If you notice, Nigel's head is on my mouse-pad.  This is a rather common happening, he & Moogee, both seem to think I need their help to "computer".  I've tried "wallering" his head to hopefully irritate him enough to make him leave.  Hasn't worked yet, & don't have high hopes that it will.  

This is going to be an "interesting" week-end.  We race both Sat & Sun night..........well we race Sat night & hopefully the car will be in one piece for racing Sun... no guarantee.....!!!  Have a tour coming out Sun morning.  Monday we are going to do 2 home studies, one for Ruger & Pancho.   BlackJack & Boaz are going to go out for a couple of weeks of weed control.  I hope a couple of weeks away will give Boaz a chance to learn some manners.  He can make Frijolita run by chasing her.  She seems to be afraid of him at the time, but the next time you see them they are shoulder to shoulder, so I'm not sure what the game is. She has string halt, which usually doesn't bother her very much, but she doesn't need to be racing & crashing thru the brush trying to get away from a bully. 

Pepper except for his bum knee is back to "normal", in fact he has taken to hanging around with the Tula bunch.  How he keeps up with them, I have no idea.  

Jenny is a little slow these days, she has a big piece of hoof missing from one of her front feet.  Don't know if that is her problem or not.  Courtney was talking about coming out this week-end, if she does the week-end will REALLY be busy. 

Poor little Buddy Brat is having to stay in the pens 24/7.........!!  He & Honcho were returned after about 1 1/2 years with a family.  Unfortunately their diets weren't adhered to while they were gone.  Buddy I think has been insulin resistant since birth or soon after, he was fluffy when we got him about 12 years ago, & he is still fluffy.  His crest is really thick & even being in the pens is not making much of a difference.  The new hay is pretty low in sugar & starch, but I think we're going to start soaking it anyway, hopefully if will make a difference.  He understands he is being mistreated & voices his displeasure every chance he gets, poor little guy. 

As of 5pm this afternoon Mother's house is officially sold...........YIPPEE.......!!!!  It seems like John & I have been living, breathing the house & it's contents for the last month, so it will be great to no longer have to worry about it.  

This afternoon we moved the "leftovers" from the garage sale, (thank goodness for the stock trailer) down to Sierra Vista.  Care for the Horses has a rummage sale twice a year, that has become a "happening", & they usually do really well.  I thought that would be a good use for what was left.  Although I REALLY..... REALLY wish the 3 piece oak entertainment center & the OVERSIZED computer desk had found a new home at the garage sale & the new owners had moved them, rather than John & I having to load them this afternoon.  Brad is a good friend & bought Mother's house.  He knew we were going to be loading stuff this afternoon & being the good friend he is, was waiting for us when we drove up, so he could help load.  He sure made the job easier, at least from my point of view.........!!!!  LOL  Not sure he & John would agree.  

Pepper is back to what is normal for him I guess, doesn't seem to have any lingering problems from his "incident" last week.  

We changed Jenny's foot covering yesterday & the foot is looking good.  Now that we aren't using such a heavy bandage, her foot isn't as damp when we unwrap it, which I would assume is a good thing.  The next step will be to just cover the opening in the front of her foot that is growing out, with a gauze pad to keep heavy amounts of dirt, mud, etc out of it.  According to the vet, just put the gauze on, tape it to the hoof, put on a pantyhose, & super glue the panty hose to her hoof.  OK...........!!!  Sounds simple enough, but I haven't gotten to the stage of attempting it yet.  What we're doing now is working, so I'm in no hurry to do something that might not work as planned.  

It looks like Ruger & Pancho will be going into a foster home for awhile.  The family wants to make sure they are ready for a long term commitment, which is OK with me.  I'd rather do it this way, than have them decide later on, this isn't going to work.  We'll do a home study just like an adoption to make sure it's a good home.  

Ruger & Pancho play together & eat in the same pen.  We moved Ruthie to a pen of her own since we're pretty sure she's pregnant.  Ruger is still very attached to her, Ruthie to Ruger, not so much.  And when she has her new baby, poor Ruger will be drummed out of the family in a hurry.  So if we can get him "weaned" from her before then, it will be a good thing for him.  

