BURRO PACK RACING

Here is a video some woman along the route took of the race yesterday.  It was Lynn and Linda's first race, not to mention also first race for Turbo and Leddy.  Linda said they really had a great time, met lots of nice people and can't wait for their next race in a couple of weeks.  

https://www.facebook.com/jatha.austin/videos/1520007114737795/

Linda asked if we could find them.  Towards the end of the video, Lynn in blue and orange, comes by with Turbo and the woman comments on how gorgeous Turbo is.  John and I are arguing on if we saw Linda and Leddy or not, he says he did and I don't think so.  

This woman seemed to be having as much fun as anyone else and she didn't even know such a thing existed, just stopped and did a video and shared it on the internet.  

Linda sent a nice long e-mail to share all the fun and adventure with us.  It did sound like a lot of fun.......well except for that running part......!!!   LOL

We went out to the dirt track last night to see how the program was going.  I have to admit we were pleasantly surprised.  There has been so much controversy, change in people running it, cancelled races, well pump broke, no liquor license for beer.  To a lot of people beer and racing go together always.  

Still no beer, but there had been a lot of work done and it showed.  Need to work on the food and drink concession a lot.  We specifically didn't eat before going out there.  We usually don't eat at the track, but figured we should support them.  Bad decision.  They had the usual race track food, drinks in cans, no ice, which is all things you can live with.  BUT there was only 3 or 4 people trying to feed a whole bunch of other people that had decided to eat at the track also.  And they had not planned ahead enough to take care of a line of 20 people or more.  But that's something that can get better, if they know what they are doing.  

The big complaint from the last race they had was the condition of the racing surface.  The track surface was really good last night.  No rocks and enough clay on the surface with moisture to last all night.  And they had enough cars in 4 different divisions to put on a pretty good show.  I sure hope so, there's a lot of dirt racing people that are wanting them to succeed, one of them is me...!!  LOL

Casper is still being a brat about going in his pen.  Now he's gotten Don Juan and Shaggy Bill to join in his rebellion.  They stand down by Tula's pen and watch the round up.  After everybody else is in it's time to get at least Don and Bill in their pen.  I don't worry about Casper, he'll go in once his feed is put down.  He is chubby enough he could miss a meal or two, if he really wants to make his point.  But so far that hasn't happened.  But we can't have 3 of them running around open pens with food available.  They don't pay any attention to John and Doug, I guess they aren't in charge, by equine standards.  So far I've been able to insist, and they have given up. 

WE HAVE A WORKING WELL...........!!!!

The pump setting guys came, set the pump at 360 feet, put in the pump saver and it started doing it's thing.  Our 2000 gallon tank has been full every since.......!!!   YIPPEE......of course we haven't got the bill yet........!!!   LOL

John and Doug have been busy, cleaning up clay.  John is using the tractor and Doug is raking into piles, so John can scoop it up with the front bucket.  It's looking pretty good now.  Gus even has his special spot back to lay down.  

Although it looks good now, I have a feeling the 1st time it rains, the clay will become a problem again.

Vic, the neighbor that has been fostering Casper, the little white mini mule, or as we lovingly refer to him Blanco Diablo (white devil) said Casper had been "hanging out" more than normal, in other words he was letting his "boy" parts hang out...... a lot......!!!  LOL  So I made an appointment for Dr. Jeremy to come out and check him.  

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Dr. Jeremy headed off for reinforcement "drugs"........LOL

Casper has a lot of moxy and really isn't a people mule.  He likes kids well enough and little ones can ride him, but he seems to think a relationship with adults, basically is an ongoing challenge to see who is the smartest.  So far I think he is leading in that area.  

Anyway Vic walked him down here and told us, Casper was really interested in coming here, as opposed to the times he almost has to drag him home.  Casper is by himself since they got rid of the goats.  And his absolute hatred of horses and mules doesn't make him easy to rehome.....LOL  He's always gotten along with the donkeys, which makes John think he might be a hinny.  The reason Vic has been fostering him is we only have 4 strand barbed wire, and the little monster was camo crawling underneath it to go out an explore.  He never went far, and if you caught him, he'd skuttle back under the fence, stand up and look at you like basically, "go to hell".......!!!  Like I said he's a lot of fun, if you like a problem child.  

I warned Dr. Jeremy that Casper isn't easy to work with, and almost got his head kicked off, Casper didn't appreciate the attention I guess.  A small soft bean probably wasn't causing him a problem.  So the consensus is when our girls cycle he wants to join the fun, since he shares a fence with Burroland.  Dr. Jeremy had to take off for a rattlesnake bite emergency, really glad that wasn't what he was here for.   

