THE MESQUITE BEAN SHUT DOWN IS BEGINNING

This is the problem........!!!!  This is one cluster of beans on one branch of one tree among many on 30 acres.  The beans are just now getting ripe and are still on the trees.  But the taller donkeys have a lot of beans in their poo, so they've figured out how to reach a lot of them.  So far the minis and Casper haven't gotten to share in the bounty, BUT, everyone is getting to spend a lot more time in their pens than usual.  They are staying in overnight, so far they are getting out around noon and then come in about 5pm to be fed.  Usually John would go out about 9pm and let them all out for the evening.  He's still going out, I guess to tell them how sorry he is.  LOL  We've only been on this routine a couple of days and so far they really have been pretty good.  They let us know we've forgotten to let them out, but the only one that really insists that we're derelict in our duties is............Big Gus....!!!  He will stand at his gate and paw.  There's a rubber mat there to keep him from digging a hole for us to fall in.  So he makes sure he catches the lower rail of the gate when he's pawing.  Woke me up this morning and probably will continue to do so, until sometime in September or October, depending on how the bean problem goes. Once the beans start falling the donkeys will lose their afternoon outing and will be penned 24/7. 

Suzanne and her grandkids got back in record time, they even took a side trip thru Colorado, so the kids could see the other donkeys.  Their parents are driving out to pick them up in late July, so Suzanne won't have to take them back. Seems like the last few weeks, she's been on the road more than not. 

They've all been busy since they got here.  They've done chores, and groomed and probably will have the golf cart wore out by the time they leave...........LOL This was John giving a shake down tour I guess, since then they've pretty much been on their own with the cart ever since.  

Mikaela did this picture of Penny for our anniversary, she's very talented.

This is what DJ the pony looked like when he got here May 31st. 

This is what he looks like today.  The mane is gone, Mikaela spent a lot of time brushing him to get all the loose hair off him.  She even did his belly, which he wasn't interested in having brushed when he got here.  He's still got some ribs showing, but he's eating by himself now and we're feeding him senior and high calorie feed.  He was getting fed before, but he was in with 2 mini donkeys.  It was a good home, but I'm pretty sure the donkeys were getting more than their fair share of the hay.  Besides his teeth are worn from him being 27 years old.  We'll get a few more pounds on him, and he probably already has a new home, with donkeys, mules, and horses and a bossy little pony mare.  From what I've heard she rules the herd.....!!!  Shouldn't be a problem, he is very gentle and probably will be at the bottom of the pecking order, once it's re-established.  

This Thursday we're suppose to pick up 4 donkeys, one of which is probably going to be a project.  We're not exactly sure of what can be done for him, until we get him here and have him looked at  by Dr. Jeremy.  Unfortunately he's in his 30s from what we've been told, which limits surgery options.

HAVING FUN IN COLORADO..........!!

 These are a couple of videos from some of the training runs the donkeys have been doing.  Arrow is going to be a runner, he looks like he is having fun.  I hope the links work, I couldn't figure out how to get the videos from Facebook to the blog, so links will have to do.  LOL  I know just about enough computer to stay out of trouble if I'm careful.  Suzanne or Linda aren't here to save me.

 

https://www.facebook.com/cazperez/videos/10103021343834927/

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=260837218517533 

So far today it is 108.5* on the back porch. It's been getting a little bit hotter everyday.  Unfortunately there is no humidity to go with it, no rain in sight.  

The donkeys are hunkered down in shade just waiting for it to cool off.  One thing about the desert, once the sun goes down it starts to cool off pretty quick, if you are away from town.  All the buildings, concrete, glass, asphalt etc in towns hold the heat and sometimes it doesn't ever get cool.  Another reason to live beyond the sidewalks....!!

I think Big Gus is getting better, he's pretty much back to his obnoxious self and this morning I had a terrible time getting his antibiotics down him.  He has to take 9 pills twice a day and of course they aren't small.  But we had been doing really good, I'd break up animal crackers in my hand, mix in the pills and he'd take them, no problem.  This morning I guess he decided I wasn't being fair with  him, he wouldn't even take an animal cracker from me, just throw that big head around to let me know it wasn't happening.  I finally used some of Cisco's precious canned pumpkin to hide the pills.  He wouldn't even look at the pumpkin.  But I put it on his mush, went off, came back and it was gone.  I guess he wins if I don't see him actually eat them........!!!  I would imagine tonight will be a challenge.  He needs to take them at least one more day, with antibiotics you shouldn't ever stop before the minimum time, which would be tomorrow morning.  Wish me luck..........!!! LOL

The mesquite beans are starting to ripen, next they will start falling on the ground, which of course will thrill the donkeys.  If you look at their poo, some of them have already been eating the beans green, off the trees. Well, except for the minis, they aren't tall enough to reach them, thank goodness.  Unfortunately it looks like we'll have as many if not more beans than we had last year. 

