Courtney got out yesterday as planned.  Boaz's feet are really coming around, his front feet had been neglected & showed it.  He's been trimmed 3 times & they are looking much better.  

This is his proud flesh knee.  I haven't put any silver nitrate on it for awhile, what's left seems to just be scar tissue that has to heal.  I keep it covered with thuja zinc oxide, but this is what it looks like when he comes in after a day of rolling in the dirt, etc.  

She got to trim Simmons & Pancho for the first time.  I think I know a couple of boys that have been a little spoiled, especially Pancho.  When Courtney picked up one of his feet, he tried to squash her into the corral panel.  That was bad enough, except I was on that side too, so he had both of us squashed.  It's amazing what a nipper handle to the ribs will do to change his mind.  Actually once the ground rules were established they both did pretty good.  Kathy had said they aren't good with their hind feet, so we decided to leave that for another day.  Hopefully I'll get a chance to work with them before Courtney comes back.  A trimmer shouldn't have to "educate" your animals, although Courtney has always been willing to work with some of my more uncooperative "fur" kids.  They all usually come around & even get use to the power tools.  

We did Jenny last because we'd have to re-bandage her foot after Courtney looked, took pictures, & trimmed.  She trimmed just a little off the front, there is a piece that is probably going to break off.  We're afraid it is does, the open window area will collapse.  Dr. Voss said if it does, we'll have to bring her back up & they will put a metal strap across the opening to stabilize it as it grows out.  He said he wants her trimmed so she is carrying as much weight as possible on the quarters, the sides of her hoof.  

Courtney was absolutely thrilled with Jenny's frog & sole on that foot, took lots of pictures.  I have to admit that sole looks normal, which none of Jenny's feet have ever looked very normal at all, too much chronic foundering in her earlier life. 

I checked with Stacy to see how Bijou is doing.  She said he is doing just fine, his eyes are better, but unfortunately there is a lot of scar tissue around his eyes, that will always be a problem for him. 

We've never seen a Gila Monster on the property before.  He was out in the open this morning, in fact I almost stepped on him.  I ran to get the camera & John kept track of him.  By the time I got back he had already found one of the brush piles to go into & didn't appreciate my efforts to get a good picture.

The dogs were barking like crazy, & the neighbor's dog was harassing him, which isn't a good form of entertainment.  Gila Monster's have a real nasty bite & disposition to match.  According to John's book on desert animals this is their mating season, so he's probably out looking for a friend.  

I guess Buddy has decided Pancho is going to be his victim as far as taking off fly masks.  I didn't see the mask go, but Buddy was in the area when I noticed it was missing & he has a track record. 

BOY IS IT HOT...!!!!

Last night Jenny came in missing another boot..........!!!! GRRRRR.......!!!!   After we fed John went out with a determined look in his eye & stayed out until he found 3 fly masks & one boot.  Some of those fly masks had been missing for a weeks.  What is really interesting is we had just had a 1/2 inch rain storm, even made the wash run a little bit.  Under those circumstances I'm surprised the hard rain didn't bury the masks in the mud.  I looked out & John looked like the proud hunter returning home from the hunt..........!!!  LOL  So the count is down to one fly mask & one boot missing.  

We were worried about Jenny's foot getting wet in the rain, especially with the boot missing.  But it seemed to come thru just fine.  Courtney is coming tomorrow to trim Gus & whoever needs it.  If she wants to see what Dr. Voss did went we went up to the clinic last week we'll "de" bandage Jenny's foot & make sure there isn't any moisture in it.  When we took off Dr. Voss' bandage yesterday morning there was quite a bit of moisture inside, a lot more than we've had before.  He soaked the gauze pads in Chlorhexidine before wrapping her foot in brown gauze & my WAG (Wild Ass Guess) is the moisture was trapped inside & encouraged her foot to stay moist & get soft in spots.  Her foot has always been dry since right after we brought her home.  Her heel bulb had also rubbed again, so hopefully we can get it healed up again.  John said maybe it's a good thing we had to learn to bandage her foot on our own, rather than do it like they did..........!!!!  I know one thing, it takes us a lot longer to get her foot wrapped than it took the clinic, not sure if that means anything or not......!!!! LOL

Mother is getting settled in pretty good & actually seems to be enjoying herself.  We're getting use to sleeping in the spare bedroom.  The first morning John asked if that bed is smaller than our bed.  No, they are both queen size.  He said he kept waking up in the middle.  I think he probably was trying to orientate himself to get his head pointing north, where it usually is, instead of east.   