If Casper will behave himself and stay home, we're giving him a 2nd chance at staying here with the donkeys.  Although he tricked John out of 3 carrots this morning when John was putting him in his pen for breakfast.  John went in the pen, turned around gave Casper a piece of carrot for being a good boy and coming in the pen.  Casper took the carrot, whirled around and went out, probably watching John as he chewed.  So John went out to encourage him back into the pen, and this time decided to go farther into the pen, give Casper the carrot, walk past him out the gate.  Not the way Casper saw this relationship.  He walked to John, took the carrot and ran out the gate, stood there, watching John as he chewed. John said as soon as he started to move towards the gate Casper sprinted to the gate.  I missed all this interaction and only got the story from John's point of view.......LOL  Third time is a charm, right?  John went out of the pen gathered up his little "friend" they walked into the back of the pen, John offered the carrot, Casper took it, John moved, Casper ran............and Doug just happened to be coming by from putting others in their pens and shut the gate.  BUSTED........!!! 

I would imagine he's already decided on his plan of attack for tonight............Casper not John.......!!  LOL   

We'll be rounding up a little early, the dirt track is suppose to race tonight.  They actually posted a picture of the track being worked on facebook, so we'll go see what's happening.  I sure hope they can make a go of it this year, although they are starting out pretty slow.  

Today is Lynn and Linda's first race in Colorado with the donkeys.  And this is what they were driving in this morning to get to where the race is.  

Yesterday's forecast was 100% chance of rain..............this doesn't look like rain to me.....!!  I hope they dress warm.  Turbo is an Arizona donkey, this might not be his idea of fun....!!!  

Linda sent some pictures of a practice run they did yesterday, six miles......!!!   I'm so glad they enjoy running and send pictures, that works for me....!!!   I can think of a lot of things I'd rather do, most of them have me riding, not walking and seriously not running........!!!  LOL

Some rather rough trails I guess

 

Turbo enjoying a snack

605 FEET

UPDATE:

Well it could have been deeper I guess, so no complaints because they finally hit water.  John and I went to Benson yesterday and before we left we heard a change in the noise the drilling was making.  Looked out and a 6 inch pipe was pushing out dirty water at a high rate of speed complete with some granite rocks.  It was shooting about 100 feet, which unfortunately was going into a lot of the pens.  And of course wetting down all that gooey clay that was on the ground everywhere.  

They had been talking to one of the local well drillers that is retired, but had put in a lot of deep wells in this area over the years.  He told them when they finally got thru the clay it would be like tapping into an ocean and that sounds like what they hit.  They ran it till it cleared, which was a couple of hours.   Today they are out picking up all their toys and are suppose to come back tomorrow and set the pump.  Once that's done, we should be in good shape and hopefully never have to worry about water again. 

You can't imagine the torturous path both people and donkeys are having to take to get to the pens and the feed room.  The clay when you do goof up, gets on your shoes and doesn't come off.  If it dries it's even worse.  I've got my usual work shoes on the courtyard, my plan was when it dried, bang the shoes together and watch the clay fall off.  Banging them together doesn't even faze the clay.  Not sure what plan B is...........LOL

The donkeys have been real good at acceptance, as long as they can figure out how to get to their pen.  If it's thru another pen, they don't usually go in, that's OK.  Donkeys are very good at concentrating on the goal, even though they usually lock into "but I always go this way, why do I have to go "that" way?  But in this case they have evaluated the situation and decided it is in their best interest to go "that" way.  

John is out there this morning with the tractor, scraping up clay.  If he can get it picked up, maybe we can get back to some semblance of normalcy around here.  I have a feeling even with the passage of time, and washing walls and corral panels, etc we will be finding clay spray for years......!!!  LOL

John just came in and said the drillers checked the recharge on yesterday's water strike.  The recharge is within 100 feet of the top.  So the 6 inch well casing has 500 feet of water in it.  Should be a good well with plenty of water.   Yippee............!!!  Just wish we didn't have to pay for it.....LOL

BUSY LITTLE BODIES

The well is down to 500 feet and still drilling.......!!!!   We were really hoping they would punch thru the clay by now, but guess not.......!!  Close neighbors are at around 480-510, so hopefully we aren't in a different strata.  

