UPDATE..........

Just got an e-mail from Linda and they didn't leave today, suppose to leave tomorrow morning.....!!!  I will e-mail Teresa in Tombstone and let her know.  Lynn says they will make it, but so many things could slow them down.

DON'T KNOW IF THE CIRCUS IS ON THE ROAD OR NOT........!!

Haven't heard anything from Lynn and Linda today.  If they are on the road, I'm sure they are busy and hopefully will get a few minutes tonight to at least let us know where they are. 

John has the pens ready and a chart showing where the 7 donkeys coming with them will go.  This morning he worked on the washed out fence over on Burroland from our big rain, last week.  Since the donkeys haven't been going over to Burroland, he quit fence fixing with the other 2 fences that are over on this side.  But now that the mesquite beans on the ground have finally started breaking down Burroland can be opened, and I'm sure it won't take the donkeys long to find it out.  The problem will be to get them to come back over to this side.  The 1st few days they will not be very cooperative at all and that is an understatement.  We'll get our exercise, chasing them all over Burroland.   LOL

This morning I opened up the dog pen, which has been closed since the dogs left.  There's unappetizing looking beans on the ground from the trees in there, but there is also lots of weeds that are about knee high.  If the donkeys go in there, it won't be quite so "wild" for the dogs to tramp down.  So far no one has noticed it's open.  

Next week John and I were suppose to transport an intact jack to a vet in N.M. to be gelded before he goes into a rescue up in the mountains of north eastern Arizona.  It had been put on hold until Lynn and Linda get here, so we could overnight, otherwise it was going to be a really long day.  Started putting it together this morning and found out there is no health certificate or Coggins test on him.  I talked to the woman that has the rescue and she said because they are in an isolated area, the N.M. vet is the closest to them, and they haul back and forth across state line all the time.  

That may be, I'm sure the state police, local sheriffs and N.M livestock inspectors in that area are well aware of what's going on.....BUT....... we would be on interstate in an area south of where they are usually running around.  We have heard horror stories, of getting stopped by N.M. authorities with undocumented equine.  It's expensive and time consuming to get your animals and rig back and we just can't take a chance.  I called the owner and he said no problem, but it will take time to get the paperwork done, so it won't be when we planned.  

I hadn't talked to the owner before he said the donkey is on 30-40 acres and wondered how many people we were bringing.........!!   Hmmmm, sounds like it might be an adventure.  I asked if he could be haltered..........no..!!  But he said something about a smaller corral area, so hopefully if we can get him in there, we can get him in the trailer.  Wonder if Lynn and Linda will be ready for adventure in a few days?  LOL

This is not normal.....!!

Poor Boaz, he's had a rough summer and now he has this.  I have no idea if he got bit or stung or what, but this can't be comfortable.  Dr. Jeremy said to rinse him down with a hose and I've been doing that for a couple of days.  

Dr. Jeremy will be here in the morning with Tyler to work on Gus.  And we'd already talked about working on Boaz's chest, so we'll just add this to the list I guess. 

THE CIRCUS IS COMING TO TOWN........!!

Looks like Lynn, Linda and the "circus" will get here Saturday.  Saturday is going to be a busy day, Tyler and Dr. Jeremy will be here in the morning to redo Gus, Rosie and Gigi's feet.  They are all doing pretty good for them.  Gus will never run any foot races and he has some days that are better than others.  BUT, he eats good and greets visitors when they come to see the donkeys.  A lot of the work Tyler has done on Gus especially was pretty experimental, or you might say, a last ditched effort to help him.  He's been in casting material for over a year and they are talking about just leaving the shoes on and see how he does, without the casting material.  Since they have worked with Gus they have also worked with other horses and donkeys.  Other farriers are also starting to try it.  

While Dr. Jeremy is here he might also remove the place on Boaz's chest that is about the size of a silver dollar, that I have been working with all summer and it is still a mess.  It's in a area with loose skin, and we've talked about just removing the whole thing and stitching it closed.  It couldn't do any worse than it has for months.