One thing that will take some getting use to is Mother is a snacker.  If she was held to 3 meals a day she'd starve to death.  She eats a little of this & a little of that all day long.  Jeesh!  That will take some getting use to for me. 

I might not be on the blog much in the foreseeable future.  As of yesterday my Mother has moved in with us for the duration.  Right now we're all trying to figure out this new way of life.  We moved into the spare bedroom & when you start moving stuff around, chances are you won't be able to find it when you want to.   That is if you even remember what it was............!!! LOL

She just came out with a few things, like she was coming to visit for a couple of days.  Now I'm making a list of things to go back & get from her house when we go to town.  Otherwise we would have brought lots of stuff she didn't need & still have to go back & get stuff she does need.  

Our well is not keeping up with demand right now.  We're filling water buckets at least 3 times a day, sometimes they are empty.  A well guy is making up estimates on either fixing this well or digging a new one..........!!! SIGH!  I'm sure one will be about as bad as the other.  Because this area has been in a long term drought for about 10 years, a lot of people are having problems right now.  

Boaz came in this morning without his fly mask, so that makes 4 masks & a Jenny  boot out there someplace.  Good thing I have extras.

So if the blog isn't updated for a few days, I'm probably doing crisis management of some kind.  

OBTW I won a race last Saturday night, first win in 32 years.........!!!!  Talk about a long dry spell.......!!! LOL

IT'S NOT GETTING ANY COOLER.......!!!

June is NOT my favorite month in the desert..!!  We're starting to get a few clouds & the humidity is starting to inch up, but so far no rain.  The usual 1st rain of the monsoon is July 4th, so we'll see.

When we did round up yesterday afternoon, Buddy Brat & Pancho were play fighting over by the chicken pen.  First thing I noticed was Pancho didn't have his fly mask.  Looks like Buddy is up to his old tricks, he has always thought fly masks are toys & it looks like he hasn't forgotten.  Pancho seemed to be a willing partner, but neither of them were interested in helping me find the silly thing.  When we got done feeding we started looking for it, just what we wanted to do in the heat.  Did find it though.  We still have 3 fly masks & a Jenny boot out there somewhere we can't find.  When we find one it's more exciting than an Easter egg hunt........!!!  Doesn't take a whole lot to amuse us sometimes...........!!!

BlackJack & Buddy Brat 2001

Not much new with the donkeys, when it's this hot, they hunker down someplace & don't move around much.  Doctoring is at a minimum, which is good.  Boaz's knee is still not healed, but I think the proud flesh is gone.  I've just been putting tunja zinc oxide on it everyday  & the scab area is slowly getting smaller.  He's such a good boy, but I seriously doubt that anyone would ever adopt him.  He will always have that area on his knee & it will always have to be watched & treated.  

Chester's mom came out yesterday morning & groomed on Ruthie & Ruger.  Ruger is finally losing his baby hair &  it had matted on his belly, so Linda worked on him with curry comb & scissors.  She got most of them out, said she'll be coming out again.  She's thinking of adding Ruthie & Ruger to her family.  They have acres of mesquite brush, 2 horses, Chester & Norton & it would be a great home.  They adopted Chester & Buster last year & sweet Buster dropped dead while playing.  They added Norton to the family, but like a lot of people that get donkeys for the 1st time, the more the merrier, Linda loves her donkeys.  We'll see if it works out.  

Jenny is keeping her boot on pretty good this time.  The Hoof Wrap seems to be a great product..............except for one small problem. The various areas of Vel-Cro aren't long enough or wide enough for the amount of wrapping & bandages on her foot.  I did sew a couple strips of Vel-Cro on the one she is wearing now,  & she hasn't lost it since, so maybe I'm onto something.

Yesterday afternoon I took little Skeeke squirrel into the Tucson Wildlife Center.  He was lively & perky & all that, but I just don't think he was thriving.  And if his little bum foot doesn't get to where he can use it more, he will have to stay in sanctuary.  They are diggers, & in the wild he would need to be able to use both front feet effectively.

Skeeke in my tomato patch on the courtyard

They have quite an operation, I guess they take in anything wild, they had a baby bobcat, 3 tiny baby bats, a couple of baby hummingbirds, javelina, racoons, quite a few different type of hawks & falcons.  They also have a roadrunner that lives on the property.  One of the women was giving me a short tour & here come the roadrunner.  She went in & got a couple of dead mice out of the refrigerator, threw them to him one at a time, & he gulped them down.  She said he expects to be fed when he sees people.  I guess he's decided this is pretty easy living, much easier than chasing lizards..........!!!

