BUSY, BUSY, BUSY

Yesterday was an "interesting" day.  Tyler and his helper Dave were here before we finished feeding in the AM.  His days start early and end late.  They came to trim Penny and check Gigi's shoe.  We have an order in for some donkey stocks, so these 2 girls will be easier to work with.  The stock in the link isn't exactly like what we are getting, but will give you an idea.  Ours will also be portable, John will be able to move it around with the tractor.  We ordered it after Tyler's last visit, but so far it hasn't appeared.  Tyler was suppose to call today and see what is taking so long.  I'm sure his call will carry more weight than mine....... LOL

Let's see, after that we had some people out for a tour.  They had a little girl about 2 years old and she has no fear, which is a good thing at that age.  But it was rather exciting too...!!!  Most of the donkeys love kids and seemed to enjoy her attention.  

Dr. Jeremy stopped by on his way out to play with his jeep.  He's got an old one that isn't a rock crawler, but has a winch and big tires, and looks like it can probably go anywhere he wants to go.  Unfortunately he got an emergency call and headed out to go home and get his vet truck, rather than go play.  Since he moved into the area last fall and is available 24/7 he's been staying pretty busy, night and day.  I'm sure he's glad, but vets need down time too.  We don't want him to burn out,   available vets are too valuable.  I wouldn't have taken the 3 boys in to board, if we hadn't had a local vet.

Courtney came out to build Gus some new feet in late afternoon, in fact by the time she got here, we had already fed.  Well we hadn't, I missed feeding altogether.  Sundays after we race are usually low key, this one wasn't.  Getting in 1-2am and the donkeys expecting breakfast at their normal time, makes for a short night.  By afternoon I was asleep on my feet, so laid down to take a nap.  I never do that, but it was either that or curl up on the floor.   Guess I'm getting old......!!!  LOL

Courtney got here and went to work.  

Well, first we had to contend with the "lookie lou"  neighbors.  These are the 3 new boys and they are about the nosiest donkeys I've ever seen and that's saying a lot...!!

Just like icing a cake

Building up his foot with casting material

Just about done with that foot

Ready for the other foot

I don't think epoxy would taste very good

Waiting for the epoxy to dry

Thanks for the pictures, Linda

Courtney loves Gus, she has kept him going for much longer than we thought he would go.  The bones in his feet are demineralized and the inside of the hoof is a rather loose knit operation to hold up a 500 pound animal.  He roams all over the place, just not very fast.  He has a good life with restriction because of his feet, but all in all we can keep him comfortable.  He's always at the front of the gang, when we have people out to see the donkeys and if there are children that really gets his attention.  Chronic founder isn't for sissies, that's for sure.  

As I alluded to, we raced Saturday night.  The weather was terrible, it was trying to rain when we got there, and that lasted for most of the afternoon, but it finally quit.  Still had the wind and chilly temperatures though.  Didn't do much for having spectators, only the die hard race fans, showed up. 

I finished 2nd in the heat race, to a guy that side slammed me at the finish line.  I stayed with him, but he won the drag race.  He needs to control his enthusiasm on the track, or he won't survive, at least his car won't.  I was rather rude to him in the main event, he wrecked with someone else in the corner and was sideways in front of me.  I might have been able to slam on the brakes, but in those situations you're better off to plow thru, which I did.  I think John said he spun around and kept on going, so it was just one of those racing deals....!!  LOL  But I will keep an eye on him and another one too.  I think they are just kids, but they need to learn some manners......!!!  

I finished 3rd in the main event, which goes really good with the 2nd place finish in the 1st race we  had, so I can't complain.  Different guys finished 1st each time, so my consistency has put me in 1st place for points, at least until the next race April 29th.......!!!   LOL  

WORK CONTINUES ON THE NEW SHELTER

MISSISSIPPI RIVER 1907

Mike and Tony are out again today working on the shelter that will cover 3 pens.  When they first started on it and set the corner poles, no one thought to not only check for length, but to check for opposite corners to be the same measurement.  I know there is a word for what that is called, but for the life of me, can't remember what it is.  

Anyway the problem wasn't discovered until they started putting up the OSB board under layment for the metal roofing.  The OSB boards are 4x8', no muss, no fuss and pretty square.  Too late to pull posts and start over.  Last Sunday they tried to "fix" it by adjusting here and there.  It wasn't working too well, and sometime during the week, John went out and figured out a Plan C and they've been able to probably get the OSB all up today.  We're suppose to to to Sierra Vista tomorrow and pick up the metal roofing, so they'll have something to work with next Sunday if they come out.  They sure are good workers, we really appreciate volunteers.

Yesterday we had 4 nice women out to groom donkeys.  That's something we don't get around to very often, and it's a shame, because the donkeys really enjoy the attention.  I think everyone except stand offish Tula got brushed.  

They are all living in one of the RV parks in Benson and came up with a great idea.  One of the women had been out here before and she was talking about coming out again, and the other 3 said they wanted to come.  They had the idea of having one day a week, as volunteer day and they would make sure the people in the park knew about it.  So we're going to try it.  I know the donkeys will enjoy it if they get attention every week.  

Doug got off to Michigan on time, and Saddik has been "camping" out ever since.  Doesn't seem to mind, not having a nice comfy bed to sleep on, although I'm sure he'll be more than happy to move back in when Doug gets back in a week.  