I'm racing Saturday night, we'll have to leave early in the afternoon to get to the track, so I can pill draw for my starting position.  When we raced on the dirt, we showed up right before the races started, jumped in the car and off we went for fun and adventure.  Not at this track, they turn it into an all day marathon.  So we won't be here when Lynn and Linda get here, guess we'll see them in Sunday morning.........LOL  Sunday afternoon we're suppose to go to a meeting in Tombstone to discuss having a pack burro race in the spring.  Teresa and Mike Benjamin have wanted to get pack racing started, it's really caught on in Colorado, this year was their 70th year, and although a lot of the mines in Arizona were owned by companies rather than individual miners, there is still a lot of history here and burros were used extensively all over the state for many reasons.  

Somewhere in all this they will have to get all the donkeys and dogs settled in and get their motor home dragged out of the hay barn and set up.  I'm sure they will get it all done without too many problems, they seem to do crisis management really well.........!!!  

Linda and Loki on the other side of the street.  Linda's not even touching the ground.......!!!

I think this is the infamous tunnel at Federick when they were practicing.  All their donkeys seemed to think it was no big deal.

The next day at the race, some of the other donkeys didn't think much of it.  I guess they ended up with some clusters of "Nope, not what I had planned today".........LOL  Bridges and tunnels seem to cause problems in these races.  Turbo and Loki aren't having any problem, Linda and Loki are in purple  right behind Turbo and Lynn.

 

Team Justin with Jennifer

They also did a people race and dogs were welcome.  Unfortunately Saddik found something to dead or worse to roll in right before they left home.  Linda said he really smelled bad, although I'm sure he didn't think so.  

He managed to find someone that thought he was really cool, smell or not....!!!  What a look on his face..!!

We took the white wing dove into the Wildlife Center in Tucson, Sunday afternoon.  When you go into the receiving area they have a blackboard with what wildlife they have and how many of each species.  I got so excited, they had 16 doves listed, until the lady told me none of them were white wings.  She said they had released all of theirs last week, which is about the time all of ours disappeared.  He still wouldn't have been ready to be released, so I guess he'll have to spend the winter in a pen in Tucson.  His tail was still angling to the left sometimes, so he may never be able to be released.  But at least he will be safe there and have some "cousins" to hang with.  I assume they will put him in with the others, they live in flocks and probably wouldn't do very well by themselves.  

 I did a little clicker training with Casper the mini mule this morning.  John's been moving donkeys around and working on pens, getting ready to add 7 donkeys to the group.  Jasper has been in Turbo's large pen all summer.  John moved him to the pen he was in before Turbo left in May, which is right beside Casper's pen.  Jasper seems to think Casper would make a good buddy, he watches him and usually spends part of the day standing by Casper's pen, so it seemed like a good place to put him.  It would be nice if Casper decided Jasper would make a good big brother to bond with.  I don't think Casper has probably ever bonded with anyone, he's a pretty independent little guy, so it probably won't happen.  

Jasper's pen was open when I started working with Casper, who incidentally did really good today, he even touched the target when I threw it on the ground in 2 or 3 different places.  Jasper was watching all this and figured out what was going on, Casper was doing something and getting rewarded.  So he started letting me know he wanted to play too.  When I got thru working with Casper I went out and showed Jasper the target........no problem.........his nose instantly went to the target, I clicked and he got about a tsp of senior feed.  I did it 3 or 4 times and no problem ....I may have a future clicker expert.....!!!  He had been in the same home for 19 years and I don't think they messed with him much, let alone clicker training.  So I assume he observed what was going on and figured it out on his own.  We've noticed he is real observant, he watches everything going on around here, and he's certainly not stupid, none of them are.......LOL

I THINK CASPER IS FINALLY GETTING IT........!!!

