GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS.........!!!

Well the bad news is we caught another skunk, but the good news is, one trap was empty this morning. So we can only hope traffic is slowing down. We'll haul the chickens to the garage again tonight & set the trap over in their pen. I had put moth balls in a couple of holes the skunks dug in the chicken pen. This morning there was moth balls thrown everywhere. .!!!! (G) Hopefully the one we caught was the culprit.

It's been getting cold enough every night to put blankets on Pepper & Sha'ba. That means Pepper has to stay in the pens all night. John gives him extra hay, he has a warm blanket, but he still fights like a weak tiger at the gate, wanting to go out. Sha'ba is a homebody, he likes his pen. Right now he is busy eating prickly pear. They seem to eat different things at different times of the year. Someone told me cactus is high in vitamin C. I know he doesn't seem to mind sticking his face all the way in & getting dozens of spines & little tiny hairlike stickers that are almost impossible to find once they are stuck in your skin. He comes in looking like a porcupine with his whole face covered & usually wants to be loved on.........!!!!! YIKES! We've given up on pulling them out, unless they are close to his eye or inside his nose. They don't seem to bother him near as much as it bothers us to see them.

Judy seems to be walking much better although still has a slight limp. I'll continue soaking her foot until there is no more limp. I've been putting ichthammol on the area by her heel bulb that looks like a small split, assuming that is where the problem is. I know one thing, she's got one very clean hoof.......!!!

I MAY BECOME A SKUNK MURDERER.........!!!

We're up to 7, this morning we caught not only a hooded like the other 5, but a striped one. Good grief, they are calling in the neighbors......!!!! (G) Sardines seem to be a big hit. We've updated our approach, instead of taking them 1/4 mile away, they are going about 4 miles now. John loaded the traps into the bronco, left the tail gate open, one of them was rather smelly & hauled them to the Tres Alamos Wash. He said the first one sauntered out & was sitting in front of some brush when he let the 2nd one out. The 2nd one shot out like a bullet & ran over the other one. Now these guys are different types, but the last time John saw them they were running together up the wash.

The chickens are getting use to being dragged off their perch in the dark, & stuck in a cage. This morning while I was removing them from the cage, Rowdy the rooster decided not to wait. He hopped out of the cage & jumped down into the pen with the girls. John cut another "door" in the cage this afternoon, so we can open it & they can walk out, rather than me dragging them out the door in the top.

I'm still soaking Judy's foot. I think the abscess has opened, she's walking good, but I'll soak for another day or so just in case. She also might have some thrush. I've never had much dealings with thrush, so I'm not sure if it's just smelly feet or actual thrush. But it is black & it is smelly. After I soak that foot I've been spraying the bottom with a bleach solution. I am going to change over to Lysol tonight I think. I had planned on wrapping her foot once the abscess opened, but don't want to, if there is a possibility of thrush.

Set 2 traps last night, had 2 skunks this morning. That makes a total of 5...............so far. We were told that you have to take them 15 miles away to make sure they don't come back. That would be downtown Benson, not sure the city folk would appreciate skunks as new neighbors. I bought some sardines for bait today. John says they are probably telling all their friends to come to our place, the food is good, you get to spend the night covered by a nice warm blanket & you get to go for a ride in the wagon, although it would probably be nicer if the road was a little smoother. We've talked about spray painting a spot on them before we let them loose, so we could tell if we have repeaters. But we haven't decided who's going to do the spraying yet.

We went to town this afternoon & came home to find Judy out roaming around, thanks to Chili. He's such a helpful boy........!!!! I'm soaking her foot twice a day to hopefully help the abscess open up, so it isn't so painful for her to walk on it. She should walk as much as possible to also help it open up. But the vet thought the others might bother her if she was out. Actually I've never seen anyone attempt to intimidate her, so I think she is probably safe to be out moving around as much as she wants to. I've found out she does better in a soaking boot, if she can't see me. If I'm around her, she wiggles & squirms & lifts her foot up. But I found out if I soak her while she is eating her hay, & go off doing other things she stands still.