WHEW IT'S HOT.........!!!!!

Been over 100 degrees in the area for the last week or so.  I think last year for 99 days Tucson had 100 degrees or more in a row, broke the record.  Hope we aren't going to do it again this year..........!!!! 

Last night the weatherman said the humidity was only 8%, sooooooo, if you are inside or in the shade it's not so bad.  If you are unfortunate enough to be out in the sun, it doesn't take long to figure out, it's HOT..........!!!

The donkeys get somewhere for the afternoon & stay there, not much moving around.  They have lots of mesquite trees to stand under & seem to know where the prevailing winds are.  We've always said, if you want to know where it is the warmest in the winter or coolest in the summer, watch the donkeys.  

There are some interesting relationships going on amongst the herd.  Honcho follows Boaz around.  Considering I thought they were going to kill each other the first few days Honcho was here, this turn of events is a little strange.  Boaz doesn't really show much interest in Honcho so far.   

Simmons & Jenny are no longer an item, Simmons is hanging more with the guys.  Guess that was just a passing fancy on his part.  Jenny could care less, when new guys come on the property, she does her thing for a day or two & if nothing happens she just ignores them.  

Pancho hasn't found anyone to run with yet.  He tried Buddy Brat for a few days.  That's a little confusing because they look a lot alike, although Pancho is a little darker grey.  And Buddy is a little heavier.  He looks at Simmons every once in awhile, but Simmons is too busy doing his thing.  When they are in their pen eating, Simmons stays busy showing Pancho who is in charge.  Pancho is very sweet, hope he finds a buddy. 

Gus spends most of his day hanging around by the dog pen.  The biggest & best dust bathing hole is there & he likes to lay there in the heat of the afternoon. He's going real good this summer, hasn't really had to have a lot of medication to keep his feet comfortable.  And his feet are actually looking pretty good for him, although to most people his feet are too tall, heels WAY too high.  Courtney has tried to take them down & it makes his feet sore.  So everyone has agreed to keep him trimmed to where he is comfortable & not worry about how they look.  

Just heard from Linda, Chester's Mom.  When we were up at the clinic Dr. Voss ran a test for Vally Fever.  Came back positive.  HUH?  Hate to show my ignorance, but I know very little about Valley Fever & never even thought about equine getting it.  I knew people & dogs get it, but that was about the limit of my knowledge.  Checked on the internet & there really isn't much information about equine Valley Fever.  Dr. Voss is going to give her a prescription for a drug she said they use for people & dogs.  

One symptom of Valley Fever is joint pain, I guess that is what caught Dr. Voss's attention.  Just went in & checked Merck on the internet, that was after I couldn't even find Valley Fever in the index of my Merck manual.  I can only assume Valley Fever in equines isn't very common, did find out the incubation period is 1-4 weeks. 

I forgot to ask the clinic how long we could leave Jenny's foot bandaged without changing it.  We've gone 6 days & it looked just fine.  If we could go 1 week, that would be easy to keep track of.   When they took the bandage off, John asked about the smell.  Dr. Voss said it's just stinky feet, like ours can get if they are sweaty.  OBTW the bandage they put on wore thru in 2 days, I've had one last 4 days.........!!!  Still haven't found the boot she lost a few days ago. 

WE DID IT..........!!!!!!!!!

Check out Morning Bray Farm's wonderful blog.  Thousands of people across the world gathered together with a goal to stop the donkey roping in Van Horn, Texas this week-end.  They sent e-mails, called & in general used all resources to stop this from happening.

According to the city, the roping has been cancelled.  The battle has been won, but the war goes on against this horrible use of donkeys.  Mark Myers at Peaceful Valley Donkey Rescue has offered to take the donkeys, but so far no word on if that will happen or not.  If they don't go into sanctuary, it's a good bet that they will stay in the donkey roping "circle" until they are used up.  

We should celebrate winning the battle. So if you could, after reading Justina's blog, send a big thank you to the good people of Van Horn.  Believe me, they got plenty of harsh judgemental messages in the last week.  We need to let them know we appreciate them taking the high road & doing the right thing.

WE'RE HAVING FUN NOW........!!!!

You know the old saying, "I'm so busy I don't know if I found a rope or lost my horse".......well I about there I think..........!!!! LOL

Let's see where to start.........  I called Mocha & Tucker's new Mom this morning.  They are fine, have become the center of attention & spend their time standing by the bedroom window probably looking in, wondering where why someone doesn't come out & entertain them.  January said the geese even like them.  She said Tucker is mouthing her sleeve to get her attention.  I told her when he did that here he got his nose popped.  She told me how cute it is, so I would imagine he's gotten his "last" nose popping for awhile........!!!!  

