LOOKS LIKE MAMACITA HAS TAKEN TO RUNNING

 Karin and John in California have given Mamacita and Sasha a wonderful home.  It looks like Mamacita is going to have to earn her keep, rather than just walking around looking cute.  She sure has those little legs moving..........  Thank you Karin and John for giving the girls such a great home and showing Mamacita how much fun racing can be.  Looking forward to seeing her first race, she looks like she is going to be a fun team member. 

MAMACITA IN TRAINING

Tomorrow should be an exciting day, Willie is suppose to get here tomorrow from Colorado.  We are always excited to have a new donkey come in.  It's interesting to watch them figure out the herd dynamics and eventually they usually find a friend to hang with.  

When Melvin and Big Jackson came in they were totally bonded from being together for a long time.  Once they were out on the acreage, for a few days they split and did their own thing.  They never really hung around with anyone else, but separated from each other.  After a few days they went back together and are still best "buds" I guess.  

I do have an update on Beefy.  As some of you know he had been used for breeding, was 15 years old when he was gelded in December before he came to the rescue in January.  It's been an interesting 6 months.  He has been pretty much of a jerk most of the time.  Yelling and screaming, running after the girls, just in general acting like an idiot with a mission.  

Sometimes he would be very calm and easy to work with, other times....not so much.  The last few days, he has behaved like the gentle boy we always hoped he would be.  He's hanging with Bonnie, most of the time and he's behaving himself, just seems to enjoy her company.  Because she has been chronically foundered, she spends a lot of time laying down in the wash in the soft gravel.  He spends most of the day standing by her and seems very content.  I certainly hope this behavior continues, he's such a sweet boy and as a mammoth he big enough to make your life miserable if he wants to.  Hopefully he is now a bonafide gelding and will continue to act like one.  

NO TOURS THIS SUMMER..........!!!

We've always had tours in the summer, but will take a break this year.  I don't think we will be sitting around eating bon bons though.........LOL   Sometime in June we're suppose to get our new office/store delivered.  It's going to just be the exterior floor and roof, the inside will have to be finished.

This is what it will look like, except it will be quite a bit larger.  The back wall will have a storage room, hopefully so we can get all donkey "stuff" in one place.  Right now it makes my brain hurt trying to remember where stuff is, or if we even have stuff, between the house, feed room, garage, Cisco's room, hay barn etc.........!!!  

It will have a bathroom, the store and Suzanne will finally have an office, with all the office stuff in one place.  Right now it's somewhat like the other "stuff"..........everywhere.......!!!  Hopefully finishing the inside won't take too long.  Suzanne and I have been "shopping" floor and wall coverings, which is a lot of fun.

Suzanne has been living in a 22ft RV for about 4 years and her mom came out in Jan to live with her.  Needless to say it's crowded, so they are getting a mobile home to live in permanently.  It is to be delivered in June or July hopefully.  They won't know what to do with themselves with all that room........!!! 

It's so hot here in the summer here and the donkeys have their fly masks on,  people can't see their pretty faces, so it just seemed like a good time to step back, take a break and concentrate on getting things done.  

I'm sure the donkeys will be disappointed, they really enjoy tours especially the red solo cups with animals crackers in them.  I'm sure it won't take them long in September to get back into the groove.   

We  have 3 gate openers, Frijolita, Bonnie (so we've been told), and Jasper.  Jasper is really good at noticing his gate isn't double locked.  John had a tour today and the donkeys were suppose to be in their pens.  It didn't take long for John to notice that about half of them were out roaming around, and one of them was.....Jasper.  John said the boy on the tour followed Jasper around to watch him open the gates.  John said Jasper actually followed the tour for awhile, he has no shame........!!! LOL  At feeding time if someone forgot to double locked, he will open it and stand outside waiting for his hay.  He just does it to prove he can I think......!!!   

This is Jasper being a roadblock, he figures if he stands in front of the golf cart someone will give him a cookie.  I shared this picture in February, but he looks so cute and innocent I couldn't resist using it again........!! LOL

He's kinda lost without Rosie, they were an item even before Gigi died last year.  We've seen him with different donkeys, but nothing long term so far.  

