STARTING THE COUNTDOWN

Lynn and Linda will be leaving for Colorado about the middle of May.  It's going to really be quiet around here, not to mention John and I will have to start doing chores again.  When they are here we basically go on vacation.  Suzanne is so good too, so John and I just get in the way.......LOL

They will be taking their donkeys and quite a few of ours, especially the ones with summer skin problems.  Boaz didn't go last summer and kept me busy all summer.  The year before he went and Linda hardly had to doctor him at all.  The list isn't final yet, but I'm pretty sure it's going to be more than one trailer load, so with Suzanne here, John and I might load donkeys in our trailer and go with them for a few days.  

Rambo hasn't made it all the way to his new home yet, but he's already worn out his welcome at Dave's.......!!  LOL  Dave says he's pushy.........hmmmm..........he can be.  I guess he hasn't been very respectful so far.  He can be a handful, but he has learned to respect leadership and he had really settled down here.  The home he was in for 6 years wasn't very disciplined and since both he and Big Gus came back pushy and disrespectful, I have a feeling they were encouraged to misbehave because it was "cute".  He's got a great personality, just needs the rough edges rounded off.........!!!

We seem to have a sarcoid epidemic going on right now.  Pepsi, one of the minis started out with one below his eye.  He had one years ago and we had it surgically removed.  Then Linda noticed one on Link, I think now he has 3.  Linda is going all over everyone now, looking for bumps.  Dr. Jeremy recommended Xterra.  I've used it before and am not a fan.  It acts like acid and destroys any skin it touches.  Pepsi's was by his eye and I was afraid it would get in his eye, so we really didn't try to get rid of it ourselves.  Pepsi and Link are both going to Colorado, so I guess Linda will get a chance to figured it out.

Bella and Levi came in about 3 or 4 months ago.  She has limped off and on, but the last few days she has been really limping and laying down a lot.  She's laid down so much she has scruffed up her hocks on the back legs.  So Linda has been learning how to polo wrap a hock.  She's studying to become a vet tech, so this is something she will use in the future.   Dr Jeremy thinks she has a problem with her back, not her leg.  We had her on a pill for inflammation for awhile and it seemed to help, so we'll put her back on it again and probably keep her on it. 

I had an interesting night of racing.  The dirt track was also running and I played with the idea of running both tracks.  BUT..........the closer it got to race time, the less interesting that sounded.  Besides if I got tore up on the dirt track, I wouldn't be able to run on the asphalt track.  Not to mention all the dirt and rocks I would have probably had under the car to drop on their asphalt.......LOL  So I stuck with the asphalt track where I knew they would race and I already have points.  We heard that only one car showed up at the dirt track, so they've got some work to do between now and their next race the 7th of July.  That doesn't interfere with the asphalt schedule, so I'll probably be there.

In the main event, I was running around minding my own business, at least I thought I was.  

I'm sorry, but that is just plain rude, to keep running into me.  After the race we had a little talk and he told me his car wasn't handling.  Not sure what that has to do with what he was doing, some of the other racers were surprised I didn't retaliate, but I learned years ago to never retaliate in a race unless you are absolutely sure of your victim.  Years ago John was in a race with a couple of his friends.  One of them booted him and right after that the other one came up beside him.  So John slammed into him thinking he was the one that hit him.  LOL  

I finished 4th, which means I had to go to tech.  Anytime you finish high enough to go thru tech it's a good night.  Actually our good friend (he was the one that John spun out those many years ago in a case of mistaken identity) Larry finished 4th in his main event and our son won his 1st race on the asphalt, and all the cars came home in one piece, so it was a great night.  John's got some body work and painting to do on mine though. 

Larry's 09 Pro-Stock

 

Rod's "bling" for the night......!!

My old race car, hopefully they will get the new one running before the season is over.....!!!  LOL

RAMBO HAS STARTED HIS JOURNEY..............

Rambo loaded in the trailer this morning and we all headed to Monique's where he is spending the night before loading in Dave's trailer for a long trip up to Colorado tomorrow.  No games or surprises, from him he can be obnoxious and pushy, but lately it's almost like he's found out that being a bully doesn't win friends.  He's really been s good boy the last few days.  

