SMART LITTLE MINIS.........

The donkeys have been only going out from noon to 5pm for weeks, because of the mesquite bean problem.  Unfortunately in their boredom of being in their pens 19 hours a day they have started dismantling their shelters.  They aren't eating the boards, they are just splintering them.  Grrrrr........!!!  

A few days ago we started "poo investigation" to see how many bean seeds were showing up.  John had been saying there weren't many beans out there and yesterday when we checked there were only about the equivalent of a bean or two of seeds at the most in any one pile.  So last night at bedtime they got to go out overnight.  This morning at roundup for breakfast they were actually pretty cooperative, which was a surprised.  We figured they would decide to make us chase them, John rang the bell and they started wandering in.  

Another reason for going ahead and letting them out is earlier in the week when it was time for afternoon roundup, Cheyenne and Justin were over in Burroland, at the gate whining because they were on the wrong side and everyone else was over here.  Those things happen when you decide to take advantage of a weak place in the fence and head out on your own........!! LOL   John and Doug couldn't agree on where they "thought" the escape artists got out, so they fixed a spot and the next day just Cheyenne was over there whining at round up time.  It was the spot they fixed but unfortunately a visual barrier where she already knew she had gotten out before wasn't going to discourage her.  Doug "fixed" it this time, she trotted to that spot when she was let out at noon the next day, and figured out the game was over.  

We didn't want them to keep  getting over there where there are still a ton of beans laying on the ground.  So since everyone's poo is pretty clear of beans, we decided to go ahead and let them out to protect the fence and the shelters..........!!!!   LOL

Lynn and Linda called the other night and asked if we would have room for another donkey when they come back down in November.  As John says, "what's one more", but in this case we're out of pens with the addition of another donkey.  This morning we were figuring out the logistics.  Our pens have evolved over the years as needed, and we will be able to add another one on the west end of the west pens, pretty easy.  

Actually I just got a cryptic message from Linda and I think his name might be Leo instead of Lucas..!!

This is Chief aka Luc-ASS doing his thing.  He's a trained burro racer, unfortunately at this time in his life Turbo doesn't see a reason to run when he can walk and I'm sure that is very frustrating for Lynn.  Linda sent a video she took of them running and I think Lynn is going to have to step up his game, if he wants to keep up  Lucas really knows his job.  I guess Turbo will be a parade donkey, if he doesn't see any reason to run.  Linda likes her "Steady Leddy", so he will probably continue to be her running buddy and also do parades.  

Boaz's front feet decided to fall apart and they had to get the farrier out to trim the nasty stuff off before he got it caught on something.

Rather free form for a hoof

This was before, and after Lynn or someone had trimmed all the nasty gnarly growth off

 Linda sent a picture of his hoof when all the split hoof was sticking out just waiting to get caught, but I can't find it right now.  If I do I'll add it later, it was quite impressive in an icky sort of way. (DONE)

This is after the farrier cleaned it up and made it a little smoother

 At sometime in Boaz's life he has had significant damage to his hooves and they don't grow out smooth like they should.  As he's gotten older, they've gotten rougher.  It's just something that has to be watched and kept trimmed back.  One of the reasons he will always be in sanctuary to make sure it is taken care of. 

Here's what the race car looks like right now.

It's had the mangled parts stripped off, it's been attached to 2 trees and a wrecker to get it somewhat straightened, parts have been ordered from different places.  Unfortunately one of the places ships out of Orlando, Florida and they notified us the order will take at least a week longer than usual because of Irma............SIGH......!!!

We've been out to the junkyard twice in recent days.  Yesterday when it was 106* in Tucson in the afternoon, we were roaming around among wrecked cars gathering up parts that aren't available in stores or catalogs, such as a bumper and bumper cover.  I sometimes wonder about our sanity, especially John's.  He's the one doing all the work.............LOL  He'll be gone for 4 days to a family reunion the week before I'm suppose to race again, so he would like to get as much done as possible before then.