Patti gave me some ideas of supplements that might help Chester be more comfortable with his osteoarthritis we can try.  I also have some Move-Ease that I'm not using, I'm going to give it to Linda to try first.  If that works, great, it's really pretty cheap. If it doesn't work, we'll try some of Patti's ideas.  If that doesn't work, there is always CosequinASU.  It's good stuff, but a little pricey.  I've been using it for Pepper (cracked hip & blown knee), & Cisco (roping donkey in a roping school), & they are both doing real good & have been for quite sometime.

Jenny lost a brand new Hoof Wrap Boot & we can't find it.  We've actually been pretty lucky at finding her boots, they seem to come off when she rolls around in a dust bathing area.  John saw the direction she came from & when he looked at the Gorilla Tape boot, he said it wasn't hardly dirty & had no scuffing at all.  Common sense would say it should be not too far from where John 1st saw her coming in.  We've both looked & haven't found it.  Wish it had been the old one she's been wearing rather than a 2 day old one. 

Last night when I fed Skeeke, I noticed he wasn't using his right front foot.  I have no idea what happened to it.  They grasp food with their little hands, so he's at a definite disadvantage right now for eating solid food.  He's really gotten into eating his formula & takes more each feeding, which I assume is a good thing.  He's also quite lively, even with a bum hand like, hanging onto a tiny fragile little greased pig.........!!!   Vic our neighbor said he might have got it caught somewhere in the cage or even in the terry cloth towel I had in there.  I never thought about him getting a nail caught in the towel.  Got rid of the towel & am now using some of John's t-shirts I've been trying to get him to throw away for a long time.  Seems if I say anything, they all are his favorites............!!! I sure hope the little guy gets OK.

It looks like my Mother will be moving out of her house & coming out here to stay for the duration.  The last few months she has been getting frail & probably should have come out earlier.  But there is nothing wrong with her opinion & what she wants to do, so we had to wait until it was her decision.  This morning she said it's time.  Our house is more eclectic than comfortable for someone that needs everything to be easy.  Bathrooms are on 3 different levels & the only one on the bedroom level is about 20 feet away from the bed.  John & I had already talked about maybe getting a compost toilet, we'll just have to see how it goes.  She told me awhile back she wouldn't come out here because I'm too bossy...........hmmmmm.........should be "interesting" to say the least.  

Yesterday I told John I needed to go to Tucson & try to find the formula for Skeeke.  Since it was Sunday I called around to different pet stores & was amazed that they had it.  Guess just because I haven't heard of it, doesn't mean it isn't available.  

The 1st store I went to only had it in a very large can & it isn't cheap.  So I decided to try another store & did find a smaller container.  He's just a little bitty squirrel, it would take a lot of squirrels to use that much.  

Got it home mixed it up & he turned his nose up at it.....!!!!  Ungrateful little beastie, tried him again before bed, & he just turned his head away.  After I went to bed I came up with a brilliant idea.  When I carefully measured out the powder it was packed in the spoon.  I had noticed it was rather thick, much thicker than Mother's milk would be.  So I got out of bed, made a new batch, after fluffing up the powder before measuring.  Seemed to make all the difference, he's eating it just fine now.  According to the information I got off the internet regular tree squirrels will eat formula to the age of 10 weeks, don't know about rock squirrels, but would imagine it's about the same.  Using the chart for tree squirrels, he seems to be about 6 weeks old. 

I e-mailed the Arizona Desert Museum to see if they could help.  Got back an e-mail 2 days later, telling me it's illegal to keep a wild animal, to turn it over to a wildlife rehabilitator.  Great idea, unfortunately the rehabilitator didn't call back, so we'll just press on like we know what we're doing.  

He's a little watermelon freak, loves the stuff.  Cucumber, a big no, carrot on a scale of 1 to 10, maybe a 4.  Necterine, mmmm  not a biggie.  Soaked dry cat food, pretty good.  I'm not sure if cat food is OK, so not feeding it anymore.

We got up early this morning to feed & hit the road to Gilbert.  Linda & John got here with Chester, just as we got thru feeding, so we loaded him, got Jenny loaded, &  hit the road.

