BIG CHANGES GOING ON.......!!!

Looks like Bill and Don will be going home next week.  They have been here while their family built a new home.  We're going to miss them, they've become part of the herd and are both really nice boys.  Bill unfortunately came in chubby and will be leaving chubby.  He's been on a starvation diet almost from the day he got here, but there is obviously enough browse on the property to supplement what we feed him.  Don is still a little plump, but he really looks pretty good.

DON IS IN FRONT, the quick way to tell them apart is he has an upright mane and Bill has a actual mane that falls over.

We will take them home next Tuesday.  On the way home, we will stop by D-S Rescue in Tucson and pick up Big Gus and Rambo.  Rambo's name was changed to Beau, but I am going to reserve judgment until I see if he has mellowed.  He had an aggressive personality, but I'm hoping with the passage of time he has forgot about all that macho stuff.

So we will take 2 home and bring 2 home.  Won't change our numbers, which is a good thing, we don't have any extra pens right now.........!!!!   LOL

At one time, the 4 minis were in one pen.  Then Cheyenne developed a problem with her jaw and had to be fed by herself.   Split a corner off their pen for her and that worked for a few years.  We found out that Pepsi was more of a food hog than we knew, so he needed a pen of his very own, so his food intake could be watched.  Justin and Pepsi went to Colorado this summer, so Lynn had been eating by herself.  We thought that we might as well continue feeding her without Justin, so the original pen is now divided into 4 pens.  Don't think we can sub-divide it anymore.........!!!!  LOL

The guys could build more pens if needed, but what we have now works for the amount of donkeys we have.  Hopefully we won't have an emergency anytime soon.

Courtney came yesterday and trimmed feet..........lots of feet.  I went to town with John, so I wasn't here, but Linda said everyone was good, even Levi and Bella.  Courtney uses power tools, and that can be quite an experience if they've never had a power trim.  She let them watch her work on some of the other donkeys and Linda said they were pretty good.  Linda is having to treat Levi for habronema sores on his sheath.  SIGH........!!!  Right now she is putting Ivermectin wormer on every morning, until the sores start healing.  As long as there are larvae in the sores they will not heal.  Get rid of the larvae and then doctor.  She's also putting meat tenderizer on Bella's proud flesh, but so far not much difference.  We don't know if she's doing it right or not, haven't been able to find instructions on how much to use or how thick a paste to make it.

Once the 2 new boys are here, I will call Dr. Jeremy and have him come out to check all 4 of the newbies out to make sure they are healthy or at least fairly healthy.  Might as well, have a baseline to start with.

Casper sneaking up on Linda.  This is a break thru with him, he's usually trying to keep away from people.

He likes Linda......!!!  LOL

LYNN AND LINDA MADE IT IN.............!!!!

They rolled in this afternoon after an uneventful trip, which is the best kind.......!!!  Bella and Levi introduced themselves and Bella took advantage of the courtyard gate being opened to investigate as much as she could before Lynn showed her a soda can, which got her attention and she followed him out.  They are both really easy to work with and are willing to go along with whatever you want them to do. 

Deer and wild turkey in Colorado

Lynn's mom sent homemade cookies and banana bread..........YUM..........that's the first thing John checked out, when he got home from the race track.  Our friend Larry went for practice this afternoon and John didn't want to miss anything.  No homemade goodies for John since I've been laid up, so he was really interested and pronounced the cookies excellent, haven't cut the banana bread yet.  Thank you Glenda..........  And Terry, Larry's wife sent cookies home with John, I could get use to this.........LOL

John said the race director has a knee that looks a lot like my knee.  He use to race and I guess was in a wreck that damaged the kneecap and they used a tendon to hold it in place, just like they did with me.  Must be a fix that works good.  I hope so, my knees have been my best joints for quite awhile, all the other joints are squeaky and creaky........!!

Linda came in prepared with meat tenderizer to use on Bella's proud flesh, so guess treatment will start pretty quick.

Where there is a golf cart, there are probably treats

 

There's got to be treats in here someplace, maybe Lola the dog has them...!!

  

BELLA AND LEVI ARE OUT AND ABOUT

They got to go out yesterday morning after breakfast, had their hour or so by themselves, the others went out and no fireworks or anything.  Well Link goosed Bella a couple of times and she let him know she wasn't that kind of girl and he found something else to do.  All in all a very easy introduction to the herd.  They spent most of the day by themselves exploring the 10 acres.  I think John is going to open Burroland today, so they'll get to explore some more.  