I got a call from a friend I haven't heard from in a couple of years.  She has 5 acres that has turned into a jungle with all the rain we've had lately.  She was wondering if she could borrow a couple of donkeys, that would like to eat "wild" food for a couple of weeks.  John & I talked about it & I think we will send BlackJack & Boaz out.  I have to call her back to make sure this is what she wants to do.  The boys won't care, as long as there is food.  Karla was disappointed that they won't eat tumbleweeds.  When we do the home study we'll make sure there is enough "weeds" for them to eat.  If it's all tumbleweeds, this might not work. 

Last night we spent over an hour looking for Pepper, couldn't find him, up or down, either over here or on Burroland.............!!!!  We changed sides, John looking where I had looked & me looking where he had looked.  Everyone else were in their pens, so when we heard a bray over on Burroland we knew he was up, it was just a matter of finding the old buzzard.  

I wandered around over there until almost dark & finally found him in an area John had been over 2 or 3 times.  I would imagine he was moving around, when I found him he was chewing on some weeds he'd found.  He willingly followed me, why can't he do that without us having to physically find him?  

When we got done with chores I came in got on the internet & started looking for some kind of locator "thingie" that might work to track him.  Oh! boy they have a bunch of them, at all price ranges from $15 to over $2000.  I read up as best I could & decided to try the Loc8tor Pet device.  It's small enough, it's used on cats by attaching to their collar.  If it's small enough I'm hoping I can attach it to his fly mask up between his ears, which should be out of the way if he gets down & starts thrashing around.  It has a range of about 300 feet max, which on 30 acres isn't much, not to mention the added barrier of lots of mesquite trees to block the signal.  But one woman told how she covers a larger area, so hopefully it will work out.  Spending a lot of time looking for him, isn't good for us or for him.  

RAINY MORNING.........

 Thanks Luna, I think if one brayed in my face like that, my reaction might be the same......!!!!

I have never been able to figure out why it has to rain at feeding time, morning or evening.  It seems like if we are lucky enough to get rain, the chances are it will be at one of those times.

No sprinkles, just a steady down pour of lots of rain.  UGH!  All of the pens need to be reworked, with sand & gravel added to raise the level of the pens.  I have been "suggesting" doing the pens for months, but so far it hasn't gotten done.  Granted, if it doesn't rain it isn't a problem, but when it does rain it's a BIG problem.  

Finally let most of them out of their pens, so they wouldn't be standing in water.  John went around with the hay cart & threw hay where they decided to stand.  There was a group of 5 or 6 standing between the wash (which incidentally ran) & when John threw the hay out, guess who was right in the middle of the group..........?  I wish I had known Pepper when he was young, he must have really been something.  Not much phases him, that's for sure. 

PEPPER AGAIN.......!!!

This morning Pepper was down in the wash again, in the same place.  Maybe he knows we can find him easy there, since it's almost in the path to the chicken pen.  He'd been down for awhile, long enough to pack sand into his eye, John took off fly masks last night, so he didn't have a barrier to protect his eye.  

I grabbed the eye wash & rinsed his eye out before we tried to get him up.  He was not disorientated like he was Saturday, & got up pretty easy once we got him off his bad side.  Followed us to his pen, albeit, at a rather slow & shaky pace. 

This afternoon when John started the round-up he found Pepper & Jenny out behind the house, "dining" on weeds, & seeds & he seemed just fine.  I think today was a "normal" down, unlike Saturday which was an incident.  I guess he's OK until the next time, I hope every other day doesn't become the norm for him.  

This morning was the first bandage change for Jenny since we took her up to the clinic last week.  

Boy talk about a stream lined operation..........!!!!   Getting her in the garage took longer than getting the old bandage off & the new one on.  That's because she does not lead, never has, & doesn't seem willing to learn.  

John got the old one cut off before I got all my "toys" lined up.  The foot looked good, not as damp as it is when we put a diaper & Elasticon tape on it.  

A quick wrap with a roll of gauze, a couple of strips of 1 inch tape to hold it in place, a boot on the bottom made of Gorilla tape, cover with a Hoof Wrap & she was good to go.  The vet clinic used duct tape, but the Gorilla tape is much tougher.  The Hoof Wrap stays on much better because her foot isn't so big & bulky now.  