It looks like Chili will be going to a wonderful new home next week, along with Twinkie, & Frijolita will be coming out here to stay. We will haul Chili into Tucson, pick up Twinkie & take them to their new home. We haven't decided whether to pick up Frijolita at the same time as Twinkie, or come back & pick her up after we deliver Chili & Twinkie. Probably decide once we get into Tucson.

NEW JOB DISCRIPTION....SKUNK WRANGLER

Actually John is getting more experience than I am. We caught one skunk Monday night in the back yard. When John went over to shut up the chickens, we found another one behind the nesting boxes. So we gathered up the chickens, we only have 7 hens & Rowdy the rooster, thank goodness, & put them in the garage for the night. Set the trap & sure enough, yesterday morning we had caught another one.

This is a good way to move a skunk, if you don't want to get sprayed. They won't spray if you cover the trap with a blanket. So John hauled him about 1/4 mile away close to the San Pedro river. When we let the 1st one out it was dark, we opened the trap & it took off. This time it was daylight, with a close proximity to the golf cart. You can guess where this story is going............!!!!

The golf cart looked like a nice dark place to hide, & away he went. John thought that might not be a good idea, got a stick & poked him. It wasn't a full blown spray, but he did let loose enough to let John know he would prefer to be left alone. John agreed, & walked back home. We finished chores, took the quad down & retrieved our smelly golf cart & hay wagon.





Came home took the chickens back to their pen & life goes on. John went over to shut them up last night & there was a skunk running around in the empty pen. Same scenario as the night before, including moving the chickens to the garage, except I had run out of brisket fat & had to resort to tuna salad as bait.


This morning we had another little guest, & evidence where some of his close friends had tried to dig him out of his prison. So we think that probably means, tonight will be a replay of the last 2 nights.

We're becoming such good wranglers & seem to have an almost endless supply of hooded skunks, we're going to borrow another trap & set 2 each night instead of one.

Just got a call from the vet office & they are going to be out in our area & want to come by to draw the blood from Judy Mule for her Cushings retest. That will save us having to haul her into the office again. Right now she is still pretty lame on her left front. I soaked her foot yesterday morning & last night she was walking good. But this morning she is lame again. Which pretty much sounds like a hoof abscess. I poked & prodded when I soaked her yesterday, but couldn't find any place that was sore. I'll soak her again today, but this time I might wrap her foot with some drawing salve & hopefully if it is an abscess it will open & stay open to drain.

The skunks got another chicken last night. We thought we had all the entry areas covered, but obviously skunks are smarter than we are. We are going to try to set the live trap in the pen tonight with something tasty. If we do catch one then we'll have the problem of hauling it off, without us getting sprayed. And where do we haul it, far enough away, so it won't come back. We use to complain about the neighbor's dogs running loose, but at least we didn't have a skunk problem at that time. Guess we should be careful what we wish for sometimes.

Right now I'm involved in a donkey adoption that is going to be more involved than normal. A young woman that lost her older jenny to colic, came to visit a few weeks ago, & fell in love with Chili. Chili actually still has an owner that is having health problems. He had been staying here until she could figure out whether he could come home or not.

We found a wonderful home for Twinkie a few months ago, but since then her family needs to down size. Chili actually prefers girls over boys & has never really bonded with anyone here. He hangs with the group, but doesn't have a buddy. Soooooooooo I called Chili's owner & she agreed that this would be a good home. I called Twinkie's family & they also agreed to rehome Twinkie with Chili. So it's just a matter of getting them picked up & taken to their new home........!!!!! Incidently we will be gaining Frijolita, a friend of Twinkie, that is having weight problems. So although there will be donkeys moving here & there, we will still end up with the same number we have now.........!!!!! I don't think we will ever get downsized, although we keep trying.

SKUNK UPDATE:

Two nights ago, the skunks got into the chicken pens & killed one of the chickens. They dug under the fence, that is buried in the ground. We looked around & assumed they left the pens for the day. John fixed the fence, & put chicken wire over the chain link fence areas. Last night he came back from checking on the chickens & said he had a big problem. Both skunks were in the pens & the assumption was they had been in there all day, since John thinks he got the pen fixed so they couldn't get back in. They weren't in a mood to leave, so we took the blind chicken that had been in the pen where they killed the other hen, & put her in a carrier in the house for the night. Locked all the other pens & left the outside gate open. Sure enough they were gone this morning, actually John just saw one in the back yard........tonight.....!! I hope when he goes over to the chicken pen tonight, they haven't figured out another way to get in. I wish they would find another place to "shop". They even dig in the manure piles, looking for grubs.

