WHAT A MESS................!!!

John & Patti hauled 7 donkeys yesterday in our 4 horse trailer to Hoofprints of the Heart Rescue in Marana.  Everything went smoothly, according to John.  They loaded fairly well, although he said they didn't really appreciate curves & corners.  With that many animals back there dancing around I'm sure he knew when they weren't happy.  

John has always taken good care of the stock trailer and it still looks pretty good for it's age, well except for the area Jack the mini mule tried to eat.  We have no idea what he was trying to do, but he managed to scrape a good size area of paint off with his teeth.  John usually has it cleaned out & ready to go, no later than the next morning.  

When he called yesterday afternoon, he said, "you should see the trailer, they managed to sling "poo" (I cleaned that up) clear to the ceiling.  I reminded him of what a mess 2 donkeys can make in an hour or so in the trailer.  Seven for 5 hours, just compounds the problem.  

I was going to take a picture of the inside this morning, but a picture wouldn't do it justice.  He had said it was running out the back and sure enough, trust me,  it's not a pretty sight.........!!! LOL 

John had an appointment this morning, so didn't have a chance to clean it out.  It's in the high 90's this afternoon, which is going to bake all that diarrhea into the metal.  Won't that be fun to clean off........??  Glad it's his job not mine....!!

There's more donkeys to be hauled, probably sometime next week and homes to find.  I called my "want donkey" list this morning.  Some of them have found donkeys or in one case a horse, which is good, but doesn't help find these guys a new home.  

One of the donkeys still needing to be hauled has a old break in her fetlock.  We've already decided we'll probably add her to our herd.  She probably wouldn't be adoptable, but that's OK, most of ours aren't.  This is why we never get our numbers down I guess. 

MINI MULE UPDATE

I took this picture when we delivered them Tuesday. 

Beverly called this morning & said they have settled in just fine.  She said she wish she had the camera earlier, when Jack & Hombre were laying down together.  Sounds like they are going to be BUDS, hope Molly doesn't get left out.  Hmmmmmm   Jack's always been mean to her, but screams like a banshee  if she is out of his sight.  She might enjoy having a girlfriend & not having to rely on him for companionship.  I might have to talk to Beverly about that.......!!!!   LOL  Another little mini mule girl would be perfect, but there aren't that many of them.  But you never know.  

John & our friend Patti are participating in a rescue today.  Both John & I couldn't go, someone has to stay home & take care of the animals & Mother.  Patti said she'd go, she likes adventures.  It's almost 300 miles away, so it will be a long day.  I'd REALLY like to vent about it, but maybe later.  Sometimes situations just make you shake your head.  

So I got to do chores all by myself for the first time in a LONG time.  I think I was younger last time, perhaps a LOT younger.......!!!  I got done before noon, but there were a lot of rest breaks in there.  When I'm gone & call John he usually says he was done by 10am.  GRRRRRR...!!!  They probably won't be back by feeding time tonight, but I won't have to pick up poo & will leave the hay for John to weigh.  He doesn't like me messing in his buckets....!!!!  So it shouldn't be quite so traumatic......!!!

Molly & Jack went to their new home today!

Jack is a typical little boy I guess, "Oh! look the poo pile is waiting to be cleaned up, let me roll in it".....!!!   Molly rolled, but she, being a lady rolled in the dirt.  

They hit the ground running around trying to see everything there was to see.  Hombre was in a pen, much to his disgust, he wanted to be out & have fun too.  They are going to let the mules run around for awhile, & then put them in a pen & let Hombre out.  Tomorrow Beverly has a group of friends coming over to meet the new kids.  Hopefully by then, they will settle in & Hombre can be out with them. 

This is Beverly bribing Molly with an animal cracker to come & say "HI".  Molly was willing to stop long enough to grab a cracker, but wasn't interested in wasting much time being social.  Mules are sometimes a little stand offish with new people.  It's almost like you have to earn your right to be in their "herd".   Beverly is going to be an indulgent member of the herd, hopefully she will be in charge.  If not, Jack probably will be......!!! LOL

BlackJack has been in a temporary pen, so now will move into the mules pen.  John just finished the shelter in that pen, which I'm sure BJ will enjoy, since there was no shelter in the temp pen. 

ABANDONED DONKEYS IN COLORADO

 If you enjoy your freedom, thank a soldier, this Memorial Day!

