JUSTIN DOING HIS BEST TO GET COOKIES

Linda is a picture taker, and this sequence of Justin begging is so cute.  

And yes, he got a cookie, after all that work........!!!  Thanks, Linda......!!

DONKEYS ARE GOOD, RACING HAS STARTED.........!!

Needless to say, I had a "fabulous" time at the 1st race of the season.  I WON the main event, got a big gaudy trophy, (they are the best kind), and a money envelope.  What more could you ask for.........? LOL

Lynn finished 2nd his first time on a track.  I think he's really going to be good, he has the mind set and in fact John said he was right behind me for most of the race. 

Hopefully by the next race in about 2 weeks, John will have my dirt car finished, so I don't have to beat my poor asphalt car to death on the dirt.   

The races were suppose to start at 1pm..........that sounds like being finished by 4pm, which would have gotten us home in plenty of time to feed the "herd".  By the time the 1st day (opportunities to excel) were taken care of it was almost dark.  We had called Doug and told him we'd be home when we got there, we were going to eat.  Figured they couldn't be anymore POed than they already were when roundup didn't start by 5pm.  

Got home about 8:15PM  and you talk about a rough crowd?  They were on the porch of the feed room, not all of them, but enough that the porch was full.........LOL  Of course feeding that late, it would take them until midnight to finish eating so they could go out.  So John and I sat up watching TV.  I don't help him let them out, we do it so differently, they would be very confused.  But when he went out Linda had set her alarm and came out to help him.  That's dedication, to leave a nice warm bed to go out in the cold, it was already 29 degrees and falling.

BOAZ AND JUSTIN TRYING TO ENTICE LYNN TO GIVE UP SOME TREATS, LEDDY AND QUILLA IN THE BACKGROUND MORE INTERESTED IN WILD FOOD

IT'S BEEN ONE OF THOSE WEEKS.........!!!

I don't even know where to start.........LOL Got my computer back, have a couple of glitches, that need to be looked at by Jared.  

Of course it's getting down to crunch time to get ready to race tomorrow.  I'm taking the asphalt car and Lynn's car is ready to go........even has numbers on it.  We haven't gone thru tech yet, and I'm sure there will be plenty of things for them to look at, hopefully nothing that would keep us from racing.  

In between everything else Lynn has been busy making a path thru Burroland wide enough the golf carts will be able to go all around the 20 acres.  I don't think he cleared this with the donkeys, but they do seem to appreciate having a nice wide smooth trail.  Yesterday some people called for a tour and I went over to run some of the donkeys back over here.  It's bad enough to have to flush them out of the brush on 10 acres over here, most people wouldn't want to go thru the "fun" of trekking all over Burroland too. .  

Actually the donkeys have pretty much learned to come out of the brush and gather in the driveway, so they basically come to the people.  A few times Doug has gone over when people showed up unannounced and ran them back over here, but it's much easier to just have them over here, when we are expecting tours.  

Last night we noticed a very strong skunk smell, after supper.   Linda came in and said Lucy and Lennon had gotten sprayed.  We thought it was funny, but since the dogs sleep in their RV, it was somewhat of a problem.   Lola, who if you were guessing who would get sprayed, would be your first guess, had gone out to potty and come right back to the RV.  The other two didn't.  So they got to stay in the feedroom/dog run last night.  There's heat in there, but it wasn't as warm or as comfortable as they usually are, on the bed, with their people, snuggled in.  Went online and found the recipe for skunk smell, hydrogen peroxide, baking soda and dish soap.  It was 16 again this morning, so it will probably be afternoon before "bath" time.  

Cisco is doing better, he's not limping much at all, although he still is picking that leg up a little funny.  It's been so cold we've upped both Gus and Cisco's  pain meds.  It's suppose to warm up next week, and hopefully this will be our last "cold" spell.  

LIFE GETS MORE INTERESTING EVERY DAY

Well I'm back from Lake Havasu and a week-end of racing.  John and I went with a group of friends from Tucson Speedway and 4 race cars.  I'm sure we made a lovely parade as we travelled in a "herd".  Had a lot of fun, although the racing could have gone better.  Our cars had to add about 300 pounds of lead to meet their weight limit.  When you go to an unknown track, the set up from your track doesn't usually work even without the weight.