John is busy putting some stalls in the Burro Barracks area for the slow eaters.  The Burro Barracks is about 1/4 of an acre, this year we're going to try to move most of them over there, because there's more room than in their pens, like last year.  There are quite a few trees over there, but we are going to rake up the beans, it will be much easier to do 1/4 acre than 30 acres........!!!   LOL Hopefully the monsoon season will bring lots of rain, which will cause the fallen beans to fungus and turn black.  The donkeys won't eat them once that happens.  Some years we don't have many beans at all, but the last couple of years have been brutal. 

ETC

The last few days I have been doctoring one of Big Gus' legs.  He has always had a pretty large gnarly scar on one of his rear canon bones.  (Think shin bone on person)  That area swelled up a few days ago, and I've been keeping in touch with Dr. Jeremy daily and doctoring.  

This morning I noticed a bulge on the side of his leg, and the flies were really enjoying it.  I ran the washrag down it and it started draining.   Don't know if it's an abscess or if there is something in there.  He's been on antibiotics 3 days and his temperature has been normal every morning.  I helped it drain as much as he would allow.  He's really good about letting me to do things to him, but even he has his limit....!!!  

The best guess was cellulitis before this, I'm waiting to hear from Dr. Jeremy if this changes the treatment.

 

Sasha is still ouchy on her trimmed hooves, but it doesn't stop her from roaming all over the property as soon as her gate opens.  But she also is standing within sight of her pen, when it's time to go back in.  Sure doesn't take long for donkeys to learn the drill.  

Jackson and Leroy are usually standing in their pens when we get up in the morning, good little boys they are.  BUT, if it takes too long for John to go out to give them a carrot and shut the gate, they are nowhere to be found and he has to go find them.  

DJ the pony is no problem, he hangs around the pen area all the time.  Yesterday one of the neighbor's came to get hay.  From what I heard, Big Gus, Leroy, Jackson, and DJ "ALL" helped load hay.......!!!  LOL  I think that's the the farthest DJ has gotten from the pen area, since he's been here.  

In the next couple of weeks we will be getting in 4 donkeys.  We went to check them out right before Suzanne headed east for a few days.  When she gets back later this week, we'll go get them.  There is actually 6 donkeys involved, but the people want to keep 2 of them for now.  

Three of them are in pretty good shape.  One of them is an older donkey, that seemed to be depressed when we were there.  He didn't pay any attention to us, and didn't move from where he was standing.  I did notice his sheath was very swollen.  When the woman called to let us know they were releasing 4 donkeys, I asked her how long his sheath had been that way.  She said years......!!!  

I assumed it was from habronema larvae, but won't really know until we get him.  As you know they have a name for everything, including this paraphimosis.  If it has gone on for years, there will probably only be one way to fix it, amputation.  That's not a pretty thought, BUT, neither is dragging a huge blob that probably is a fly magnet around with you 24/7.   I'm anxious to see if we can help him.

I had a good night at the races Saturday night.  Finished 2nd in the heat race and 2nd in the main event.  We race again the 4th of July, I still am driving my poor little Dodge Neon that's been totaled 2 or 3 times.  Everyone has about decided the Cavalier is a "garage queen", one of the neighbor's says I shouldn't drive it, that it's jinxed.  But the guys are talking about getting it up and running in time for the 4th.  I'm not so sure I want to change cars, the Neon & I seem to have a pretty good relationship, I'd hate to mess that up by changing cars in the middle of the season.........LOL

WHY..................!!!!!

I sometimes wonder about humanity and the way they are headed.  Man has never always been a good steward of the earth and it's creatures and resources.  Many people seem to think anything and everything is here for their entertainment or use.  It costs nothing to be compassionate, and caring, yet everyday we hear about incidents that show just the opposite.

https://www.irishpost.com/news/horror-as-donkey-is-rescued-from-being-attacked-by-up-to-20-youths-187059

One of my wishes has always been, that someday there would be no need for rescue and sanctuary for animals.  Articles like the one above make it very difficult to think that will ever happen.

BUT.......