This video was made yesterday, as you can see Rambo doesn't even have a lead on.

Lynn practicing his burro whispering techniques.......seems to be working......!!

Dave drove down from Colorado to pick up  his new "fur" kid Tito from Monique

Dave and Tito getting to know each other

Rambo meeting Kid aka Cosmo.  Kid is a full baby brother to Lynn and Linda's Link.  

Some of Monique's TIP burros for training

The TIP program is really a wonderful idea for getting these burros ready to be adopted.  Monique gets a couple of burros at a time from BLM, trains them for a few weeks and finds them good loving homes.  Tito is one of her graduates, Dave adopted him long distance and saw him in person today for the 1st time.   Tito will be pack burro racing this summer with Dave.  

Monique showing the way to a donkey's heart...........inner ear scratching.......!!

When we were coming home this afternoon, there was a rattlesnake catching the last rays of sunshine, stretched out across the dirt road into our place.  Not a good place to be, most people that live out here will run over them without a second thought.  We all got out to get a closer look and it didn't even move.  John poked it with a stick and then it moved, coiled and started rattling.  Didn't seem interested in getting out of the road, but finally crawled off into the weeds.  It continued rattling as it disappeared, I guess it wanted to make sure we knew it wasn't happy being woken up from it's nap.  They sure are pretty, right after they shed their old skin, so bright and shiny.  I'd like to think there isn't any on the property, but I'm sure there are.  We all try to stay alert when we are out where there are weeds and places where they can hide. 

ANOTHER INTERESTING WEEK-END PLANNED

Tomorrow Lynn, Linda, John and I are taking off again and leaving Suzanne in charge.  She enjoys the donkeys and says she doesn't mind.  It wouldn't take all 4 of us to deliver one donkey to Scottsdale, but we're all nosy and don't want to miss anything.  

We will get up early and at least help with chores before we take off.  Rambo is going to a new home in Colorado and has to be delivered to Monique's place to catch his ride.  I think Dave is already in town and won't be headed back to Colorado until Saturday morning.  Dave is picking up his new donkey at Monique's and has agreed to pick up Rambo to deliver to his new home.

Rambo will be learning to pack burro race and also will be used during hunting season for hauling supplies and hauling out elk if necessary.  I am sure he will enjoy all the new experiences, nothing fazes him as long as it's interesting, so we are expecting good reports from his new family.

This is called the Rambo strut, he is very good at it.......

Saturday is going to be a race day...........but..........with a twist.  The dirt track is still trying to have races for the Hornets.  They had their 1st race last week-end, but we were in Superior with the pack burro racing clinic.  They are racing again this week-end, but so is the asphalt track, where I have been racing for the last 4 years.  They had 7 cars last week-end on the dirt, but 2 of those cars are in 2nd and 3rd over at the asphalt track, so chances are they won't take a chance on losing too many points for end of the year.

Me..........I've had such a lousy start this year, I'm not in a position to worry about points, besides I love the dirt, so I'm going to jump from the asphalt to the dirt for this week-end.  You would think the tracks would make the effort to not stomp all over each others programs, but I guess not........!!  We saw a video taken by one of the driver's last week and there was so many rocks flying around, John is talking about putting another layer of wire across my windshield to help keep them from coming inside the car maybe they should require mud flaps on the race cars......  LOL.  I hope enough cars show up to make it interesting.  The dirt track won't race again until in July, which should give people a chance to build a car if they want to.  

Although it hasn't been really hot yet, the flies have arrived in force.  The fly traps are doing a great job, although there's still enough flies out there to make fly masks necessary.  And I've already had to put zinc oxide on Penny's bare front legs.  I don't think her legs had ever been doctored to keep the flies away before she came here about 7 years ago.  Over the years of getting bitten and bloody every summer, the hair follicles finally said, "that's it........I'm not even going to try to grow hair".  I was going to put socks on her legs today, but I put zinc oxide on her legs yesterday.  Zinc oxide and socks do not mix well, so I'll have to wait until the zinc oxide wears off before putting on socks.  

Here she is a couple of years ago in polo wraps.  They work really well at keeping the flies off her legs and they stay up better than crew socks.  I like the socks because when it gets over 100 degrees The socks allow for more air flow and I would like to think keep her legs cooler than the polo wraps. But the socks need to be pulled up a lot more often.  

