She reported a good time was had by all.  She wrote about it on our Facebook page and since I wasn't there, her report is much more factual than if I tried to write about it, so here it is:

FUN!!!! The Bray Sonoita Stargazer Run put on another awesome event. Too bad the wind did not cooperate.  Forever Home Donkey Rescue & Sanctuary brought 10 donkeys for this event and everyone had an amazing time. Our Koshare and Handler Jenni came in 2nd in the Long course, Our Bella and Handler Julieanne came in 2nd in the short course, Our Sasha and Handler Veronica came in 3rd in the short course and Ruthie with Handler Claudia won the Last Ass award! Our boy Cochise and his handler Heather won the Golden Ass Award. Heather came in 3rd in the long course but disqualified herself because she had become separated from Cochise for about 20 feet. She did not go back to the spot where she lost him so that disqualified her. We are on the honor system and Heather informed the race director when she crossed the finish line. What sportsmanship! Siggy and Handler Renee did the long course and had a blast. Frijolita was with her handler Kelly, Kelly's first time handling a donkey, and all I saw was smiles. Our boys Jackson and La`roy and their handlers the Veterinarians for the event went the extra MILES. They got off course for about 2 miles! Mamacita and our Suzanne worked really hard with training. This is Mama's first event and she did wonderfully! Overall a fun weekend! Thank you Bray Club for all you do for the Arizona donkeys! Now on to The Black Canyon City Donkey Derby this next weekend!

Bella and Mamacita had never participated in any of the races.  We thought Mama was pregnant for months before we found out she wasn't.  The Vets at the check-in said she isn't fat, she's had at least 5 babies in a short amount of time we were told.  They said her muscles are probably just stretched and probably will always be that way.  Bella had never gone because she has poor muscle development in her hind legs.  She had been in a small pen, but since she's been out here running around and getting exercise, her legs are much stronger.  Suzanne said she did really well and seemed to enjoy all the excitement.     

Mamacita looking for her friends that are up ahead

                                                    Mama and her running buddy, Suzanne