Dr. Voss said we will be able to cover her hoof with the gauze to keep dirt from getting into the open area, cover it with part of a panty hose & super glue it to her hoof.  That way the bottom wouldn't have a covering on it & it would be much easier to wrap.  Haven't worked up the nerve to try that yet. 

But easy is what it's all about, from my point of view............!!!!

Well Pepper is "up & at'um" seems no worse for wear from his incident Saturday.  In fact he is eating better than he's eaten recently.  Hope he isn't burning his "flame" out, the old buzzard.

 

 

 

He tried to knock John down with his head, which is his usual weapon of choice, Saturday night when John tried to get him headed towards his pen. Nope, not going, headed out to Burroland with 3 of the geldings when the wind started blowing & the few beans left started falling. We went ahead & fed the others, then John went looking for him. Found him all the way over against the far fence, eating grasses & green stuff, guess he ran out of beans. So he got to be a wild donkey for the evening, it wasn't worth the fight to drag him all the way across 20 acres to make him go in his pen to eat his mush. I wouldn't have given a plug nickel for him making it Saturday morning, in fact the neighbor thought he quit breathing twice. 

 

He returned quite quickly to his usual cranky old man routine. He had some kind of incident, I’m just not sure what it was. He was confused & disorientated for about an hour or so after we found him. Don't know how long he had been down. Usually when we get him up we loop ropes around front & rear feet, pull him over to his good side & he either pops up or if he's been down awhile, rests on his breast bone & pops up. We had to reflip him at least 3 times, because he kept flopping back on his bad right side almost spasmodically, never did that before. 

 

Patti & Claire have been coming up with ideas for herbs & things that might help keep him going, if he is having heart or circulatory problems. He's usually pretty perky, so we'll have to be careful, I don't want to rev him up, his legs won't take it. His right hip has been cracked & his right knee has been blown out, he walks sorta of like John Wayne on a cheap drunk. Don't want to make him think he's Superman? This old guy tries to chase the girls, & spends a lot of time trying to figure out how to get up on their back, if he actually gets close enough without them escaping. If he ever does make it up there, we'll have to extricate him, to keep him from collapsing when he falls off. I don’t think he can make it, but it sure keeps his eyes bright & his ears alert, silly old fool. 

 

The Vet office finally checked in today, to see how he was.  Hmmmm, I realize Vet's have to have time off, but from Saturday to Monday without returning a call, isn't very helpful.  I told the tech what happened & what I did, asked her to ask the vet if she had any ideas.  Called me back & said no ideas, just to watch him until it's time.  I envy people that live in a area that has 24/7, weekend Vet coverage.  Of course Saturday if I had got hold of the vet, & she came out it would have been to euthanize him.......so perhaps this is the way it was suppose to happen.  The world would be very dull without Pepper in it & we'd really miss his quirky personality. 

 

Finally got the yard sale going Sunday morning.  I was quite surprised at how many people we had & how much "stuff" they carried out of there.  Unfortunately they didn't carry it all off............so we're going to have another go at it, next Saturday.  

TODAY DID "NOT" GO AS PLANNED........!!!!

In my last post I said we were going to be doing the garage sale at my Mother's house today. 

We got up at 4am to get everyone fed & doctored, so we could get to town by "showtime", 8am.  

John started rounding up while I got the pans ready.  Found everyone..........except Pepper.  Started looking for him & finally found him laying in the wash.  Usually when we find him down on his bad side, we flip him over & he either sits on his breast bone a few minutes & pops up or pops up immediately.  This time he seemed exhausted, disorientated & perhaps at the end of the road.  Of course it's a week-end, & we have no emergency vet services in Cochise county.  I called the local vet & if she doesn't call you back in 20 minutes that means she isn't available, & suggests calling Dr. Shamis in Tucson.  WHAT TO DO, WHAT TO DO..........???  

One of the neighbor's came over to help, & we finally decided to try to get him up on a piece of plywood & drag him out of the wash with the tractor.  Of course all this time we are watching it get closer & closer to when we would have to leave in order to get to the garage sale.  

While John was getting the plywood & tractor I went in the house to call Michelle a friend that was going to help with the sale.  She lives in Benson, & I asked if she would go by Mother's house & put a "postpone until tomorrow" sign on the garage door.  When I went back out John said Pepper was up.  Sure enough he was standing on the bank of the wash, looking confused.  Took off at a fast walk headed for the waterer, went right past it, stopped & just looked around like he didn't know where he was.  

