Still soaking Jenny's front feet at least every other day. It would be nice if she would stand with her foot in the soaking boot, while she is eating her breakfast & I could go on doing other things. But noooooooooooo..........!!!!!! I am required to keep her company. I don't have to entertain her, but if I try to leave her by herself, I come back & the foot has been lifted, soaking water spilled & she is usually standing on the side of the boot. I honestly don't understand why it has to be done this way, since she usually doesn't move her feet at all, when she is eating hay, at least until the hay is gone.

This morning when we let everyone out of the pens, Rusty the mule took off for Burroland like he had somewhere important to go. Usually he is right with Max the horse & Jack the other mule. I looked to see where they were, & they were in the wash getting ready to lay down, which is a morning ritual. About 10 minutes later he came back over & joined up with them in the wash. It's times like this when I would love to know what they are thinking. He usually doesn't even go on Burroland, the "Horsey Set" stay close to the house just in case we do something in their best interest.

Tomorrow we are taking Lynn the miniature to the Vet to see if they can find something wrong with her. She's acting like her normal self, but we'll take her in & let them look her over anyway. We're also going to take Lucy in to see what is wrong with her belly. She has an area that seems to be itchy, the hair is sloughing off, & there is some swelling. I don't know if something bit her or what. It doesn't seem to bother her although she does appreciate having it scratched. Maybe they will know what it is.

Tomorrow was also suppose to be hay delivery day, but that got moved to Thursday. I'm afraid the price of hay is only going to go one direction, because of gas prices & also hay fields being turned into corn fields because of ethanol. So rather than wait until the new hay comes in at higher prices, we opted to go ahead & get a year's supply now at this year's prices. It hasn't been but about 4 years ago that hay was half the price it is now. AH.........!!!! guess that was the Good Old Days..........!!!!

BACK IN THE GROOVE........!!!

Back to soaking & doctoring, those that need it. This is Jenny with her right front foot in a soaking boot. She still seems ouchy on her left front. I've checked it & can't see anything amiss or afoul. With her past record it's possible she might have an abscess but I haven't found anything in my poking & prodding.

Chester is limping a little more than he was for a week or so. A couple of days ago, I noticed a tiny amount of pus at the bottom of the incision on his leg. Not good news, but I'm hoping the small amount & being open, is a good thing. He is still on antibiotics & will stay on them as long as necessary.

Lynn has an appointment with the Vet this week. She's still moping around, not really sick, but not really perky either. Today we left her in the pen to make sure she is pooing & peeing. Needless to say she thinks we have lost our minds & is pacing the fence. Earlier when Cheyenne & Justin were eating hay, she was laying down rather than eating. Very unusual for her.

Starting to see a few more flies, although we haven't started putting fly masks on the whole gang. Just the ones with a blind eye, also Rusty the mule. He's white, the skin around his eyes is pink & he has allergies. So his eyes stay a lot cleaner with a regime of benedryl & a fly mask. Both he & Jack the other mule, put their heads down to have the mask put on. That's about the most cooperative they ever are..........!!!

BACK FROM OKLAHOMA

Made it back yesterday afternoon about 1:30. A little over 2400 miles in 5 days & had time to visit with friends & relatives in 3 different areas & attend a funeral in Stroud. Didn't see a wreck the whole time, & as far as I know didn't cause one, so it was a good trip.

I think John was the only one excited to see me, & that could be because he was tired of doing chores by himself........!!! Everyone looked good, although this morning Lynn one of the little minis is "off". She's not eating, which is absolutely abnormal for her. She's laid down a few times, although she isn't acting like colic. She has guts sounds & has pooed. I gave her a shot of banamine. We'll keep her in a pen today by herself, for observation.

This morning I noticed Lucy had a messed up area on her belly. Checked it out, & she has had a wound of some kind, & she's itched it, so a lot of the hair is missing. The wound is dry & almost healed, so it probably didn't happen on John's watch, which he was quick to point out.........!!!!

Chili was showing off this morning. When he came over from Burroland, Gus was already in the pen with the gate shut. So Chili went around to Jenny's gate, opened it, went thru her pen & opened the gate into his & Gus' pen. When he does something like this, you can tell from the look on his face, that he is proud of himself. I guess later John was taking too long to get the hay, because he opened the outside gate to their pen, & stood halfway in & halfway out. I was in the feed room watching him. After he stood there awhile, & no one came to see his accomplishment, he went back in the pen, with the gate still open.

Everyone else seem to be doing good, although Jenny seems to be a little "light" on her left front. That foot looks the worse on x-rays internally, but the right one looks worse externally. I didn't get a chance to soak her feet this morning, but will tonight, if I have time. Even being gone just 5 days, sure puts me behind.