When Doug left in the evening, he put Saddik in the dog pen with Nicki, but when John came home a couple of hours later, Saddik greeted him in the driveway.  A 5 foot fence doesn't seem to be much of a deterrent for him or for Mike's dog Tucker.  Mike brought Tucker with him again today.  Last time he was out here, he climbed or jumped the fence and was having a great time running with the donkeys.  He wasn't chasing them, he was just enjoying the run.  Today Mike brought his harness and lead, and tied him up in the dog pen.  Yep, he chewed thru his harness and lead.........LOL  I know, it isn't funny.  But it was pretty funny, when they came in for lunch and I asked Mike where Tucker was.  I just happened to be sitting facing the courtyard, so I knew where he was, Mike didn't............!!!  LOL 

Gus is moving pretty slow after his trim and getting casting material put on his front feet.  He was moving really well right afterwards, but the next morning he was really slow and spent most of the day laying down.  Courtney was going to make a special trip out today to see if the casting was too tight.  She actually put it on looser than she would on a horse.  I guess the horses just barely can make 8 weeks in it, without it falling off or wearing thru, so it fairly easy to get off.  Not so, with Gus, either because donkeys don't weigh as much, or he doesn't move around as much.  Yesterday when the women were grooming, Gus acted just like he did before, when they tried to touch his body.  So I think the problem is, even though Courtney trimmed almost nothing off his feet, it was enough to change the position of his hips.  He's spent so much of his life, trying to keep weight off his front feet, that his hips are probably very arthritic.  I've doubled his Previcox for the time being and actually today he seems a little more comfortable, so I told her I'd just watch him.  

WHO IS THAT....??

This is Bonnie watching as we brought Pancho into view.  Right after this she went into her shelter, so she wouldn't have to look at any of us.  She's not been worked with much and is still quite reluctant to deal with humans, if she doesn't have to.  

John and Pancho getting ready to go into "her" pen.

Let's see if playing hard to get works

Smelling poo is a good way to introduce yourself, I guess

Well, you're rather cute

No fireworks, Bonnie kicked in his general vicinity a couple of times, just to let him know he wasn't going to come in and take over, and he seemed just fine with that.  Teresa spends a lot of time with her animals, and Pancho loves attention, so this should be a great home for him.  

Come to find out Teresa raced a factory stock race car at the old Corona Speedway here in Tucson many, many years ago, long before we got here.  She said she told them she wanted to race and they said she could race in the Powder Puff races and she said no.  So Friday afternoon she got a phone call telling her if she wanted to race, she would have to get a pregnancy test.  She asked them if the Powder Puff girls had to tested and they said no, but she did.  So she scrambled around and found a doctor to do a pg test, so she could have the results in time to go racing Saturday night......!!!  LOL  Said she finished 6th out of 32 cars that started the main event.  She also said then some of the car owners wanted her to drive their car after that.......!!   Well at least I've never had to go to those lengths, although not being allowed in the pits, but being allowed on the track, always seemed a little weird.  

Goodbye Pancho, hope you have a GREAT life in your Forever Home

We had to get home before Courtney got here to evaluate Gus' front feet. That's not a problem, Courtney is always late......!!!  LOL  She has good intentions, BUT, reality gets in the way, as the day wears on, she gets farther and farther behind and we're always late afternoon, because her next appointment doesn't get off work until 6pm.  That's OK, but I was afraid the one and only time we weren't here she'd be on time.  Not to worry......!!!!  

She was just going to trim his heels down a tiny little bit.  With him it's always teeny-tiny, any normal change can cripple him for weeks, if not months.  Unfortunately she noticed a crack at the coronet.  It's only about  3/4 an inch long, but it's at the top and looks deep.  Soooooo, time for another artificial hoof of casting material.  The inside of his hooves are such messes, she didn't think we could take a chance on it, since it was all the way into the coronet.  We are running out of options for Gus unfortunately.  Unless they come up with something else, this is just about the last "fix" available for him.  He's actually walking pretty good right now, which is one reason she doesn't want this crack to cause more problems.  

I think Tula actually was looking for Pancho last night, either that or expecting him to jump out of hiding and attacking her.  I would imagine Boaz will be glad he's gone, they didn't get along at all.  

Saddik will probably miss him, they had some sort of cross species relationship and were always playing thru the corral panels when Pancho was waiting to get fed, or Saddik would reach thru the panels to grab any pellets Pancho dropped.  

Saddik is going to have a lifestyle change starting this week-end.  Doug is flying to Michigan to visit friends and family.  Like a lot of Arizonians, he's from somewhere else.  Saddik has spent a lot of time with Doug in his RV and sleeps on Doug's bed.  For the next week, Saddik will be roughing it, probably staying overnight in the feed room with Nicki sleeping on Anubis' old bed.  I'm sure he's going to think he's being punished..............LOL

John is catching mice in the feed room on a regular basis.  Now we need to figure out where the little monsters are getting in.

PANCHO MIGHT HAVE HIS FOREVER HOME......!!

A couple of days ago I received an e-mail that gets sent out to all the equine rescues in Arizona, whenever there is a special situation, like owner going in hospital, animals need rehomed, need emergency hauling, anything that might be helped by the rescue community in Arizona all knowing about it.  

Bonnie and Clyde were adopted from an Arizona rescue a few months ago and were doing great, until the woman went out a few mornings ago and Clyde had died in the night.  Probably his heart, this seems to happen with donkeys more than you would think.  We've had 2 and also a horse, basically drop dead or die in their sleep while laying down.  

Although the people have an Arab and a mini horse, Bonnie is very lonely, so the emergency call went out for a male donkey.  Hopefully, this is  Pancho's destiny.  He has been in foster care, he also was in a home and proved to be too smart for his own good, as far as escaping to go visit the neighbor's grass, and was returned to us a couple of years ago.   

The people came out today to see him.  He was really busy trying to keep the other boys away from Tula, but was friendly enough that the people want to add him to their family.  We will do a home study Tuesday and then we will haul him later in the week.  We could probably take him when we do the home study, but I'd rather not, even though it would save us a trip.  They gave all the right answers, I know their vet and they've had the same farrier for 20 years.  

Should be a great forever home for a very personable little donkey.  This will actually put us below our self imposed limit for the 1st time in a LONG time, makes me almost afraid to answer the phone.!!!  LOL

Courtney is coming out this week, to assess Gus' front feet.  He seems to be slowing down, so he might need the casting material put on again.  His heels have to be so "over the top" tall, he might just need to be trimmed a little bit.  I leave that decision to Courtney, she's kept him going when most farriers would have said they couldn't do anything else.  I don't think "can't" is in her vocabulary, she also kept old Pepper going for years, we ended up with John and I holding him up on 3 legs, when she would trim him, he was so frail.  It was just about this time last year when we finally had to say goodbye to the old man, his legs just finally gave out.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed about Lynn's tooth.  I don't worry about it falling out, I worry about it getting infected, as loose as it is, there's plenty of gaps to get food caught around it.  We'll keep a close eye on her, until Dr. Debra comes back down the 1st week of March.  