It's amazing to me that it has taken this long for him to figure out clicker training.  But I think this morning it finally clicked for him.  He's still not acting like I'm a Pez dispenser.  The donkeys once they get it figured out, they will stand there and push on the target repeatedly.  I would imagine for him it has to do with his distrust of humans in general.  He touches, hears the click, gets the treat of the day and backs off a few steps to chew.  Today's treat was oats, something he usually doesn't get.  Tomorrow will be Nutrena Safe Choice, which is also not usually on his menu. 

I'm not giving him treats except when we're "working" and I only work with him for about 5-10 minutes a day.  He still hasn't been out of his pen, we're waiting until Lynn and Linda get here, probably next week, for extra bodies to help round up the little devil if his chubby little body will still fit under the bottom barbed wire perimeter fence. 

If this looks like the tech has a death grip on Lennon at the vet, I would imagine she does.  Lennon is not fond of going to the vet and if given the chance will escape.  Guess they are getting all the 4 legged "fur" kids ready for the trip down to Arizona.  Hopefully the donkeys Coggins tests are still good, I think they are good for 6 months and they had them right before they left for Colorado in May. 

Loki was running with Linda this day, isn't his outfit gorgeous?   He really wants to pass the other runners and get to the front.  Linda said it was quite an experience after running with Leddy.  Leddy is more a parade donkey his speed isn't going to win any races.......LOL

This is Pepsi and Justin hanging out beside Mary Margaret, who won the Triple Crown this year.  Maybe they think her speed will rub off on them...!!

 

Turbo's ready to go...!! 

2018 season is over, might as well enjoy the fireworks....!!

OK......ENOUGH RAIN ALREADY.........!!

John and I went to Tucson yesterday and it was raining on us on the way home.  Got home and it didn't look too bad, when all of a sudden it started raining, just about the time John went out to start chores.  I looked out one time and couldn't see the feed room.  For those that know the distance to the feed room from the house, that was a lot of rain.  

In about a 3 hour period, we got 3 1/2 inches of rain.  Doug and John were trapped in the feed room, I was in the house and the donkeys were in their pens. That much rain in a short time, flooded some of the pens.  In fact John let Bill out of his pen, he had no place to stand that was not standing water.  So where did Bill go?  Up on the porch of the feed room, where the guys were waiting out the rain.  

Actually on the way home, we had to wait at the 1st wash that crosses the road.  It's been years since we've got to visit with our neighbors while the water rises and then recedes enough that you think you can make it.  Even had the afternoon school bus keeping us company.  

We waited about half an hour and finally decided to give it a run.  Thank goodness we were in the truck and not the little car, it probably would have floated away.  The truck did good and after sacrificing us everybody but the school bus, followed us.  They must have some rule about the buses when they have kids on board.  He actually had more clearance than us and would be a lot heavier.  

That wash crosses the main road 7 times before we can get home.  Right after we got home is when the heavy rain started.  The wash was already running and adding the new rain to that, destroyed the fences that run across the wash on our property.  So the donkeys had to stay in their pens overnight or we would have been chasing donkeys all over  this part of Cochise County........!!!  LOL
 

The post is still up on the bank.  All the t-posts went somewhere.  To the left is the wash.

John is on the other side of the wash, trying to figure out if he can get the wire away from those trees. 

He finally decided it would be quicker and easier to use new wire and figure out how to get this wire away from the trees and limbs later when he had more time.  I would imagine some of the missing t-posts are in this mess somewhere.  T he donkeys were getting tired of being in their pens and were starting to get loud and cranky about it.  LOL

This is the perimeter fence on the east side of the property.  It's called a kick-out, the posts aren't buried in the ground.  When the water rushes down the wash about 3 feet deep and sometimes even has white caps  on it, or if one of those limbs or trees comes down with the water the fence will just lay over like it is.  So he and Doug just stood it up and buried the posts about 6 inches in the sand.  Just enough to make it a barrier that works, the donkeys aren't fence challengers, which is a good thing. 

This is how Casper the mini mule looked this morning, all the donkeys looked about the same.  For animals that hate water and really hate to be bathed, if there is mud available, they all will take a mud bath.  Needless to say we had mud everywhere. 