We finally got him into his pen, he was still acting like he was in pain & confused.  I went back to doctoring etc, & watching him.  All of a sudden he laid down & stretched out.  I thought this might be it, went in the house to try to call the vet again.  John comes in, says he's up & eating hay....................WHAT.....??????  Kept an eye on him the rest of the day & whatever was wrong this morning seemed to be over & done with.  He almost acted like colic, but not really, & even tried stretching his neck like they do when they choke.  He's choked in the past, but I really don't think that was what it was.  

I have no idea what was wrong with him, he's over 35 years old, so it could be just about anything. 

So tomorrow morning we get to do it all over again, hopefully without the Pepper adventure.  Really looking forward to getting up at 4am.............NOT.......!!!!

MOM BROUGHT HOME GOODIES.......!!!

When Kathy was showing us around Longhopes, I noticed each pen had one of these pans in it.  Being the nosy person I am, I had to ask.  

This is a product called Equilix, it's not a salt lick, nor does it have any molasses in it.  It's more of a lick supplement, with probiotics, enzymes, & all sorts of "stuff" in it.  I'm usually a little hesitant about jumping on the bandwagon with the latest "best thing since sliced bread".  

Kathy has used it for quite sometime, orders it by the pallet & really thinks it makes a difference in the health of her guys.  Sounded worth a try & a local feed store has it, so off Georgette & I went to fill the trunk of the car with pans.  Actually we figured out 3 would allow enough room for us to still have room for our suitcases & other stuff we brought on the trip. 

Brought it home, set it on the feed room porch to protect it from rain, & almost had to stand back to keep from getting ran over.  

Right before I took this picture of Frijolita enjoying a few licks, there was 3 heads buried in the pan going after it.  Unfortunately Daisy decided that she should be able to "snack" alone & ran everyone else off, by threatening with her rear feet.  

It seems like there is someone having a lick or two all day long, they really like it.  There is nothing in the ingredients that sounds high sugar.  At the rate they are going, it isn't going to last out the week............!!!!!

Yesterday we took Jenny up to the clinic in Gilbert as planned to have her resectioned foot re-evaluated.

Got up there & boy was she ready to get out of the trailer.  Maybe she enjoyed her "almost" month long stay up there more than I thought.  There was 5 "new" vets there, they spend their summers before their last year of school, going from Vet clinic to Vet clinic for 3-4 weeks to learn from established clinics.  I asked if any of them had been there when Jenny was there for surgery.  They said no, but they had heard about her.  Then one of the techs came out & told me how much time she spent with Jenny.  I knew they were turning her from side to side every couple of hours, but didn't know she was getting fresh water every hour or being groomed everyday & all the other "make Jenny comfortable" stuff they did........!!!  Jeesh, no wonder every day when I called & talked to Dr. Voss & asked him if she had given up, he would say "No, she seems very happy & satisfied".  I guess she was quite the primadonna. 

When her foot was unwrapped, Dr. Voss immediately saw the area Courtney was worried about.  While they were all looking & discussing what would be the best plan of attack, Courtney came in.  She & Dr. Voss talked way over my head,,but I did understand what they wanted to do.  Basically she is walking on the sides of the foot, which is what Dr. Voss wanted.  But because of the push up pressure when she steps, it is shifting the lower part of the hoof wall, into the upper part.  So the plan was to cut a channel in the hoof between the upper & lower part, & to also trim the edge of the hoof, so it isn't touching the ground.  This is what Courtney had said should be done last week, but she wanted a Vet to make the decision.  So they cut a groove between the two sections, shortened the hoof wall on the side & said we don't need to do all the heavy bandaging anymore.  Yippee!  It will still have to be covered with gauze to keep the open areas from getting packed with mud or picking up gravel, but Dr. Voss thinks being out in the air will be more healthy than keeping it completely wrapped.

She seems to be walking good today, so I would imagine it feels a lot better.  We'll still be bandaging every 5 days or so, but it should be a lot easier & quicker, not to mention maybe the Hoof Wraps will stay on better without the diaper & all the other wrappings we were using. 