But we all  had fun and we got to see the London Bridge...!!!  LOL

Got home turned on my computer, well tried to.  My computer has had a problem for over a year.  If  you turn it off, and let it sit for long enough to cool off it won't start up again.  For some reason I thought turning it off while I was gone, was a good idea.  It's been on 24/7 for a long time, so I'm not sure why I thought this was a good idea.  John said he wished I had asked him before I made such a decision.  ME TOO.......!!

So my computer has gone to the computer guru to have the information taken off my hard drive and put in a new computer.  Lynn and Linda have an extra laptop they have loaned me, so I'm learning new skills while trying to find my on-line places.  I don't recommend this traumatic experience for anyone......!!  So no pretty pictures or anything fancy until I get back in my comfort zone.  Old people don't like change you know.......LOL

Everything was just fine at home, happy donkeys and no problems reported, although since we got home Cisco is having a problem with a front leg.  His legs aren't very good anyway, too much roping practice in his earlier life.  Usually he gets along OK, but one of his front legs is acting like it's giving out, when he starts walking.  After a couple of steps he does much better, but when he stands he has that leg pointed out to the side.  We'll watch him for a couple of days and if he doesn't improve, I'll call Dr. Jeremy.

Leddy and Justin the "burro" racers are enjoying their training, at least they seem to.  Lynn and Linda try to take them out every day.  Today when they went out Quilla went to the gate and then followed them all around the fence until they went towards the river.  I guess he wants to try it too....!!!  Maybe they will take him out sometime, just for fun.

We had a tour yesterday of 26 people.  The donkeys were out of their pens, which we've been doing quite a bit lately.  The people seems to enjoy it and the donkeys really enjoy all the attention.  Penny had really gotten into wading into the middle of a bunch of people and presenting herself for pets.  It's
special to see her enjoy being around people, after years of fear and distrust.

I'LL BE GONE FOR A COUPLE OF DAYS

With Lynn and Linda here, we can take off for a few days and they will take care of the donkeys.  There is a big stock car race at Lake Havasau on the west side of Arizona, almost in California.  Some of the guys that race at Tucson Speedway are going over to see if they can keep up with the locals at that track.  We're suppose to meet them in the morning and we'll all travel together.  I think we're the only ones going without a race car and trailer, they don't race Hornets there.   We're just going to be nosy and I'll be the rooting section for Tucson, I guess...........!!!!

Thanks Susan

Got this picture today, of Ruger and Wister in their new forever home.  I'm sure they are really enjoying all that green grass. 

LOTS GOING ON THESE DAYS

Lynn and Linda have been busy since they got back.  Between dogs and donkeys and all the other stuff going on around here, we all stay pretty busy.

Lynn and Linda still want to do Burro Pack Racing next summer when they go back to Colorado. They brought Leddy their donkey down with them, so they could continue "training".  Since they've been here they've been eye balling Justin one of the minis.  

A few days after they got here Linda said she'd like to see what Justin could do.  First thing was to get a halter on him.  We usually don't halter them unless there is a reason, and there hasn't been a reason to halter him in a long time.......!!!  LOL  

Got that crisis over and he did pretty good around the driveway, so she decided to take him out on the road.  Hmmm..........

THANKS LINDA FOR THE LAUGH

If you will notice Leddy is lined up to go out the gate without a halter on.  Justin is lined up to NOT go out the gate and does have a halter on.  Obviously there is a problem.......!!  She finally got him out and he really seemed to enjoy getting out and about once the initial "indecision" was over.  

They've been out 3 or 4 times and he's really progressing.

 Lynn and Justin trekking down the wash.  