Got to get her in "cuteness" shape.  Kartchner Caverns got in touch with me, to take donkeys out for Earth Day, April 16th. Last year we took Ruger and Wister and they were a big hit.  I had planned on taking BlackJack and Frijolita this year, but was requested to bring minis.  I didn't even remember talking about minis, but obviously someone in the park system did...!!!  We are going to take all 4 of the minis, so there will be no waiting to pet.  Actually minis are usually really popular, they are small enough to not be threatening to people that have never been around large animals.  Children especially are more comfortable around them. 

ALMOST AN ARTIFICIAL HOOF

Courtney was here a couple of nights ago to rebuild these nasty feet.  The bottom 1/3 of his hoofs were crumbly the first time Courtney used the the casting material a few months ago.  She has been using an epoxy type 2 stage material for quite some time to build him a sole.  His coffin bone is demineralized, so there is less than half of the bone there.  To say there isn't much stability in his feet is an understatement.  The "fake" sole really made a difference in his ability to move around comfortably

When she came out during the monsoon, the wet weather had probably caused the bottom 1/3 of the hoof to basically fall apart.  With no strong coffin bone, he had nothing to walk on.  So she said let's try using cast material to build him a foot.  

With one thing and another, she didn't get back out for almost 3 months.  She was surprised it was still on his feet, she said it only stays on horses about 3-4 weeks.  She wanted us to take it off the night before, so his feet would have a chance to dry out.  John tried every type of cutting tool he had and nothing would cut thru that material, that was wet, and flexible when she put it on.  Once it hardened it wasn't going anywhere.  Courtney came out the next day and she even had a hard time getting them off.  His feet were damp and smelly, not to mention he had about a 1/4in gap on one foot where the white line should be.  

We decided to leave him barefooted and see how he did.  John has been cleaning his feet a couple of times a day.  That gap was filling up with rocks and whatever else would fit in there.  

He'd actually been walking pretty good, but a week or so ago, he started hanging out in his pen or by the dog pen in the soft sand.  He was still walking decently, but obviously wasn't quite as comfortable as he had been.  

When Courtney came out to evaluate and decide what to do this week, she was absolutely thrilled with his feet.  She said he has more sole than he has ever had and the new hoof coming in from the coronet is tight, not crumbly.  She also told me when she was out the last time, that she was afraid we were coming down to the end.

So she decided to put another epoxy sole and strengthen the hoof with the cast material to hopefully continue to grow out good hoof.  It takes about a year to grow a hoof, so we'll see what happens.   

 

ON WATCH

When they get 36 years old, it becomes "watch and worry".  This morning when John and Doug went out to attempt to entice reluctant equine to their pens to have breakfast, Rusty wasn't interested in a cookie and found a shady place to lay down in one of the pens. Not taking a cookie is always a sign that something isn't right.  

Checked him for gut sounds and the ones he had were very quiet.  So I came in and got my "go to" colic fix. Rusty is always fun to medicate, it has to be official (halter and lead) and even then he throws his head and acts like you are trying to cram acid down his throat.  We got most of it down him and when I came in to clean the sticky stuff off my hands and change clothes, John said he poo'ed and also pooted, which is a good thing.  But when it's all said and done I don't think that's the only problem.  His vitals are fairly normal, although he is breathing a little heavy.  I did notice his gums are not very pink, which could mean he's not getting as much oxygen as he should, as in, possible heart condition.

He wanted out of his pen, and when we let him out he found a shady spot and laid down.  We took him a bucket of water.  It's been so hot lately, dehydration can become a problem real quick.  John took the bucket over close to him, he jumped up and walked off, didn't even look at the water.  Just now John came in and said he had come up behind the hay barn, yelling for Reba.

My WAG (Wild Ass Guess) is mild colic at age 36 and a possible on going heart age related problem we don't know about.  I guess I will be monitoring his gums to see if there is any change.  John was going to check Reba's gums to see what they looked like, but she's as bad if not worse than Rusty about being cooperative.  Dehydration is my big worry.

Courtney came yesterday to work on Gus.  Right now a lot of the donkeys are having feet problems, too much rain and too much humidity.  For those that have lousy feet anyway, it gets real dicey.  He lost one of his epoxy "soles" and started slowing down.  She tried something different this time.  Besides the epoxy on both front feet, she also wrapped his feet in a mesh web that looked a lot like my casts when I abused my thumb, wrist and hand.  She dumped a roll of the stuff in a bucket of water and wrapped  both front feet with the wet wrap.  When it dried she could shape it if needed with her rotary sander, it is really hard.  Hopefully it will give his feet some support, because the bottom 1/3 of his hoof certainly isn't.

Tyler had been here a few days earlier to work on the uncooperative ones, like Gigi, and Penny.  Both of those girls have nasty feet.  Both of them were probably crippled from birth and haven't been handled much, if at all.  Needless to say they can be nasty, although Gigi is improving with the passage of time.  She hasn't tried to kick Tyler recently.  The last time he did Penny she missed his head by about an inch.  Tyler always has a helper with him, Courtney works by herself, so Tyler gets the fun ones.  He really didn't think we could save Gigi, and is quite impressed with how much she has improved.  She will always have to be trimmed regularly and she will always be crippled, but she gets around just fine. 

IT'S HOT ENOUGH NOW........!!!

I'm sure it's going to get hotter and more humid, but seriously, it doesn't have to......!!! LOL  Actually we "might" get some rain by the end of the week, if the weather man knows what he's talking about.  