This Sunday we have a new guy coming into sanctuary.  He's been living in Colorado all his life and  his owner wanted him out of the cold climate.  His name is Willie and we will probably put him in Rosie's pen, next to Jasper.  Hopefully they will get acquainted and become buds.  

RIP ROSIE...........

 We said goodbye to Rosie today.  She had been here about 13-14 years, came in with her friend Gigi.  They were going to be shot and buried, because Gigi was crippled, and the people said Rosie had tumors.  She had been eating alfalfa and grain and was extremely obese, with fat pockets not tumors.

We managed to keep Gigi comfortable for many years with shoes to keep her feet from twisting, but a year or so ago, had to let her go.  Rosie was chronically foundered ever since we picked her up and also had ventral dermatitis every summer.  I had just started doctoring her every morning this week. 

Gigi and Rosie years ago, although blurry it's the best picture I found of them together

Yesterday Rosie came in with a bloody chin, but seemed to be OK, ate her supper.  This morning she ate her breakfast as usual, she really loved to eat.  Had a couple of tours this morning, she participated as usual.  This afternoon Debra one of our volunteers, called me and said Rosie was caught in a corral panel in her pen.  

I ran out there and sure enough she was cast with one of her front feet caught in such a way it was almost impossible to get it out.  Took the corral panel out, dug out underneath and managed to get the hoof out.  Nothing seemed broken, but she couldn't get up.  Every time she tried she banged her chin exactly like she had done yesterday.  So we think she probably had some sort of happening yesterday but recuperated by evening feeding time.  Called Dr. Jeremy and he came out as soon as he could.  He worked with her all afternoon, John even picked her up with straps and the tractor and laid her on a bale of hay, to hold her up but she wouldn't try to stand, so the decision was made. 

 If she had some sort of issue yesterday and another one today she obviously had something serious going on.  Her gums weren't as pink as they should be, in fact were rather blue/grey or light pink off and on all afternoon.  Although she tried to get up a few times, she never put much effort into it.  

As I said I started doctoring Rosie this week for her ventral dermatitis, I also am doctoring Boaz and Cisco every morning.  Hopefully I started early enough this spring that their skin issues won't get ahead of me.  

SNAKE AND GOPHER GUTS

 

This is what greeted us on the courtyard this morning.  Three outdoors cats.... usually they bring assorted hairy critters to the courtyard to consume overnight.  None of them seem to care for inerds, so most mornings when we get up, there are "parts" to clean up.  

This is the first snake I've seen this year.  It struck me as odd the head is missing.  Does that mean someone ate it?  If so, isn't that dangerous, since the poison sack is in the head?  Julius is probably the culprit, but he's acting normal, although I haven't seen Simba this morning.  He is a young tomcat that has been hanging around a few months.  I've tried to trap him to take him to the vet for "corrective" surgery, but he's not interested in being caught.  He'll let me pet him and feed him, but none of the stuffing into a crate business.  

Suzanne and Debra one of our volunteers took 6 donkeys to New Mexico's first pack burro race this past week-end.  Even had time to do a little sight seeing.  

The race was in the little mining town of Cerrillos, about 20 miles from Santa Fe.  Debra had never been to a race, so it was all new to her.  She started out walking with Siggy, but the elevation got to her, so she didn't get to finish, although she said she had a great time.  Suzanne ended up with 2 donkeys.  When Debra had to turn around, Suzanne and Jackson ended up with Siggy as part of their team.  Siggy got a "DNF", but he finished.......!!!

This video is of the start, before Debra had to turn back and Suzanne ended up leading both Siggy and Jackson.  Jackson tried to have a tantrum because La'Roy wasn't within sight.  Suzanne got to turn him in circles until he could focus on the race.  She said he did just fine the rest of way, even with Siggy in tow.  

Suzanne and Jackson practicing circles......

Debra and Siggy are farther behind walking with a pretty good size mammoth.  For some reason the idea of 28 inch Siggy and a mammoth strolling along in a race struck me as hilarious.  Maybe they were enjoying each other's company, who knows........!!!   LOL

    Start of the race from other side of the street

Fly season is upon us unfortunately.  Boaz and Cisco's annual skin problems are starting to become a problem.  As of this morning they will be doctored daily until probably November.  We noticed tonight that it's time to cover Bonnie's bare scarred front legs with men's crew socks for the duration, she's a fly magnet like Cisco and Boaz.  Over the years we've tried lots of different things to make a barrier between donkey lower legs and stable flies, and crew socks seem to work the best.  Bonnie was surrendered to Forever Home for sanctuary because of the fly damage to her legs, so it's not a big surprise.  We'll do our best to keep her comfortable.