The drillers had a good day yesterday, but using compressed air instead of water to drill makes even a bigger mess.  The air comes out under high pressure and sprays clay and gravel everywhere.  They brought 6 bales of straw to protect the corral panels in the direct line of fire.  

Yesterday was a good day for drilling, they drilled all day, which is why they are down to 500 feet.  When I say mess I mean mess, it's like the pictures you see in WWI, where bombs have gone off, in mud and sprayed it everywhere.  

Poor mesquite tree covered in mud

When they left last night this is what the mud flow in front of the feed room looked like.  On the left you can just barely see the edge of the straw bales the drillers brought out to protect the corral panels from the high pressure air coming out along with the mud

 This morning the smooth muddy area had been reworked, during the night.  

The ends of these muddy bales of hay is what the donkeys are after

And we have evidence of who the culprits were

Actually I think it was everyone except Penny, this is just BlackJack and Cisco, but believe me there were plenty of others......!!   LOL  They all also have muddy mustaches again, only this time mixed in with pieces of straw.

If we had tried to walk them thru that slimy slick clay we would have had a fight on our hands.  But since it was "their" idea...... "let's go see if we can get to that hay" seemed to be the rallying cry.....!! 

Just one of the reasons we're never bored.......!!!

ALL THE NEWS THAT'S FIT TO PRINT

The well drillers showed up early for them this morning and got busy.  They had to run 280 feet of drilling pipe down before they could start to drill.  They are using compressed air now instead of water.  They've already had to climb to the top of the rig to fix something, BUT they have gotten down about 30 feet, so far.  I know nothing about it, except that it is really noisy.  Haven't seen a donkey since they started drilling.  

Gus tried to go to his favorite resting spot, but the noise got to him and he went down below the house.  John has been sitting out there on the golf cart, in case any nosy donkey comes by and just has to see what's going on.  The compressed air when it comes out is under a lot of pressure and it would be dangerous if a donkey happened to be in the path.  

They brought 6 bales of straw, to protect the corral panels on our overflow pen, that is in the direct line of fire.  They said one time they did a well and a corral was in the way and it just about destroyed the pipe.  The straw seems to be working, guess we'll find out when all the muddy clay over spray is gone off the panels.  

We've got our fingers crossed for getting done this week.  Of course this week is suppose to start the triple digits summer temperatures.  I guess the guys are use to working in the heat, but it would certainly be a lot more comfortable if it was cooler.  

A couple of days ago, John came in and said come out, he had something to show me.  The rear fenders for my new toy, had come earlier and he had been busy up in the garage putting them on.  

That was a surprise, he had said he was going to paint it orange, so it would match the race car, but I didn't know that was what he was doing.   It's pretty neat when after all these years he can still surprise me.....!!!  LOL  Went out today to get the mail and it really is a lot of fun to ride, although I won't be putting it thru it paces like the kids did I'm sure. 

I would imagine the seat wasn't in good shape, so the people had recovered it  ..........blue.....!!!  UGH  Doesn't exactly match our color scheme, but it's in good shape, so I'll live with it.  Next time we go to the track, John will put it in the back of the pick-up and I can make people run in the pits.   I need an air horn........!!!   LOL

The dirt track, actually raced Saturday night.  Didn't have a lot of cars from what we heard, but then again, there hasn't been a lot of build up hype.  Our grandson said they even had fannies in the bleachers, which is a surprise.  They are suppose to race again this week-end, so we'll go over and be nosy.  We drove over there after the asphalt track got done, hoping they were still racing.  Found our grandson, unfortunately he didn't get the Super Stock ready.  Don't know what he's been doing all these months, but obviously not getting the car ready..........GRRRR....!!

We had 3 cars on the asphalt, all came home in one piece and Larry did real good in his ProStock, even moved up a couple of positions in points.  Rod our son, in his modified did better than he has lately, he's having a heck of a time getting the car dialed in.  Our Late Model was driven by the guy that won the Hornet Championship last year.  He and Rod have been working on a Pro Truck and Rod asked him to drive it.  He did really good for never being in the car before, qualified 6 fastest.  He'll probably drive it the rest of the season, our grandson doesn't like the asphalt, and Rod doesn't want to drive 2 cars a race night.  Before Rob said yes, John and Rod were trying to talk me into driving the late model.  Rod would have had to completely redo the cockpit and pedals, I'm so little compared to all the guys.  And I didn't want to anyway, I keep telling them I'm perfectly happy with my little Hornet.......!!  I don't race asphalt again until the 1st of July..........YIKES......I'll forget what I'm suppose to do by then.  But the Hornets are suppose to race on the dirt June 10th.  There's a practice on the asphalt the 1st week-end in June and we're going to take the dirt car to that.  I've never driven it since John built it, except around the driveway.  I'd like to put it thru it's paces to make sure something important doesn't fall off or blow up, before racing it.......!!!!  If it has to be on asphalt, so be it.