This morning when everyone came in from Burroland, Judy the mule came in almost 3 legged lame on a front leg. I cleaned out her hoof & tried to check her leg. She seems to be trained to raise her leg if you touch it, which makes it difficult to know if she is reacting to your touch or just being a good girl & raising her leg because you asked her to. She has no swelling or heat in the leg I can find, although she seemed a little touchy around the elbow. She has a history of foundering, but her feet are the same temperature as everyone else, so I don't think that's a problem. She had to stay in her pen today, so I could watch her. She didn't really seem to mind, especially when she got some extra hay this afternoon. Usually when she's out during the day, she doesn't go very far away anyway.

I called to see how Gus is doing in his new home. They said he's settled in & he & Leo the horse are usually hanging around pretty close to each other. That should be a great home for him. We have a couple more that are looking for good homes, although we're not looking very hard.

OH! WELL.......!!!

There are actually 14 equine in this picture. I counted them before I took the picture, but three of the minis are behind some of the bigger guys.

Got a call from the vet clinic today. Although they called the lab almost 2 weeks ago to order the correct blood tubes to run Judy's ACTH test, it seems that the lab sent the wrong tubes. So the blood drawn Wed was for naught & we are waiting for the lab to send more tubes, hopefully the correct ones, so we can do it again............!!!!

The skunks are still around, although they haven't gotten into the house again.............YET! One of them waits out in the yard, until Hobo the outdoor cat, comes in to be fed. Then unless one of us stands by while she eats, the skunk comes in & runs her off. It would be nice if she would come in before dark, like she did for awhile. But for some reason she has decided she would rather eat in the dark.

We've gotten a little rain the last couple of days. I have never understood why everyone donkeys, mules or horse will stand in their shelters until the gate is opened. Then they leave & stand in the rain all humped up & looking miserable. When it's raining, we usually move their feeding area into the shelters. They all accept this change, except for Max the horse, & Tula, our wild child. Max will stand by his hay bunk, in the rain for a long time, even though he saw me put the hay in the shelter. He will stand & watch the hay cart as it moves down the line of pens, like I forgot to drop his off. He talks to me the whole time. Finally when he sees that the cart isn't coming back, he will go into the shelter & eat. Which leads me to believe he knew all the time it was there. But "it isn't like it's suppose to be".................!!!!

Tula on the other hand, hates to go into the shelter for any reason. She doesn't care how bad the weather is, she is a natural lifestyle type of gal, & prefers the wide open spaces. So when we put her feed under the shelter, it's really horrible from her point of view. She will stand in the middle of her pen, & literally scream at me, as I move down to the lower pens. She holds out longer than Max before she will finally go under the shelter. But if there is any noise or if she sees anything move, she pops back out in the open.

We took Judy to the vet today to have blood drawn to test her for Cushings. She goes in the trailer just fine, but "walks" for the whole trip. And she is heavy enough that you can feel her back there moving back & forth. She was a good girl for her blood draw. We should have the results back in a few days & everyone that has seen her agrees that she looks like a Cushings type of gal. So we'll start her on pergolide as soon as we get the results & have some idea of how much to give her every day.

Came home & there was a rather large box sitting just outside the gate. We always ask that anything we order be delivered to my Mother's house in town. The UPS driver's try to open the gate, drive in, deliver & drive out, before closing the gate. I realize they are in a hurry, but if the donkeys got out, it might make for a fun afternoon for us & the UPS driver.........!!!! (G) I had ordered an insulated waterer for Sha'ba's pen. Unfortunately when we set up the pens, we put the oldest skinniest little guy in the coldest pen & his water will freeze first & hardest on a cold night. I guess the company didn't notice a different delivery address than the billing address.