Not much to write about, when it's this hot, man or beast does NOT do anything they don't have to.  We feed, they eat, we doctor, they stand still and that's about it.  Courtney came yesterday to trim Gus and anyone else that would need it.  Gus has been doing real good, so we're both rather hesitant about trimming him.  It has to be done, so she basically gave him a "lick and a promise" and he seems just fine this morning.  She also did both mules.  They usually self trim, but at 31 and 36 they don't move around unless there is a reason, so we'll probably have to start trimming them a few times a year.  They are both good about it.  Well, they are good about 6 of the 8 feet.  Reba's rear feet are off limits, her former owner made sure to tell us that.  Her rear feet are still self trimming pretty good.  If it becomes a problem, we'll have to take her in to the vet to get a happy shot I guess.  

Saddik the new dog has discovered the Rubbermaid "spa", he came in after chores dripping wet.  That's better than the other night, he found the spot where the laterals for the feed room sometimes come to the surface.  He had to roll in it, because he was almost black............and rather smelly.  Doug and John managed to get most of it off, at least enough so Doug let him in for the night, to sleep on the bed.....LOL

Well I may not be racing anymore.  Saturday night, which I might add was hot as Hades, when I went thru tech after the main event they were going to disqualify me because my right front wheel had too much camber in it.  We have been fighting tire wear and blowouts every race night.  I've only finished 2 races and both of those were shortened, this one was only 18 laps and the tire was chunked enough that it probably wouldn't have lasted much longer.  John and the tech people, came to an understanding, if they DQed me, we would park the car for the rest of the year.  So they decided to let me keep my 5th place and they will have a meeting to try to figure out what to do.  They lost 3 other cars because of right front tires coming apart, so it's not just me, but mine seems to be worse than the others.  Kias weren't made for racing on asphalt, the suspension isn't very good and we can't beef it up.  It isn't allowed and they don't make after market parts for Kias anyway.  I e-mailed the track and told them it's their problem, not mine, so we'll see what happens. 

ON PEPPER WATCH..........AGAIN....!!!

I know he doesn't do it on purpose, but it seems like a lot of our time is spent worrying about the old buzzard. 

He's been laying down more often lately, usually on his good side, thank goodness.  He's also developed a dry cough, and since I'm the type of person that looks, "for the zebra, rather than the horse" my 1st thought was lung worms.  We've never had lung worms that I know of but donkeys are known for being carriers.  A lot of horse owners don't want donkeys around for that reason. Ivermectin takes care of lung worms and I'm giving him antibiotics, Tucoprim, just in case it's something else. 

A couple of days ago he was laying down when it was time to come in for feeding.  When he got up he could barely walk on his right front, which is the one with a bad knee.  I picked the foot up to make sure there wasn't something else going on and noticed his sole is lower than the sidewall.  It looks like it's going to slough off, but with him it's hard to tell.  He has a lot of rotation and the hoof grows crazy, not to mention we don't know for sure exactly where the end of  his coffin bone is.    Courtney has kept him going a lot longer than we ever thought possible. 

I gathered up some foam, vet wrap and duct tape to make a boot for him.  I have Soft Rides, but hesitant to put them on him for a couple of reasons.  One is, because of his gnarly feet, not sure they would stay on and number 2......... although they are fairly light weight, not sure he could walk with the extra pound or so.  By the next morning he was walking a little better and has continued to improve, so hopefully we bit the bullet..........again. 

Yesterday morning John noticed Cisco rubbing his ear.  He had icky problems in his ears all summer, off and on.  I had quit watching him since it got cooler, but sure enough he had some type of slimy, gooey, smelly YUCK in there.  Animax i.e. Panalog is what the vet usually uses for ear problems, but I can't remember what she used to clean it out and I'm a little cautious about putting stuff in an ear.  Thanks goodness he has "donkey" ears, and I have small hands.  I rooted around with a rag to get rid of most of the yuckies and then squirted in the Animax.  That bad thing is I got the stuff on my hand and could smell it all afternoon.  Hopefully I can get it cleared up, otherwise we'll have to take him to the vet and do a culture I guess. 

Everyone else seems to be doing good.   I hesitate to say Rosie is losing weight, but she does look less fat.  As fat as she was, less fat is a good thing.............LOL  Tyler will be coming out Monday to check on Gigi's foot with the shoe.  She is walking very good, almost without any limp at all although her shoulders are still deformed because of walking oddly for 11 years.  We will have had them a year in January and hopefully one of these days Tyler will be able to take the shoe off and leave it off. 

MORE OF THE SAME

 Courtney made it out last night and was amazed at how much hoof wall everybody had grown, in this monsoon.  And frog, lots of frog, some were as much as 1/2 inch longer than the hoof itself.  So this morning I'm dealing with sad looks and "my feet hurt" looks.  

It's been awhile since Pepper got down on his right side, but this morning he was down in the wash and had been for quite sometime.  

Unfortunately there was a pretty good size limb right above him and I was afraid he wouldn't be able to get up with it there.  So John cut it off, had to take it off in pieces because of the weight.  Didn't want it to fall on Pepper's head.  

 This is Pepper after he got up trying to figure out if there are any beans close enough for him to get to them.  He checked out the limb and you can see in the foreground where he laid long enough to dig a hole with his head and legs.  The hole he digs if he's been down for awhile makes it difficult to flip him over.  He got trimmed last night.  By the time Courtney got to him it was dark, she works with a headlamp.  She came in his pen, petted him, picked up a foot and said, "is this Pepper?"  He has put on so much weight this bean season she didn't recognize him until she looked at his foot.  He is looking really good for him, unfortunately everyone else is putting on weight too.  Frijolita is really plumping up nicely, it will probably take all winter to get the weight off all of them, and then we can do it again next bean season.............SIGH

 

Here is a picture of Miss Reba the mule, with one of the masks Michele fixed.  She wanted to try the dangles to see how they worked.  They seem to be working just fine and one good thing about the mules, they don't lose their masks.  