This is Nigel, our "wild"cat.  Not really, he does not have a survivor instinct at all, and is  very clumsy for a cat.  Every once in awhile, he decides he wants to go outside and is very good at getting out the door when someone is going out.  John was out trying to entice him into the house, which wasn't going very well.  John came in and said get the camera.  We had no idea he was capable to climbing a tree and getting on the porch metal roof without falling off. let alone make it to the roof.  He sat up there like a king looking around like he had really done something.  I took a couple of pictures and then we ignored him.  Went up to the hay barn and the next thing we know here he comes meowing and slinking along on his belly.  Guess he figured how to get down too.  We usually work to get him in, so he's not use to being ignored.  Guess he figured he was out  of his element and came to get us to take care of him it's about 300 feet of open country from the house to the hay barn..  I told John to leave him outside for awhile, but he wouldn't do it.  John picked him up, put him in the house, he was so exhausted,  he slept the rest of the day........

This is a young white wing dove, that was out at the bird feeder a few days ago and a hawk came thru hunting.  The hawks have learned to use the house and windows as a hunting tool.  They fly at the feeders which scatters the birds and if one hits a window, it's a free meal for the hawk.  They swoop down, pick it up and go have breakfast.  I happened to see this one, ran out and picked up the dove.  It was very neurological, I guess hitting the window really rang it's bell.  At 1st it couldn't even sit up on it's feet, but after a couple of days it started improving and now sits on a perch and the last day or so, has been trying to get out of the cage.  I put the cage in the hay barn during the day and in the spare bedroom at night.  We have a lot of skunks around here and they would have no problem getting it out of the cage.  It's still not completely recovered and I'd be afraid to let it go.  Quite often it's tail isn't straight behind, it goes to the left.  We have a wildlife refuge in Tucson, that we might take it to if it stops improving with us.  Another problem this time of year is, most of the white wings have migrated to Texas, so if we released him, he wouldn't have a flock.  .

NATIONAL NEWS

CNN had a couple of minutes of coverage of burro pack racing in Colorado and Pepsi and Justin both had a few seconds of fame.....!!  Pepsi and his partner are close to the end of the video, where they are talking about donkeys balking at the finish line.  Guess who is highlighted in such behavior?  A few seconds later Justin and Linda are running beside a larger donkey.  Linda has on blue and striped knee socks.  Some of the other donkeys were in that race too, but I haven't been able to pick them out. 

They raced the last race of the season yesterday, but I haven't heard yet how they did.  They stayed overnight, so everyone could rest up before heading for home.  Linda always writes up a play by play account of the races, which is great for us.  We get all the color and adventure, without all that running stuff........LOL  The last I heard from her they were on the road, I'm sure as soon as she gets a chance, she'll bring us up to date.    

They've even found time to takes the dogs out for some fun time in the mountains.  

What a neat picture of Lennon and Lola

Wonder how long it took to get them all on the rock.....!!

Mountain stream.........bet it was COLD......!!

Best dressed dogs on the mountain

Saddik doesn't seem to be a very good swimmer, I've never seen a dog swim like this......!!

Hauling water is great fun, they get to ride in the back of the truck

It really isn't much cooler in this part of Arizona, but I'm seeing a difference in the amount of doctoring I'm having to do.  Boaz is really the only one I have to doctor on a daily basis.  I have 2 or 3 others that I check every day, but they usually don't need anything.  

Casper is settled in and and acts like he never left, begs for treats and yells whenever he sees anyone that looks like they might be carrying animal crackers.  I'm trying something new with him......clicker training. First thing I noticed is........even though he is smart as a whip, he doesn't "get it" as quick as the donkeys.  It could have to do with his distrust of people, although I have never tricked him or mistreated him in any way, he likes to be in control of what is going on. 

