WENT TO LAS VEGAS FOR THE WEEKEND.........

My first (and probably only) selfie.  Those closeups are too revealing.......!!! LOL

 
Never saw a slot machine or the strip..........But..........John and I did see some good races at the 1200 acre NASCAR Motorplex.........  Linda, Suzanne and Linda held down the home front and took care of all the animals, while we were out goofing off.

Unfortunately our friends from Tucson that went up there to race in the truck series didn't do very well.  The #2 truck just races when it's convenient, the #50 raced enough this year to finish in 2nd place for the season.  They race at different tracks all over the west, including California so there is more traveling involved than just racing at a home track.

 The infield was a little wet.  They had rain last week and enough of it to flood the infield.  Thankfully no one lost control and ended up in the "lake".

 Some of the competition, all sitting on jack stands waiting for tires and wheels

John talking to Gary while waiting to go out for time trials

Gary's motor gave up in the main event, so he didn't finish.  The #50 finished, but he was nursing a cracked transmission case and hoping it didn't explode if it came apart.  

We had a great time, knowing we didn't have to worry about the donkeys. The only thing it could have been a little warmer.  You would think Las Vegas would be warm if not hot.  We went there to watch races in the spring and thought we were going to freeze.  This time wasn't much better, but we came prepared with Arctic gear.......!! LOL  

Our next racing outing will be in January for the Wildwest Shootout up in the Phoenix area.  It goes on for a week.  Last year it paid $14,000 to win the last night, wonder if it will be more this year.  Lots of cars show up, not only does it pay good to win, but that time of year there isn't much racing in the rest of the country and racers get bored during the off season.

The donkeys are all doing good, right now it is cooler than humans like.  But I think the donkeys like it.  They are all putting on a heavy winter coat, so I wonder if we are going to have a "real" winter this year.  

Linda got some pictures from Rambo's family.  They were in the Moab, Utah area, not sure if they were hunting or camping, but Rambo was earning his keep. 

  

Rambo is the darker donkey.

Family shot including the dog.  I'm so glad he has a home that appreciates his particular personality.

Thanksgiving is in a couple of days and then on to the Open House the 7-8th of December.  Linda and Suzanne have been busy gathering up decorations for the event.  If they get everything done they've talked about it should really be decorative.  I can't wait to see the snowflakes in the mesquite trees........!!!! LOL

We've also got a couple of parades in December, which should be fun.  Lately we've been keeping busy with tours, I guess we've been discovered as something to do if you are in Benson.  People always leave with a smile on their face after a visit with the donkeys.  

Today we had 2 tours, Suzanne did one and I did the other.  The donkeys were suppose to be in their pens, but when I got ready to go out, I noticed Rosie and Gigi were out.  Oh well change of plans I guess.  Actually Jasper had let himself out of his pen, and he knows Gigi leaves hay scraps,  he let them out, so he could eat her leftovers.  There was a chain and a bungie on his gate..............no problem, he's gotten very good at opening gates.  And we aren't learning very fast how to keep him in his pen. 

WASN'T MEANT TO BE...........!!!!

This morning at about sunrise, Rosie aka Zoe left us.  Although she had only been here a couple of days, she was one of ours.  

Animals do not get to choose their people.  If they did a lot of people wouldn't be involved with animals.  Why people neglect or abuse animals I will never be able to figure out.  Why not feed an animal, make sure they have water, make them as comfortable as possible. 

It doesn't matter how much or how little people have, it depends on their mind set.  Rich people can neglect their animals and many people with nothing will do without to make sure their animals are taken care of.  

We got the results of the blood tests taken Friday and there is nothing in it, no red flags or any "that's it" information.  This morning early when I got in touch with Dr. Jeremy he offered to come out and do a necropsy.  At that time, I thought she had organ failure and figured the blood test would show that.  Now I wish I had him do an necropsy.

She could have had a wonderful life here, and we would have done whatever it took to make it happen.  But just wasn't meant to be...........!!! 

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES...........

Yesterday Zoe was walking all over her pen, very alert, eating everything we brought to her.  We actually were only feeding her chopped hay, plus a few animal crackers of course.  