It looks like we'll be racing Sat and Sun this Labor Day week-end.  Weren't suppose to, but the track put out the word to see if the Hornet drivers were interested.  Most of them are, I'm not really, putting us on the program with less than a week of warning is a little much.  Besides one of our driver's that has to work both days can't come, and she's in 4th place.  She suggested having non-point races, which would be fine, then I wouldn't have to go.............BUT..........I don't trust the track not to change their minds about having points once the drivers get there and start complaining because there aren't any points.  I'd hate to not show up and then find out later they decided to make them points races. 

A GOOD NIGHT OF RACING

 

This is BlackJack checking out my trophy.  Since my number is 21x we've got BlackJack Racing written across the trunk, so he's our mascot I guess.  John complained because the car wasn't clean.  But if a dirt track car is clean, it hasn't been racing...........!!!!! 

Brought it home in one piece, well except for a few "bruises" and one complaint from a competitor that something rough on my car, flattened her tire.  Hmmmm.............  John doesn't always get around to fixing torn metal, especially if it is in "important" areas on the car.  She was trying to nose her way underneath my car coming out of a turn and unfortunately for her, she wasn't far enough up on my car to be doing a "legal" pass and caught the rough edges around my rear tire.............Sorry.....!!!  LOL

We got to bed about 3am and of course the donkeys insist on a 7am wake up call for breakfast, so it's been a long day.  Courtney came out this afternoon and did feet on 15 different animals.  I can watch her work and my back just cringes.......!!!   She uses a rotary sander to trim their feet, which is much quicker than using nippers and a rasp..........as long as you know what you're doing.  But it's still a lot of bending over.  

We're going to bed early tonight, probably as soon as John lets the "fur kids" out after they finish their hay. 

SUMMER HAS ARRIVED........!!

I took this picture in 2007 on our back porch.  It's 2 male Western Diamondbacks, fighting for the hand of a sweet young thing, hanging out under a chair, watching the action.  You might also notice a young roadrunner watching.  I guess he was trying to figure out if either of them was small enough for him to take on.  NO, he wasn't much larger than a white winged dove, which I've seen rattlesnakes eat.  

We very rarely see snakes anymore.  Too many hoofed feet roaming around and some of the donkeys are snake murderers.  Actually Shiloh was my snake killer, before he went to his forever home, we use to find them with their heads either smashed or missing, he definitely knew which end to stomp. 

Yesterday was a summer day, it just felt different than the warm days recently.  Probably won't be too long until we have our first 100 degree day.  Not looking forward to it.  

I broke down and put out a fly trap yesterday morning.  It's already got a layer of little dead bodies on top of the water almost 1/2 inch deep.  Yesterday I noticed the flies were just horrible on faces below the fly masks, they are going for mouths since they can't get eyes I guess.  I've asked quite a few people and they said they have more flies than usual too.  Probably a result of our "non" winter, winter, I don't think we had 6 fires in the wood stove total.  I didn't even wear sweats like I usually do.  We will probably pay for a mild winter, with a HOT summer with lots of flies...........not sure it's a good trade.  

Courtney and Martha came out last week, to do feet and massage on Gigi again.  This time John tied Gigi up rather than having her in the squeeze.  We thought we'd try it and if that didn't work I have happy drugs.......!!!  LOL  She did really well, she would let Martha know if she wasn't comfortable with where Martha was going.  Ribs on one side were just fine, "don't touch the other side".  She did learn to relax and enjoy it, which was the general idea.  Old buzzard Pepper even got a little massage.  He enjoyed it so much he started drooling.........!!!  

Boaz is usually Mr. Cooperative, but for some reason he had a bee in his bonnet and kicked at Courtney.  Came close enough to her head that it was time for an "attitude adjustment" for the boy.  So he got a Scotch hobble education on his hind legs.  He had been acting weird for him for a couple of days, then he did that.  That was Thursday and this morning is the first time he's acted like Boaz.  Friday when I changed the bandage on his knee he didn't even beg for animal crackers.  But this morning he was more like his old self.  Still have no idea what the problem is or was.  I'm still doctoring whatever his skin problem is.  He doesn't act like it bothers him, so I don't think that's it.  Friday evening when John did round up, Boaz refused to go in his pen.  He'd circle around and go past or head off somewhere.  I finally got a whip and encouraged him to cooperate and he went in.  OBTW, his knee is almost healed, actually to me it looks healed, but if I take the bandage off and the gnats are attracted, I assume it isn't.  

Rosie got trimmed again and did really well.  She's got some crooked front feet, that hopefully with regular trimming will straighten up.  Doesn't seem to bother her, she can move pretty quick if she wants to. 

John just informed me it's time to start looking for hay again.  Sigh!  I hate this search, there is no such thing as a perfect hay broker or perfect hay.  My big problem is to find someone that has a squeeze to load the hay into the hay barn, that is willing to come out here.  There is a local guy that has a squeeze he uses for the local feed stores, but he won't come out here.  

Raced last night, let's just say, I'm glad that night is over and hope it is the worst night I have this year.......!!!! LOL

ROSIE GOT A PEDICURE

Yesterday afternoon we had 2 couples show up for a tour.  It seems recently this has been happening more often.  We like to know when people are coming, that way we have some sort of control over where the donkeys are.  But if we aren't expecting anyone, the donkeys are usually out roaming around.  If they are on the 10 acres it isn't too difficult to find them, they usually find us since they know the pleasures of having visitors, even if treats aren't involved.  If they are in their pens we give the people cups of pellets to feed them.  But there would be too many opportunities for someone to get hurt if food was involved when they are out,  up close and personal.  They do enjoy all the petting and attention though.  Yesterday John had to ring the bell, most of them were over in Burroland.  I think the people got to see most of them anyway.  Actually I think the people enjoy being "in amongst them", more than seeing them in pens, but if given the choice we prefer the donkeys be in their pens. 