He's a willing little guy, Lynn goes he follows........!!!  Thanks for the videos Linda

The standard or Mammoth donkeys have to wear a saddle and carry 33 pounds.  But the minis race au natural, no saddle and no weight.  We'll see how it goes, Justin might have a job this summer........LOL  

Of course John is working like a fiend trying to get my race car ready for the 28th of January.  There are so many little bits and pieces to be put on the car, other than just the engine and transmission.  Of course once he gets to the engine, tranny level, all the other little picky stuff should be done and if the engine runs and the tranny shifts, then it will be on to paint and the fun stuff.  Right now he isn't having much fun.  If he doesn't get it done the world will not come to an end and I can race the asphalt car on the dirt.  BUT I'd really rather not and he'd rather I didn't either.  Too much of a chance to get it banged up on the dirt.   

Lynn still has quite a bit of painting to do on his car too.  It doesn't even have numbers on it, which will be pretty important, if our cars look alike.  That would drive the lap counters crazy.......!!  It will be bad enough that he will be running #12 to my #21........!!  I don't think he will be running the X though. 

This afternoon Lynn and John are out in the big wash cutting on a huge tree that fell into the wash last winter.  It's on our property, but not a fenced area and we've been afraid someone would find it and cut it up for wood.  Since we heat with wood and it's on our property, the guys are going to salvage as much of it as they can. 

RACING SEASON IS JUST ABOUT HERE..........!!!

Yesterday we went to practice at the dirt track.  Unfortunately John has a lot of work in order to get the new dirt track car ready to race the 28th of January, in other words he has about 2 weeks to get it ready.  

I said I wouldn't run the asphalt Dodge Neon on the dirt, but John insisted, so we loaded it up and hauled it to the track.  What a come down from road racer to asphalt circle track, to wet slick slimy mud............. poor car.  

I have to say it handles as well on the dirt as it does on the asphalt, it is a very nice handling car.  I brought it home in the same condition it was when we left the house, well except for mud all underneath that will have to be cleaned out before I put it on the asphalt.  They would absolutely have a hissy fit, if I went out there and dropped dirt all over their track..........LOL

My car is on the left and Lynn's car is on the right.  They ran out of time to get it painted and numbered.  He had never been on a track, and really did good.  We got to go out on the track 4 times I think, and after the 1st time, he tried following me on the track.  I'm not sure that's a real good idea, but he said it helped him, where to be on the track and he stayed pretty close to me.  Next thing he'll be passing me.........LOL

Lynn and John attempting to untangle a tie down strap.  They finally threw it in the back of the pick-up and decided the car had enough tie downs on it.  It must really be tangled, because I heard "throw away" mentioned a couple of times and those things are costly.

 

.  

 

We got a little rain overnight and most of the morning.  This is one of our 2 annual rainy seasons, so it's appreciated.  

The donkeys "hate" getting wet.  Last week a woman and her daughter came out to groom and wanted to come out again this morning and bring family.  They did come out, but not to groom as the donkeys would have really been grumpy.  But they did enjoy having company.  Last week 13 year old Olivia the daughter made a connection with Penny, who usually doesn't want to be touched by anyone.  The relationship continued this week.  Really amazing to watch Penny actually enjoy being with people.  

Unfortunately Olivia's cousin was messing with Boaz and he clamped down on one of her fingers.  It didn't break the skin, but it did compress the tissue and I'm sure was really painful.  We put ice on it and it started feeling better.  She's a horse person too, so I'm not sure what happened.  We never feed treats when people are here to visit and the donkeys are out of their pens, but if her finger was sticking up, while she was playing with his muzzle, he might have thought it was a carrot.  

Thanks for the picture, Linda

This is Gizmo and Lola enjoying a drink together.  Lola is hyper, I think that's why they got along together........!!   Linda says she has attention deficient disorder..........LOL

Kris says Gizmo's actually roaming around with the girls and he helped her clean the pens.  I'm sure his help was really appreciated, but he does like to be where the action is and doesn't seem to care if you appreciate his efforts or not................!!

This is the latest pic Kris sent of Gizmo with the girl's

HOW CUTE IS THIS........!!!

Gizmo and his new little friend, a relative of Kris'. They were closing the gate and Kris said he really seemed to like the little one. 

She also said her dogs are very confused.  They are in the yard behind a wall.  All the dogs can see are 2 little ears sticking above the wall, when Gizmo goes back and forth, which I would imagine he does quite often.   

Sounds like he's enjoying his new home and they are enjoying him.  