Pictures like below offer hope for the human race.  Thanks Brian Wanke for the pictures of these girls having a wonderful time with some of the donkeys in Colorado.  You can't help but smile to see how much fun the girls and the donkeys are having.  

 

I think this is the best picture of Quilla sharing his tongue expertise with Rosie.  I haven't met these girls, but hopefully I will some day.

Donkey Trudee with new friend Lily.  Looks like some of the others are waiting their turn

Rosie I think, with Boaz

Rosie and Legend

I wish all donkeys in the world could be appreciated and be with people that value them for the amazing animals they are.  I also wish all young boys and girls would be raised to value life.  I've always heard that a society is judged by how they treat their old people, children and animals.  I'm afraid at this time in history, much of society needs a lot of work in all 3 areas.

Sasha, the new little girl with the bad feet, was out all day yesterday.  When it came time for afternoon roundup she was no where to be found.  That usually means the new ones have found Burroland, and either got lost or are having too much fun over there to come back and get stuck in their pen, even if it is time to eat.

John took off in the golf cart and didn't find her.  We went ahead and fed and I took off in the golf cart.  Chances are if one is missing they won't be close to the trails.  I actually went around the trails almost twice before I saw her laying down, in the farthest NE corner of Burroland.  What that means is she was in the farthest corner from where she needed to be.............SIGH....!  I tried to get her up but she wasn't interested.  Because of her feet I didn't know if she couldn't get up after walking all that way, or if she just didn't see any reason to get up.

Got in the cart and went back to get John.  Got a halter and a couple of leads and started thinking about what plan "C" might be.

When we got back, she was up and heading into the brush.  Guess that answered my question, she could get up and was trying to hide......LOL  She let me put the halter on her, put the lead on and she planted her feet.  (It's going to be a long walk back to the pen area)  John tugged and I encouraged from the rear.  She wasn't the least bit interested, until I used the extra lead as a butt strap.  Then she took off after John like it was her idea.  She did think she had a better idea of the best trail to take,  so she'd balk if John went the wrong way. But she actually followed pretty good.

Wonder what she'll be like tonight?  

DJ the pony got his teeth looked at yesterday.  Well, what teeth he has, he's 27 years old, and his teeth are are worn off to the gum line in the back.  One side has a little bit of tooth left, but the other side is completely worn out.  He has pretty good front teeth that were wavy, so Dr. Debra straightened them out.  Wasn't much she could do for the back teeth.  We've upped his pellets and John is shredding his hay and he's eating it much better now.  Hopefully we can get some weight on him.  He's a cute little guy and actually was a good boy for her to work on, once he decided she wasn't going to hurt him.  I think we have a home for him, but we'll keep him until he gets some weight to cover his bones.

I'm suppose to race on the asphalt tomorrow night.  That will only be the 2nd race so far this season.  The Cavalier isn't ready, so I'l be racing the poor little Neon that's been wrecked more than once.... !!!
Hopefully it will be a good night.  The county is talking about requiring masks for anyone outside their home.  If they do my racing season may be over, this time of year it's miserable enough sitting in the car in staging waiting for the race ahead of you to be over with all the safety gear on. Don't think I want to add a face mask to the mix. 

SASHA WENT OUT TODAY

Her feet are still tender, but she enjoyed roaming around.  I don't think she went very far from her pen.  We are going out to eat tonight to celebrate Suzanne's birthday and our 59th anniversary.  We started roundup early because we figured she might be a problem to get back in the pen.  

She rounded herself up and put herself in her pen.  John was escorting someone else to their pen, walked by her pen and there she was.  Not only is she cute she is easy to work with.  

Headed out this morning

 

Not in any hurry

 

This area is just west of the pens and is the only place we saw her

She had to smell just about everything, I guess everything smells different than what she's use to

Tomorrow Suzanne is headed out early, so John and I will be "chief cooks and bottle washers for a few days.  Tomorrow morning we'lll take DJ the palomino pony for a dental appointment.  The flies love his mouth, so I would imagine he needs some attention.  He actually might be going to a new home that has horses.  He's been with donkeys for years and of course we only have donkeys here.  He stays by himself, so maybe if he was around horses, he might find a friend.  We'll find out. 

A LOT GOING ON AROUND HERE.......!!!

Seems like that has become the new norm..........!!!   We had to wait to get Sasha's feet trimmed until Tyler could work her into his busy schedule.  This morning he had time for her........ early....!!