People just amaze me sometimes, I imagine he ended up with so many donkeys, because there is at least one intact jack in there someplace, or Kenny wouldn't be here. The rest of the jennies are probably also pregnant.

(Double click on donkeys in the above sentence for the link to this story)

QUILLA & JUSTIN PLAYING

 I was going thru some of the pictures on my computer & came across this cute sequence of Quilla & Justin playing with a deflated Jolly Ball.  I don't know how the company can get away with saying they are guaranteed.  We haven't bought one in a long time, but anytime we did get a new one, they usually last less than a week, before someone bites a hole in them.  

This one actually is still here & is still played with, although it looks like road kill.....!!!

"You know you want to play, Quilla"

"It will be fun, trust me"

"You have to get a bigger bite or this isn't going to work"

"Now you've got the idea"

"Don't raise your head so high"

"OK, my neck is only so long"

FIRST SNAKE OF THE SEASON.......!!!

Not in very good shape by the time John found it in the back yard.  Just a little baby, had 2 rattles & a button.  I assume one of the cats killed it, & ate the head.  Not sure that's a real good idea, isn't that where the poison is........?????  All three outdoor cats were here this morning, looking perky, so guess it didn't hurt them. 

PEPPER IS GOING TO BE THE DEATH OF ME.........!!!!

When John went out to let them out at bedtime, he came back & said something was wrong with Pepper.  Went out to check him over.  He was very restless, probably in pain, had gut sounds on both sides.  Tried to lay down a couple of times & I found out why he ends up on his right side.  If he does try to lay down, because his left side is stronger than the right side, the right side goes down first, so he ends up laying on his right whether he wants to or not.  

We watched him for awhile & I decided to give him a colic remedy I've used in the past 3 or 4 times with good results.  Even though he's usually "difficult" to work with he was more than willing to swallow all of it.  It smells good enough to drink, guess it tastes good.  We watched him for awhile & it didn't take very long for him to act more comfortable.  John said he'd get up & check on him in a couple of hours.  I told him if Pepper was acting normal to go ahead & let him out of the pen.  John went out about 1AM, came back in & said Pepper was trying to plow thru the gate & John at the same time, so he let the old buzzard out........!!!

This morning he was, as usual, obnoxious & opinionated, although he left a little more of his breakfast than usual.  Whew, I hope he's just going thru a stage.  It seems like he will go along for weeks without having any problems & then we get to spend a lot of time, looking for him, getting him up & whatever else he can come up with.  The ears are still up & perky, so life goes on I guess.  

ANIMALS MAKE LIFE INTERESTING....!!!

 My Great Grandson Hunter, sitting in his Grandpa's race car, going to start him early I guess...!!! LOL

One thing you can say, when the weather warms up, critters start moving around I guess.

Yesterday I noticed 3 of the 4 house cats fascinated with something behind a large green frog fountain (don't ask, it was a gift) in the spa/laundry room.  I looked down & low & behold, there was a pretty good sized camel spider.  That's what they are called in the Middle East, I think in the U.S. Southwest they are called Child of the Desert or Sun Scorpion. 

I know one thing they are very fast & very very ugly.  I've never seen any in the U.S. as big as the ones on our compound in Saudi, although this one was probably at least 2 inches long.  I was pretty sure he didn't want Moogee's foot dragging him out of where he was trying to hide.  I got my "catch" cup & piece of cardboard & took him outside after showing him to Mother.  Can't say she was very happy to see him, but was thrilled when I said he was going outside.  I would imagine he is responsible for us not having our usual spring cricket invasion.  When I was feeding the wolf spider this winter, some of the crickets escaped, but I've only seen one.  

This morning when I woke up, I looked at the patio door & there was a mouse clinging to the screen outside.  Where it came from & what it was doing, I have no idea.  I yelled for John, because I knew he wouldn't believe me if I just told him about it.  He came, he saw, & went to get a bucket to "catch" it in before the 3 outdoor cats found it.  He went outside with his bucket, stuck it up under the mouse, & the mouse looked like a flying squirrel, as it evaded the bucket.  John spent the next few minutes chasing the poor little thing around the courtyard, to get it out before the cats found it.  It looked well fed, John said it's probably been sneaking in to eat cat food. 

This morning Pepper was missing, John finally found him over in the big wash on Burroland.  He has been down for quite awhile, although when we rolled him over, he got up pretty quick.  But he had bedsores on his boney shoulder, hip & face.  As soon as he got up the ears were perky & he started trying to walk, although it took awhile for his legs to work.  I wish he would just lay there, & wait for us, rather than try to get up on his own. 