Doug took the pictures, said it was mostly butt shots, because they were so busy checking out all the new stuff to look at, smell and eat.  

Bella and John getting acquainted

Levi headed out for fun and adventure

They are both carrying a lot of extra weight

Last night for roundup, not only did they go into the pen with no drama, it was a different pen than they had been in.  John put them in BlackJack's pen so they would have a shelter.  He threw up a shelter in their pen Tuesday and decided to switch them last night.  John said there was no problem at all and this morning after being out all night, they were standing in the new pen this morning when Doug went out to do round-up.  They will make someone wonderful additions to their family, when we get the weight off and also get Bella's proud flesh/sarcoids taken care of.  This could be a long process, it took 3 years to finally get rid of Boaz's  big area on his knee and the scar tissue continues to be problem in the summer.  

Linda has been in touch with Dr. Jeremy and he recommends trying the meat tenderizer treatment first. As you can tell from this link, treating proud flesh is all over the page on what is the best treatment.  Everyone has their favorite treatment that never fails.  I always keep in the back of my mind that in spite of what we do to animals and put them thru, they probably would get better without our intervention......for most things.  Proud flesh has it's own rules and doesn't fit into any square as far as treatment is concerned.  Both of Bella's areas are pretty big unfortunately and I'm not going to be much help for awhile.  So I guess Linda will be learning new skills............LOL 

Speaking of...........Lynn and Linda are suppose to be packing this morning, and heading south as soon as they get everything loaded.  Last I heard the list was rather long......!!!  They don't plan on driving thru, so will probably get in tomorrow morning early, after resting for a couple of hours in New Mexico. 

We were suppose to walk in the Helldorado parade in Tombstone Sunday.  But I wasn't going to be able to walk.  They said something about tying me on Turbo so I could participate.  I don't think so......!!!  LOL  Plan B was for me to be parked on the street so I could watch.  But I think they've decided to not go this time.   Maybe next year. 

CASPER, CASPER, CASPER..........!!!!

 

We have no idea what goes on in his little busy brain and probably never will.  Yesterday Doug caught him outside the perimeter fence on the east side of the big main wash, headed east towards Gammons Gulch........!!!  Doug yelled at him and he came back inside the fence.  So he is getting out, we just don't know when and how often.......!!!  And seems aware that getting caught ruins the adventure..........LOL  

I wish I didn't have to worry about him, he seems to know where he lives and what time to show up for meals.  But I worry because we are close to the main road and I'm afraid he might get hit or cause an accident.  Such an independent little guy, but we need to figure out someway to outsmart him.  Not sure that's possible, as mere human beings....!!  Too bad we only have barbed wire perimeter fencing, instead of field fence.  Even if we had field fence, there is still the areas where the fencing crosses the wash that would be almost impossible to make "Casper" proof.

Another little quirk he has that drives Doug crazy is, he will not go in his pen until every donkey is in theirs.  He does have a helpful side, which I'm sure if he knew it was helpful he wouldn't do it.  When John goes over in Burroland to do round-up, Casper will lead him to where the donkeys are.  

I went to the surgeon yesterday to see how my knee is doing.  They took x-rays, seemed pleased with the results and said I have to wear the brace for 6 more weeks.  Something about the quad muscles in my thigh, would pull the surgical area apart if I started "using" the knee.  

It was good to get out, although dragging a leg around and using a walker is a downer. Even got to go out for lunch, which is always fun.  

I'd like to ride around in the golf cart tomorrow and familiarize myself with the donkeys.  I haven't seen them except out the windows for a couple of weeks.  John stays pretty busy "stomping out forest fires", so I haven't added to his work load by asking to go on a joy ride.  I'll see how the day goes tomorrow.  

Well the name changes have been made.  Miss Jingles is now Bella, that's a nice girly name.  What is really weird is I told Linda we had came up with that name, and she said she had been making a list and the 1st name she wrote down was........Bella.  Meant to be I guess.  

John came up with the name Levi for Nephi, it's a good name and hopefully we can remember it.  They will get to go out and join the herd today.  John will let them out for an hour or so before the others are let out after breakfast.  That way they can get some idea of what the 10 acres looks like, before having to face the gauntlet of a nosy herd.  