Courtney made it out yesterday afternoon about chore time.  She said she was late because of doing too much talking along the way.  I didn't notice she was late, she usually gets here about chore time.....!!! LOL  

John and I have been working on Rosie lifting her feet.  When she and Gigi came in of course Gigi's feet were beyond horrible, Rosie's were just horrible.  Gigi was of course the priority and she has done very well with her elongated shoe arrangement Tyler put on her.  But it was time to see what we could do with Rosie.  I asked Courtney if she wanted to try.  It was up to her, as we always have Tyler in the "wings" for these adventuresome situations, bless his heart.  He can bring a couple of strong boys with him, Courtney is by herself except for 2 old people that should have better sense.  She said we'd try it, so we put Rosie in the redneck squeeze, got a halter on her, tied her up short, put a rope around a front foot, lifted and ....................... Courtney went to work........!!!!!

Courtney didn't use the power tools there was a limit to what we wanted to throw at Rosie.  But she actually did really well.  No big hissy fit, no drama queen thrashing around and no biting.  The biting was important, the other day we had quite a "discussion" about lunging with mouth open, headed for "MY" arm, when she didn't appreciate me trying to lift her foot with a rope.  I didn't appreciate it and it took 5 or 6 "discussions" to get her to understand it wasn't going to happen.  Thanks goodness she didn't try it on John, he'll stand there flat footed and wonder what happened.  Obviously he's never been bitten badly by an equine.....!!! LOL  If so, he'd be much more alert.  

She didn't mind her foot being lifted with a rope, but Courtney tried to just go in and lift her foot with her hand...........Nope.......not going to happen.  Put the rope around and that's just fine.......!!!  It is so much fun to watch their minds work.

I had not looked at the bottom of her feet, Courtney said the hoof wall had collapsed and it was across the bottom of her feet.  Quilla's feet were like that when he came in.  I guess collapsing like that doesn't cause long term problems, she is walking just fine this morning. 

I took this picture of Boaz's knee yesterday.  That little map of Vietnam in the middle is why we are taking him into the vet later this month for evaluation and probable debriding again.  It is healing, but seems to have reached a level and isn't moving any further.  I have really been impressed with the Source One products.  When we took Pepsi down to his new home, Judy gave me some of the balm and powder, to see if it would help on Boaz's chronic knee wound.  I'm beginning to think the middle is proud flesh, which has been a problem and the Source One is keeping it at bay, but hasn't been able to get rid of it.  So maybe with a little help from the vet we can get this healed. 

EITHER RAIN OR DON'T........!!!

I guess that is a good idea when weather is involved, not much you can do about it anyway.  

Courtney was going to come out and do some trimming and add some epoxy to some feet that need a little help in the support department.  Anyway, yesterday was beautiful, nice and sunny and just about perfect temperature.  

So this morning it is pretty cool, dreary, the humidity must be really high and the moisture from our rain a few days ago, is oozing out of the ground.  Not good for trying to get epoxy to stick to the bottom of a foot.  So I e-mailed Courtney and told her it was her call.  

The problem is, Courtney stays so busy and we are not on her beaten path.  She tries to do us in conjunction with clients in the general vicinity, which means within 20 miles or so.  So now she is trying to move clients around for another day.  

We get spoiled with typical Arizona weather, I think Arizona advertises something like 340 days of sunshine a year.  So when planning something we usually don't even factor in the weather, we just assume it will be nice.  SIGH!

GOT MY COMPUTER BACK.....!!!

Well, Wednesday I was on the internet and the monitor went black, instantly.  OK, no problem John was going to town, bring me back a monitor.  Hmmmm.............still nothing.  John worked electronics for over 30 years, so he knows about all that wiggle the wires and make sure everything is plugged in.  Nothing........!!!

I took it to a local guy yesterday and he said he'd look at it last night.  This morning I called and he said he hooked it up last night and it worked fine..........!!! He said he'd look at it some more and he'd get in touch with me Monday..............!!!!!   WHAT..........?????   He didn't understand, e-mails were building up even as we spoke.  I told him I really needed to have it before Monday.  So being the nice guy he was he brought it out this morning and sure enough, plugged it in and it's working just fine.  Grrrr.........!! I hate electronics.....!!!  Anyway, it is now working, hopefully it will continue.

Yesterday Courtney came out to do some trimming and Martha came out to see if she could make Gigi more comfortable.  Actually Gigi is doing pretty good I think.  She's not laying down as much and seems to be able to get around easier than before.  Of course she doesn't have 3 pounds of hoof material hanging on the front of her feet anymore either.  She wasn't too sure about all this rubbing and massaging, although she did finally start leaning into Martha a little bit.  

After Martha got through with Gigi we started walking around visiting with the donkeys.  Martha and Pepper have a history, she's massaged him before.  She was quite impressed with how much weight he has gained since the last time she saw him.  She did a little hands on with him and then started to walk off..........not going to happen.  Pepper got right behind her wherever she went, until she did a little more work.  He is such an interesting old character.

Courtney was doing her trimming and we put Ruthie in with Frijolita because she was in the way when Courtney was trimming her two youngsters, Wister and Ruger.  When Courtney went in to do Frijolita, Ruthie wouldn't get out of the way, she was right in Courtney's hip pocket.  Finally Courtney picked up a foot and started up the power tools to get rid of her.  Ruthie just stood there like a statue.  I don't think we've ever had her trimmed before and I seriously doubt if she's been trimmed in the past if it was done with power tools.  They can be such amazing animals, especially if you think you know what they are thinking.  Many times you will be wrong.   LOL 

EVERY DAY IS BETTER FOR GIGI..........!!!

 

This morning when I went out with her bute/molasses in a syringe, John was busy elsewhere so I decided to give it to her myself.  I did that once before with no problem.  Well, times have changed and she is feeling well enough to not only keep her butt turned to me, no matter how or where I moved, but threw a healthy kick my way as a warning.  Hmmmm..........this is the type of behavior we have come to expect from Rosie, but up to now Gigi had been pretty mellow.  Just couldn't work with her at all, I finally just stood and told her if she wanted that "yummy" stuff, she'd have to come get it.  It was a long process, but she got her bute.  

Courtney and Martha are coming out next week for trims and Martha will give Gigi a massage at least that is the plan.  With this personality change it might get interesting.  Our corral panels are still loaned out till at least the end of the month, so Doug had offered some he isn't using.  Guess we'll take him up on the offer, if nothing else we'll need to build a "redneck" squeeze to corral these girls in.  