GONE FOR A FEW DAYS..........!!!!

I'll be out of town for a few days, headed for Oklahoma taking my Mother back for a visit & unfortunately also a funeral . John will be the "chief cook & bottle washer" while I'm gone. Hopefully everything will go smoothly & he won't have to deal with any crisis'. I've had Chester on Naxcel for about a week, but will put him back on Baytril by mouth while I'm gone. John doesn't "do" shots..........!!!!! Chester's not been getting any pain meds & is walking very good..............!!!! YIPPEE!!!!

We've been soaking Jenny's feet & she stands pretty still for the experience ........for which we are eternally grateful. She'll get a break while I'm gone though. White Lightening doesn't have to be done everyday to be effective, so I'll start with her again, when I get home.

Till next week.......

When we brought Chester home from the Vet, he wouldn't come out of the trailer for almost an hour. The welcoming committee might have been part of the problem. This is just part of the group, that came by to check him out. Justin the mini on the right even went "in the trailer, out of the trailer, in the trailer, out of the trailer". I don't know if he was trying to show Chester it was OK or what.

I'm happy to report that Chester is walking with almost no limp since his trim. I'm going to try to wean him off the bute again. But he will continue to get antibiotics for the foreseeable future. I have to make a quick trip to Oklahoma for a few days, but will probably get in touch with Dr. Taylor when I get back & see how long we should give antibiotics. Maybe I'll send him a video, showing Chester running & bucking.

We've soaked Jenny's foot twice & she has stood still for the process. We found out keeping hay in front of her seems to keep her busy enough she forgets to fidget & try to walk off. Tomorrow we will try to soak her foot while she is eating hay in her pen & see if that works. She's really being a good girl about it. We are soaking her foot in White Lightening which really made a difference when she first got here last year & had infection oozing out of her foot.

Got a call today from a man with 2 jenny's that need to be rehomed. I keep a list of people that are looking for donkeys, & sent out a couple of e-mails & it sounds like there might be a match..............!!!!! Wouldn't that be great?

CHESTER GOT HIS TOENAILS TRIMMED...........

This is how it's done, because he can't stand on 3 legs to be trimmed. We hauled him to the vet & he got to take a nap while Courtney gave him a pedicure. He did just fine, managed to step on John's foot when he stood up afterwards, which John didn't seem to enjoy..........!!!!
This is him meeting a new friend, after he woke up. The alpaca came in to see the vet & had a fit until his mom led him over to see what Chester was.

Once Chester got steady on his feet, we came home & Courtney trimmed Jenny & Lucy. Pepper's feet were good this time. Those 3 have all been foundered & their feet aren't healthy. Everyone else seems to keep their feet tidy on their own. Courtney didn't like all the cracks in Jenny's right foot, & started pulling off hoof material. Sure enough, she found infection hiding in the hoof wall. In the process of trying to scrape it out, she went thru a thin spot, which made Jenny react. Her head caught John in the chest, & he said he heard something pop. At least that's what he said when he finally could breathe..........!!! We poked around & nothing grated, & he's doing fine today, although he's sore.

This morning both Jenny & Chester are walking real good, which is great. But because of the infection, Courtney wants us to soak her feet for awhile. I have bad memories of attempting to soak her feet right after we got her. She is not the most cooperative young lady & is big & strong enough to make her point quite clear...........!!! Sigh!

COLD & WINDY.............!!!!!

Today has not been springlike. At least the sun is shining brightly, but the wind really has a bite to it.

Last night when I started rounding up the equines, I wasn't surprised that Tula had the donkeys with her over on Burroland. I went over as usual, pointed & told her to "GIT"...........!!! She took off with her little band & headed for the pen area as usual. So far, so good. Somewhere between, "GIT" & the pens, she decided to make a dash for freedom I guess. Chester & the minis joined right in, & old Pepper tried his best to keep up, although at a walk he lost ground rapidly. They were, head down, flat out running as hard as they could, made probably 8 or 9 trips around the 10 acres. She would come up to her pen, I would stand back watching, so as not to "upset" her & all of a sudden she would spin & take off again. The others thought it was jolly good fun, & the only thing I could think was, "the minis really need the exercise" & I don't.........!!!! Finally she stopped running, & sauntered into her pen. Lynn went in the pen with her, & didn't want to leave. She sure has latched onto Tula as her leader, just in the last few days. I figured Chester would be 3 legged lame by this morning, but it didn't seem to bother him at all, which is wonderful........!!! Poor old Pepper went as far as he could & just stood there, so I put a halter on him to take him to his pen. Sometimes he seems to forget where he's at or what he's suppose to do, so it's easier to lead him than get him to follow.