Tomorrow morning we are having a garage sale at Mother's house to get rid of all her stuff.  Thank goodness she isn't sentimental, I can't imagine if someone was getting rid of most of my "stuff", but to her it's just stuff.  I'm not a garage type person, getting ready for it has been a little overwhelming.  John is really good to help, & Georgette & her husband Dave came out a couple of days ago, & spent the whole day, organizing & marking stuff.  I tried to get everyone interested in maybe having a fire, but they all seemed to think that was a little radical.........!!! LOL

UPDATE

At feeding time this afternoon we had one hellacious storm, lots of rain & wind & a little hail.  John was trapped in the feed room, & most of the donkeys were trapped across the wash because the wash was running bank to bank & just about to crawl out.  

Everything finally settled down, but of course it took awhile for the wash to quit running.  In the meantime they had figured out it was time to eat & were running the bank trying to figure out how to get across without getting their feet wet.  

John went over & BlackJack followed him back across like that was what he was suppose to do.  In the meantime the rest of them were sure there was a way if they just ran back & forth enough.  I picked my way across, but couldn't get anyone to follow me.  Well actually some of them try, but the last 3 feet was still running & they just couldn't bring themselves to actually step in the water.  

From that stage it only took about another 15 minutes for them to mozy across, & start demanding to be fed.  Brats..........!!!!  

John just came in after 9pm from fixing the fences that cross the washes.  When they run that high, it usually takes out the fences, & they have to be fixed before we let them out.  

It's still sprinkling, so we might get some more rain tonight.  John said we got an inch & a tenth, so I think that's enough for now..........!!!! LOL

Had a very nice woman come out from Tucson today to groom donkeys.  Poor BlackJack had been getting mats.  He is more than likely part Poitou & his hair is long & very fine.  He's always proned to mats in his armpits in the summer but all this heat & humidity we've had really escalated the problem.  So when Molly said she wanted to come out & groom, I set BJ up as her first "customer". 

She worked on him quite awhile, but managed to get him mat free.  I think BlackJack would probably stand for grooming until he didn't have any hair left, although he did have to act like a bad boy, when she first started.  I think he was testing her to see if she was up to speed on working on a "special" donkey.  Once they got the initial "I'm not going to, Oh yes you are", out of the way, everything went smoothly.

She also did Ruthie & Daisy.  If Ruthie isn't pregnant, she is certainly getting funny shaped.  We've moved her into a pen of her own at feeding time, so Ruger can get use to "mommy" not always being with him.  He's in with Pancho, & his Daddy Boaz, but as soon as the pens are open, he goes to find Ruthie.  This young man is pushing 18 months.......!!!  When she has the new little one, she is going to abruptly tell Ruger she is no longer his mommy & if he doesn't get away from her new baby, she'll make him wish he had.  Poor little guy is going to be heartbroken.  He does play with Pancho quite often, so I'm hoping he'll make the transition without to much drama.

We will be taking Jenny up to the clinic in Gilbert tomorrow to see if they need to do something to her foot to make her more comfortable.  It looks like it's pushing inward rather than growing straight down.  We'll have to leave early, so we're hoping that Vic can come over & let the donkeys out later on in the morning.  It wouldn't hurt for them to stay in all day, but I'm sure they would think they were being punished.

 Georgia

 Misty

When we were at Longhopes, Kathy asked if we'd like to go over to the killer buyer's to see if he had any donkeys.  Kathy has worked with this guy for years.  He's a nice guy, just has a lousy job, BUT, if he finds any donkeys at auctions that obviously aren't going to find a good home & are going cheap, he buys them for Kathy.  He lives close enough that it's a win, win deal for Kathy, she doesn't have to go to auctions & hang around waiting for donkeys to be put up for bid. 

So off we went, got over there & these 2 girls were in a pen.  They are about 8 or 9 years old & really nice girls although obviously neglected lately. 

Kathy let Georgette & I name them on the way home.  We ran thru quite a few names before coming up with names Kathy hadn't already used.  She's had over 600 donkeys thru her rescue, so all the the easy ones are gone.  We would have named Misty Casper, but she wasn't a boy...........!!!!  Georgette was go excited, she has decided to become a sponsor for Georgia.  She wanted to also sponsor Misty, but Kathy said only one to a family.  Anybody interested in sponsoring a real nice pretty donkey girl? 