They made the trip just fine, so did Skeeke had to take him so I could feed him every 4 hours.  They thought Jenny is doing just fine.  Dr. Voss cut off some of the excess hoof & rebandaged her foot.  I was anxious to see how the "real" experts do the bandaging, found out not much different than I do, although I did pick up a couple of good ideas.  They were quite impressed with our Gorilla Tape, as opposed to duct tape to make a boot for the bottom of her foot, although they did agree that it's harder to work with & much stickier.  I try to not let it get too hot, but I think it was probably 110 up there this afternoon, so it was pretty sticky.  

Dr. Voss trimming Jenny's foot, not sure what John is doing

The main thing we have to look for is the square opening in the front of her hoof collapsing as the hoof grows out.  If that happens we'll have to take her back up for them to put a metal bridge across the opening to stabilize it. 

Then it was Chester's turn.  About 5-6 years ago he had surgery on an infection in his elbow area.  Linda wanted to know what the problem was since he's started limping lately.  They x-rayed & found osteoarthritis with some bone spurring going on.  Recommended a good joint supplement.  Might have to try a few before finding the best one for him.  But Linda is a "helicopter Mom", so she'll keep looking until she finds what works for him.

Haven't heard how Mocha & Tucker are doing, guess I'll call tomorrow.  

YESTERDAY FIRST DAY OF MONSOON, TODAY OUR FIRST RAIN

 Checking out the courtyard & my tomatoes...!!

We had clouds this morning & a few minutes ago we got the first rain of the monsoon season.  It lasted about 5 minutes & was enough to "connect the dots" on the courtyard, but that's about all.  Heard from Patti & our son, they live on opposite sides of Tucson & both were getting hail.  Glad we didn't get any.  

When I was a kid in west Texas we had the mother of all hail storms one summer.  When I hear people talk about softball size hail, I know what they are talking about.  Talk about destructive........!!!!!   Cars, roofs, windows, you name it got destroyed.  My stepmother had a big old Chrysler New Yorker, & she drove it to a gas station with an awning, which saved it from getting dimples all over it.  

At that time my Dad had his own sign company.  For the next few months he was so busy he couldn't keep up, & of course couldn't find enough people willing to work.  He did a lot of neon signs, which were quite popular then.  Of course the hail destroyed probably every neon sign in Odessa, Texas & the businesses wanted theirs fixed, NOW.........!!! 

When it was all over Daddy decided he didn't want to do signs anymore & went into commercial painting, hospitals, businesses, shopping centers, which he did until he retired.  Still stayed busy, but people didn't get so excited about walls as they did about signs, which was a good thing.  

Have a call in to a wild life rehabilitator.   Patti sent me info about feeding baby squirrels & one of the first things is, DON'T FEED THEM COW'S MILK, or nuts & seeds.  We haven't been doing nuts & seeds, but I am feeding him cow's milk.  I guess too little calcium is a big problem with these little guys.  I've never heard of Esbilac powder before, but I guess that is the primary replacement food for baby squirrels.  That & monkey chow, who would think that...!!!

Our son is racing tonight, so we won't be here, unless she calls soon.  I'm getting ready to go out & feed, but I'll check the messages before I leave.  I was trying to figure out how to take Skeeke (I won the naming contest), but will feed him before we leave, & when we get home. 

WATERMELON ANYONE?

John said one of rock squirrel's favorite foods is new mesquite shoots.  This one seems to really enjoy watermelon.  This is the first thing I've tried him (yes, him) on besides milk & water.  He seemed to think it was just fine, & managed to eat a pretty good sized piece before he keeled over in a dead sleep.  He seems lethargic to me, although I have no idea how little rock squirrels normally behave, maybe all they do is eat & sleep.  If so, he is being very typical.  

Yesterday afternoon we managed to get everyone fed, Mocha & Tucker loaded & got on the road at 4:10........!!!!  We were shooting for 4:00, so that was pretty good.  In all our planning we did forget about the one hour ahead in New Mexico, so instead of getting in around 8, it was about 9:30 their time.  They were anxiously waiting for us, we unloaded Tucker & Mocha, they were headed to their pens & the geese started honking.  Mocha decided she didn't need to go any further & planted her feet.  Of course she planted her feet, guess what Tucker did?  We cajoled, we pushed, we tried bribery.  Just about the time Mocha would decide, to maybe move a foot, one of the geese would honk..........Grrrrr......!!  Finally Tucker got a little antsy about just standing there, showed a little interest in moving.  Claude & I literally dragged him into the pen, with Mocha not far behind.  Whew!  Usually they are right in your hip pocket, I wonder what they thought of the geese this morning in the light of day?  LOL  They will be sharing a fence with the geese, so they better get use to them. 