Rosie is doing pretty good on changing over to Bermuda hay.  Yesterday morning when John went out to round them up, he heard a lot of noise coming from the hay barn area.  When he investigated he found BlackJack and Boaz had tore down the gate.  That isn't as bad as it sounds, the bottom rail had rusted out and is one of those "round to it" projects, that John hadn't gotten around to yet.  That is part of the gate frame that keeps it square, and they figured out if they pushed on it, it would bend. 

A bunch of donkeys were still outside because they couldn't figure out how to get around BJ and Boaz to get to the primary objective which was.............. the alfalfa for the girls.....!!!  So John had to run the boys out, and temporarily fix it so they couldn't get in there again.  So far so good, hopefully John can get it fixed as soon as our "RACING WEEK FROM HELL" is over. 

This racing 6 nights in 10 days isn't that easy.  Last night was a little rough.  We had 12 cars which is more than any other night.  John and the Toyota got used as a target by one of the cars and got pushed head on into another car.  I had ran my heat race and was in the pits.  Here he came with one of the front fenders sticking straight out from the car.  I thought it was funny, him..........not so much......!!! LOL  John ripped the fender off, and ran the main without it.  He's not even going to try to fix it, in fact we left it at the track.  We brought the Kia home, so he could check it over and reattach the back bumper, poor little Toyota isn't even worth checking over I guess...........!!!!  I finished 4th, after following and bumping one of the other cars.  Her car and my car are pretty evenly matched, so whichever one is in front of the other usually stays there.  This morning John said the whole front bumper was covered with pink paint.  I spent the whole race playing with her rear bumper, so I wasn't surprised.......!!!  Guess I need to quit playing and get serious, I never did get around her......SIGH! 

2013 RACE SEASON IS OVER

THAT'S ME HIDING BEHIND THE TRACTOR TIRE.  NOTICE EVERYONE ELSE IS GOING A DIFFERENT DIRECTION THAN I AM. 

Actually last night was a lot of fun, especially since John did indeed get to drive the Tojo in the last main event.  This is a picture from earlier in the season, but it pretty much represents what last night was like.  Actually I never got turned facing into traffic like above, but I spent a lot of time trying to keep from getting knocked around.  Got stuffed into a couple of those tractor tires, which was rather irritating.  Surprisingly, the track actually sent the guy, to the back of the pack for being "rude".  I managed to keep going, I was in 2nd place when he hit me, and came out of the melee in about 5th or 6th, so I really appreciated the track seeing it my way..!! LOL  

A funny little side note, I had lapped John earlier and he was a few cars behind me.  I slide one of the tires across the track, and guess who ran into it.....!!!  He kept going, but you should see the front of the Toyota..!!! 

For an underpowered Tojo John did really good, finished 6th.  He got to trade paint and a few pieces of metal with the guy that put me in the tires, and a few others,  didn't have anything to do with me, there are no friends or relatives on a race track.  The guy deserved it, he's just been to the track a few times and won a couple of times, so I guess he thinks we should all get out of his way.  

I ran 2nd for quite awhile, but both me and the 1st place car got out gunned on the last lap, so I finished 3rd, which is my best finish this year in a main event.  

The girl that took my 5th place position for end of the year, broke in the 1st main event, so I got my 5th place back.  John and I talked about loaning her the Tojo for the 2nd main event, but she's got a nice little car and the Tojo is.........well to be kind a piece of junk.  It sounds like everything is going to fall off  and it's so underpowered we were afraid she'd get out there and either be in the way or get hurt.  Besides John wouldn't have gotten to drive.  LOL

The donkeys were yelling when we got home.  We weren't any later than usual, but they seemed to think we were. 

Wish today was a day of rest, but Courtney is suppose to be here sometime later to do some trimming.  If things go as usual, she'll get here at feeding time...!!! LOL

COURTNEY MIGHT MAKE IT THIS MORNING.....!!

KENTUCKY STAGECOACH BEING FERRIED ACROSS RIVER 1910

That girl has more car trouble than anyone I know.  It seems like she's always in crisis because of vehicles breaking down.  She says she'll make it, we'll see........!!! LOL

Don't like seeing ice on the bird water every morning.  Of course as soon as the sun gets up it quickly disappears, which is a good thing.  Still putting on fly masks, the flies that have survived are vicious and determined.

Pepper has gone quite awhile without getting down on his right side, thank goodness.  Not sure what the difference is, but he is laying down on his left side.  Saw him yesterday in the big dusting area by the pens, with his two girls, Coquette and Penny.  At least he seems to think they are his girls, although they ignore him for the most part.  They were all 3 laying down enjoying the warm sand I guess.  

I'm racing tonight, plan on wearing my long jons, I really hate to get cold, and as soon as the sun goes down it will get chilly.  Jamie Williams a photographer from Tucson is planning on coming to the races tonight and will be taking pictures and also riding with me in the heat race.  Don't know if she plans on taking pictures during the race or not.  I doubt it, even though the passengers are strapped in with a racing harness, they don't have a steering wheel, so they usually try to find something to hang on to. 

If anyone would like to volunteer to help during the Open House the 7th and 8th of December, let me know.  Don't need a lot of people, but if it's just John and I, it gets a little hectic. 

FLY MASKS ARE DISAPPREARING FAST.....!!!

I had to get in touch with Renee at Colorful Equine and place an order.  It wasn't too bad until Boaz and Wister came home.  Since then fly masks are getting torn up and disappearing at a rapid rate.  And the ones that aren't disappearing have holes in them usually right over an eye of course......!!!  I think the last I heard John said there are at least 7 masks out there somewhere.

He actually spent most of Sunday walking all over back and forth in a grid looking for masks.  Didn't find one mask, which was really disappointing.  But the good thing is, John got a lot of exercise...!!!  Not sure he would agree. 