The box was sitting outside the gate, but of course once it was discovered & deemed something worth investigating it didn't matter which side of the gate it was on, the donkeys could reach it, mouth it, grab the cardboard & rip off big pieces & throw it everywhere. The insulation for the waterer is foam, luckily they didn't have time to delve deeper into their project, so it was still intact.

This is the 2nd time recently they've found a package to play with. The other one was a box of home grown Pennsylvania potatoes from some dear friends . Thank goodness the donkeys weren't interested in the potatoes, but there was no box left & they had strung potatoes EVERYWHERE. I don't know what the facination for cardboard boxes is, probably the thought that it isn't suppose to be there. They are always in John's assorted piles of "treasures" up by the garage. If he adds one little item to a pile by the next day it will be moved or dragged far enough away, he has to look for it. They remind me of cats, when it comes to noticing something new or different.

Well today has certainly been interesting.............!!! When I got up this morning I went in the spa room to water my poor little gardenia that has managed to survive in spite of my brown thumb. I noticed the folding door that covers the washer & dryer was half cocked & I heard shuffling noises. My assumption was one of the cats was in there messing around. I smacked the side of the dryer & a cat would have come flying out.........hmmmmm! I headed for the living room & both cats were there..............hmmmmm! We had a skunk show up a few days ago to help Hobo the outdoor cat eat her dry food, if we don't pick it up when she is finished. For some reason John didn't believe me, until he checked it out himself & saw "something" in the trash can that was now laying on it's side facing the back wall. We didn't do a real close study, but did notice that it was black & white, & the dryer duct was no longer attached to the outside vent, so our assumption was...........SKUNK........!!!! Now what? Our answer to the problem was, shut the inside doors to the spa & open the outside door, hoping our little visitor wouldn't mind leaving in the daylight, even though they are a nocturnal type of weasel.

Martha came today to massage Chester & Max. Courtney came to trim feet on those that needed it. Chester was very good about his feet, & actually stood on his bad leg long enough for her to do a quick job on his other leg. This was the first time Judy the new mule had been trimmed by Courtney, & she did pretty good at least on 3 feet. She decided to make a fuss about one hind leg, but nothing dramatic. Courtney also thinks she is probably Cushings. We're still waiting for the vet to get the correct lab tubes to do the test to make sure before we start her on meds.

The last time Martha was here & worked on Max, he was a big worry wart & couldn't relax, because he didn't know her & wasn't sure what she was going to do to him. This time he relaxed & almost went to sleep on his feet. She said he has a lot of muscles around the area where his neck is broken that are rigid, poor old guy. She got them softened up, although I'm sure they won't stay that way very long.

Chester's primary request was to get his butt scratched, rather than have her work on his front leg & shoulder. If she would try to work on the front leg, he'd turn around & stick his fanny in her face. Finally they reached an agreement & he decided that it felt pretty good to have her work on the bad leg. He has a couple of spots that must be sore. When she worked in those areas, he would act like he was going to bite her.

We told Courtney about the skunk in the spa room, & she decided she had to have a picture of it. I told her if she set off a flash & the skunk REALLY didn't like it, the spa room would probably be off limits for a LONG time. I told her where we'd seen it last, in the trash can, so we all tip toed into the spa room, she took her camera, held it at arm's length in front of the downed trash can & took a picture. No skunk.........!!! Hmmmmmm, now where did it go? I got a step stool so I could look over the back of the washer & dryer. No skunk.......!!!! Courtney was so disappointed.

This morning John had set a live trap in the back yard. We didn't disarm it figured the skunk wouldn't be around during the day. Tonight after dark (we forgot about the set trap), John said the trap had been tripped & the packing blanket we had covered the trap with, so it would look inviting, (we're trying to think like a skunk) was jumping around. Couldn't see what was in there, but it was definately not happy. After a long discussion about, "now what do we do", we decided to just open the trap & let it go rather than trying to "take" it somewhere. Started to go out to open the trap, & there was a skunk walking around the packing blanket............... SO WHAT'S IN THE TRAP?