This morning, she was down.  Tonight she is still down.  Dr. Jeremy thinks her system is so weakened because of her poor body score, the trip from up by Phoenix and yesterday used up what little energy she had being alert and moving around so much was very hard on her.  

Linda and Suzanne are her nurses

Lynn is doing nursing duty too

Being down isn't a huge problem, but making sure they don't dehydrate is.  She's interested in eating anything and everything she can get her mouth on.  We have to be careful to feed her small amounts throughout the day, so her system doesn't get overloaded.  But drinking enough liquid can be a problem.  So far she isn't drinking as much as I would like.  In this video she is drinking out of Linda's hand, but she won't drink out of a pan.  

Suzanne and Linda have gone to Walmart tonight to buy a couple of watermelons.  That's always been my "go to" for hydration and I'm sure she'll eat it, she's eaten everything else we've put in front of her.  

She's bright, alert, ears up and watching everything going on around her.  Tonight I passed her by with the mush buckets and she brayed at me and watched me walked past and walk back past.  So I got her half an apple........LOL  

She's been being turned from one side to the other all day about every 2 hours, to help with circulation, and pressure sores.  Lynn says he's sleeping out with her tonight.  So we'll just have to wait and see how she is tomorrow.  

John and I weren't here most of the day.  A dear friend Mike Benjamin died a couple of weeks ago.  Mike was known as Miner Mike. Thousands of tourists have pictures of Mike  and Zeke on the streets of Tombstone as a remembrance of the "town too tough to die".  

 

Thank you Margaret Bota for the video of Mike's Walk Down today.  This is how Tombstone pays respect when one of their own continues on their journey of life.  It was really interesting to see so many people in circa 1880 dress. 

https://www.facebook.com/margaretbota/videos/10217677965635688/

Zeke waiting for something to happen

 Teresa asked if we would transport Zeke to Tombstone, so he could lead the Walk Down, so we did. 

Some of the people that came to show their respect and do the walk

Zeke leading, followed by Mike's family

NEW GIRL AT THE RESCUE.............

I'd like to introduce Rosie, aka, Zoe.  Yesterday Lynn and Linda drove up to meet Christine Griffin from Equine Well-Being rescue when she came down from Snowflake to attend the meeting with the AZDA people.  She came in for the meeting and they headed home with a very pretty girl named Bunny.  She's going to learn to pack burro race I think.  I haven't taken a picture of Bunny yet, will try to get one soon. 

We had heard about a jenny that needed to be rehomed a couple of months ago.  At the time some of the rescues in the state were talking about it and the assumption was someone had picked her up.  We found out that wasn't the case, that she still needed to be rehomed, she had lost her friend another jenny and we were told she was depressed.  

Talked to the owner and she agreed to relinquish Rosie to us.  So Lynn and Linda picked her up on the way home.  Linda got in touch with us, said she was very thin, smelled bad and seemed weak.  They took her by the vet clinic in Benson on the way home and had blood drawn and let the vet look at her to see if anything needed to be done right away.  

Jasper has a dental appointment Tuesday, so we called that vet and she said to bring her in  with Jasper to make sure her teeth are OK.  Jasper has a pretty bad parrot mouth that needs to be checked on a regular basis. 

The picture doesn't show how thin her hips are and how little muscling she has on her rear legs.  It also doesn't show her ribs.  She was very interested in her hay last night and this morning.  And she has been pretty perky ever since.  So I think she will be an easy rehab.  We still have her on short rations and will get her up to speed on eating over the next few days.  With that belly she is probably wormy, so the vet said to worm her over the next couple of weeks.

The problem is we already have a Rosie, another pink roan color.  Usually we don't change a name unless there is a good reason.  Having 2 with the same name is a good reason.  So we started throwing names around.  The winner is............Zoe........A Greek name meaning "life."..... We hope she has a better life and all the hay she needs for the rest of her life.  

The meeting Suzanne and I went to with the AZDA people was good.  They seem to be interested in working with the rescues and making sure the animals are treated properly.  They also want to have meetings with the rescues on a regular basis to make sure everyone knows what's going on and what needs to be fixed or changed.  We had a meeting with different people about 6-7 years ago and all I remember from the meeting was them saying over and over again, "we just don't have the personnel". 