The next morning we helped sign them into the rescue.  They had to have a collar put on, so the volunteers can identify them.  Every donkey has their own halter, so had to find halters to fit.  Kathy gave me a weight tape to use.  They have a scale, but we didn't know at the time if they would lead or not.  After we left they did weigh them on the scale & my weight tape numbers were off by 75-100 pounds.......!!!  They just don't work on donkeys, they carry too much weight behind the girth area. 

Needed to get those nasty feet trimmed, so Kathy went out & did "despooking 101", which the girls found rather boring.  So they have probably had good homes in the past, but for some reason they ended up at the end of the line.........almost...!!!!

I should have taken an after picture of Misty's rear feet, Kathy got all that excess growth chopped off, & they looked pretty good.  She was a little tender but not bad. 

I'm so glad these girls weren't lost. 

This is an interesting read:

http://www.windwildhorse.com/windblog/2012/08/06/no-more-wild-horses-soon-blm-is-scheduling-capture-of-all-of-them-asap/

It's sad to see what our government does in the name of the American people.

BACK FROM COLORADO

Georgette & I got back from Colorado this morning.  Had a great time, Kathy & Alan are a lot of fun to visit.  

This video is of Salsa, a 5 day old little bundle of energy.  Watching her & remembering how sick poor little Tucker was at the same age, really showed how sick he really was.  Her Mother was rescued from a killer buyer a couple of months ago.  Although at this time there aren't any equine slaughter houses in the United States, just across the border in Mexico & Canada they are still killing equines & shipping the meat to Europe & Asia.  Unfortunately Washington has made money available to hire inspectors for equine slaughter houses, & Montana & Missouri has applied for permits to start up again.  It would have been a shame to have lost this little bundle of energy.  She is beautifully marked & someone is going to get to adopt a wonderful little girl, when she gets a little older.  

This was not what she wanted to be doing, but Kathy insisted.........!!!

John & Mother got along just fine, although John said he was REALLY glad I was home......... !!   Believe me,  I know the feeling.........!!!! LOL

Tonight John & I had to change Jenny's foot bandage.  We are taking her up to Gilbert this Thur, to have them look at her hoof & see if it needs to have a piece of hoof removed where it looks like it's pinching inward rather than growing straight down.  Courtney plans on meeting us up there, so she can discuss with the vets on what they want her to do.  

Georgette & I will head out in the morning for Colorado & a visit with Kathy Dean at Longhopes.  Should be fun, but I hate leaving John with all the chores.  Right now we are having a heatwave, my back porch thermometer says 108.9 right now, & the sun isn't even shining.

This morning Lysa & I did "doctoring", so she can do it while I'm gone on the days she is here.  The flies are trying to eat the donkeys alive, especially the ones with immune system problems, which is about 5 of them.  Two of them have socks on their legs, & 2 of them have floppy material hanging down from velcro strips above their knees.  We'll see which one does the best job.  Chantilly is doing OK without having to be "dressed".  They are all getting Vitamin E, biotin, & Flaxseed oil, but right now I don't think anything is going to stop the flies.  I put a couple of new fly traps out last night about 2 hours before dark, & by chore time this morning there was about 1/2 inch of little bodies floating in the liquid.  Hopefully by now they are stuffed with the little monsters.  We catch about 40 pounds of flies a year, figuring each trap catches about a pound.  That's a lot of flies that are not reproducing more flies, at least I hope so.....!! 

Haven't heard how Honcho & Simmons, (probably now known as Cisco) are settling in.  I'm sure they are doing just fine, both of them are pretty easy going & not drama queens.  If John doesn't hear anything by the time I get back I'll have to give them a call.  

I hope it's cooler in Colorado......!!!!!

Flash Flood Devastation

I got an e-mail from Bijou's foster mom this morning about some friends of her's in Tennessee, that were hit by a flash flood & lost so many of their animals.  They, like Stacy made sure the deformed dwarfs had a comfortable safe place to live.  

http://www.johnsoncitypress.com/News/article.php?id=101707 

I can't imagine how sad they must be, & then to find out the insurance company won't cover damages.  Stacy said he also lost all his tools, so he can't even work.  