We said our good-byes & headed home.  I had taken the squirrel with us, so I could feed him.  On the way home I got a brilliant idea.  I've heard of people putting little critters in their bras to keep them warm.  He didn't seem to care for the air conditioning in the truck, so I took him out of his cage & plopped him in between my boobs.  He snuggled right down & except for the tiny little claws it wasn't as weird as I thought it would be.   I read about a woman one time that literally hatched some type of bird by carrying the eggs around in her bra.  Now THAT is dedication, can't imagine how she kept from breaking the eggs.  

Haven't heard from January yet today, about how Mocha & Tucker are doing,  I would imagine she's too busy playing with them.  She already had friends lined up to come a see them, so maybe they are having a party.......!!!!  LOL  Should be a great home for them, & I'm thrilled they could stay together & grow up together, since Mocha was only 26 months old when Tucker was born. 

Didn't take the camera since I knew it would be dark when we got there, but hopefully January will take some pictures & send them to me.

NOTHING LIKE COMPLICATING MY LIFE....!!

Yesterday morning I noticed Julius, one of the outdoor cats was stalking something in the back yard.  I went out, yelled, "no birds", I don't bother to see if that is in fact what they are after.  I just teach all cats to run like hell when I yell "no birds".  

Anyway went out & there was a little baby rock squirrel by the back wall.  It was very lethargic, growled a little but other than that just laid there.  I yelled for John to bring a cage.  Put it in the cage, came back in the house & when I checked on him, he was gone.  Guess the openings in the cage were larger than we thought, or he was smaller.  

Looked out & Julius is after something on the porch........guess who?  I picked him up, no growl this time.  I got a syringe of water & he latched onto that like he was really thirsty.  

Right now he is living in a small hav-a-heart trap, on a towel, in our bathroom.  Our house has an open floor plan & 4 cats...............do you see a problem?  I had him with me at the computer yesterday afternoon until Moogee "discovered" him. 

He prefers cow's milk with karo over kitten formula, & has fleas.  Ugh!  John went to town yesterday & when he called asked if I wanted him to get some flea powder?  John is a wonderful person in a lot of ways, but sometimes his animal knowledge gets short circuited.  Of course my knowledge is rather dated sometimes, they might have a flea powder now you can use on "nestlings", but I don't know of any.  So far I've "captured" 3, & haven't seen any "cavorting" since yesterday afternoon.  Maybe they are gone, I hope so, I hate fleas.  

Over the last few days we had found 2 other little guys.  Lysa found one out by the pens & I put it down a squirrrel hole, close to where she found it.  The other one John found dead about 60 feet from where the other one was.  

We're thinking the mother probably got killed, (snake?)  & they were close enough to coming out of the nest to make the effort.  Wish I had known when Lysa found the first one, I would have fed it too.  

Have no idea how long he'll have to be fed.  We'll be hauling Mocha & Tucker to Las Cruces this afternoon, I guess he'll be going with us, so I can feed him every couple of hours or so. 

John wants to name him Pascagula, have no idea how to spell it & neither does my spell checker.  Anyway Ray Stevens sang a song about the Mississippi Squirrel Revival, in Pascagula, Mississippi a LONG time ago.  I told John if we name it that, it will have to have a nickname, Pasca or Gula.  I'm not going to try to say the whole thing on a regular basis. 

I copied this information from a message on the Donkey Group.  Having worked with ex-roping donkeys over the years, I know from personal experience how horribly scarred both mentally & physically these gentle loveable creatures become after such horrible treatment.  Please take a moment to express your thoughts with Van Horn, & also share this information with your e-mail list.  This cruelty needs to stop, before the next generation is indoctrinated into this type of "entertainment".

Take a moment to contact the Van Horn Chamber of Commerce with your nicely worded ( not nasty) thoughts. The phone number is (432) 283-2043, Monday - Friday 9:00 am to 3:00 pm. On their website the email address is- patriciagolden@vanhorntexas.org

The City website shows their contact info as:

Mailing Address:

Town of Van Horn
PO Box 488
Van Horn, TX 79855

Phone Number:

866-4-A-HOWDY (424-6939)

eMail :

info@vanhorntexas.org

JENNY HAS AN "AROUND THE CLOCK" BOYFRIEND......!!

Simmons is Jenny's slave, he goes where she goes & does what she does.  If she wants to move he moves, if she wants to stand all afternoon under a tree, he'll stand out in the sun if necessary, as long as he is close to her.  Doesn't seem to matter what the other donkeys are doing including his "bud" for the last couple of years, Pancho.    Pancho is still trying to find a new buddy I guess.  He was following BlackJack this afternoon, which probably isn't going to work.  BlackJack's opinion of most other donkeys isn't very favorable.  He tolerates them, but he seems to think he's on a higher plain than they are, & doesn't appreciate them trying to ingratiate themselves.