 

This is how her feet looked when she got here

It's not much fun to watch, and I'm pretty sure it isn't much fun to have it done.  But because of the neglect of the people responsible for her for quite sometime, she has to go thru the rehabilitation process.

It is a lot of work to get all that overgrowth off

The power saw really makes it a lot easier, but it's noisy and vibrates and hopefully won't have to be used next time.

I would think she will be glad to have all this growth gone.  But maybe not today........LOL

It's hard to believe these are the same feet

Big Gus' feet were too long for Suzanne to touch up, Tyler trimmed him, so she can have something to start with.  Any attention to Big Gus is just fine, bring it on........!!! LOL

Suzanne, John and I hit the road, as soon as Tyler got done.  We were suppose to go to the NW side of Tucson to see if we could take 3 donkeys.  The people actually have 6 donkeys total, but had said they would keep 3 of them because they have health problems.  The people also have health problems which probably makes it difficult for them to take care of even three.  

We have to keep in the back of our mind that just because we have empty pens right now, that in 3 months we will have donkeys returning from Colorado.  At this time we don't know how many will be coming back.  Olivia went yesterday to see if she and Esperanza could be friends.  From all we've heard they are getting along like old girlfriends, well except for Olivia's propensity for thinking all the food available is hers. 

There are a few others that went to Colorado that are healthy and if they caught someone's eye could be adopted.....but.........we still have to keep in mind pens and donkey count in the future. 

The first thing we noticed was the health problem with the donkeys is habronema fly damage.  None of the donkeys had fly masks on, and had sores below their eyes, which is a common spot.  The woman said the donkeys wouldn't leave the masks on and tore them up.  Unfortunately we are familiar with this problem, which is why we have to buy so many masks each year. 

The oldest gelding is in a pen by himself and seemed to have a lot of damage including his sheath area.  His sheath was very swollen and he didn't draw it up the whole time we were there, which is troublesome.  He also seemed very depressed and uninvolved in what was going on around him.  The others were very friendly and seemed to enjoy attention. 

I don't have names for them

This is the three they wanted to rehome, the mother is on the right and I think the other two are her offspring.

I didn't get a picture of the older gelding or the other two that were in a different pen. 

When we left both Suzanne and John said we have to try to get all six of them.  I will call the people tomorrow and see if they will let us take all of them.  But I still have to think ahead to September.  In the meantime, I think we could help all of them with the habronema problem.  I have a woman that is looking for 2 donkeys, so who knows, maybe we can get them cleaned up and find a forever home for some of them. 

ISN'T OLIVIA A PRETTY GIRL?

Linda sent this gorgeous picture she took of Olivia in Colorado.  She already has a probable new home with a jenny that recently lost her blind donkey friend.  I think Linda said the woman is interested in pack burro racing, so Olivia's life has changed from pasture pet to a possible life as a racer.

Tyler is hoping to get out Tuesday to trim Sasha's long feet.  He works 7 days a week by appointment, so will have to make some changes to work her in.  I wish we didn't have to disrupt other people's appointments, but she really needs to get those feet trimmed as soon as possible. 

She has really settled down, from the first day and seems more than willing to go along with whatever is happening.  She comes over to the corral panel when we go out, so we can pet her or maybe give her a treat.  It sure doesn't take long for us to spoil the new ones.......LOL 

Jackson, DJ and Leroy have settled in, learned the routine and Casper isn't bothering them when they are out, so calm now reigns at Forever Home.....at least until someone new comes on the property probably.  

Yesterday morning before we went out for chores, we heard the thundering of many hooves.  I looked out and saw Leroy and Jackson running in front of most of the other donkeys.  At first I thought the others were chasing them, but on 2nd thought they were just all running in a herd.  The best thing was Casper the little mini mule wasn't anywhere close to the 2 running in front, he was back in the herd, just running for the fun of it I guess.  They did a couple of circles around the 10 acres and then everyone went their separate ways, guess it was just everyone enjoying the cool morning having a little exercise.    

Tomorrow John and I are going to visit with an older couple that have 5 donkeys and want to rehome 3 of them.  I have a woman that is looking for 2 donkeys as pets.............so..........I am hoping I can be a go between to get at least 2 of them rehomed.  Who knows maybe she'd like to have three.......LOL

This picture is so cute.  

 

This is a little 8 year old girl named Elin.  She came out earlier this year with her family to visit with the donkeys and really enjoyed the donkeys.  In fact her grandmother said coming to see the donkeys was about their favorite thing to do in SE Arizona.  Looks like Jasper enjoyed it too.....!!