JUSTIN'S FLY MASK FOUND.....!!!!

Two days ago, Justin came in without his mask.  Lately Wister gets blamed for all fly mask removal.  Since he's figured out how to get them off, we see him pulling & tugging on just about anybody.  Even Rusty the mule has to put up with the game.  Once Wister gets ahold of the mask he's like a bulldog, he hangs on as long as he can.  In Rusty's case, if Rusty raised his head up high, he could probably sling Wister cross country.  He usually just stands there patiently waiting for the little monster to let go.  We've never seen any of the donkeys besides Ruthie his mom discipline him.  They all seem to put up with his baby shenanigans with good humor.  

I didn't have an extra mask that would fit him, so we've been diligently looking for his.  This morning John just happened to be down in the wash & saw the mask up on the bank, in a place we would have never thought to look.  So now we have the mask & no Justin, they are all over in Burroland for the afternoon.  The Vel-cro on that mask is about worn out, so I think we'll put that mask on Lynn & use her mask for Justin.  So far Wister hasn't messed with the girls's masks, so Lynn should get along OK with worn out Vel-cro.  

That's our son's Super Stock car next to my little Hornet Saturday night.  Now that's a REAL race car.  I'm not really sure what he thinks about me racing, but he can't hide...........  We run the same number & the cars are both orange & white, so he can't disown me......!!! LOL. 

I'M SLEEPY & THE DAY IS STILL YOUNG........!!!

Sundays after Saturday night races is always pretty low key.  The donkeys get fed & that's about it for the day.....!!!!  John sits in his recliner & "watches" the race he taped last night.  We already know who won, & he isn't a favorite in this house, so John doesn't mind missing most of it as he catches up from getting to bed about 3:30am.  

This is Reilly, my passenger for the night.  He's somewhat of a gear head, and I think he had a good time.  We finished 2nd in a rather ho hum heat race.  The main event was a lot more interesting.  He got to see other cars up close and personal, we "kissed" one of the big tractor tires in the middle on our way to get back on the track, after someone had rudely sent us in that direction. We did some "agricultural" racing, which happens when you go into a corner too fast or too high on the track.  It's a good thing our track doesn't have walls, or I'd never survive.........!!!  And I didn't tell Reilly, but the the last 2 laps were a little more exciting than I expected.........the gas pedal stuck wide open.  That's when we did some of that off the track agricultural racing, we were going into the corners a lot faster than I wanted to.  It "fixed" itself just about the time they threw the checkered flag.  John will check it, but it probably got some clay or a rock caught up in the cable.  Not a fun experience.  

One of the cars rolled over which brings out the red flag.  That means STOP right now, wherever you are on the track.  I stopped behind one of the other cars & all of a sudden BANG.............!!!!  Someone wasn't paying attention I guess..!!  Of course it pushed me into the car I had stopped behind.  I asked Reilly what car it was, he said black.  About half the cars are black & he couldn't see the number.  I figured whoever it was backed up, so I decided to back off the car in front of me.  When I backed up, the "black" car was still there close enough I got him.  If you believe that, I'll sell you some ocean front property in Arizona........!!!  Heh, heh, heh...........!!! 

John was so proud of his new bumper he got to replace the partial bumper from last race day, see how shiny it is & not a scratch on it in the picture above? 

The hood doesn't look so good either.......!!!!  LOL

The back has a few "wounds" too, for some reason last night was pretty rough.  

We managed to finish 6th.

We got home so late because our good friend Larry won his 3rd race & the track wanted to see the inside of his motor.  It takes awhile to tear down a motor, even with lots of help.  He was legal, which was a disappointment for some other Factory Stock drivers.  Larry's a real good driver, he doesn't need to cheat.  He's won main events in 5 decades & has a chance for another championship this year.  He has been a champion at other tracks, but not this one.  Hope he gets it.....!!!

I have no idea where or when this picture was taken, but it's neat......!!!

Racing tonight, the winner of the drawing for a ride-along is a 14 year old boy.  Talk about disrupt his family's lives..........they were suppose to go to a wedding tonight.  His Father is going to the wedding, & his Mother is coming to the races with Reilly to take pictures.  Glad I wasn't involved in those arrangements, I'm assuming the wedding is on his Dad's side of the family......!!!! LOL  I told them after I found out it was getting complicated that we could do it later, but I guess Reilly was afraid he might not get to go.  I'll try to take some pictures too.  Hope it's a good night for racing & he has fun.  