All the donkeys have figured it out usually within a few minutes.  I've worked with him every day since we picked him up and this morning was the 1st morning he kind of got the idea that touching the target, makes a noise happen, that leads to my hand holding a treat.  The clicker noise has been making him spook and it makes it hard to give him the treat, when he's on the other side of the pen. 

This morning he finally just pulled back at the noise and then cautiously came back to take the treat.  I only did it 3 times and quit.  Anxious to see how he does in the morning after a day and night of thinking about it. 

I raced last night, does this give you an idea of what a night I had.  We ran 2 main events and the first one was such a crash fest, they called the race after 10 laps instead of the 20 laps we were suppose to race.  LOL

As usual I was in the middle of a lot of the "entertainment"

 My fender and front bumper cover are sticking out of the back window of the car.  This was caused by the same guy that wrecked the other Neon......!!  Then he had the audacity to come over after the race and apologize, said he got hit in the back and pushed into me.  For once my camera was working and when we watched the video this morning, no one pushed him, until his first contact with the rear of my car.  He climbed over my fender and knocked the bumper cover loose on the left side.  We had just started the race, everyone was bunched up, so I ended up like a ping pong ball, till everyone could get away from me. 

The bumper cover was still attached on the right side, dragging on the ground and surprise, surprise the race director allowed me to continue, told me if it fell off I'd be disqualified.  It did fall off and another surprise, all he did was put me in the back of the field and let me finish the race. 

The fender was still attached, sticking straight up in the air, so between races the guys took it off, it was rubbing on the tire. 

This actually is the right front tire on the other side and what it looked like after the 2nd race.  Everyone was amazed that it didn't blow out, which probably would have sent me into the wall.  No one knows what caused it to fail, although one of the guys said he wouldn't run as much air as John puts in them. 

I managed to finish 5th in the 1st race and 6th in the 2nd one, so hopefully I will keep my 4th place for end of the year points.  Won't know until the standings are posted later this week.  Only have 2 more races this season, then it will be time to start getting ready for next season which will start about the end of February. 

 

 

 

HE'S BACK.............!!

Some of you might remember this little guy, Casper the mini mule.....!  He had gone out to a home about a year ago and was going to be trained to pull a little cart.  But illness raised it's ugly head and Bryan hasn't been able to work with him, so we asked to take him back.  He has been passed around so much in his life he needs a stable forever home with a person he can call his own.  That is, if he ever learns to rely on a person.  He doesn't really need to have people in his life, although you can work with him, once you put your hand on him.  It's almost like a signal to him, that it's time to put up with the silly humans........!!!  He's had training at sometime in his life, he's just rather not cooperate if he doesn't have to.  

I sat in his pen tonight after chores, and he looked at me like I was trying to trick him, although I didn't move much, just talked to him.  He hung around me, more than arm's length away..........he's not stupid.  

Right now he's in a pen, which one of the problems with him is, he can camo crawl under fence or panels.  These are pretty close to the ground and he doesn't look like he's missed many meals since he's been gone, so hopefully the pen will contain him.  Chubby probably wouldn't make camo crawling very easy.  I'd like to let him be out with the donkeys, BUT, our barbed wire perimeter fence, isn't even a challenge for him, under he goes, without even slowing down much........!!!  LOL  At least he did when he was here before.  And I'm sure he remembers exactly how to do it.  Bryan isn't a treat person, but when we put him in the trailer, he turned around and begged for a treat, so I'm pretty sure he hasn't forgotten anything.........!! 

Lynn Linda and the donkeys raced in Victor last week-end.  They only have one more race and the season will be over until next summer.  Linda ran with Leddy and Lynn ran with Loki.  Pepsi, Justin, Turbo and Leo ran with others.  Linda said this was the 1st race every team finished.  I guess there is always some that don't finish, but not this time...........!

Click to see.......   THE START OF THE VICTOR RACE

Pepsi was the bravest to challenge the fake duck in their drinking water

Leo and Turbo getting ready to cross the finish line

Might as well snack a little before going home

 

Not sure Pepsi appreciates his prize, but I think it was quite an accomplishment, out of all the donkeys in the race, Pepsi was recognized as the nicest ass.

