Forever Home Donkey Rescue

Well I found out what happens if I don't update the blog for a few days.  I get phone calls.........!!! (G)  

The last few days have been a blur.  Can't even tell you what we've been doing, but we've been keeping busy at it...........!!!  

Tom has been keeping us apprised of what's going on with the 6 mammoths.  They haven't been handled, but the owner was obviously kind to them, they like attention & readily come up to you to be fed treats or even just petted.

Remember the picture of the one that was so scared when we were trying to load him, that his ears were just hanging?  This is a picture Tom took of him, after trimming his front feet, a little grooming, & about 5 minutes to get the saddle on him.  He really is a special boy I think, he would make someone a great family donkey.  

Tom has done quite a bit of hoof trimming.  The jenny was pretty good he said.  Today he trimmed # 5 the youngest jack, & although he managed to get the front hooves trimmed, it wasn't an easy job from what he said.  

 Before the trimming began

 That's a nasty looking foot.....

What a difference a little trimming, OK in this case a LOT of trimming can make......!!!

That has got to be more comfortable.......!!!!

Thanks Tom for taking the time to take pictures as you go along, it really shows how out of control feet can get if they aren't trimmed on a regular basis.  Or in this case probably not trimmed at all, at least for a long, long time.............!!!!  

As a lot of you know, Arizona is having a lot of fires right now.  Today I heard about one of the horse rescues in SE Arizona that literally got burned out.  All 160 acres of their pasture has been completely burned out.  And in the process one of their horse got burned pretty bad.  Now they are going to have to buy hay, which they hadn't planned on doing.  If anyone out there has a couple of extra bucks they could part with, I'm sure Horse'n Around Rescue at Hereford, AZ would appreciate it.  Right now hay in this area is selling for about $17 a 3 string 100 pound bale, & they have around 50 animals.  That's a horrible shock for a rescue that is use to pasturing their animals.

The plans for our trip the end of June are starting to fall into place.  Three of the people that will be taking care of the animals have already done their "training".  Two more are training this Wednesday.  That leaves 3 more to be trained before we leave.  That doesn't even count Michelle that will be staying in the house & taking care of the cat.  Gee, who knew it would take so many people to replace us........!!!! LOL  I'll call the 2 local vets & let them know they might be getting a call while we're gone, if something unforeseen happens.  I don't anticipate any problems but with animals you never know.  

Gus has been doing real good, & I thought about taking his boots off for awhile this morning.  I had said I was going to keep him in the boots until he grew out new hoof growth at least half way down his feet.  So I decided to stick with my original plan.  He doesn't mind the boots, they haven't rubbed on his legs, so there really isn't any reason to take them off.  Except when I take them off every morning to dump the dirt & gravel out of them, he lays his head on my back.  Do you know how heavy a donkey head can be?  Pretty heavy.  His Mom says he's always done that.  I think her back must be in better shape than mine.........!!!! LOL