BOY, I'M GLAD THAT'S DONE.......!!

 My back and hands are glad this is over.  I won't be using either the rest of the day.........LOL  This is Coquette on drugs..........!!!  It's a good thing I just went ahead and just gave her the Dormosedan, rather than try to reason with her.  Even drugged, she tried to be uncooperative, but couldn't override the stuff.  She would have been a lot of fun without drugs, I'm sure. 

BEFORE

Quite a difference huh?  Her stored fat also shows up much easier.  This poor girl has been on a diet since she got here, almost 3 years ago, she only gets 4 pounds of hay a day and all she can find.  She must be finding plenty, I know she runs all the pens looking for leftovers as soon as we let her out twice a day.  In fact when we turned her loose, she went directly to Penny's bunk to pick up scraps and she was still pretty groggy. 

AFTER

IT'S AMAZING HOW MUCH HAIR COMES OFF ONE DONKEY.  WE'VE GOT MORE THAN THE LOCAL BIRDS CAN HAUL OFF, THAT'S FOR SURE........!!!  lol

MY FAVORITE PAST TIME..........NOT.........!!!

Our summer temperatures are headed for the Stratosphere, it's suppose to be 113* tomorrow.  We've got rather spoiled the last couple of years with relatively comfortable heat indexes, but this summer is starting out with a bang......!!!  Earlier this afternoon it was 108.3* in the back yard....!! That probably isn't real accurate, if you walk outside it's like walking into an oven.  

When Coquette came in earlier this month she had long tangled hair.  I started grooming on her to see if the hair would shed out, but she was hanging onto most of it.  I decided to go ahead and body clip her & this morning was the day.  We had a family out for a tour, which meant that by the time we got around to clipping it was getting pretty hot.  

Our plan of attack was to put a halter on her, tie her up and clip her.  Hmmmm......."me:" thinks she's never even seen a clipper, let alone had it used on her reluctant body.  

Shaggy girl

Time to get rid of all that excess hair......!!!

I have some Dormosedan and thought about using it, but didn't.  Should have.........!!!!  The problem with it.....you put a dab under their tongue and it takes 30-45 minutes to take effect.  It was already hot enough to cook an egg on a rock, and we have the squeeze, so got her in there, and I started trying to use clippers around the bars with her moving most of the time. 

I have a great set of clippers, Steward Oster Clipmaster, that Daisy's family gave us when she came to live with us.  But in exchange for having a wonderful pair of clippers I have to put up with the fact that they are large and heavy, which is hard to deal with under normal circumstances.  Wrestling around the corral panels, really made for a fun filled experience, for all three of us.......!!!

Daisy and I have a deal, she stands as still as possible, I get done as soon as I can, and we don't need John.  Coquette hasn't learned the game, so it took a lot longer and John had to stand by and help to control the situation.  We finally got done, not a great job but she should be a lot cooler.  For awhile we thought she was going to have a line of long hair down her side, because she insisted on leaning on the corral panel, so I couldn't get the clippers where they needed to be.  

 Don't look too close

I'm sure she was looking for me to THANK ME...........NOT...!!

She looks rather like she went thru a buzz saw, there is no way you can get a good clip, if you don't have total access to the body, so you can run nice even rows with the clippers.  Too much starting and stopping and you end up with tuffs here and there.  She's got to be more comfortable though, which was the whole idea.  

I'm suppose to race tomorrow night.  Should be lots of fun, putting on my helmet, racing jacket, harnessing up, and sitting in staging until the race before us is over.  It's not too bad, IF, that race is ran clean with few yellow flags.  But if they have one of those races where they can't finish a lap without a yellow flag, we get to sit and "cook".  Oh well, we forget all about it once we're on the track.....!!! LOL

WHAT A MORNING, WHAT A MORNING.......!!!!

This morning was bandage changing day.  We started right after chores & finally got a new bandage on around noon........!!!!

Actually for her she was relatively cooperative, although as usual she wouldn't hold the foot still, just about the time you would be doing something important, she'd jerk the foot away from you.  

Our biggest problem was we couldn't get the bandage of Elastikon, & duct tape the clinic put on, off........!!!  We gnawed at it with just about everything we had that might cut & wasn't getting thru at all.  I finally called the clinic, talked to the vet, & she said she'd never had a problem cutting thru a bandage like that, using sharp scissors or a sharp pocket knife.  OK...........!!!!  I shared this information with John which really made his day, since he was the one in charge of getting the bandage off.  He finally made some progress using an exacto knife, yippee......!!!  Got all the wrappings off & saw her foot for the first time.  There is a gaping hole in the front, & a hole about the size of my thumb in the bottom.  I had to pack gauze into the holes to help prevent proud flesh from getting started.  Then the "drill" is, cover with gauze pads, brown gauze to hold them in place, diaper, duct tape boot, elastikon, more duct tape & more elastikon.  I've never done this much wrapping before & as I said she isn't the most cooperative little miss, actually BIG miss.  

We had her on a sheet, but in the soft ground, that didn't work very well, especially with her not standing still, & actually pawing to show her displeasure.  John got the brilliant idea of taking her in the garage on the concrete floor, so that's what we finally did.  Found a good use for last year's race car, that's what we tied her to, figured she couldn't squirm much tied up.  Worked great for the front end, although the rear end, where I was trying to work was still moving just fine, thank you very much.........GRRRRR.....!!!!   I finally used the last of my Dormosedan although it takes 30 minutes or so to take effect.  I think I got her bandaged before it took effect.  Called the local vet & she didn't have any, so I picked up some ACE from her when we went into town. 

I got a bandage on, we went to town to vote & she was laying down when we came back, so I haven't had a chance to see how the bandage is holding up. I've got my fingers crossed, the main thing is to not get dirt into those open places, until the hoof wall & sole grow out to cover them.  I certainly hope since this is going to be a long term operation, that Jenny gets a little more pleasant about the whole situation.  I'd hate to have to sedate her every 4 to 5 days.

The good news is the Underwood Horse Medicine is working great on her bed sores.  Don't know if they'll heal since she's still laying down a few hours every day, but I think I can keep them under control hopefully. 

Everyone else seems to be doing good, thank heavens.  I'm still doctoring Boaz's proud flesh on his knee, & it is finally starting to get smaller. 

Today was the start of the fly mask season for some of them.  I only put masks on the ones that have immune problems which seems to make them "fly candy".  I tried to put Tucker's baby mask on him, but it doesn't fit anymore.  The flies aren't very bad yet, & I put in an order last night to Colorful Equine for some new ones.  I thought I had enough for the new season, but when I started looking them over last night, I wondered why I even bothered to keep some, they were really tacky.