I managed to get Coquette body clipped Saturday morning after Tyler left.  She has real fine, long hair, she is probably part French Poitou, the dreadlock donkey.

This is a picture late 19th early 20th century of a purebred Poitou.  I can't imagine how heavy all that hair is.  There are only about 800 purebreds in the world today. 

 It wouldn't be a problem, but that hair, clings and mats and causes her skin condition to be worse in the heat.  If Quilla hadn't have gone to Colorado, he would have to be clipped also because his Cushings causes his hair to be long and not shed.

She has never been a fan of being clipped.  But she was particularly obnoxious this time.  I wrestled with her for awhile and finally put her in the stocks.  I was wore out by then and tired of her giving warning kicks to let me know how much she didn't want to be there.  John took pity on me and finished her thank goodness.  We weren't going to be friends when it was over the way things were going.....!!!  LOL

More of Linda's pictures.  Quilla is a subtle beggar, he stands, stares and puts his ears back.  Boaz isn't subtle, he just pulls out all the stops and goes for it.

Those white specks on Boaz are snowflakes.  Linda also sent a picture of Quilla, I assume there were snowflakes on him too, but you couldn't see them....!!! 

WHEN BORED JUST GO OUT AND TROMP THRU THE MUD, AND EAT A LITTLE WHILE THERE

Good grief what a difference a few days of familiarity with mud does to the donkeys attitude about the stuff.  Lots of clay boots and mustaches around here right now.............LOL  It finally dried out enough John used the tractor and spread it in a low spot in the driveway.  Now he has to cover it with gravel out of the wash, before we get rain.  Otherwise it will be really slick and slimy and it will also keep the donkeys from chewing on it.  

UPDATE on the well drilling.  There is a load of PVC pipe sitting on a trailer, a water truck and the rig still here over the week-end.  We really thought they'd be thru the clay by now.  Unfortunately because of equipment breaking or failing, they have not drilled a foot since last Tuesday.  I think the guys drilling are as frustrated as we are.  They said they keep telling the boss what needs to be fixed and he keeps sending them out to drill.  

John says he can identify with their problem.  When he does his jeep tours, they fill out a "things that need to be fixed on the jeep" report.  And unless it is something really bad, it's probably not fixed the next time he drives that particular jeep.  

One problem the company has that I see is they had a guy hurt last Monday on another job and last I heard he was still in the hospital, with a concussion, broken shoulder, broken sternum, 3 ribs, and a big gash on his back.  A piece of metal broke on the top, which is about 50-60 feet high and it sounds like he might have deflected it away from his head with his shoulder, etc.  If OSHA, gets involved, which I'm sure they will,  I have a feeling the boss will be fixing a lot of things if he want to stay in business.   In the meantime, we have our fingers crossed that this week will go better than last week here.  We had to get another load of water Friday, it should last us about 2 weeks, but we're hoping that won't be necessary. 

Tyler and his helper Dave came out yesterday morning to work with Gigi and Penny in the new stocks we had made.  They need a little work  some of the hoof rests are too high and Tyler wants another hoof rest added.  So we'll call tomorrow to see when they can come out and fix it.  But all in all it makes it so much easier on Tyler and the girls both using the stock.

THIS WAS NOT WHAT GIGI HAD PLANNED TODAY, BUT SHE DID PRETTY GOOD ONCE SHE FIGURED OUT, SHE COULDN'T GO ANYWHERE

 DAVE AND GIGI "ENJOYING" THE STOCKS, WELL AT LEAST DAVE IS

PENNY'S TURN IN THE STOCKS.........  JOHN PUT HER HALTER ON BEFORE TYLER GOT HERE..... SHE KNOWS THE SOUND OF HIS TRUCK, AND IMMEDIATELY GOES INTO "NOT JUST NO, BUT HELL NO" MODE. BEFORE HE EVEN GETS TO THE DRIVEWAY.  LOL 

 

 

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While we were playing with the girls in the stocks, Doug was giving a tour.  You can see them in the background of the picture above.  Over the years we've had quite a few tours with a little extra, either vet or trimmer or me doctoring someone. 