Lynn and Linda are going to be heading north about the middle of May.  We sure are going to miss them, I'm sure the donkeys will too, L&L spend a lot of time messing with the donkeys.  So does Suzanne, so at least this summer they will still have someone to play with them.  

I think L&L's 1st race is at the end of May, a couple of years ago Linda sent pictures of them driving thru snow to their 1st  burro pack race.......sounds like fun..........!!!  LOL

THE WEEK-END IS ABOUT OVER, TODAY IS A DAY OF REST........

Friday 17 donkeys got loaded in 2 stock trailers and we headed out for Queen Creek, AZ to a horsey expo.  I think we were the only non horsey clinic on the agenda.  Monique did a hour talk on burro pack racing/donkey cross for people that were interested.  

For those that don't know the difference, pack racing requires a pack and in Colorado when they race the packs have to have a pick, shovel and gold pan and weigh at least 33 pounds.  

Although we would love for the sport to catch on in Arizona, there is no guarantee.  Pack saddles are not cheap and without a guarantee of future races and also whether people will actually enjoy racing Monique decided to let people decide which way they want to go........dressed or naked.......!!  The donkeys, not the people............LOL

Loki was the exhibit complete with pack for Monique's talk. 

You might notice the horses neck is at the "what the heck is that?" position.  I think the horse had never seen a donkey before.  Loki would have been more than happy to go visit with the horse, but the horse never changed it's thought process and the rider kept it away from Loki. 

John hanging out in the donkey pen in Superior.  The donkeys were busy eating all the weeds well expect for Cheyenne, she thought he might have a cookie.  By morning they had eaten everything including the Bermuda grass roots, they dug up.  When 3 or 4 of them started digging, the dust was so thick you couldn't stand it.  My face was all gritty just from the little monsters digging for something that if we put it in their feed bucket they would think we were crazy.

Lynn gave the safety briefing and off they went.

Might as well make it an interesting run in the gravel and up the hill.

Leddy with his runner

 

Chancer and Trudee, who came here a couple of months ago for race training, have found their new home and in fact did not come home with us.  Looks like it's going to be a good fit.

There's something to be said for being old........!!!  LOL  Lynn and Linda were worried that we wouldn't enjoy "roughing" it.  So they fixed us up with a tent, cots, air mattresses and the sleeping bags were so nice I think it's probably their favorite ones.  We even got outdoor lighting.  We had been offered a hotel in October for the big race, BUT, the problem with that is we'd miss all the fun and adventure of camping.  So we're going to give it another go.  

  Here is some of the flatter part of the trail.  You'll notice BlackJack isn't very competitive, he has one speed.........SLOW

 This is an interesting woman named Gretchen Klett that brought her friend Daisy with her to the clinic.  Daisy was really cute and is very interested in literacy. 

4/10's INCH OF RAIN THIS TIME OF YEAR.......

Surprised us, usually this time of year the days are heating up and the wind is blowing almost every day.  So last night's thunder storm complete with lightening was pretty much unexpected.  At least it waited until after chores to rain quit before chores this morning........!!!

This morning John went for wound care.  His leg is actually looking pretty good, but it's going to take weeks if not months to completely heal. The longer the wound is open the more opportunity for infection, so..........Today they offered him a new treatment call EpiCord.  They had already made sure it would be covered by our health care providers before offering it.  It probably isn't the cheapest treatment but if it does it's job it should heal a lot quicker.  One good thing is instead of getting wound treatment every other day, this will stay on for a week at a time.  

This week Lynn and Linda hauled the donkeys to their new home where the oleanders got "murdered" last week.  From all the updates we've gotten they have settled in nicely and are having a great time inspecting their new home. 

This is heading up the driveway to their new pen.  They seem more than willing to "go along to get along", they'll be a lot of fun to work with I would imagine. 

Yesterday was dental day for little Justin.  Dr. Debra use to practice in Cochise County and although she has moved out of the area, she still comes back once a month for dental appointments.  Justin has been acting like his teeth needed attention, so Linda and Lynn wanted to get them done before they head back to Colorado in May. 