OK, we decided to "gently" open up the trap & set it, so whatever was in the trap could leave. I held the flash light & John set the trap, using the blanket to hide what we were doing. Went back in the house & flashed a light into the trap thru the door. Seems like we have 2 skunks instead of just one, & the one in the trap is perfectly happy in there I guess, because it "ain't" going anywhere. I went back in to try to finish supper, John comes in & says, "the door on the trap is shut again". I guess the little "stinker" jumped around enough to slam the door shut. New idea........... use a bungee strap to keep the door from shutting. So we went out again, opened the door & hooked up a bungee. Came back in & the other skunk was now finishing off Hobo's dry cat food.

John just checked & the skunk is no longer in the trap & there is no dry food left for them to eat, so they have both disappeared...................for now. John used duct tape to cover the dryer vent for now. If they really wanted in, the duct tape certainly wouldn't stop them, or even slow them down. But since they found no food in here, hopefully they won't come back.

This is the 2nd time we've had something come in thru the dryer vent. We had a momma mouse come in the vent, chewed a hole thru the duct & had her babies somewhere in the spa room or our bedroom. Not a good place with 2 cats patrolling, unfortunately.

COLD NIGHT = BLANKETS ON THE OLD GUYS

Much to Pepper's disgust, although I do think he is mellowing to the idea of staying in at night with a blanket on. He had eaten all of his hay by bedtime, which is unusual. John put some more hay in for him to munch on during the night. This morning it looked like instead of munching, he had fun flinging it everywhere. He's always been difficult to get extra calories into. It looked like since he wasn't hungry he decided to see how far he could throw it.

I've decided that rather than wait to see if it's going to be cold or not, I'll go ahead & put Sha'ba & Pepper's blankets on every night when we feed. Going out in the cold when it's dark to put on blankets isn't much fun, although I do think Sha'ba realizes the pleasure of a blanket. Not sure about Pepper.

DIFFERENT KIND OF DAY

Today we moved these 3 horses & their little friend "Hoppy" from their old home to a new home. We weren't sure about Hoppy & were prepared to have him ride in the van. He wouldn't be the first goat to ride in there, he wouldn't have even been the 2nd one....... (G) But their owner said he would be fine in the trailer with the horses. We stopped a couple of times to check on them, & he had staked out his place all the way in the front of the trailer, daring anyone to step on him. The 3 horses were riding facing the back of the trailer. We never tie animals in the trailer & have found out that every one of them, doesn't matter, horse, donkey, mule, or cow prefer to ride facing the rear of the trailer. Makes me wonder how uncomfortable it is for them to be tied, facing front sometimes for hours at a time?

We didn't get home until after dark.........to say we were met by an angry mob is an understatement. At least they were very interested in getting in their pens as soon as possible to help the feeding process move along quickly.

Last night Pepper had to stay in. It was suppose to get colder & he had his blanket on. Unfortunately it didn't get as cold as the weatherman said it would. Tonight it's suppose to be warmer & so far I haven't put blankets on either Pepper or Sha'ba. When John goes out at 10 pm to let everyone out, we'll have to make a decision on whether to blanket or not. They are both old & thin, but I hate to ruin any natural ability they have to keep warm on their own. Sha'ba stays in his pen at night, so being blanketed or not doesn't impact his life like it does Pepper.

Wish I knew where I got this drawing, so I could give credit....!!!

This is amazing when you think about it. This drawing shows when a horse's skeletal system is through growing. Think about how many are "started", at the age of 2. Think of how many older horses you see that are sway backed or have joint problems. Gee, I wonder if starting them at the age of 2 might have something to do with health problems in later life.

Standard donkeys mature slower than horses & mammoth donkeys mature a year or more later than standards about age 6 or 7. Our Jenny who is a mammoth, came here at the age of 9. She had already had 2 babies, one lived, one didn't. She came here with chronic infection of both front feet & had been that way for a year, which would put her back to age 8. They carry a foal for about a year, so she was pregnant for 2 years of her life. If you do the math, she was only a baby herself, when someone bred her. Tula also had a baby young, but she wasn't bred per se, she was running with a herd & was around 2 or 3 when she had Paloma, as far as we can tell. In a perfect world the jacks will not breed the younger jennies the alpha jenny won't allow it in a natural herd. But as man interferes with the natural progression of their lives, such as BLM capturing herds or part of herds, or owners not having jacks gelded & leaving them in with momma or other jennies, the jacks are determined to pass on their genes.