Still getting pictures and updates from Linda in Colorado.  Their 1st burro race is next week-end I think.  I'm anxious to hear how it goes, Turbo really likes to run, so hopefully he and Lynn will manage to finish the race together, Lynn is a real good runner, but in a difference of opinion, I'm pretty sure Turbo could outrun him.  Thank goodness Turbo is really mellow, so hopefully it will go smoothly.  Leddy shouldn't be a problem, he usually has the mentality of BlackJack, slow and easy is the way to go.  Linda says she doesn't care, which is a good thing, because I have a feeling that Leddy probably isn't that interested in passing other donkeys......!!! 

Boaz looking like king of his domain.  Linda keeps saying she doesn't know what they are eating in this "pasture", but I don't see any ribs.  She says they spend a lot of time with their heads down nibbling.  That's the way they are suppose to eat, rather than having a pile of hay to eat. 

She says Boaz especially has really become lovable.  He's always been lovable, but he's getting a lot more attention and I'm sure is basking in all of it.  There are only 4 donkeys and Lynn and Linda spend hours every day with them.  Donkeys reflect the attention they get, as much as dogs do, the more positive attention they get, the more it seems they seem to be able to figure out how to work the system to their advantage.  Boaz has known for a long time how to work people for extra treats.  So I would imagine with all the extra attention he is expanding his repertoire which of course Lynn and Linda notice and appreciate.   

GUESS MUD ISN'T SO SCARY AFTER ALL..........!!

At least to some of them.  This is how it looked yesterday morning when we went out.  It was easy to see who the culprits were, just look at their feet.  They had "mud" boots on, it's really really sticky stuff.   Rosie and Cheyenne both had muddy feet.  The other little trail we think is a Colorado River Toad, coming out at night to enjoy the mud.  We haven't seen him, he's gone by the time we go out in the morning.  

This morning more of them had been in it.  I would imagine it was the ones that only had mud on their muzzles yesterday.......!!!  LOL  Shaggy Bill and Don Juan are the only ones I've seen so far.  Those two and Smoky Joe are about the nosiest donkeys I've ever seen, and almost all donkeys are pretty nosy.  I don't know what the interest is, just something different I guess. 

The drilling isn't going much better, the clay is still gumming up their bit, so until they get thru the clay it's going to be a challenge.  The old well is turned off, so all the water we have is in the 2000 gallon holding tank and it's going down day by day.  So we'll probably have to buy another truck load of water since they are having problems. 

Well, forget about Wildcat Raceway as a name for the dirt track.  As of this morning the name is Arizona Motorplex.........!!!  I'm starting to get whiplash, when all I want to do is race on the dirt.....!!!  LOL 

BUT..........this might be a good thing.  A few weeks ago we were talking to a friend that has connections and he was telling us about a plan he and some of his connected friends had for the dirt track, if Wildcat fell thru.  The word Motorplex in the name sounds like what he was talking about, so I have my fingers crossed, that might be what's happening. 

MAJOR CRISIS FROM THE DONKEYS POINT OF VIEW

Donkeys are creatures of habit, and don't appreciate changes in their routines.  The well drillers are here again today and have finally made it into the clay.  I don't know much about well drilling, but when they were in gravel they weren't putting water on out on the ground.  Now that they are in the clay, they are putting out either thin mud or thick water, depending on your point of view.  

You'll notice that the mud flow runs up next to the pen on the left and fairly close to the stock on the right.  The donkeys usually walk to the pens closer to the pen on the left.  But there isn't room there to walk without their feet getting in the mud/water.  I looked out and Gus was trying to figure out how to get where he wanted to go without touching the mud.  By the time I got out there he had already gotten too close and was mired in the mess.  

He can't turn around easily and if he had tried he would have gotten in deeper.  He also doesn't back up very well.  We finally got him out, with a little backing and a little turning and I rinsed his feet off.  BUT, the problem will still be there, when the others come in to be fed.  You can't imagine what a crisis can be caused by something so simple sometimes..........LOL

So John is out there with his tractor trying to clear an acceptable path, before they all line up out there with a disgusted look on their faces. 

John is moving it around, but it's still going to be wet, which isn't good.  The minis are watching the whole operation, but it will be interesting to see what the others do when they come in later.  

They are down to about 130 feet, and the clay is gumming up their drill bit.  They have to keep pulling it up to clean, so it's going to be a longer process that we hoped for probably.  

I was going to body clip Coquette this morning, but the feed room is too close to the noisy drilling.  I'm sure she wouldn't have been very cooperative, so hopefully tomorrow will be better.