FRIJOLITA GETS TO GO OUT TODAY

She is doing just fine, eating,  drinking and eating carrots, although her upper lip is still swollen.  She also was complaining rather loudly yesterday about being left in the pens when everyone else were out and about.  So after she finishes breakfast and gets her last little bit of Dex, she can go out with the others today.  I know BlackJack will be happy, he is usually stays with her, although he hasn't hung around the pen since she's been staying in.   Guess love only goes so far.......!!! LOL

I wish they could all go over to Burroland, but the beans on the ground still look edible.  This has really been a weird year for the mesquite beans.  Last year the pods were fat with big beans inside and when they dropped it only took 2-3 weeks for them to get dark and unappetizing.

This year the pods didn't fill out very big and they have been on the ground since July and still look good.  Also this year because of all the rain I guess, we've actually had another crop of beans.  They are still on the trees and haven't started to ripen yet, but I'm sure they will......!!

It's a good thing Doug got pictures of the roadrunner babies the day he did, because they are gone.  Haven't seen their heads sticking up and the parents are nowhere to be found now.  I'm sure the lizard population, what there is left, will appreciate not having them around.



John will be coming home from Indiana tomorrow afternoon.  He said the same thing I always say when I go back to Missouri, you can't really go home again.  When he 1st drove into Crown Point, where he was raised, he thought his childhood home had been torn down.  All he saw in the area was businesses.  But when he drove back thru the area, he said there were businesses across the road, and down the road, but the one block was still houses.  He said the old house looked nice, thought it looked better than the last time he saw it a few years ago.  His aunt and uncle that raised him built the house in the early 1930's, so it was built to last.

Lynn and Linda are burro racing this week-end, don't know how many donkeys will be racing.  I'm sure they will take more than just 2.....LOL

They did a people race last week-end..........

Linda finishing 3rd for women, OBTW the theme was Mellow Yellow and she also won for best dressed woman

Lynn finished 2nd in the long run for men

Linda was going to run with Saddik, but this race didn't allow dogs, for some reason.  

I race next week-end, we will run 2 main events in one night, hopefully the 1st one will be uneventful.......!!!  LOL  The guy in 5th place isn't that far behind me, so I need to at least finish both races, preferably good finishes..!!

Believe it or not, the other car is driven by a guy.........LOL  It's actually the guy that pushed me into the wall last year when the frame had to be straightened the 1st time.

Our grandson's new house comes with benefits.....in the back yard is........3 dwarf trees......grapefruit, navel orange and a lemon.......!!!  They are all loaded with fruit that will probably get ripe around Christmas.........!!!  YUM.........!!! 

GOOD NEWS.....!!

It's hard to believe how much better Frijolita looks this morning.  Her swelling is down and she is eating, a little slow, but managing.

A little swelling, but nothing like it was last night

Her lip is still swollen, but she's able to chew hay, she finished what Doug put in her bunk last night before he brought new hay

John's called a couple of times, it seems like when either of us takes off for a few days, some crisis happens..!! LOL 

His trip went good, no problems well, except for landing at a different gate in Chicago than originally scheduled.  The original gate was close to his connecting gate.  The new gate was almost in the same county.........!!  LOL  Maybe not quite that bad, but he had a hike and not a lot of time, but he made it OK.  

Tonight and tomorrow he will do class reunion stuff and Sunday will be the family reunion.  Sounds like quite a few family are going to be there, hope they all make it.

#5........

John left early this morning to head for the airport.  He is going to his 60th high school reunion and also to a family reunion in Indiana.  He'll be back Monday and in the meantime Doug and I will hold down the fort........!!!  

We've had a roadrunner couple raising their babies in one of the mesquite trees over by BlackJack's pen for the last few weeks.  It's fun to watch them, except for the destruction mom and dad are doing to our lizard population.  The parent spend all day running around and usually when we see them they have their latest catch and are headed to feed the kids.  We had no idea how many were in the nest, this morning Doug managed to get a few pictures of them.  There seems to be two.