John is still dipping ice out of the buckets every morning. He got the new heated water tank set up & it seems to be a big hit with everyone.

Boy, Lucy doesn't like Judy at all. Yesterday afternoon as they were gathering to go in their pens, Judy walked in Lucy's general direction, & Lucy took off running. Believe me, Lucy does not run unless she thinks it's absolutely necessary. I haven't seen Judy do anything except pin her ears as she walks, which is normal behavior. But Lucy seems to have decided they aren't going to be best friends. Unless Judy is being mean when I'm not looking. She doesn't strike me as that type, she's very mellow. Besides if she was going to be mean, she wouldn't care if I was watching or not...........!!!!

Chester is still enjoying his morning massage. Wish I knew what I'm doing. But when he likes it, his lower lip twitches, & this morning he was leaning on me with his lip twitching. I can only assume that I had found "the spot". I don't know if it will help him walk better or not. Some days he walks with very little limp. Other days it's very pronounced. For awhile I was afraid the infection was coming back. But he hasn't had any antibiotics for weeks, & I would think if there was infection still in his elbow area, it would be showing up by now. So I think he might overdue it or maybe step wrong sometimes & make it sore.

UPDATE ON JUDY

Even John has noticed a difference in the way Judy looks compared to the first picture I took of her. Besides being more alert & interested in what's going on around her, the difference in her hair is really noticeable. I also haven't noticed her sweating like she was. The day after she got here I saw her peeing & noticed she seemed to be having trouble. She finally put out a little bit that looked really dark. I ran over & checked it, not only was it dark, it also was stringy & thick. YIKES! I ran in & hit the internet. Found out it isn't a crisis, but more liquidity & frothy is much better.

Yesterday she was in Max's pen when we drove in from town, & I noticed she was assuming the stance. Of course I jumped out of the van & watched. She started immediately, peed a good amount & as soon as she was done, I of course ran over to look. I hope no one except animal people is reading this, or they might think I'm a little odd........!!! (G) Had the texture of water, was soaking into the ground rapidly AND was frothy.........!!!!! YEA!

Still waiting for the vet clinic to call when they get the correct blood tubes for the Cushings test, but to say we are pleased with the changes in her look & demeanor is an understatement. The diet change of soaking sugar & starch out of the hay & adding a few supplements seems to have really made a difference.

Chili's interest has worn off already, but Rusty the white mule seems to think she's kinda cute. He seems to be in her area more than hanging with Max & Jack.

Everyone else seems to be doing good. Our nights are getting down into the 20's on a regular basis, & Pepper really should have a blanket on. But he gets so upset if he can't go out we have compromised. I put his boots on to help keep his scrawny legs warm, & turn him loose. So far he is doing OK, & usually when John goes out in the morning, Pepper is standing in the mini's shelter, which is where the sun shines when it first comes up. He may be old, but he knows where the warmest place on the property is that early in the morning.

Here's our little mini herd, Pepsi in front, Lynn on the left, Justin on the right & Cheyenne's back in between them. They are in Jack's pen "gleaning" hay scraps. You can tell from their body shapes they really need the extra calories......!!! Every morning when we open the pens they make a beeline for Jack's pen, since it usually has the most leftovers.

Judy has taken her freedom in stride. She eats, goes out & when it's time to eat again, she shows up with the rest of the herd & goes in her pen just like a lady. She does seem to enjoy walking up behind assorted donkeys & pinning her ears as she walks. Needless to say that gets everyone moving out at a brisk pace. She hasn't made a move at any of them, so I think she is showing off her mule sense of humor.

JUDY'S OUT & CHECKING OUT THE PLACE

We let Judy out this morning to check out the property. She has been pacing the corral panels almost non-stop since she got here & everyone that wanted to check her out had time to do so. I opened the gate between her & Jenny, thinking they might go out together. She wasn't the least bit interested in running with anyone. Although she gathered up an entourage following her, she basically ignored them. She went straight to the driveway gate, where the trailer brought her in & from there started looking for mesquite leaves on the ground. Hopefully she won't spend all her time looking for mesquite leaves.