This wasn't Justin had planned for the day, so Lynn had to help him behave.  Cheyenne was just along as a buddy burro.

It doesn't hurt him, but it probably isn't very comfortable either.  

Linda brought these 2 little pieces of something home and handed them to me.  At first I thought it was his wolf teeth, but she said it was actually tartar.

Dr. Debra told Linda she knows we don't feed sweet feed so we obviously are feeding too many treats........!!!  Might as well plead quilty, Dr. Jeremy has told us the same thing.  So many of our donkeys have probably never had treats in their lives until they got here, so..........maybe we overdo it just a little bit........!!  LOL

Justin can be a brat if he wants to, but I guess he finally decided Lynn was a formidable opponent and was fairly cooperative, so as a treat, he and Cheyenne got to go shopping at Tractor Supply.

Boots on.........going in........!!

 

Nothing to get excited about I guess

Wonder what he thought Cheyenne was..........LOL

"hmmm if we could ditch these leads, we could really have some fun..........!!"

Justin waiting in check out

Time to head for home........!!

I'M BACK.............!!!

I wonder what is going thru the donkey's minds, when people choose trails like this..........LOL

Finally got my computer back from the shop.  The older I get the less I want to deal with people trying to get me to "fill in the blank".  In this case get rid of my Norton protection and go with their choice of McAfee.  I don't know if they get a commission for selling it or what.  Of course I got the big "talk" about upgrading to Windows10................I DON'T WANT WINDOWS10........ I don't know if I'm particularly uncooperative, but it sure seems like people are bound and determined that I need to run Win10 on my computer.  I've tried it, didn't like it, and resent when people tell me I'll get use to it.  I'm use to Win7 and happy as a clam.  The final objection to Win7 is, in September Win7 will no longer be be part of the Windows family for updates etc.  Just as well, I haven't even been allowing Windows to update my Win7 for a couple of years, so I guess it won't make a difference in my day to day life...........!!!  I'm a 20th century gal I guess.....!!!  LOL

While it was gone 2 days longer than promised, I used an IPad given to me a couple of years ago by Courtney, that trims the donkey's feet.  She's a good friend and had an old IPad, so if my computer crashed I'd have something to use.  Linda and Suzanne both carry their phones with them at all times, and I hate to admit it, but I have been known to rely on them for all sorts of information off the internet.....!!  I could keep up with my e-mail and look at Suzanne's updates on the new Facebook page she started for the rescue, so it wasn't much of an imposition. But I'm glad to be back to my computer that is attached to the printer, if needed and also has larger print.......!!  I am amazed at how many people have been on the Facebook page and seem to really enjoy all the pictures Suzanne and Linda have put on there.  

Casper and Big Gus hang around with each other a lot of the time.  Big Gus does prefer horses to donkeys, so maybe Casper being a mini mule fills his need for horse companionship.....!!

John is progressing, still going to wound care 3 days a week, but his leg is getting better everyday.  It will probably take weeks if not months before it will be healed, but it is headed in the right direction.  Our friend Larry came over a few days ago, and they finished up everything on the race car except for touching up the paint.  It's been too cold to paint, hopefully  it will warm up before the 27th, I'd rather not go racing with a red front bumper, it clashes with my usual orange.

A few of the donkeys are already wearing flymasks.  Even though it is cool, flies are out and some of the donkeys are fly magnets unfortunately.  Rosie even has socks on her legs already.  

 

This is Big Gus his little buddy Casper and Leddy is in and out of the video

Little Pepsi has a sarcoid on his face, below one of his eyes.  Years ago he had a sarcoid on his lower eyelid, we had removed.  A lot of people believe you should leave sarcoids alone, if you disturb them, the consensus is they will be more apt to grow back.  But this isn't really close to where the the earlier one was.  This is also more like a bump that an out of control sarcoid.  We'll probably have Dr. Jeremy come out to look and also check Gus' mouth.  He hasn't been eating well for a few days and this morning we noticed he was drooling.  I checked his teeth along his jaw and didn't feel anything and he didn't react to me pushing on his teeth from the outside.  Didn't notice any smell, so that pretty much takes care of my exam, time to get an expert involved........!!!  