MUST BE SPRING, IT'S WINDY..............!!

This is looking down a row of 6 pens that have been opened up after morning feeding. There are 5 or 6 donkeys, mules or horses, in the pens & none of them are in their own pen. It seems the word on the street is, we're feeding better hay to everyone else than we are feeding them. So when the gates open, everyone plays "musical pens". They will eat the same hay they left in their pen, like it's wonderful, as long as it's in someone else's pen. In a lot of ways, they are just like some people, never satisfied I guess........ (G)

John wasn't here last night to let them out of the pens. He usually lets them out about 9:30. When I'm in charge I wait until the news is over at 10:30. When I went out a hour late, Chili & Gus had rearranged their pen. It's a 30 x 36 rectangle, at least it's suppose to be. I'm not sure if I remember my algebra lessons or not, but I think they made it into a trapazoid, or worse. We don't have any fence challengers in the group, so we've never bothered to "nail" down the corral panels. It's safer if they are not attached to the ground, that way if someone does panic & hits the panel, it will give, rather than be solid. John put it back to being a rectangle this morning, & after they finished their hay, they started working on redesigning it again. Chili also has an irritating habit of putting both front feet up on the first rung of the corral panels. I'm not sure if he does it to get taller so he can see something, or if he does it to irritate me. If it's to irritate me, he's accomplishing his task........!!!!

Tula, my sweet young lady (NOT), is back to leading the rebellion again. Morning & night she's usually got most of them with her over on Burroland. Although one of us has to go over & remind them that it's time to come over here, all we have to do is find Tula & point to the gate. She usually takes off at a fast trot & heads for her pen, with a rag tag bunch following at different speeds. This morning Lynn one of the little minis decided that she couldn't be separated from Tula for any reason, even to eat. After a couple of abortive attempts at herding Lynn to her pen & away from Tula's, I finally had to halter & lead her. Then she paced back & forth in her pen, squalling & bawling, rather than eating. I think this all means that Tula is in charge & not us, at least according to the donkeys. I'm still thinking about getting in touch with Peaceful Valley Donkey Rescue in California & see if they would take her. I don't think there is any way she will ever be comfortable with people, & they have plenty of donkeys for her to lead.

EIGHTY DEGREES & SUNSHINE..........!!!

Can't beat this weather, although I notice most of the donkeys are already looking for shade, when they go out. Makes me even madder when I see an equine stuck in a little pen in the heat of summer with no shade. If they want shade at 80 degrees, just think of how miserable they must be when it's over 100 degrees.

http://tuesdayshorse.wordpress.com/2008/03/11/royal-asses-discovered/

I haven't learned how to effectively embed a link & always have it turn blue, so all you have to do is click on it. The link above will need to be highlighted, copied & pasted in the Address Location Bar, if you want to read the story of the Royal Asses. It's quite interesting.

Everything around here is going well right now. We had a tour this morning of some nice people from Alaska. Tomorrow we're suppose to have some people come out & help John put up a new shelter in Tula's pen, which will be nice. It seems like we always run out of time before we run out of projects, so it will be great to have some extra hands to help.

Chester has been walking pretty good, so I quit giving him his pain meds. This morning he was limping a little more than he had been, so I started him back on the bute. I hate to give it to him long term because it can cause stomach ulcers, but I certainly don't want him in pain. It looks like we will be hauling him to the vet clinic next Monday & the trimmer will meet us there. The vet will put him to sleep & while he's "resting" Courtney will trim his toes. I'm hoping, if we get a good trim on him, that he will keep his feet trimmed roaming around in the sand & gravel.

After being here for about 5 years, Sha'ba has started going over on the 20 acres we call Burroland. The first day I thought he had gotten lost or something, but since then we have seen him determinedly headed north on his new adventure. What he does over there I have no idea, over here he usually stands under one of two trees or lays down during the day.

This afternoon I went to visit with Belle & Shiloh in their new home. They paid almost as much attention to me, as they did the day we delivered them. Until they saw the halter in my hand, then they paid attention as they ran for the farthest corner of the 3 acres on alert. We followed them around for a little while & finally Belle gave up & let me put the halter on her, as Shiloh watched from a distance. I vaccinated her, & Cathie put her arms around Shiloh's neck long enough for me to halter him, so he could be vaccinated. They weren't even happy about the cookies, I always give after shots. I had to stuff a cookie in Shiloh's mouth & don't know if he ever ate it or not. He hadn't when I took the halter off & let him go.