THE HERD IS GROWING

We had been asked to take this little mini jenny.  Some people moved out of an acreage, other people moved in and a few days later..........SURPRISE.  They had no idea there was a donkey on the property.  As you can see from the picture of her feet it's been awhile if ever she's had her feet done.

 She came out of the trailer letting us know this is not what she had planned for the day.  She looked at us like we needed to find something else to do besides interfere with her life.  I have a feeling she is use to relying on herself and people are just a nuisance. 

I've already e-mailed Tyler the pictures. someone has used a saw-all or something to cut off a lot of the excess length of the hooves.  These have been growing for quite sometime to get that long.  Last time he was here we were talking about getting her and he said if the feet were bad to give him a call.  

The new people had been calling her Sister, I'm sure we can find a better name for such a pretty little girl.............anyone have any ideas? 

QUILLA'S THE MAN.........!!!

It was touch and go this year as to whether Quilla would get to go to Colorado or not.  We don't know how "mature" Quilla is, the only history we have, he was in the same home for 9 years before he came here.   He came here in August of 2009, with bad feet and a lumpy fat physique.

He has taken medication for years for Cushings disease.  Even though the trip back from Colorado was broken into 2 three hundred mile days, when they got here last year, Quilla was down in the trailer.  He was fine when they were in Willcox about 40 miles away but down when they got here.  

This year we finally decided that he would go in Suzanne's trailer and if he did have problems, she would turn around and bring him home.

He did just fine no problems and according to what we are hearing he now has not one, but two girlfriends, Trudee and Olivia.  I'm not sure how that works, but Linda says it's working for him and he's keeping up the pace...........!!!   LOL  Poor old guy will have a heart attack. 

Been a long time since we've seen him trot like this, so I'm really glad he got to go

Looks like he's even wanting to do some burro racing.......!!!  I think that might be a little too much for the old man, he better just stick to his girls.........!! 

ETC.........

The new kids have been going out for a couple of days now and are really doing good.  DJ the pony is still mostly hanging around the pen area and is usually one of the first ones in when round-up for feeding starts.  He mostly is by himself so far.  Big Gus checked him out the first day, but I haven't seen them hanging around with each other.

Leroy and Jackson really enjoy being out of the pen.  The first time we tried to put all 3 of them back in, it took awhile for them to figure out what we wanted them to do.  John found out a bucket with pellets in it being shaken, gets their attention and they will follow.

Yesterday we had a tour.  We started out with everyone in their pens and the plan was to let them out as we went along.  The lady had brought some homemade equine treats, oats, shredded carrots and molasses.  Once those were available we had to stop letting them out of the pens. They obviously are much tastier than animal crackers, which they all love...............!!!  LOL

Jackson and Leroy were the first ones let out and they stayed on the tour all the way to the end.  Even after the special cookies weren't being passed out.  They enjoyed being with the people and getting petted along the way.  So they probably will be good little ambassadors for people to get familiar with donkeys.  I wish I had my camera, but I didn't.

So I will add a video one of the neighbors that lives in the valley took of some visitors he had a few nights ago.  We very rarely even see tracks of javelina on our property anymore.  When we moved out here they were all over this area.  But they probably had a few run-ins with the donkeys and decided to go someplace else that was friendlier.

Linda sent some pictures and videos from Colorado.  It looks like the donkeys are enjoying their change of scenery.

Suzanne and Frijolita checking out some  of the training area.  Suzanne is letting Frijolita do all the work.......!!  LOL 

Benji got to go out on an elk antler hunt.  This is one of the past times in Colorado that we don't have in Arizona.  People go out hiking and looking for antlers.  Not sure what they get used for, but do know the dogs love to use them as chew toys.  I would imagine some people use them in crafts too.

Tomorrow morning bright and early, Suzanne and John will be headed back up to the 3 amigos former home up by Phoenix.  There were some items the family wanted to give us, but Suzanne didn't have room for everything, when she picked up them up.  Some hay and feeders all things we can use.  So I will be feeding in the morning by myself.  It's not that bad, except for all the whining and complaining about how long it takes when there is only one person doing it.  I keep telling them there is only one of me and a lot of them, so they will have to be patient.  Doesn't seem to register with most of them at all.

Next week we are suppose to get in a jenny that was left on a property over by Willcox when people moved.  She's suppose to have bad feet, but we haven't seen her or her feet, so won't know anything about her until she gets here.