I'M BACK...........!!!

 We were only gone over the week-end, so I can't really excuse how long it's been since I updated the blog.  John and I went over to the El Paso area to watch some dirt track racing at Vado Speedway.........!!!  They had 106 race cars for 5 classes and their bleachers were full, really had a great show, lots of dirt flying and enough wrecks to keep the people that like that sort of thing happy.  

This track has only been open about 4 years of course Covid kept it closed for over a year.  It was built from scratch by a racer and is a premier track for drivers and watchers alike.  We drove 758 miles round trip and it was worth it......!!! They race every week, we'll probably try to go ever chance we get, around Suzanne and the burro races.  Next week-end she will be heading to New Mexico with donkeys for N.M's first pack burro race ever.  Suzanne asked Debra one of our volunteers to go with her.  Debra's never seen a pack burro race, so Suzanne asked her to go along and see what makes these races happen.  It will be good for Suzanne to have someone to help her.  She can do it all by herself, but it will be nice to have company.

The 2 new boys Melvin and Big Jackson have settled in quickly with no problems.  We always leave the newbies in for a couple of days to acclimate to the changes in their lives, before we let them out.  Suzanne looked out one morning a couple of days after they got here and they were waltzing past her door........hmmmm  Someone opened their gate, we blamed Jasper, he is one of our locksmiths, Frijolita is the other one.  Jasper is really good at it and the boys were in his old pen.  It hasn't been his pen for years, but it's not a stretch to think he would want to check out the 2 new guys that were enjoying his prior abode.   

They haven't had a bit of trouble blended into the herd.  They aren't pushy with the donkeys and often come up to us if we're outside, just to see what we're doing and see if we are handing out cookies.....!! Here are some videos Suzanne took of the two boys.  They are very friendly and like to be around people.  

JACKSON AND MELVIN

MELVIN

JACKSON

Sunday usually is a good day for volunteers and today was no exception.  Lots of people grooming donkeys, picking up poo, moving railroad ties and hauling obstacle course tires over to a new area that will be the new obstacle course for training.  There is a large cat claw tree in the pen area that has large branches that are split or dead or both.  Sometime ago one of the split limbs fell into Casper the little white mini mule's shelter and he wouldn't go into the shelter even after it was fixed for quite some time.  We noticed another limb was hanging oddly and Suzanne asked Ian and Chris if they could get it down.  We knew if it landed on Casper's shelter he would probably never go in the pen again, let alone into the shelter.  

These guys know what they are doing they, do landscaping and work with trees, so out come the ropes and saws and they went to work.  They took it down in pieces, they were afraid if they tried to cut the limb in one piece that it might fall wrong and Casper wouldn't have a shelter.  They did a real nice job and no one got hurt which is a good thing.  

Suzanne said she looked out one time and some of the minis were standing below where they were cutting and had their muzzles up in the air trying to catch the limbs and wood chips off the saw.  They got ran off, because everyone was afraid if a limb fell they might get hurt.  I guess they just moved to the next pen, to see if no one would notice them.  

Suzanne said she looked and Koshare was sneaking away with a small limb he picked up.  She said he was being very quiet and trying to look nonchalant  as he looked for a place to hide with his prize.  I didn't know cat claw tasted so good..........!!!  LOL  

Bonnie has settled in, Tyler will be here this week to see how her front feet are doing.  I think she is doing really well, but I'm no expert.  Her feet don't seem to bother her and she spends a lot of time, having to contend with Beefy's weight on her back.  He's slowed down quite a bit, but is still rather obnoxious.  We usually let the girls out first, so they have time to disappear.  Beefy gets let out last and he usually panics and starts running around like a maniac yelling for the girls.  He hasn't noticed yet that none of them answer him when he's screaming and running.  He also doesn't notice that they are usually hard to find. They seem to know where to hide..........LOL 

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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