Tonight at feeding time, Tula was leading another rebellion, she had 9 of them over on Burroland, ignoring the bell. They finally started moseying over the wash one or two at a time, until only Tula & Jenny were missing. They didn't come over until I had already put out the hay. Tula literally ran into her pen, like she was late, silly girl.

Jenny has managed to catch Chili's eye, so poor Gus is odd man out most of the time. When Chili & Jenny go off together Gus stays with the horsey group, & they seem to accept him, so I guess he doesn't mind Chili having a girlfriend. They still hang out together, if Jenny isn't around.

I've given up looking for the salt pan, I'm sure it's out there someplace, but it's going to have to find me........!!!!

THE SALT PAN HAS NOT RETURNED..........for those that have asked. (G)

Chili & Gus have moved on to bigger & better things. They do seem to appreciate the extra space in their pen, so they can wrestle, while meals are being prepared. This morning Gus discovered he can get in the way when we're cleaning pens & we will pet. Our idea is......if we pet a moment they will go away. His idea seems to be....... if I keep bugging them, they will keep petting. Actually he isn't the 1st one to come up with this idea, Sha'ba, Lynn, Cisco & some of the others have poo picking interference down to a science.

Chester is still doing well, he is limping, but I would be very surprised if he didn't have a permanent limp. He had about 9 months of infection buildup below the elbow. The surgery in November was pretty aggressive as far as trying to make sure they got all the infection they could possibly find. I'm not sure what aggressive really means, I do know they had to break & scrape off erratic bone growth below the joint, which probably isn't condusive to 100% soundness, even if we do manage to kill off all the infection. This morning he was trying to get Buddy Brat to play with him. He & Justin one of the minis play quite often. Justin use to play with Shiloh, so once Shiloh went to his new home, Justin had to find another play buddy.

Justin has never figured out he is little, he might weigh 250 pounds, most of the standards weigh around 500 pounds. Chester is a little larger, maybe 600 pounds. When all the bigger guys play with Justin, you can tell they are being careful. They seem to enjoy the playing, but they are more subdued than when they play amongst themselves.

Pepper had to stay in last night, with his blanket on. It was in the low 20's & tonight is suppose to be the same. Poor old boy hates to stay in, but he is so thin he really needs to have a blanket on when it's below freezing.

WHAT HAPPENED TO SPRING.......??????

Last night instead of the 31 degrees we were suppose to have it was down to 24* at 2 am........!!!!! I had not put blankets on Sha'ba & Pepper. I was afraid it would be in the teens before daybreak & also John hadn't turned the light on in the box where all the faucets come out of the well house. So I got out of my nice warm bed & headed out for damage control. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to find Pepper, as he was out with the rest roaming the property. I ran across Max & Rusty, everyone else was under the trees somewhere I guess, including Pepper. Sha'ba has always stayed in his pen at night, so he got a blanket. Today it's warm & sunny, but it's suppose to be cold again tonight. I hate to put a blanket on Pepper because then he has to stay in a pen. As far as he is concerned there is nothing worse than being in a pen, especially when everyone else gets to go out.

This morning John enlarged the pen that Chili & Gus eat in. Last night when they went in to wait for supper, they got bored & started wrestling. We were afraid they were going to tear down the corral or the shelter, so he added another corral panel to make it 12 feet longer. Hopefully that will give the boys enough room to act silly. They reminded me of 2 teenage boys wrestling in the hall at school, not paying any attention to their surroundings.

I've already put fly masks on Jack the mule & Sha'ba & it's only March. Both of them only have one eye, so we don't take any chances, as soon as a fly shows up, they get fly masks. Jack always stands real still when I put it on, I think he enjoys wearing it.

AND THE PAN IS STILL MISSING..........!!!!!

OK, GUYS WHERE DID YOU PUT THE PAN?

For years Sha'ba's salt block has been resting quietly in one of the black rubber tubs in his pen. No one bothered it, until now. Yesterday not only did it get pulled out from under the salt block, it has completely disappeared.....!! I have no idea where it is, although I assume it is still on the property, & I am not pointing fingers............BUT a couple of names do come to mind.......!!!!!! This morning either Chili or Gus stomped one of the plastic feeders wrong side out & I know it was one of them, because they were in the pen where it got stomped. John tried to straighten it out, & found out they can do things he can't fix. Now if he could just find the missing rubber tub..........!!!!

At least Tula is giving us a break right now. She hasn't led a rebellion in a day or so. This morning she was actually a little friendly. I always offer her hay out of the tub I carry it in, before I put it in her manger. Usually she doesn't even look at me. This morning as soon as I offered it, she came over & took a bite. We've been going thru this little scenario for 1 1/2 years. I would imagine tonight she will ignore me again. Would love to know what goes thru her brain, when we have these battles of wills.