John picked up Penny's feet yesterday morning and she was a perfect lady.  Except for not picking up quickly everything else went well.  She did pick up, but hasn't learned that when you grip the fetlock you want to pick up.  Molly learned that so well, when I was treating her thrush, that little foot literally flew up, which was rather surprising the first time or two.  

Courtney is suppose to come out Thursday to do some trimming.  Tomorrow morning Lysa is going to pick up Penny's feet.  If that goes well, I guess we'll see how she does with Courtney and real hoof trimming.  She really does seem to want to cooperate and since we've been very careful to try to make her feel safe and comfortable around us, I hope that will all transfer to whoever is working with her. 

38 DEGREES, UGH....!!!!

Glad to see his donkeys are appreciated

Well I guess we should expect "cooler" weather since it is October, but I don't have to like it.  The days are almost perfect, but as soon as the sun goes down, it gets chilly in a hurry.  I'll be racing tonight and am seriously thinking of wearing long jons.  I would rather sweat than shiver.....!!! 

Got a call from Mocha and Tucker's Mom yesterday.  They did live in Las Cruces, New Mexico, but have moved to Lordsburg, N.M. which is just about 60 miles from here.  January has never been here, said she plans on coming over to see our donkeys soon.  Of course we will go over as soon as we get a chance to see how much Tucker has grown.  She said they are spoiled rotten, which isn't a big surprise.  Tucker is 2 years old and still smaller than Mocha.  I don't know how much more he will grow, since he was premature he might always be small.  His daddy Beau, wasn't very big either.  They have the run of 62 acres of pecan orchards with great Pyrenees dogs as playmates and January to anticipate their every want or need...!!!! LIFE IS GOOD.......!!!!  LOL

We talked about not participating in the Open House this year, but have about decided to go ahead.  There's a lot of people that come back year after year and we hate to disappoint them.  We will need volunteers to help, Saturday and Sunday, December 7th and 8th, if anyone in the area would like to come out for a few hours to show people around.  If interested, let me know:  hiestand08@mtecom.net  This year if I can get the feed room cleaned up we're going to leave the dutch door open, so people can see the donkey's favorite room.  They all know where the "chow" comes from, if I have the door open, there are always heads inside watching me.  Max the big red horse was big enough he could take the lids off some of the cans, which added a sense of adventure to the whole operation.  

Penny did real good yesterday with her feet, I picked all 4 up and held them till I decided to put them down, while scraping with a hoof pick.  She was just fine.  I have been using a clicker and she really knows what that means, which helps I'm sure.  Tomorrow John is going to see if she is willing to let him pick up feet.  If that goes well , then we'll see if Lysa can pick them up Monday when she's here to clean pens.  Then the next barrier will be when Courtney comes to trim.  Will Penny let her pick up feet?  Guess we'll find out.....!!!

BACK HOME AGAIN.........!!!!

WISTER DOESN'T EVEN LOOK LIKE A BABY ANYMORE

BOAZ HASN'T FORGOTTEN HOW TO LICK THE CORRAL PANELS

RUTHIE OBVIOUSLY REMEMBERED HOW TO BEG FOR TREATS

You know the old saying about the "best laid plans of mice and men, etc, etc"?  I guess that's why we try not to plan anything that has to be done in a certain way by a certain time.  

The plan was to "hop" over, pick up the little family and come home.  Ruthie and Wister came right up to us, put halters on them and they basically hopped in the trailer.  Karla has been working with Wister's leading and cooperation, so I guess he wanted to show he's been paying attention.  

Unfortunately Boaz was standing off, watching all this and made a decision that, he was satisfied where he was and didn't want to go anywhere else.  They have 5 acres over hill and dale and we saw most of it before Boaz finally gave up.  He wasn't the least bit interested in interacting with John and I.  Rodney was OK, as long as Boaz's "rules of engagement" were followed.  Basically, he'd come around the trailer where Ruthie and Wister were, while staying at least 20 feet from humans.  He's always been such a good boy and usually isn't any problem.  Rodney managed to get a rope around his neck, I got a halter on him, with a lead, and away he went.  It took about an hour before he decided we weren't going to give up and he let Rodney get ahold of his halter.  We walked him to the trailer with John and Rodney having a lead on either side, so if he decided to take off, they might have a chance of stopping him.  I came behind him, just to encourage forward motion, and once we were there, he went in the trailer pretty easy.  

John and I double led him to his pen, and he sulked until time to feed.  When we fed, he wouldn't eat, more sulking, wouldn't even look at us, just stood looking off in the distance.  He's always been a people donkey and this morning he's more like his old self.  I guess he just wanted us to realize running on 5 acres with yummy weeds to eat, was just fine with him.  John let them out at bedtime last night and they came right in this morning, so I guess we're back to normal.  

John noticed when all the other donkeys and mules came in yesterday afternoon, they all went over to greet Ruthie and Wister in their pen and basically ignored Boaz.  Not sure what that means but we did notice it.  In fact Rusty the white mule stood by Wister's pen until John finally "insisted" he go in his own pen.  He hung around Wister a lot when he was little.  I've heard of mules stealing babies, I don't think he ever tried anything like that, but he did like to be around a little baby.  

This morning I started doing a little clicker training with Penny.  I figured when she heard the clicker she'd take off, but it didn't seem to be a problem.  Since she hates ropes and halters, I tried using the halter as the target.  It didn't take her long to touch the halter, I click and John give her a cookie.  I usually use grain or something really small in my hand.  She is missing teeth and has a hard time grasping small pieces of anything, so it's one click, one animal cracker I guess.  

She's pretty good on her left side both front and back.  I picked both feet up and held them up for a few seconds.  Right side she kicked out with the back one.  Nothing like when she first came, it was just a warning, but I got on her verbally and she let me pick it up a little bit.  The right front is the one that she tries to collapse on me if I try to pick it up.  We got it done after 3 or 4 collapses, and she finally stood pretty good.  

I think we're making progress with her.  She seems very quick to pick up what we want to do.  I don't think it will be very long before she "gets it" and we can move on to getting her feet trimmed.  I hope she isn't going to only be good with just John and I and think of Courtney as a threat.