They still have 24 horses, but lost all their hay.  I'm sure they will come out of this, but their lives are changed forever.  It will be a long time before they will be able to smile again. 

This was yesterday when we delivered Honcho & Simmons to their new home.  As you can see they were very upset & frightened at this new happening in their lives................NOT......!!!  "Oh! boy new people with treats, life is good.........!!! "  Copper came over to their pen, laid his ears back a couple of times & once he found out people would pay attention to him & give treats, he didn't seem to care one way or the other about the donkeys being there. 

That is GRASS underneath their feet & it didn't take them but a few seconds to put their heads down & start nibbling.  They planned on leaving the boys in the small pen for a few days.  I think Cindy said she is off work tomorrow Tuesday, so I would imagine it will happen then.  I don't foresee any problems, I'm sure Copper will lunge at them with ears back a couple of times, & they will show him their hind feet & that will probably be it.  Not much drama..........!!! 

Friday we took Simmons & Cheyenne to the vet.  Simmons at some time has got his face caught on something that pulled a piece of flesh loose.  When it healed it stuck out like a skin tag & if you put a halter on him, of course it usually got hung up.  It was rather small & looked like it would be easy to "sneak" up on & nip it off quickly with either a scalpel or sharp scissors & I was tempted.  Glad I didn't try it, when she clipped it, blood shot out about 2 feet, she said she thought it was right over the main vein running down the side of his face, when she saw it.  She didn't want to put in a stitch because it would leave a "dimple", so it took awhile to get it to stop.  It looked pretty good by Sunday, & I gave them some thuja zinc oxide to keep on it, so the flies don't think it's a fly feasting area.  Which right now the flies are absolutely horrible, thank goodness for fly masks, I can't imagine how miserable the donkeys would be with all those flies in their eyes. 

Cheyenne is one of the minis, in fact she is the smallest about 32 inches tall.  Lately she has been quidding & losing weight.  Actually her weight is about perfect, but we're so use to seeing "chubbies" she looks thin.  Didn't find much wrong, she has a few sharp areas on her teeth but not enough to cause problems.  So I had a blood workup done, just to have a base line in case we need it later.  

Saturday we went to a surprise birthday party.  Considering his birthday was almost a month ago & there was nothing celebrated then, he was definitely "surprised"..........!!!!  He was too nosy at the time, so the party was put off for awhile.  LOL  He says he will get even............hmmmmm..........!!! 

We got to see Selena & Falena, aka Squeeky & Momma.  Falena is now out of her special shoe, & walking just fine.  Tyler had said it would take about a year, & that's about how long it's been.  They absolutely adore the girls, it is a wonderful foster home.  They would adopt the girls in a minute, but by law they still belong to the state as strays, even though the state never called me back.  If they were cows or horses they might get more involved, but burros............??  Not worth their valuable time. That's OK, the girls have a perfect home, with people that think they are great, so who cares if the paperwork isn't right? The state sure doesn't. 

Thursday, Georgette & I are heading out on a ROAD TRIP to Colorado.  We'll only be gone 5 days, poor John will not only have the donkeys, but will also be feeding Mother 6 times a day.  It's not really difficult, I have a list of "available" foods & she will tell you which one she wants. He's worried about it, but I've already told her she will have to be involved & anyway she won't starve in 5 days, I don't think........!!! LOL 

We're going up to visit Kathy Dean at Longhopes Donkey Shelter.  Kathy has an outstanding rescue/sanctuary & utilizes her resources wisely & Georgette & I don't really need much of an excuse to hit the road anyway.  This trip had been planned long before Mother decided I wasn't too bossy & she'd come live with us. John said he wanted me to still go, & the great thing about John is, he really means it.  I'm not sure I'd be so generous in the same position..........!!!!  LOL

Below, is an e-mail Patti sent out that covers all the bases about the Walk-a-thon this year.  We all had a great time last year & this year should be even better.  We'd love for everyone that can to come help us celebrate these wonderful creatures.  You couldn't ask for a better representative than Zeke.

Tish

From: Patti

Sent: Friday, August 03, 2012 7:04 PM

To: Patti Woodbury Kuvik

Subject: Mike and Zeke Rescue Walk October 12th

Mike and Zeke (Zeke is the cute one with the long ears) are hitting the road again this year to raise money for Forever Home Donkey Rescue in Benson http://www.foreverhomedonkey.com/ and Care For The Horses in Sierra Vista http://www.careforthehorses.com/. The date is October 12th, Donkey Appreciation Day which falls on a Friday this year.