Here are the babies, you can just barely see the one behind. 

 

Looks like mom has been shopping........UGH!  I know the kids have to eat, but I love my lizards.....!!

I had to go into Tucson to take some household stuff into our grandson.  He and Hunter our great grandson are moving into a house and they have nothing to set up housekeeping.  So I loaded up the pick-up and took a few things.  When John gets back, we'll take in some furniture.  

I was surprised, it's a 3 bedroom house and the only rooms that have ceiling lights is the kitchen and dining room.  The living room and all the bedrooms have no lights. so we will be trying to find about 8 lamps, 2 per room........... thrift shops, here I come.  And I'll make sure any lamps also have shades.  Shades are expensive and it's hard to find replacements that match the lamp.  We are using 2 lamps in our living room that need the shades replaced and I haven't been able to find the right size or shape.  

When I came home Doug met me at the gate, with the news that Frijolita had been bitten by a rattlesnake and Dr. Jeremy was on his way.  It struck her on the left side of her muzzle, he said it had been about 20 minutes since she came up to him to show him what had happened and that it was dripping blood when he first saw her.  She was calm, but didn't want it touched.  The left side was swollen and the right side was beginning to swell.  I stuck my fingers in her nostrils to see if they were swelling shut and they were open about half as much as usual.  I knew John had cut some garden hose pieces for such an emergency.  If the nostrils swell completely shut they can suffocate.  But garden hoses are pretty stiff and bigger around than a donkey needs.  I knew John had a piece of clear plastic tubing, like is used in fish tanks, but couldn't find it.  So I greased a piece of garden hose and put it in her nose.  She actually was pretty good about it which was a surprise.  

About then Dr. Jeremy and his dad drove in and he went to check on her.  By this time the right side was swelled up almost much as the left side, but her breathing was normal and she wasn't stressed, so she got a shot of dexamethazone and an antibiotic.  As long as she gets no worse, I will give her dex for the next 3 days  and she should be OK.  If she is worse in the morning, Dr. Jeremy will come out and treat her with anti-venom.   This is a new protocol I guess, he said it really helps with the swelling and they are back to normal within a couple of days.  I always heard they didn't treat equine with anti-venom because they have enough body mass to handle the venom, unless there is too much swelling or some other problem.  She actually tried to eat some hay, although her face is so swollen she really couldn't eat.  

It's hard to really see how pathetic she looks, I took more pictures but they came out blurred.  I might try to get more pictures in the morning if she is still swollen. 

She can't close her mouth, this is it, which of course means her mouth is going to dry out pretty bad.  Years ago when Quilla got bit and couldn't eat or drink for 2 weeks his mouth was so dry, it was terrible to see.

She is the 5th rattlesnake bite we've had, they've all been in September, when the snakes are moving around more getting ready for hibernation.  Shaba was bitten on his canon bone, which is somewhat like our shin.  Daisy was bitten underneath her jaw and looked nasty, but healed up within 2 weeks.

Daisy's jaw the 2nd day

Quilla was bitten on his muzzle, Boaz on his canon/shin bone.  The canon bone bites were easy, very little if any venom was released, so they basically were just like any sore.  Daisy obviously had venom to contend with, that gaping hole under her jaw was where the skin sloughed off, every morning it would be hanging and had to be cut off.

Do you notice a pattern here, they are bitten either on the muzzle, when they are looking for food, or on the leg, when they stumble on probably a sleeping snake. 

RAIN IS GREAT, JUST NOT AT FEEDING TIME..........!!

But percentage wise, feeding time seems to be a good time for a rain storm.  If you wanted to drown frogs, this morning would have done it.  John hasn't checked the rain gauge yet, well he did when it was a quarter of an inch and after that it really rained.....!!!   One of the neighbors put on Facebook they got 1 1/2 inches and as hard as it was coming down I wouldn't be surprised if we didn't match or beat them. John and Doug are going to have some pen work to do.  Poor Rosie was trying to find a dry spot to stand and there wasn't one in her shelter, the whole thing was flooded.