Everybody else seems to be doing good.  Next week-end we are heading up in the Phoenix area.  Linda and Lynn are going to introduce some horsey people to pack burro racing.  We're actually suppose to take 16 donkeys with us and after their talk we'll head up to Superior for a trial run to prepare for Oct 12th.  We'll be gone overnight, Suzanne will get to feed all by herself for the 1st time.  She's already figured it all out, so she won't have any problems.  

This is what happens when a cat attempts to try on an equine flymask. Moogee is always getting into plastic bags and anything else that catches her imagination and I guess this looked interesting.

I'll be out of touch for a few days..........

My computer is going to the "doctor".  Don't know how long it will take, was told a day........!!!!  Hmmmm....!

Lynn with the big beautiful mammoth donkey that participated in the Spring Trail ride at Empire Ranch last week-end.  He was the only donkey amongst all those horses.

Here he is visiting with Link, at least I think it's Link.  LOL

The web-site is now up and running............  Let me know what you think, and if you have any ideas to make it better, by all means, share.....!!

EMPIRE RANCH

First of all, John was released from the hospital Thursday late afternoon and seems to be doing good.  He will be on antibiotics for about a week and they are suppose to call with an appointment for an MRI at the main hospital.  What they are looking for is bone infection, they don't think he has infection in the shin bone, but there is a track from the open wound in that direction.  So they want to make sure of what they are dealing with.  The doctors didn't seem to think there is a problem, but the infection team want to make sure.  Guess the infection team won..........LOL  I noticed when I had the wreck in September, there is a pecking order with medical personnel.  I had 3 or 4 different groups of emergency people with me off and on and one guy in particular seemed to think he was the big boss of the whole operation.  I didn't get the idea he was interested in my well being, as much as he was interested in being in charge........LOL

This morning Lynn and Linda put 6 donkeys in the trailer at "O dark 30" and headed out for Empire Ranch about half way between Benson and Tucson.   The original herd got changed around, Levi and Bella were suppose to go, but Levi has been sneezing and running a temperature, probably Rhino, which is pretty much an equine common cold.  So Buddy Brat, Cheyenne, Lynn, Leo, Link and BlackJack got to be ambassadors for the day.  They all did good and showed people how well behaved they can be.  Well, except for trying to escape from the pen, once they found out there was grass growing outside the pen.  The volunteers/docents said they had come in and grass whipped the area.  If they had only known, the donkeys would have been more than happy to tidy up the area..........LOL

This is the ranch we went out to a couple of weeks ago for a fun run with 14 donkeys.  Everyone had a great time and the ranch asked us to bring donkeys out for their annual spring ride to see if horsey people would be interested in the donkeys and having another race.  

Link checking to make sure we are at the right place

This is just a small portion of the house, not only does it go to the left and right, there is about as much house behind this part as is showing.  I have no idea what the square footage might be, rambling comes to mind.........!!! 

 Leo checking out the headquarters for the ranch.  The original house was built in 1876 and was pretty small and basic.  Over the years, 3 major families ran the ranch which at one time was over 100,000 acres.  It is now 160 acres owned by a foundation and they have rides or some type of event most week-ends, sometimes more than one.  By the 1940's the house was 29 rooms and is now open to the public.  Really interesting, I guess if they needed more room, they just started building. 

Turbo was suppose to go this morning, but he managed to get OUT of the trailer and refused to go back IN the trailer.  So he missed a trip and Link got to go without his big brother to hang out with.  Link usually can't stand to be out of sight of Turbo but I don't think he missed him all day.......until we got back home.  Then he started squalling and bawling until he found Turbo.  I doubt that Turbo wasted one minute all day, looking for Link..........LOL

Lots of people came by and really seemed interested in the donkeys

How about this pretty boy?  He went on the annual ride and was the only donkey.

 

If you watch the video the woman has on an aqua jacket and they are close to the end of the line.  Sometimes horses are spooked by donkeys if they've never been around them, but I guess they didn't have any problems. 

Link checking us out

THANKS TRACY.............!!

Tracy came out to visit with the donkeys and wrote about her experience complete with great pictures.  

ENJOY

 Thanks Tracy for sharing with others and thanks for coming out to visit with the donkeys, they are really good ambassadors, aren't they?