I've thought for quite some time that Rusty the white mule was developing Cushings.  His hair was long & unkempt looking, goopy eyes & lethargic.  My local vet wouldn't do the ACTH test, but would give me a script for pergolide......!!  A little backwards, but it is Cochise County....!!  Anyway Rusty developed the pergolide fog within 2 feedings, so I kept getting smaller capsules until I was down to .25 once a day & he still stopped eating & stood around like he was drugged.  While I was waiting for the pergolide to get here I had started him on Chasteberry & he likes it.  I finally gave up on pergolide & he's been on Chasteberry for about 3 weeks.  The biggest differences I see is he is slicking out & he's got a lot more energy.  Of course that's about the time Reba came, so maybe she's making a difference, who knows.  He does seem to feel better & certainly looks better, so we'll use the Chasteberry for awhile.  Eventually it will probably stop working, that's what usually happens, but we'll see how it goes.  

Everyone else seems to be doing good.  Gus has his socks on & Quilla his polo wraps to protect their fly damaged legs.  Gus actually has a little hair on his legs, but it wouldn't take the flies long to eat thru it.  Poor Quilla's legs are smooth as satin, where the damage is.  He managed to lose one of the wraps the other day.  It was red & John still didn't find it for days, although he looked all over the place.  Found it when he was looking for fly masks....!!! 

The flies aren't too bad yet, but my fly traps are really jamming out.  I've noticed before, this time of year seems to really fill up the traps, then once it gets real hot the traps don't seem to work as well.  

Little Cheyenne is finally starting to look healthy.  She was so thin for awhile I guess because of infection (Naxcel took care of that) & also something wrong with her jaw.  Still don't know if it's arthritis or TMJ, either way she will probably always have to be fed by herself, because she eats slow.  

Pepper choked on his cut up hay one morning.  I worked with him for about an hour, was just getting ready to give him a shot of Banamine, & he acted like he'd cleared..............That means his ears were perky, he was using his head as a battering ram & wanted out of the pen.  John asked if we should let him out.............why not......!!  If we followed the instructions for a choke with him, (one being no feed for 24 hours) someone would probably get hurt.......!!!! LOL

Went out to a friend's place yesterday.  I knew she had a draft, but I had never really been up close & personal with Boomer.  I reached up to feed him some hay & realized I had never seen a mouth that big before, coming right at my hand.  Stacy wasn't home, but when I e-mailed her about our adventure, she said said he takes treats out of her mouth............!!!!   YIKES, she said he's never bit her, although he is a rescue & has flashbacks to when he was abused.  He is over 18 hands tall, that's 6 feet & weighs almost 3000 pounds.  She said riding him is like sitting on a sofa, I can believe it. 

LOOKS LIKE JACK & MOLLY WILL BE GOING HOME

We did a home study today for Jack & Molly, the mini mules.  It should be a good home, perhaps a little indulgent, but I'm sure they both will enjoy the attention.  They will have a beautiful black quarter horse gelding named Hombre, that has been by himself for the last month or so, since his mare friend was put down.  He seems to think he is a pocket horse, & believe me he was way too big for that......!!!!  LOL

Jack should be thrilled to have a horse of his very own, any time they are working on a movie over at the movie sight across the road, Jack is usually in the corner of the fence, as close to them as he can get, yelling at them.  Hopefully Hombre will like having little friends with long ears.  

A friend of the family has been visiting with her 2 molly mules.  She travels all over working as a camp cook or wrangler, depending on what they need her for.  They both were very pretty, & satisfied to look at us from a distance.  That's one thing about mules, they aren't probably going to smother you with attention if they don't know you. 

The man is having some health issues right now, but he has built stagecoaches in the past.  In fact a couple of them are used in Tombstone to give rides to the tourists.  So hopefully when he gets to feeling better maybe he'll build a little buckboard or wagon of some kind for the little mules.  Molly would probably be satisfied to just hang around & look cute, but Jack needs a job or he will get into trouble....!!!

GOOD GRIEF, WISTER, GIVE IT A REST........!!!!