We haven't let Max the horse out yet. Hopefully he will behave like a gentleman, now that she is out & about. From what I've seen, she can move faster than he can, & being a mule I doubt if she will put up with much of his nonsense.

She's on her insulin resistant diet, which includes soaking her hay to remove as much sugar & starch as we can. So far only one morning was cold enough to ice over the soaking water, for which I am very grateful.......!!! (G) Can't find a pair of gloves to fit my little hands, that are not only warm, but waterproof. The more I look at her, I am almost positive she is also Cushings, so we will have her tested, as soon as the vet clinic can get the proper lab tubes for the blood test. If I wasn't going to have her tested, I'd start giving her some of Pepper's pergolide.........BUT.......... a few more days hopefully won't hurt her.

I've been massaging Chester's leg every morning before he goes out. I don't know if I'm going any good or not, but he absolutely LOVES having his leg rubbed. He likes to lay his head across my back, which doesn't help me massage, but seems to be part of the deal. I have a little thing that looks like a spider that viberates for massaging. Thought about it yesterday, found out the batteries had died, so John started figuring out how to get to the batteries. He has a long history of taking things apart, in such a way they no longer work. It took him awhile, only stripped out one screw, got the old batteries out, new batteries in, & it started jumping across the table. So tomorrow morning we will give it a try.

Had some people call from Benson this afternoon to come out & see the donkeys. Almost everyone was already out of their pens, so I told the woman if she didn't mind walking around thru the brush looking for them, to come on out. It was her & her daughter & they seemed to really enjoy the donkeys. As we walked around, John tricked the pushiest ones into pens. They sometimes forget their manners & start pushing on each other around visitors. Chili was particularly incensed to find himself not only in a pen, but it wasn't even his pen. He just happened to be in BlackJack & Cisco's pen, visiting with Judy, when we went out to see who we could round up before the people got here.

Judy spent most of the afternoon running the fence with the dogs. She has such a heavy coat of hair, that she really was sweating, another sign of Cushings. Once she got thru running around, she started pawing at the gate to let us know we "forgot" to let her out like all the others. We'll keep her in a few days more, to give her a chance to get comfortable in her new surroundings. Max hasn't made anymore ugly faces, so hopefully he is going to behave himself when she goes out. Actually we'll probably leave him in his pen, so she can get a chance to explore without his silliness.

Then John decided it was time for me to learn to drive the Bobcat. We had some firewood to load into a trailer, so that was my assignment, "if I chose to accept it". It's not real difficult to do things with it, but it certainly does help if you can remember which pedal, moves the bucket up & down, or tilts it. It's a good thing the trailer has lots of battle scars already. If you are suppose to put the bucket up higher, but instead drop it lower & the side of the trailer is underneath it............well, the trailer has a few more dents & scars. BUT, I did manage to get the bucket stopped & raised before I destroyed the side of the trailer. Not sure I'm ready for running around in the corrals yet, I might need a little bit more OJT in wider open spaces.........!!!!

JUDY'S HERE

Not a real great picture, but she wasn't interested in interacting with the silly woman with the camera this morning. Besides Max the horse for some reason was running all around her pen making ugly faces & lunging at the pen. WHAT IS HIS PROBLEM? As far as I know he has never paid much attention to anyone we've brought in. I told him she's a girl & he should be more of a gentleman, but he continued to act stupid. A couple of times I thought he was going to fall down, since his hindquarters don't always go where he wants them to & he was so busy being, "big tough guy". She just looked at him like he was an idiot, & kicked at him a few times. We'll keep her in the pens for a few days until she gets use to the place, & "big tough guy" wears out or gets bored with the game. I think she's already bored with his antics.....!!! Guys never know when to quit do they? (G)

She seems to be a sweet girl, & is walking much better than I was expecting. But her Glucose/Insulin ratio is off the chart, so she is without question insulin resistant. Patti, is a whiz with nutrition. She has helped dozens of owners, balance their horses diets & brought the horses back to being useful, after bouts with IR, & laminitis. She has offered to help balance a diet for Judy. Well actually she was nice enough to help, when I asked.

Judy will be getting soaked hay tonight. Hopefully she won't think we have lost our minds, & will eat it.