Here's a nice picture of Quilla from Colorado. 

He looks good without leg wrappings......!!

I HAVE A NEW TOY

Well it's not new, there is no way I would buy a new quad, let somebody else lose all that investment....!!! LOL 

I've been looking on Craigslist every day, start my morning out to see what new had been added.  Most of them were bigger than I wanted to wrestle, or were brand new ones for $800 and they'd throw in a helmet for free.............Of course I couldn't pronounce the names of them.  I guess they are throw aways to get for the kids and if they destroy it, at that price you just go get another one.  

We decided it had to be a Honda, Polaris, or Suzuki, 250cc or smaller and had to have automatic shift.  One of my big wrestling problems with the BearCat years ago was trying to shift it, with the top of my foot.  Most of the ones for sale were bigger, but a few days ago, there was a Suzuki 230 for sale in Sierra Vista, at the price I was willing to pay.

Yesterday we were going down to Sunsites to a car show to "root" for Larry and his ProStock camaro that he races out at Tucson Speedway and Sierra Vista is on the way, if you don't mind taking the long route.

So John hooked  up the trailer, we plan on putting it in the bed of the pick-up when we go to the races, BUT, John didn't want to tackle that project first thing, so trailer it is.

We met behind Walmart in a dirt trail area and checked it out.  It's an older one, which means it's probably tougher than the new ones.  I know the young boy that's been riding it put it thru it paces throwing dirt everywhere........!!!   LOL  Starts good, seems to run good, it isn't a honest to goodness automatic, BUT, it has no clutch and will take off in 2nd gear, so we decided it would do what we want it to do.

I've had it out running the trails on the property that Lynn made before he left.  It seems easy to operate and fun to drive, so I guess it's a keeper.

You might notice it doesn't have a fender on the rear.  It's been a play toy for a couple of pre-teens, and I would imagine they put it thru it's paces when they got the chance.  I've already found replacement fenders for it online. they are white.  John will paint the front of it orange and it will match the race cars.......LOL  We wanted to use it around here, but we also want to take it to the race track to use in the pits.  I'm tired of all that walking and I noticed John didn't say no when the subject was brought up.

After we loaded it up we headed for the car show and got there just as they were getting ready to give out the awards.  Larry won for best 1970-1979 modified car and he had some pretty stiff competition.

Larry will be racing next week-end and Rod, our son will be racing his modified on the 3/8's mile asphalt.  They are also running the late models, and it is really hard to race in 2 divisions on the same night.  Rod talked about it and changed his mind.  So a friend is going to race the late model for us.  He was the Hornet champion last year and is a road racer, so he should do good.

The dirt track was suppose to race last night, they weren't racing hornets, but John and I were going to go just to be nosy.  Friday they put out the word that the races were cancelled because of well pump failure and they had no way to water the track.  I don't know if it's bad luck or incompetence, but either way, I don't have much hope, they will be able to get a program going this year.  John built me a dirt car, it's ready to go, just no place to race it......!!!

It's finally warming up now, so I'll probably body clip Coquette in the next couple of days.  Hopefully her skin problems won't get a chance to erupt if I get the hair off her.  This is the 1st year I've managed to keep Rosie's belly from breaking out and oozing serum, not mention swelling up.  I'm putting Cosequin10 on her belly twice a day.  It's working pretty well, as long as I do it twice a day.  If I forget, the next time it's open and dripping serum.  The vets always tell me it is fly caused, BUT, between the fly traps and the fly predators, we actually don't have that many flies.  Also I don't see flies hanging around her.  I think it is heat induced, maybe not sun like Quilla's legs, but just the rise in temperatures.  So far Boaz and Quilla are staying sore free in Colorado...........!!! 

Friolita's string halt, seems to be improving.  She's still jerking one hind leg, but she is comfortable to walk on it, which she wasn't a couple of days ago.   Patti, who knows all about equine nutrition said to up her vitamin E and Magnesium Oxide, which I did.  Maybe that helped, because she is improving. 

This is pictures Linda took of the "girls" before she left.  She sent it to me for Mother's Day.  Even got Reba the mule in it. 

WELL IS BEING DRILLED

Our well hasn't been adequate for the last few years.  When we could no longer rely on the well to keep the pressure tank filled, we got a 2000 gallon tank and set up a system for the pump to pump water into it every hour until it ran out of water.  That's been doing OK for about 3 years.  BUT lately it hasn't been able to keep up, with the donkeys and 3 households and we've had to buy water for the last couple of months.  