The Mike and Zeke Rescue Walk Community Facebook page is at https://www.facebook.com/mikeandzeke (you shouldn't have to "belong" to Facebook to see this page but if you do belong, please share with your FB friends).

The Rescue Walk will cover about ten miles starting from the ghost town of Fairbank (near Route 82 and the San Pedro River) ending at The Good Enough Silver Mine, 5th and Toughnut in Tombstone.

We'll provide a ride from Tombstone to meet up with Mike and Zeke for anyone who would like to walk the last few miles with them. We'll also provide a ride back to Fairbank if you want to park there and walk the whole route with Mike and Zeke. (We don't advise bringing your horse to ride as the route is mainly on highway.) Or you can walk a shorter stretch in between. Check the FB page for final confirmation of the route and a map of drop off/pick up points. And don't forget to wear you "Old West" duds!

We're asking people to consider helping out with a dollar a mile - more if you can, less if you can't. You can donate directly at https://www.facebook.com/mikeandzeke/app_18015191938?ref=ts

Mike and Zeke have long been part of Tombstone's "Old West" atmosphere and when you meet them their devotion to each other is obvious. They have done an activity together to raise money for charity every year on "Donkey Appreciation Day", October 12 - and if that isn't an official day we'll make it one in Arizona!

Put October 12 on your calendar. If you can walk part of the Rescue Walk with Mike and Zeke it will help the miles pass more quickly. But if you can't make it, follow them on Facebook with your "likes" and contributions.

Patti K in Vail

(who will be driving the red truck to shuttle walkers joining Mike and Zeke)

Poor little Pancho..........!!!!  Tonight when he came in to go to his pen, he had to walk past the pile of hair from Daisy's trim this morning.  I guess it had the look of a dead hairy critter, because walking by it was out of the question.  He finally decided if he could stretch his neck long enough, he "might" think about sniffing it, but not without a lot of foot hopping, trying from different angles & I'm sure under his fly mask his eyes were bugged & focused on the "critter".  Thanks goodness the wind didn't blow it, or he probably would have turned wrong side out.  He finally figured out a way around it to get to his pen.

Always before when I left it laying there, the wind usually blew it away by afternoon.  And of course the birds love it for making nests.  We have our 4th sparrow family under the eaves of the feed room.  So I guess if it's still there in the morning, I'll have to move it, so Pancho can go to his pen, without having to worry about "what is it?"...........!!!

CLIPPING MISS DAISY

This morning I was petting Daisy & noticed she had lots of mats in her armpits & also the hair was sweat stiff.  This spring I was going to body clip her, but the Donkey Yahoo group had a pro-con discussion about whether to clip or not to clip.  Although the consensus was, God intended them to have hair to insulate from the desert heat, she does have Cushings & is on 3mg of Pergolide a day, so her hair growth isn't exactly "normal".  

One reason I'd put off clipping is I didn't know if my hands & wrists would take it.  A broken thumb, broken wrist & metatarsal bone in one hand & an eroding cyst in the other wrist, cuts into my style............!!!  But I decided to give it a try wearing my splints.  

This is what I had to work with, a very hairy girl.  Daisy's former owner gave me a big set of clippers made by Oster Stewart, I think you could clip a Yak with them, no problem.  But they are big & heavy.

It really went much better than I thought it would.  She's a good girl, she stood real still, maybe it felt good to get all of this off:

My hands held up real well, didn't have any problems & this is the finished product.

I didn't clip her legs, no sense in giving the flies a head start in gnawing their way to bare skin.

Lysa was here cleaning pens, in fact she was my back up in case I couldn't finish clipping Daisy.  She said we should try clipping BlackJack.  I told her if she wanted to, by all means have at it..............BUT........that I didn't think BJ would like it.  And when he doesn't like something he has a way of letting you know.  I remember him throwing himself on the ground in a temper fit one time because we had the audacity to want to trim his feet.  He's self trimmed his feet ever since.  I would imagine he would let me pick his feet up now without having a tantrum, but clippers.........????   Maybe not........!!!