John had an interesting occurrence a couple of days ago.  One of the girls, I think he said Tula was cycling, which of course livens up the herd and gets some of the boys that have memories of earlier times, really going.  About half of them join in the fun and games, which means there is a lot of running and yelling, pushing and shouting going on.  It can get lively, especially if the girls aren't the least bit interested.  So you have the guys running around trying to make sure they are at the front of the line with the girl of their dreams trying to get away from them, and kicking the fire out of them, if necessary.

I'm not sure what John was trying to do, but for some reason he ended up close to Tula and he said the next thing he knew Loki was on his back with his hooves over John's shoulder.  It just lasted a split second, not sure if John broke up the "love triangle" or if Loki noticed that this wasn't working, but John wasn't happy........!!!    Tula was probably laughing at the spectacle.........!!  And I'm really sorry I missed it.......LOL

RAIN, RAIN GO AWAY...........!!!

This isn't a normal time of year for rain around here, but we are getting it.  The ground is saturated and it continues to rain.  So now there is puddles everywhere.  Casper has been staying in his pen at night, we figured having hours to figure out how to escape might not be a good idea.  But his pen is really wet, standing water everywhere except in his shelter.  Tonight John let him out, so he can choose where he wants to go.  I hope it's within the boundaries of the perimeter fence.......!!  LOL

The 2 new ones are settled in and BlackJack gave up his pen and shelter, at least for a few days until we let them out with the herd.  BJ could care less about HIS pen and HIS bunk, as long as he gets fed, just put him somewhere.  Over the years when we need a pen, he always volunteers.....!!!  LOL

We usually give newbies 2 or 3 days in a pen, so everyone can come and stare at them without confrontation.  They are very gentle so I don't expect any problems when they go out.  The jenny's name is Jingles and her son's name is Nephi an old name from the book of Mormon.  I usually don't change names, but I'm thinking about it for these two.  The jenny is such a dainty girl with big beautiful eyes, she needs a girly name.  So far none of us can remember the gelding's name, so we might need to find a name for him that is easier to remember.  

Doug took pictures for me this morning, since I'm not very mobile.

They are very friendly, although the gelding did not load well.  John said he has never had one sit down to keep from going in the trailer.  Once he sat on the ground, I guess there wasn't anyway to get a butt strap about his fanny, so he pretty much was in control.  The man showed up about that time and they finally got him up and in the trailer.  John said the jenny loaded just fine. 

She knows how to beg....!!!  LOL

This is one of her sarcoids at least I think that's what it is.  She has another one in the very same spot on the other hind leg. 

 Sarcoids

I will get in touch with Dr. Jeremy later this week, and see what he thinks needs to be done.  Sarcoids can get real angry sometimes if you try to remove them. 

Heard from Linda, it's getting colder in Colorado and Lynn is still out on the mountain chasing elk.  Linda sent me the coordinates of where he is, I went in on Google Earth and he was up on a ridge line with lots of trees and scenery.   I doubt if there is another human being within 50 miles.  The only saving grace I could see was, there wasn't any snow in the area.  Of course that could change pretty quickly. 

IT WAS JOHN'S IDEA...........!!!!

Got a call from a woman this week.  She has been taking care of 2 donkeys for a elderly man who's wife had died.  He was in hospice and recently died and she was looking for a place for the 2 donkeys since the son just wanted to get rid of them.  

We are full and I'm not in a position right now, to add to the work load, since all I'm doing is taking up space for awhile.  So I told her I'd call her back.  John has this "what's one more attitude" and figured out a pen area almost before I told him what was going on.........!!!  

They were suppose to be minis, but John went to see them this morning and they are small standards.  Well small might not be a good description, they are both obese at ages 3 and 8, mother and son.  Anyway he made arrangements to pick them up Sunday afternoon, so guess our little family is growing again.  

John said they are friendly, pick up their feet, so should be easy to work with.  They are going on a diet that's for sure.  

This is the gelding, the woman told John their names, but he forgot it by the time he got home.

 

This is the jenny, they aren't overly obese, necks aren't big, so we'll work at getting some of the weight off them.  She also has a probable sarcoid on the front of her right rear leg.  

 

We'll probably wait until Big Gus and Rambo get here to call Dr. Jeremy to come out and do check-ups on everyone.  I'm pretty sure the boys haven't had vet care and these two have been in limbo for quite sometime.  