Both Ruthie & Tula are cycling, which of course gets the boys going.  I don't know if the gelding stirred Wister up or what, but he is at the forefront of whatever is going on, all day long.  Seems to think the species is going to die out if he doesn't do his part.......he won't be 5 months old until the 25th of May!!!  Oh! well, so far the big guys, like his daddy Boaz, BlackJack & Quilla are tolerating him, hopefully Boaz doesn't get a bee in his bonnet & pick him up by his neck.  

 There's a bee in the upper bloom on the left, picking up some pollen.

 Desert "Rose" another name for Prickly Pear blooms......so delicate for such a "thorny" plant.  And a beautiful splash of color in the desert.

Cholla on Cisco I & Noelle's graves.  Cisco was buried in January 2000, & this Cholla was less than a foot tall at the time.  

Even though we haven't had very much rain at all, the cactus still bloom.  If you look at the yellow bloom cactus, it is all shriveled up, but also has a few new pads on it.  Doesn't seem to matter how dry it gets, they still do their best to stay alive & grow. 

CAR SHOW TODAY.......!!

 Had a car show in the Wal-mart parking lot in Benson today.  We asked some of the other drivers if they'd like to set up, so we ended up with my hornet, our son's Super Stock, & 3 of the Factory Stocks.  Had quite a few people interested, & a lot of people that didn't even know there was a dirt track in Tucson.  To say the least the advertising is a little inadequate.  The track has been there for at least 10 years & is an outstanding facility.  We'd like to make sure the owners make money, so they keep it open and we have a place to play.  Every year it seems like there are less & less dirt tracks all over the country & I'm sure the owners could sell the land for commercial property & leave us without a "playground".  

We had a drawing for someone to do a ride-a-long next Saturday night with me in the heat race.  I haven't pulled the ticket yet, but some of the people were really excited about the idea.  I hope whoever gets it has fun................and doesn't scream..........!!!! LOL

Wister is doing just fine, in fact I've caught him being obnoxious 2 or 3 times today with his momma, trying to act like a big "stud".  Hate to tell him but those days are gone forever, before he ever got a chance to figure it all out.  

A woman is coming out tomorrow to visit with Jack & Molly the mini mules to see if she'd like to add them to her family.  She has a gelding, had to put her mare down earlier this month.  She had called me about a mini donkey a couple of weeks ago & I took her information.  When we were at the vet clinic one of the techs said her neighbor was looking for a mini something & she'd give the neighbor our phone number.  When we got home from the vet clinic there was a message on the machine, & it was the same woman.  According to the vet tech, the woman spends a lot of time with her animals & it would be a great home.  A lot of attention would suit them just fine I think, so we'll see how it goes. 

DIDN'T KNOW GELDING COULD GO SO SMOOTH.......!!!

We rushed around this morning to get to Tucson for Wister's appointment with "destiny".  Ruthie actually loaded real easy, & Wister still hasn't figured out how to jump up into a trailer.  Don't know why, since his answer to being restrained or anything is to get those front feet up in the air.

This is the first gelding that I've ever attended, that was done inside, under clean conditions, rather than in the dirt.  Like a lot of donkeys he didn't go down easy, she finally gassed him rather than giving him more drugs.  

She did a closed gelding, didn't have to use the emasculator because his little goodies weren't very big.  Tied him off & there was hardly any bleeding at all, left just a little opening about the size of a dime, where she "popped" his little "marbles" out before she tied them off.  

The yellow helmet on his head is designed to keep them from hitting their head if they flail around.  Never seen one before, has eye holes, really a great idea. 

Wister was enjoying his "nap" so much we finally brought Ruthie out of the trailer to get him up on his feet.  We tried to get her to bray from the trailer, but she wouldn't.  She didn't want to go inside because of the change in light, but when he saw her & started moving around, she figured out what was going on & dragged John to where Wister was.  Once he was up it wasn't but a few minutes until they were in the trailer & we were on our way.  

All in all it was as pleasant an experience, well Wister might disagree with me, but compared to other "slash & bleed" geldings I've attended this one went very well.  Hopefully in the morning they will be able to go out.  Moving around is suppose to cut down on swelling, but for tonight they can stay in. 

GELDING DAY FOR WISTER

Well, today is the day.  I always dread gelding, it's barbaric surgery & like most things, something could go wrong.  It's being done at a vet clinic, so if something happened, it would be a much better place than out here for him. 