Had well people come out and they said there just wasn't enough recharge on the well.  When the well was originally drilled, it was put in with a cable tool rig.  They thump and crush thru the rock and gravel, a lot slower and noisier than a hydraulic.  The guy that put it in was getting ready to retire, and hadn't upgraded to a hydraulic rig.  Once he hit water, he used a cutting torch to cut holes in the well casing.  Unfortunately over the years the holes have filled in with mineral deposits.  We had a guy come out, pull the pump and clean the well casing, but that's only been a few years ago. 

So we are having to bite the bullet and get a new well.  YIKES the price has gone up more than I'd like to think about......!!!   LOL  But it shouldn't take them but a few days to get it drilled, another plus for a hydraulic rig.  

The old well is only 120 feet deep and is pumping surface water.  Below that is a layer of clay and we had been told that it could be 1000 feet deep or more, which is why we stopped with a surface well.  But 2 neighbors real close have wells at 470 and 500 feet.  So we're crossing our fingers and hoping for a good outcome.  I have no idea what they are doing, but it looks interesting.  

I hope they get the well going before our 2000 gallon tank runs dry.   They are required by law to destroy our old well, they will fill it with concrete............once the other well is usable so it's still operational, just not pumping much water.  

Other than that things are going pretty good.  No major health problems, except for Friolita.  We actually had 4/10's of an inch of rain a few days ago, and I don't know if the high humidity is making her stringhalt act up or what.  When we got her about 9-10 years ago, we were told she had been diagnosed with stringhalt.  She was taken out of the wild by the BLM at age 6 months and she already had it.

Friolita with Doug

The only time we would notice it is when she got in a hurry, and both hind legs would jerk.  This is the 1st time, she's had a problem 24/7 for a few days and it's slowing her down whenever she moves.  If she doesn't get better over the week-end I'll call Dr. Jeremy and have him come out.

It's been cooler, so the skin problems aren't as bad as they could be.  Heard from Linda at the "Colorado Satellite" and the boys are all doing great.  She said Quilla and Boaz act like they want to go out when they take Turbo and Leddy out for race training.  I guess a couple they know wants to go running with Linda and Lynn, so when they do, they will take all 4 donkeys.  That should be "interesting"..........LOL

This is a video of Turbo and his opinion of going "thru" water, trying not to "touch" it.

LIFE GOES ON AND ON AND ON..........!!!

Linda called last night and brought us up to date on what they are up to.  I don't know when they have time to sleep, it sounds like they are keeping pretty busy.  

Still haven't heard anything on when the white truck will be fixed in New Mexico, but they have noticed that a lot of their possessions, are in not only that truck, but also in the RV that is parked down there.  So their choices are go out and buy a duplicate, if it's REALLY important or, drive 190 miles one way to N.M. to pick up the RV and bring it back to Colorado.  

She's worried that Saddik isn't eating enough.  He's never been a typical dog when he eats, you know, wolfing it down.  I guess one of the 1st things her mother-in-law said when he was eating was, "has he been an only dog?"  He certainly doesn't try to protect food like most dogs do.   And he's always been on the thin side, everyone thinks he probably has some Rhodesian Ridgeback in him and they are built for speed.  But it's always been a challenge to keep weight on him.  It might be the Valley Fever too, who knows.  

But the donkeys are doing great, I guess Boaz is the herd boss and Quilla as usual is at the bottom of the pecking order.  He is so gentle and mellow, I can't imagine him ever challenging anyone.  She sent a video of them running a "donkey derby" all over the pasture.  Unfortunately it's about twice as big as allowed on the blog, so I can't share it.  Trust me, they were all having a great time.  Although we have acreage, it's covered with trees and cactus, so they've never really had a wide open space to just run.  

Boaz with mountains behind him

She said their sores are healing up, no need for leggings or fly masks, which is great.  That's what the experiment of sending them up there was all about.  I told her we should have sent Coquette too, I had to start doctoring her this morning.  And she will have to body clipped again this year, her hair is so long and matted that skin problems can hide until they really get nasty. 

Leddy and Boaz sharing a drink I think

Lynn's brother leading Quilla when they got there, he still has leggings on

 

Turbo found a cabin Lynn's brother is building

YUM, YUM,  Linda said they are enjoying the pasture

Linda and her two boys, she said Boaz and Quilla want to go too, so they are trying to figure out how to take all four......!!!  Sounds like an adventure......!!!   LOL

When we went out Saturday afternoon to the races we noticed there was another fire west of where the fire last week was.  We could see quite a bit of smoke and when we came home after the races we could see flames up on the ridges.  Got home and there were two messages from Linda, that has 4 donkeys, one of them our Chester.  She was laying the groundwork, just in case.