We're getting ready for a couple of parades with some of the donkeys.  We're also going to have an Open House in conjunction with the Cascabel Community Fair early in December.  This will be the 39th year they've had the fair and it's been about 6 years since we participated.  Should be fun the donkeys love when lots of people come to see them.

I am happy to report that the mesquite beans are no longer a problem.  There are still a few beans in their poo, but not enough to be a problem.  YEA.........!!!  So they are getting to go out after eating like they usually do.   

PAST TIME FOR AN UPDATE...............

I just checked out the date of the last update, it's been awhile.  Can't tell you what I've been doing, but I guess I've stayed busy at it.........!!!

 Suzanne, Lynn and Linda took donkeys up to the McDowell Park in the Phoenix area for a 12 mile fun run with the donkeys.  There was an endurance race for horse and riders going on at the same time.  They said many of the horse people were interested in the donkeys and many brought their horses over to see the donkeys.  Many times if a horse hasn't been around donkeys, the 1st time they see one, can be quite exciting, depending on how upset the horse is.  We don't know why they react so much to donkeys.  Linda said someone told them, the reason is, because donkeys have no smell.  Not sure what that means, we thought it might be because of their ears.  

They actually took 6 donkeys up and brought home 7.......!!!  Monique asked them to do some training with Legend.

Legend is really a pretty boy, with his bracelets on all 4 legs. Fuzzy Focus took this picture of Legend.  Thanks Evelyn. 

 He's really pretty easy to work with, seems more than willing to meet you half way. 

This is 2 more new boys on the property.  Lynn is going to be working with these 2 over the next few weeks.  Cooper is on the left and Pablo is on the right.  They have had some training, but their new mom is new to donkeys and needs a little help with being in charge.  So before it's over she will probably also get some training..........LOL

Donkeys are pretty easy to work with IF, big if they think you know what your are doing and are the leader of the herd.  If you don't come across as in charge, one of them will take over that position, which doesn't bode well for a happy long term relationship.  So a little bit of brushing up on manners and "rules" and these boys will be just fine, especially if their mom takes the "head jenny"position.

Evelyn took a lot of pictures the day she was here.  This is Gigi and I'm not sure if she is stating her opinion of having her picture taken or what............LOL  Quite a few of the donkeys have learned how to get people's attention and sticking their tongue out is one of them.

This is a great picture of baby Link.  He's gone thru different stages over the last year of looking pretty gawky.  Right now he's looking pretty good, although he's got some LONG legs to grow into.  He's not even 2 years old yet, will probably grow until he is 5.  I think he's already taller than my head.  We have to be careful around him, he hasn't figured out exactly where his feet are at all times.  So we try to make sure our feet aren't anywhere near his feet..........LOL

Friday Suzanne, Linda and I are going to Phoenix for a meeting with the Arizona Dept of Agriculture.  Most of the equine rescues in Arizona were notified of the meeting and last I heard about 30 of them are going to be there.  It's suppose to be so the rescues can bring their ideas and questions to the attention of the AZDA and hopefully make some changes where needed.  

I last went to one probably 6 or 7 years ago, don't remember any changes that came from it, but you never know.  Doesn't hurt to go and see what is going on. 

FINALLY............BURROLAND IS OFFICALLY OPEN..........!!

Linda opened the gate about 2pm today.  The first couple of days are usually pretty slow and today was no exception.  I drove over with the golf cart and Lynn and Cheyenne actually followed me.  They went as far in as the 1st tree, heads went down and they started munching.  Besides the beans, we had wind yesterday that blew lots of leaves off the mesquite trees.  

Drove around looking for other donkeys, finally Legend followed me over there.  In fact he wasn't the least bit interested in snacking on beans, he pestered me for cookies.  I finally turned around and come back over here.........sure enough he followed me, he was bound and determined that if he was persistent enough, I would come forward with a cookie.  

In the meantime, a few more donkeys figured out what was going on.  It usually takes a couple of days for everyone to get the memo.  I'm sure tomorrow there will be more going over.  Lynn said he is up to running them back over here, I'm sure he'll find out when it's time to put everyone in their pens.  They will probably be pretty reluctant to leave all those beans and leaves.