One thing about the young ones, they usually don't even act like anything happened after they wake up & get their sea legs.  We'll stay in Tucson quite awhile after he wakes up, to make sure his little legs will work on the 60 mile trip home.  Sure wish the local vets would have been more cooperative about doing a youngster this late in the season, so he wouldn't have to travel so much.  Momma Ruthie is going with us of course, so she can comfort him.

NOW THIS IS FUNNY.......!!! (at least I think so)

John got a brilliant idea this morning.  When we haul the race car home Saturday night, the underneath is covered with wet clay from the track.  John cleans off what he can, but there's plenty left.  If course by Monday morning it's dried & doesn't come off easily.  

John decided to drive it out to pick up mail a distance of maybe a 1/4 mile on an unmaintained "road" this morning, which would hopefully knock a lot of the tenacious clay off.  Sounds like a plan, so I went out to the gate, so he wouldn't have to get out of the car, open the gate, get in the car, drive thru the gate, get out of the car, ETC.

So off he goes on his mission to get rid of dirt & have fun.  Heard him for awhile, didn't hear him,. thought he might be talking to one of the neighbors, that usually comes out when he hears us to talk.  He also was gone longer than I expected .

First thing John said when he got back was, "do you know what happens if you go fast & don't have the hood pins in the hood?  When the hood flies up, you can't see anything".....!!!  REALLY.........I've never had the experience, but for some reason it struck me as hilarious, occasionally it happens on the track, & a lot of times the driver will stay in the race, trying to look out the side until the flagman gets tired of the game & black flags the car.   

So he had to stop, get out of the car, pin the hood down get back in the car, ETC......!!! 

I told him if that ever happens to me on the track, he better be gone when I get back to the pits......!!!  LOL

INTERNATIONAL DONKEY WEEK

When Mike & Zeke did the walk-a-thons to Tombstone to raise money for our donkeys, Mike's wife Teresa thought Donkey Appreciation Day was October 12th.  But we were told by a newspaper they couldn't verify that date.  We tried to find information but came up empty handed.  

Today I got an e-mail saying that the Donkey Sanctuary in England, the largest rescue in the world celebrates donkeys for a whole week.  So maybe it isn't as important as Grilled Cheese Appreciation Day or some of the other important days our Congress Critters spend time designating to the general public.........but......donkey people know, & appreciate these wonderful creatures every day all year long. 

WISTER LOST HIS FLY MASK....!!!

It was bound to happen.  A couple of days ago, he & Quilla played all afternoon, bite, bite, rear, rear, chase, chase, guy stuff.  I'm surprised, Quilla isn't any spring chicken, mid to late teens.  But he hung in there & wore the little guy out, the first thing Wister did when he got in the pen for supper was plop down for a nap.  

Yesterday afternoon when John went out to do round-up, Wister & Justin were playing & Wister didn't have his mask on.  Hmmmmm........wonder how that happened?  Justin has been known to take masks off, sure hope Wister wasn't paying a lot of attention, because he's been trying to get Ruthie's off, just hasn't figure out how yet.  We were feeding early, to go racing, so didn't have time to look for it.  Today we're too wore out to go look for it, but I had an extra one, so no crisis, unless it becomes a habit.......!!!

This is what the car looks like this morning, not bad, certainly could be worse.  Dirt doesn't count...!!

 There is a "slight" problem though

I finished 4th & when I came in, John was telling me how good I did & all that "warm fuzzy" stuff a racer likes to hear..................until he saw the right side of the front.  He came over & asked me where the rest of the bumper was..........I don't know, I was busy....!!! LOL  But I had a pretty good idea, when it happened.  When we went to get paid, one of the guys that I'd had pretty good contact with was in front of me in the pay line.  I asked him where the rest of my bumper was.  Scott is a real nice guy & not real aggressive on the track.  He started apologizing all over the place, thought he was going to offer to go help me look for it.  I started laughing & told him I was teasing him.  Actually it might have been stuck in his car someplace.  One time I came back with a guy's tail light cover stuck in the side of my door.  I graciously returned it to him, it's easier to pound out body parts than to build new ones. 

DAISY'S ANNUAL HAIR CUT TODAY

BEFORE

This is what Daisy looked like earlier this morning.  One of the physical changes Cushings disease causes is a excessive amount of hair growth.  So every spring or early summer we have a date with the clippers, so she is more comfortable when it's 100 degrees.  

She's a very good girl, stands like a statue, EXCEPT, when I do her face.  Have to take the halter off & of course the noisy clippers are right by her ears & eyes, not pleasant I'm sure.  I had John hold her with a rope around her neck, which ended up with her taking him on a "walk-a-bout".  I hooked the halter around her neck which gave him a little more leverage & we finally got it done.  