Waiting to hear from the people interested in Ruger and Wister.  I think the man is out of town this week.  We will be busy Saturday, we are suppose to take the 2 dirt cars to the dirt track for practice.  

That's all well and good, except my car has a bad engine hanging out of the front of it, that needs to be replaced with a good engine.  In other words, it's not going to make a Saturday call.  Lynn's car is ready and we'll take my asphalt car for the practice.  John isn't happy about all the mud he'll probably have to clean out from under it, BUT, they have completely redone the Hornet track, so I need to go see what they've done before actually racing.  

Last night Lynn and I took the cars out for a run on the dirt road between our house and the main road.  That's the 1st time Lynn has driven it, actually it's about the 1st time anyone has driven it.  He came back, said it was fun.  We all decided I should drive it to make sure it was handling well.

YIKES, it didn't take but a second for me to figure out the front end needs some attention, badly.  I came back and gave John my report, he seemed to think I was exaggerating, so I told him to give it a try.    When he came back he said the front end needs some attention........LOL  So hopefully he can figure it out before Saturday.  It's driveable, but it would be very distracting to race, although he can practice.  It will teach him to deal with diversity......LOL 

GIZMO HAS LEFT FOREVER HOME

We loaded Gizmo and headed to Kris and Jim's place yesterday afternoon.  Gizmo wasn't real thrilled about a trailer ride, but I do think he was a little better about getting in the trailer, than when we picked him up last spring up in Show Low.  He almost took John for a "ski" ride, John was in the trailer and Gizmo didn't want to go in the trailer.  John hung onto the rope, managed to fly out of the trailer, land on his feet and get Gizmo to slow down, before the rope went thru his hand.  And didn't get any rope burns in the process, a good reason to use cotton leads.  You would think by this time, we would have learned to wear gloves when working with ropes, but..........guess not..........!!!  

Kris put him in his stall between PoohBear on the left and Reba on the right.  You can tell how upset he was, Kris only treats in the feed buckets and he was enjoying black sunflower seeds and could have cared less about the girls on either side.  We warned them, that he is mouthy.  Everyone here except me, carries animal crackers in their pockets and Gizmo was well aware of that.  So he would use his mouth to get the point across, not the teeth, he just nibbled with his lips.  And of course was usually rewarded with a cookie.........GRRRRRR........!!!   That is all going to be discontinued, there will be RULES at Kris' barn........LOL

This is Reba, she's about 34 years old, kinda showing her age, but all in all looks pretty good.

This is Pooh, she is a Haflinger mule, really pretty and is the equine in charge, I can't tell you how unimpressed Gizmo was.........LOL

After a meet and great, Kris let them out of their pens.  He was so busy being nosy, he wasn't paying any attention, except when Pooh got closer than he wanted her, then he'd just move a little faster.  She'd gripe and kick up her heels, but seemed to be real careful to not actually make contact.  She was just showing him who's boss.  

Kris sent this picture this morning.  I don't think he's use to having an observer while he's eating, but it doesn't seem to bother him.  Probably not as much as the cat was bothered when it came in from a day of doing cat stuff, and finding "this" in the barn.  

Seemed to go well, they were talking about maybe getting a cart, which would be really good for him.  He needs a job to keep him busy. 

GIZMO IS GOING ON AN ADVENTURE

Reba enjoying her wonderful foster home - Thanks Kris

Gizmo is going into a mule foster home.  Kris likes mules and fostered Rusty and Reba for over a year before Rusty had to be euthanized.  She still had Ruthie her original mule that lost her horse companion, which was the reason for Rusty and Reba going to live there.  She also added another old molly mule, so Rusty had quite a harem his last few months. 

Kris called me last week to tell me Ruthie had to be put down.  She had a hard life and her knees were really bad.  She started having problems and when they x-rayed her knees one of them had what I assume is bone cancer.  Her last years with Kris and Jim didn't make up for the earlier abuse, but she couldn't have had a better retirement home.  