We are still keeping Jenny's hoof bandage & will be for the foreseeable future.  It seems to be doing good.  I called the vet clinic & they said to keep doing whatever we are doing.  Putting on about 8 or 9 different layers of things like diapers, Elasticon, duct tape & of course the fashionable brown gauze, gets old in a hurry.  I had ordered a hoof wrap awhile back with the idea of using it on her foot.   When it arrived, I was so disappointed.  It looked flimsy & had all these velcro straps that had to go in order.  So I put it aside & continued on with the wrapping.  As it has gotten warmer, all the material is making her foot sweat.  So I decided to "try" the boot if I could figure out how to put it on.

It's really not that bad once you figure it out, although because of the bandage on her foot I can't get it to fit nicely.  But by some miracle it does stay on & we are getting by with just one layer of duct tape, actually Gorilla Tape with a layer of Elasticon.  Of course there is still the brown gauze & diaper, but they help with the sweating I'm sure.

She kept it on for 5 days straight last week, which is great.  It has a pad in it that stands up to the rocks & sand very well.  We tried going 7 days last bandage change & her foot looked just fine, so we are now on a weekly schedule.

It only weighs something like 4.3 ounces, so it's lightweight.  She has lost it twice, but I think the problem is with the bandaging her foot is larger than a "normal" foot would be.  Also I have to rough up the vel-cro with a brush, to make sure it is as sticky as possible.

I've also ordered 2 more boots.  They advertise them to be good for a few days.  She's been wearing this one over 10 days & it still looks pretty good, no tears or wear spots.  But I really don't want to be without one, if I can help it.

John & I cored the new hay today & I'll send the sample off to Equi-Analytical tomorrow when we go into town to vote.  If it's low in sugar & starch maybe we won't have to soak Gus & Buddy's hay anymore. It's not that much of a problem, but it does add a few extra steps to the feeding routine.

The hay truck got here an hour early this morning which makes for a panic attack, since we were still involved in morning chores.  But it worked out OK, well except for the 1st squeeze of 62-64 bales coming apart & having to be restacked, so the squeeze could pick it all up at once.  The other 7 stayed together & it really didn't take the guys too long to get it all in the barn, safe & sound.  

Of course all this time the donkeys were watching all that was going on & letting us know if they were out, they could help with the hay. 

They got to go out as soon as the hay barn was secured.  Of course there was hay everywhere up & down the driveway, which kept them busy, once the mesquite branches were picked clean.  John had to do some trimming along the driveway, so the big truck could get thru without picking up a lot of "Arizona pinstriping".

 Tucker had to leave the mesquite eating "party" to visit with me.  I didn't realize he was in the picture when I was taking it or I would have made him "prettier".   He just looks like a little blob. 

Simmons & Pancho got to go out for the 1st time today.  I figured with all the excitement going on, if anyone did want to act silly, they'd be too busy to pay attention to the new guys.  I forgot about Jenny & Tula.  Jenny is a rather casual "slut".  If they are in the neighborhood, she'll do her dance for awhile.  Then she wanders off.  Tula seemed to keep Simmons attention most of the day, along with BlackJack, Boaz & Buddy Brat.  Silly boys........at least they weren't doing anything except squabbling amongst themselves for the most part & trailing behind Tula just in case.

When it was time to go into their pens tonight, Pancho went in like he knew what he was doing.  Simmons had no clue where to go,  except to stay with Tula.  Tula will NOT go into her pen if someone is following her.  Simmons was like glue, which really irritated her, which really irritated us, since they were the last two out.  It took both of us to finally get him separated & headed away from her long enough, for her to run in her pen.  Then he went in his pen like a good boy.

Got Mocha & Tucker's health certificates today, so they are good to go to their new home in Las Cruces.  The plan is we will feed early Thursday afternoon & hopefully get on the road by 4pm.  It will be cooler than hauling them during the day.   If everything goes OK, we should get home about 1am.  Like John says , it will be like when we go to the races, although it's usually a lot later than 1am by the time we "drag" in.  Have to go eat & do some "bench racing", so even if the races get over at a decent time, we still drag in late.

HAY DAY..........!!

The driver just called that he's on our road.  John just went out to meet him.  John had it figured pretty close, we had 3 bales of hay left......