Everything with moving the boys hinges on when Lynn and Linda get back and Ginger is ready for her boys to go to her new home.  We'll deliver Bill and Don to her place about half way to Phoenix and pick up Big Gus and Rambo on the way back thru Tucson.  At least that is the plan..........!!! LOL

We had drizzle almost all night last night and as you can see from the pictures, it continued into the morning.  John said the jenny wasn't the least bit interested in coming out of the shelter to greet him.  Can't blame her, that's one reason John didn't pick them up today, the pen they are going in doesn't have a shelter.  Hopefully our rain will be over by Sunday. 

I'm looking forward to my appointment with the surgeon next Wed, maybe I will find out what they did and how long I will be recuperating.  We are getting pretty good at unwrapping and re-wrapping, the brace thingy was rather daunting to deal with the first couple of times, but it's not bad once you deal with it.  Walking with it isn't quite as easy........!!! LOL

Lynn and Linda report that it is COLD in Colorado.......well duh.!!!  Lynn has a plan to camp out on the mountain, that is expecting 20 inches of snow and temps in the teens.......!!!  Haven't heard if that's going to happen or not. 

MORE UPDATE

When Lynn and Linda came down from Colorado they had planned on going back up for a week or so, to take care of some loose ends.  They left yesterday afternoon and drove thru, because they are already there.  Not sure how long they will be gone, just a few days and I'm already making a list for when they get back.  LOL  

This is Lynn trying to work before they left, with a LOT more help than anyone would ever need.  

This was the first time Casper got to go out of his pen.  Unfortunately Burroland hadn't been opened yet, but he was already over there.  

One of the Tucson rescues got in touch with me, to tell me she had 2 of our donkeys that had been dropped off, as the owner was headed out of town.  She had Big Gus and Rambo for years and knew they were to be returned here if she could no longer take care of them.  But she never got in touch with us.  

We have no open pens, so I've been trying to find someone to foster/adopt and have had some offers to foster..................BUT.....!!  You know how you get a problem with no easy fixes and wonder what would be best?  

We have been boarding Bill and Don while their family had a new home built.  Those things never go as planned, contractors and permits are enough to make you want to live under a bush rather than put up with all the nonsense.

Ginger had gotten in touch in August and said it looked like they'd be in by mid September.......!!!  Didn't happen, BUT she called last night and they are ready for the boys, as soon as they get a shade shelter installed............That opens up 2 pens just in time to bring Rambo and Big Gus out and they won't have to be fostered......!!!  YAY.......love it when a plan comes together.......!!  

As I recall, Gus has gate opening skills, he's actually been here at least 3 times and he has a busy attitude.  After he's been here awhile John usually says, he'll be glad when he'd gone.  But once he's gone, John always missed him because he has a fun personality, if you can keep ahead of him.  He's almost mammoth size and probably has more Poitou blood than BlackJack.  I hope the 2 youngsters don't latch onto him as a role model...........LOL

That's Big Gus in the background when he was here before

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

So far, so good, we're all figuring out, how to deal with the problems that come with having a walker person to deal with.  I'm actually doing pretty good on learning how to do things for myself, but some things are going to take more time.  I doubt that I'll become proficient at a lot of them.........!!!  

My post surgical instructions say that I can remove the brace and bandages 5-7 days post to take a shower.  I've noticed today I have a pressure area from the brace, so I guess it would be a good time to learn a new skill, removing and replacing the bandages and the brace.  Wish one of my nurse friends lived down the road..........Ha!  The hospital has a number we can call, and I'm sure it is doable, but I'm not looking forward to the experience.  And I'm really sure John isn't either.........!!!  

The donkeys have been going into Burroland for a couple of hours in the afternoon before round-up for feeding and they've actually been doing pretty good about coming in.  Yesterday little Casper got to go out.  

Linda also took him for a walk and she said he did really good

 

Met Link, new kid in the herd

It didn't take him long to get over in Burroland, which was actually still shut until later in the afternoon.  Hasn't lost his escape skills I guess.  We had no idea if he would be there when it was time for round-up but he came in with the herd.  Since he was a good boy relative speaking, he got to go out this morning when the others went out of their pens.  We'll give him a chance to join the herd and forget about looking for adventure, hopefully he'll decide to mend his wandering ways and stay within the perimeter fence.  

Brother butts......we've been thinking Turbo still looked a little underdone, but beside Link he looks heavy.  I know they are half brothers, same mom I think, but they might be full brothers, I don't know for sure.  It also looks like Link is going to be taller than Turbo, look at those long legs.......!!