For some reason Kris wants to complicate her life and add Gizmo to the mix, as a foster........LOL  I didn't hide anything, I told her he is in your face and a busy nosy little guy.  She ran it past Jim and he said they'd try it.  Keep your fingers crossed, it would be a wonderful home for him............if he can behave himself, long enough to ingratiate himself into the inner circle at their place.........  And Kris is a perfect candidate as a "foster failure"............!!!!  LOL

LYNN, LINDA AND THEIR "FUR" KIDS HAVE ARRIVED......!!

John and I went into Benson yesterday afternoon and when we got home, Lynn and Linda had already parked their RV in their spot.  They had quite an audience, most of the donkeys were standing and gawking at the whole process and their donkey Leddy was standing at the front of the herd.  

Doug had to put a fence around his RV to have any privacy at all.  They use to all but climb the steps to see why he wasn't coming out to play.  L and L might have to do something like that, if they want to have any privacy at all... LOL  When they set up in November, the donkeys kept pretty close tabs on what they were doing in that "thing".  

Their 3 dogs ran up to the car when we came in  and Lennon jumped right in like he was ready to go for a ride.  They seem to think we are part of their family, Lola started picking up sticks for me to throw.  She is a typical cattle dog and thinks fetching sticks is her job and can get really insistent about you throwing sticks.  Lynn finally started picking her sticks up and throwing them on the hood of their truck.  She didn't care, she just found another stick.   

Poor Saddik was beside himself, he was in the pen and they weren't.  We usually let Saddik out while we're doing chores and he comes back when he hears John running the leaf shredder to cut up hay for the donkeys that have trouble chewing.   Night before last he didn't come in, until it was dark, John was through and had come in the house.  That gets him "pen" arrest for a few days to think about it.  I don't think he spends much thought process on the problem unfortunately.  But he does usually behave for quite awhile afterwards.  He's such a smart dog, I wish he'd figure out that if he doesn't come in, he doesn't go out.  If you get stern with him, he just wiggles his tail and shows no remorse at all.  We started keeping him in the pen last year, when they were here, because he and Lucy their 3rd dog took off and were gone almost all day.  That was after they had taken off before and not come back for a couple of hours.

Some of you long term readers might remember Ruger and Wister the brothers.  Wister was born here on Christmas Day in 2012.  Ruger came in with his Mom and Dad and Ruthie was PG with Wister at the time.  

Boaz is still here, Ruthie is in a foster home and the boys have been in a foster home for almost 2 years.  It looks like they might be getting a permanent forever home.  What is really weird is the family that is fostering them now, are friends with the family that might adopt them.  But neither knew of the others involvement with us or the boys.  I found out there was a good home out there looking for a nice pair of donkeys and I threw these 2 boys into the pot.  There's actually another pair, a jenny and gelding from another rescue that are being discussed too.  It sounds like a wonderful home, so hopefully friendship will give us the inside line, if it's as good a home as it sounds.  

I love this time of year, no doctoring and no fly masks.  Well no doctoring, except for Miss Penny and her smelly mouth.  Her mouth hasn't smelled since about the 2nd day of antibiotics.  BUT, she is not a fan of antibiotics, believe me that is an understatement.  With antibiotics once you start them, the bare minimum time to give them is 5 days, 7-10 is much better.  Saturday the 7th will be the 10th day and we can't wait until it gets here.  

We've just been throwing the SMZs in her mush and keeping track of how many of them disappear.  Some feedings she does pretty good, maybe 1 or 2 left.  John was doing pretty good getting her to take the leftovers with animal crackers, but she finally figured out what was going on and refused to even take a "naked" animal cracker from him.  One morning she left 6 out of 8 tablets..... SIGH......!!!  So I threw 14 in her evening mush and they were all gone.  John even checks the ground to make sure she hasn't figured out how to hide them.  

It wouldn't be so bad, but she looks like you like the picture of her in the last blog page, and you can just about read her mind, "you people think you are putting something over on me, and you might get some of those pills down me, BUT, I'm watching you and you better be at the top of your game, or I'll outsmart you, and not even blink".  SMZs have very little taste, early on I tried grounding them into a powder and mixing them with molasses.  She wouldn't even go close to the feed pan.  Maybe she doesn't like molasses, who knows.  I have other flavors I could try with her, BUT, have a feeling it would be a waste of SMZs..........LOL