Took Mocha & Tucker to the vet this morning to get their blood tests & health certificates.  As soon as the results for the Coggins test gets back, we'll make arrangements to haul them to their new home.  Tucker is 9 months old today & we sure are going to miss him.  No matter what he's doing, he always comes up to the fence to greet you, if you are in the neighborhood.  Before this morning I had never seen him kick.  But he did NOT appreciate having his temperature taken & gave one of the "frustrated baby" kicks they do when they can't control what's going on.  Ruger is about 1 1/2 years old & he still does it.  

Buddy Brat got  a complete blood work-up for Thyroid & also Glucose & Insulin.  I know he is insulin resistant, want to find out how much.  Poor little guy has always had a weight problem & he loves to eat. 

In the "musical" pen dance, he ended up without a pen, & Honcho & BlackJack are sharing a pen with the hay bunk down the middle.  We dump their hay into the bunk & they can both eat from their respective sides.  Well, they would be able to except BJ has decide Honcho doesn't need to eat.  He makes ugly faces at Honcho & Honcho respects BJ's space, although their space is separated by the bunk.......Sigh........!!  I guess Honcho's run-in's with Boaz have made a believer out of him.

Buddy hates not having a pen, so we tried putting a corral panel across the side of the feed room to give him a feeling of being in a pen.  Not good enough, so John is out in the heat of the day, building another pen for Honcho, so he doesn't have to put up with "nasty" BJ.  BJ so loves to have someone that actually takes him serious.  And he's going to put up a "real" pen for Buddy, so he will be comfortable in "his" space.  

This is Simmons on the left & Pancho on the right.  They came in yesterday morning & have already met everyone thru the corral panels.  We'll keep them in for a couple of days to get acclimated without having everyone in their face at one time.  Boaz looked them over pretty good last night, daring them to challenge his authority I guess.  They just kind of looked at him like, " whatever", so I don't think there will be any fireworks like there was with Honcho.  Honcho by the way has been staying out of Boaz's space & everything is nice & quiet.  

Jenny of course came by & did her "slut" walk for them last night.  Poor little Pancho got so excited he jumped on Simmons.  I don't think Simmons appreciated the experience, he seemed to think he should be the guy.  Jenny meets & greets every guy that comes on the property & always has.  She's still got Buddy's attention, he loves to follow her around. 

GROWING PAINS.......??????

Looks like our little family will be growing by two, before Mocha & Tucker go to their new home..............!!!  So the "pen shuffle"  starts all over again.  Wouldn't be so bad, but hay is suppose to be delivered Friday, which means BlackJack has to be moved out of the hay barn.  We think we have it figured out, stay tuned......!!

Friday we went over to Las Cruces, N.M. to do a home study for Mocha & Tucker.  It was an all day trip, I think John said 497 miles, got home late for chores.  When this happens a lot of them wander off to feed themselves.  The ones that insist on being fed on time, are usually standing in close proximity to the driveway with a judgmental attitude.  It usually doesn't take long to get everyone rounded up & where they belong under these circumstances, thank goodness.  

I think Mocha & Tucker will have a wonderful loving home, they'll have a large fenced area that includes the back of the house.  So they will be able to look in the windows & let the people know when it's time to pay attention to them, which I'm sure they will learn real quick.  

This Wednesday they have an appointment to get their Coggins blood test & health certificates to go across the state line.  That usually doesn't take but a few days, so we'll probably be hauling them the next week. I hope it cools off we don't like to haul in hot weather.


Yesterday Bijou got his teeth done.  Stacy had noticed he had some hooks & she was having her dentist come out & do some of her horses.  I got there too late to see how he did, but they said he was a little gentleman.  He sure looks good with his feet trimmed up, & body clipped, as Stacy said he looks like a little show horse.

Thanks for the picture Stacy

He's still not wearing his boots & is doing really well.  Stacy said he is a little "ouchy" out of the soft pen area, but he's been in boots for almost 6 months.  I remember how it use to be when I started going barefooted in the summer, the first few days till my feet toughened up were pretty tough.  

While I was there I took a picture of the little 24 inch mini horse.  She's happy & friendly, but so deformed.

CINNAMON

The idea that people would breed these little guys for profit just turns my stomach.  Even if people are willing to pay big bucks to have one they can keep in their apartment or whatever stupid reason they have, how many people would be willing to furnish the care these little creatures will need for their whole lives?  

LOOK AT THAT LEFT FRONT FOOT

I don't know what they call the little horses, in donkeys they call them Micros.  There's a place in Texas called Golden's Point that has a little 26 inch jack named Tiny Ticket.  His stud fee is $1000, so there's money in it that's for sure.