Leo and the brothers checking out Burroland

PICTURES

Right side was on the wall

The car I rear ended almost came thru my windshield.  His transponder which is attached underneath the car to tell our speed and where we finished, was embedded in my bumper and grill.

 

Looks rather sad doesn't it?

It was a new car had 3 races on it

John got it in the garage to start stripping parts off it, although we aren't racing a Neon next year.  But someone might be able to use them. 

WELL THIS WEEK-END WASN'T MUCH FUN

Well this was an interesting week-end.  The only good thing about it is  Lynn and Linda and their entourage made it in about 1am Sunday.  They ran out of time in Colorado to do a leisurely  2 day trip and had to drive straight thru.  The donkeys did just fine, although Quilla was pretty tired. 

The reason they ran out of time, was they were suppose to be in Tombstone Sunday afternoon for a meeting to discuss getting Burro Pack racing started in Tombstone and maybe other towns in Arizona.  They are our experts since they actually raced.  They made the meeting, John even went and they said it was a good meeting with people with ideas.  Hopefully they can put it together for this spring.  Who knows maybe some of the Colorado racers will come down, they don't start until June in Colorado, so this might be fun for them.  

We had been at the race track since Saturday afternoon, so we weren't here when they arrived.  At least since the weather has cooled off it's much more comfortable to spend the afternoon out in the pits, waiting for your few minutes of fun and adventure. 

https://www.fanschoice.tv/nascar/player/nascar/tucson-speedway-hornets-feature-september-29-20186459

I think these races are probably more fun to drive than to watch.  So if you don't want to sit thru the whole thing, just watch the last 3 minutes.

The car had been hard to drive for some reason, so I wasn't really competitive, I was running in 6th I think.  The car had been pushing which means you're probably putting a lot of weight on the right front tire.  Usually we run a 20 lap main event, but they had us running 25 laps and on the 21st lap the right front blew in turn 3.  That immediately puts you into the wall.  I was trying to get it off the wall, when I noticed another problem.  A car directly in front of me, who incidentally had blown a right front tire, was sitting right in my path.  I was still trying to get it off the wall and away from him, it had torn out the brakes, so I was pretty much along for the ride.  

I have never had so much attention at one time in my life.........!!!  LOL   I already knew my knee was shattered, the ambulance finally got there took me to the big hospital in Tucson, went into the trauma area and was put on the list for surgery the next morning.  

All in all I had great care from everyone I came in contact with and every time I was handed off to someone else, one of the 1st things they would say is, "so you drive a race car"......  

The kid in the car I hit went to the same hospital with a concussion, he was already unconscious from when he hit the wall a few seconds before I plowed into him.  He's home, doing good.

I'm home with a brace that I'm going to hate really quick.  I think I'll burn it when this is over.  So for the next 6 weeks or so, I'm pretty much more trouble than I'm worth......!!  Walking with a walker...........UGH!

Poor Lynn and Linda dropped into this mess, it took them until this morning I think to get their motorhome out of the hay barn, they've been camping out in their pickup.  But they are troopers, they just go along with what's happening and I don't know what John would do without them.  

Since they've been here they've got another donkey, not bad for less than a week....LOL  Actually he is Turbo's 10 month old brother Link.  They had already made arrangements with Turbo's 1st mom to get Link when they got down here.  Talk about underdone, he's all legs and gawky looking a lot of grown mammoths are all legs and gawky, but he will probably fill out nicely over the next 4 years.  He's already out with the others and fitting in, he's a nice boy, although a little mouthy.  So now they have five of their own and treat all of ours like their own.  Casper even likes Linda......LOL

John picked up my car this morning at a friend that hauled it to his place Saturday night.  I haven't taken a picture of it yet, but will "share" when I do.  It only raced 3 races and is junk.  That's OK the guys are all ready to start working on the Cavalier for next year. 

Just found out today that 2 of our donkeys that have been adopted for years was left at another rescue as the woman went out of town.  They sign an agreement that if they can't keep the donkeys they are to be returned to us, guess she didn't read that part.  The rescue got in touch with me and I'm trying to find someone that would like to adopt or even foster them long term.  So if anyone is up to it, and wants to try, let me know.  We're one pen shy right now, had to build 2 new ones when the Colorado donkeys came in.  Not sure what we could do to bring in 2 more right now.