AFTER

She does look more comfortable, but from the set of her ears I'd say this wasn't what she had planned for the morning........!!!  I left her lower legs hairy to help keep the stable flies at bay.  They haven't really got going yet, but they will.  I've already put "barriers" on both Gus & Quilla.  In fact that is Gus standing behind her, (much to her disgust) with his tube socks pulled up above his knees.  I have to put polo wraps on Quilla, he can go thru a pair of socks in one night, Gus isn't quite as rambunctious. 

My Daddy bred, raised & showed Cocker Spaniels in the 50's when I was a girl.  There is a reason he didn't ever let me clip the show dogs I think....!!! LOL  Pictures sometimes lie, if you look close up, she looks like she's had a run in with a buzz saw, well maybe not that bad, but it certainly wasn't a flattering hair cut.  But it will make her cooler, which is what is important.  Noticed my clippers need to be sharpened before I use them again.  One of the first things they tell you when using clippers is, make sure the animal is clean.  Donkeys idea of clean is a recent dust bath, so clippers don't stay sharp very long. 

G-DAY FOR WISTER

Looks like next Thursday at 11:30 is when the dirty deed will be done, poor little guy.  He won't be able to eat hay that morning, but they said he can be with momma, so he'll get a snack at least.  We will take Ruthie along for the ride, that way when it's over he can go to momma for sympathy. 

Sorry Wister, this is for your own good.

Rusty is BONDED, Reba........not so much.....!!

This morning Rusty has decided he needs to know where Reba is, even if she won't stick around until Cisco is finished eating and let out, so Rusty can go in and do clean up.  

Rusty is standing by the gate, and every once in awhile he'll take off yelling to see where she is.  So far she's ignoring him.  Once he finds her, he comes back to stand by the gate again. Jack, the mini mule lost Molly this morning and went running around like a maniac, grunting  and squealing (he has a very weird little voice) until he found her, same scenario, she didn't even look up from scrounging for hay scraps.  Guys are so funny, doesn't matter what species they are I guess.

Last night John came in and said he had a scary experience.  When he went out to do round-up, they were all standing in front of Ruthie and Wister's pen.  John waded thru the mess, and was putting those two in their pens with his back turned to the others.  He said he heard the corral panels banging, turned around, Pepper was on his back, feet up in the air, Boaz had him by the throat with his head and shoulders off the ground.  John said he yelled twice and Boaz let go, said Pepper rolled to the left, and popped up like nothing happened.  Have no idea what happened to cause Boaz to act like that, although that is pretty much his M.O. if someone irritates him.  He had little Cheyenne completely off the ground one time, when she "threatened" him with her little rear feet.  He's been caught a couple of other times with his mouth on someone's neck, under odd circumstances.  He is such a gentle soul and not aggressive at all with people or animals............but occasionally he seems to fall off the wagon and revert to a jack in with a lot of other jacks on a ranch, probably used for roping.  

Still trying to get Wister gelded before it gets too hot and too many flies.  Local vets won't do a 4month old, another vet only does field gelding and won't come out here.  One will do it, next week, at her clinic for $400 and I'm waiting for a return call from another vet.  

This brings up a subject that is near and dear to my heart, the cost of gelding and also the cost of euthanasia.  I don't mind that vets charge what they do for mileage, farm calls, vaccinations, medications all that.  They have to make a profit to stay in business and let's face it, most of them especially large animal vets earn their pay, long hours working with large animals that a lot of times don't want to be worked with, thank you very much....!!

But  how many people that want to do the right thing can afford to fork over $400 to geld or $150 minimum plus farm call to euthanize?  I'm sure there are lots of people out there that have to make choices they'd rather not have to make because of cost.  There are some groups in different states that have low cost euthanasia clinics.  They find a farmer than will let them bury on his farm and hold a clinic.  There are also rescues and sanctuaries that help with gelding and euthanasia costs, with donations and grants specifically for that purpose.  

I've always contended that it would be a good thing for society if vets would do both of these at a discount, amd mark up fixing "Flluffy's" overbite, football knee, docking tails or declawing cats (UGH).  So far I haven't found any of them that agree with me, although I do appreciate the ones that do low cost shot clinics.  Guess I'm just on the wrong side of reality......!!!!