First load

This morning around 7am our pea gravel finally got here.  Not only did the poor driver have mechanical trouble yesterday, he also had a blowout.

This morning didn't start out much better.  He drove past our road and ended up down Jorja's place.  She picks up poo for us, so I got the whole story this morning.  He saw her out by the road and I guess had figured out he had gone too far.  The problem was, he was hauling 26 tons of pea gravel in a double trailer arrangement.  In other words, you can't turn that thing around without a LOT of space.

Jorja tried to figure out a place big enough, but he finally decided to drop the back trailer where it was, and haul the 1st trailer of gravel in.  The full trailer slides into the empty first trailer, so then he only has one trailer to contend with for the trip back to the yard.

The unloading went smoothly, which I'm sure by now he appreciated........ LOL  

I'm surprised the donkeys haven't played "king of the mountain" on it by now, but so far they have left it alone.  Now the fun begins, putting it in the pens, not sure when that will happen, hopefully before the Open House Dec. 7th and 8th.

Cheyenne and Lynn were the first ones to find out Burroland was open.  Linda and I went around to some of the others to help them figure it out.  Legend followed me all the way over there, I walked in about 30 feet, figuring he would take the hint and start eating beans.  But "NO" all he wanted was me to give him a cookie.  I finally came back and left him over there, don't know if he ever figured it out or not.  He had never been to Burroland before, that's been a couple of hours ago, wonder if he's figured it out by now? 

BURROLAND IS STILL NOT OPEN FOR DONKEYS

Much to their disgust.  Lynn Linda and Suzanne ran their 26.2 miles marathon down Mt. Lemmon Saturday as planned.  And they all finished, which to  a (not going to do it EVER) non-runner is absolutely amazing.  I do have to say, when they got home Saturday afternoon, they looked pretty rough..........LOL  They also weren't moving very fast and they all disappeared into their RVs for the night.  

Next morning I was shocked, Suzanne was in the feed room doing her thing and Linda was moving around like normal putting donkeys in their pens.   Lynn didn't make the morning wake up call, he might have been awake, but he had the wrong shoes for that race and his feet looked like hamburger.  But he made it out for the afternoon feeding.

There are beans over in Burroland, but not a lot, the cows have been over there more than we thought.  So the hold up on them going to Burroland is waiting until Lynn's toes will allow him to chase reluctant donkeys back over here after only a couple of hours.  It usually takes a few days for them to get the hint, and Lynn is usually our star donkey chaser.  John has locked the perimeter gates, so the cows can't get in there anymore, when the time comes all we'll have to do is open the gate to Burroland.  The other day, John went over by the gate and Buddy came running, so they are watching the gate.  

Lynn Linda and Suzanne are doing a 12 mile race up in the Phoenix area this week-end with donkeys, hopefully they will all be up to speed.  

 This is Muzzy that is visiting here for the winter from Colorado.  He's another one with bracelets on his legs, like Legend.  They are both real nice boys and should make good racing donkeys. 

 This is Coquette at her new home in Colorado.  I would imagine she's wondering what happened to the weather........!!!  Looks like she's got a nice blanket to help her adjust to the cold.  OBTW she has had a name change.  She is now known as Avery, but she'll always be Coquette to me. 

Here she is out for a walk with her new best friend.  Coquette has to bond with someone, she and Penny were inseparable here, Penny could care less, but Coquette insisted on being wherever Penny was.  I'll have to wait until I talk to Linda to share her new friend's name.  I know it starts with a B, but for the life of me I can't remember what it is......!!

BRIGGS........

We're suppose to have 25 tons of small pea gravel delivered today, but so far the truck hasn't showed up.  He was suppose to be here between 1-3pm and it's past that.  It's coming from Phoenix, I guess people in Cochise county don't use small pea gravel, I called the office and they are looking for the truck.

He just called and said he's had mechanical issues, so I gave John the phone.  John is talking to him and they are talking about we start feeding at 7am, which leads me to believe we aren't getting our gravel tonight..............LOL