It only took a day or two for them to get it under control, thank goodness.  But, 2 widows lost their homes and everything.  One of the houses had been built by the woman and her husband decades ago.  How sad, I think she's the one that lost both of her cats too.  

The races went pretty good, I finished 3rd in the heat race and 4th in the main.  There are 3 or 4 cars racing that have bigger motors and weigh less than my car, that are trading wins back and forth, but as long as I continue to finish 5th or better, I can't complain and will probably finish good for end of the year if I don't have "problems"....!!!   LOL 

Haven't heard anything else from the dirt track, so we aren't getting too excited yet.  Although John did buy some red and yellow paint to mix together to make orange for the numbers on the top.  You can't buy small cans of orange paint for some reason.  Lynn had to do the same thing with his numbers.  Oh! well we won't be able to complain about it being too red or too yellow, if we mix it ourselves I guess.  

THE COLORADO SATELLITE IS GETTING SETTLED IN

Heard from Linda and it sounds like they are keeping busy.  They've already been out hiking with the animals.

Found an antler, which are actually doggie chew toys

Saddik, Turbo and Lynn hiking the trail

Big antler find

Looks like a football huddle

 Always another trail

Makes it hard to drive

What the heck are those?

Rest time after a day of fun

Not much going here, broke a record yesterday, 104* in Tucson, and the flies are really upping the ante, I've got out 4 fly traps and they are filling up rapidly.  Penny, Rosie and Gus have to have their legs wrapped, or the flies just chew them to pieces.  I'm trying something this year, I'm wrapping below their knees with polo wraps and using men's crew socks above the knee, so the whole leg is covered.  The flies even chewed around the edges of Rosie's chestnut, on the inside of one of her front legs.  Geesh.....!!!  I hate flies. 

The lizards have learned to hang around the fly traps for an easy meal.  If flies do it for them, more power to them.  But there is no way they could eat enough flies to make a difference.  Each trap is suppose to hold 40,000 flies and 3 of them are getting pretty full. 

Today is race day.  We usually don't race 2 Saturdays in a row, but we are this time.  Then I don't think we race again for over a month.  I don't know who makes up the schedule, but it's "interesting".  LOL

The dirt track has put out a schedule, hopefully they'll be able to get it all together and have a season.  The Hornets are only suppose to race 3 times, June 10, July 1 and Sept 2nd.  Unfortunately with such a meager schedule, I don't see anyone building cars, so it's probably going to be a rather small class.  The race they had in January had 4 Hornets total, I doubt that they will be able to field many more than that.  John is even talking about taking Lynn's car out to help with the car count. 

FORGET ABOUT THAT UNEVENTFUL TRIP

It was a nice thought, but not meant to be I guess. The overnight stop went pretty good from what Linda said.  Well except for Leddy not wanting to get back in the trailer after his exercise time..........no surprise.......!!!  Didn't get the details on how they finally got him in. 

 Donkeys are "magnets" when you stop for gas

 

 Boaz and Quilla out for a walk at the rest stop

Who knew you could tie 4 dogs to one post......!!!  LOL

Next  info I get is around noon on day 2.  There is a picture of a bloody rag, the white truck up on a roll back and vehicles parked beside a highway..............NO MESSAGE..........!!!  Yikes......!!!  Didn't even say who's blood it was........!!!

Linda had Saddik on a lead at 6am and he tried to run to Lynn and she hit the ground.  Throbbing toe and skinned elbow.  She's use to well behaved dogs, not a "wild child"

Not good, they had the tranny replaced a few months ago............It's under warranty...........Yea!

A nice man that lived in the area let them park the RV on his place till they come back to pick up the truck

So they left the RV, left the truck at a shop and headed on to Colorado, with a stock trailer, 4 donkeys, a pick up, with 4 not small dogs, and 2 people, one skinned up.......!!!  LOL  Guess the last leg was uneventful, although crowded, they had been traveling with 2 dogs per truck. But they made it......!!

57 degrees, don't need fly masks

Don't know where Lynn and Linda will be sleeping, space seems to be at a premium

Leddy helping Boaz beg for treats

Turbo meeting Starter, looks like Turbo's bigger

Treats and meds, important things in life

I guess Saddik is making himself at home