The guys already had planned today on digging out Frijolita's pee pond in her shelter, right by her feed bunk.  A lot of the donkeys have a "special" place to pee.  Nothing wrong with that except, why put it where you eat?  If you don't dig out the pee soaked ground it gets really smelly and the gravel gets so compacted I don't think it could be dug out with a shovel, John uses the backhoe.  So that was their plan, I guess they will just add hauling more gravel for some of the other pens too.  Some of the boys, also pee in her pee pond, they don't pee in their pen.  I'm sure it's some social thing, but haven't quite figured it out. 

Last week Penny basically stopped eating, she'd stick her mouth in her food and just walk away.  Her jaw has been broke and we've had 6 of her teeth pulled, which means the rest of her teeth are probably shifting around.  She is so hard to work with, we decided to take her up to Gilbert to the clinic we take donkeys when it's something that would be difficult to do in the  field. 

But we had a slight problem. We had been trying to go out and visit with Casper the little white mini mule that went into a home last October.  It had been hard to find a time that worked for him and for us.  He has developed some health problems and is in the "doctor circus" for the foreseeable future.  After quite a few abortive attempts to get our schedules coordinated we finally had a time that worked for both of us and I didn't want to let it go.  So John loaded Penny in the stock trailer and headed for her appointment in Gilbert and I headed out  to visit with Casper. 

 He looked good, unfortunately Bryan hasn't had time to work with him.  He had wanted to train him to pull a little cart which I think would be good for Casper.  He is really smart, has a beautiful little trot and needs a job to occupy his busy little mind.  He needs someone to be his person, I think he has been passed around so much that he's decided he doesn't need people. That would probably change if he had a person of his very own, that could spend a lot of time with him. 

Bryan's got quite a few horses and with his health issues I asked him if we could take Casper back and he agreed.  I thought I might have a place for him, but it fell thru, so if anyone knows someone that could be this little guy's best friend forever, let me know.  We'll go get him after John gets back from Indiana next week-end. 

John's trip to Gilbert was uneventful.....well as uneventful as it can be with other people driving on the road......!! LOL  They don't seem to realize when you are hauling animals you can't stop on a dime. 

We figured John would have to leave her there and we'd pick her up in a day or two.  Because of the distance, probably about 230 miles, if they have to do anything that takes time, we usually just leave our victim, so they don't have to rush with their doctoring.

 

We were pretty sure it was her mouth, so they started there, after she got a happy shot.  John warned them that you can't touch her mouth, she's not really thrilled about having her head touched either and she will rear and use her front legs like a deer.  John said a young man was leading her in and she tried her, signature weapon, rear and flail those feet.  John the the guy didn't miss a beat, jerked her down with the lead and kept walking.  She didn't try it again......!! 

 

She only has one tooth in the back on one side, and on the other side she has a tooth that doesn't have an opposing tooth below it to wear it down.  It had gotten so long it was digging into her gums, no wonder she didn't want to eat.  They checked her all over, did some blood work and because of some things they found, sent blood off to be tested for Valley Fever.    And John got to bring her home, so that saved us a trip back up there.  

 

She's more interested in eating now, so I guess that's what the problem was.  Since she has so many teeth missing we'll probably have an annual checkup for her.

 

 

 

Linda sent a picture of Lucy after they finished a people race with dogs this week-end.  Linda said they had never put Lucy in a race, she's older and her legs aren't the best, so they always took  Lennon and Lola.   This was a really short race, so Lucy got her chance.  She looks proud, like she knows she's accomplished something...........!! 

I guess they are trying to get ready to head for Arizona the end of this month.  They have 2 more burro races and the season will be done.  We've been watching their temperature and night time temps are down in the low 40's, so it probably won't be long before it freezes and they get snow.  Hopefully not before they head south.