NOTHING IS EVER EASY I GUESS........!!!

Little Casper has been over at Lara and Vic's for a few days now.  For a little brat that doesn't like other animals, he sure has fretted, because he was over there and everyone else is over here. He has worn a path beside the fence that is close to a foot deep.  They said he wasn't eating or drinking and we've all tried to figure out how to fix the problem.  Someone mentioned getting him a goat, BUT, if he didn't like the goat, then what do we do, get the goat another goat friend.........LOL  I can see where this could turn into a real problem.  Since he tolerates the donkeys without trying to kill them, we thought about a donkey, but can't use any of ours, they know where home is, and it "ain't" next door.

I still have in the back of my mind the idea that he might get along with a molly mule or a mare.  Unfortunately I've racked my brain and all my friends that have horses or mules either have geldings or mares and geldings.  We already know he doesn't like geldings.  Kris that was fostering Rusty, has 3 aged molly mules, but I wouldn't want to put them into a situation, in case I haven't actually figured out an answer to the problem..........!!!

This morning John walked all the way across Burroland to check on the little guy.  John said he was actually away from the fence, but come just a running when he saw John.  John gave him a carrot and talked to him for awhile.  Lara came over and said he's actually settled down quite a bit and isn't hugging the fence quite as much, and is also eating and drinking.  So hopefully it's going to work out.

I'd still like to find someone willing to see if he will get along with a "girl", with no other "boys" involved.

This is a  picture of a rock squirrel, sitting in Julius' feed dish, packing his cheek pouches with cat food on the back porch.

We thought we had lost Julius this week.  He wasn't here for 3 days and nights, and finally showed up yesterday morning.  He was really spooky, John had cleaned up the back porch, we have friends bringing steaks to grill this afternoon..........YUM!  Julius took one look yesterday at the changes in his safe area and took off out of the back yard.  But this morning he was back and let John pet him, even came in the house for a few minutes.

John noticed someone had sprayed the back door screen, so we think a tomcat has moved into the neighborhood. John is going to set the live trap and if we catch him he will go to the vet for brain surgery.  Years ago when we were trying to catch Julius' mom Hobo, we managed to catch 3 tomcats before we caught her.  I don't know if they belonged to anyone or not, but if they did, when they went home they were walking different than when they left to explore..........!!!!  LOL 

YIKES IT'S AMOST THANKSGIVING, CHRISTMAS IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER..!

Holidays have become so commercialized, I almost dread them anymore.  I was in Walmart the other day and they already look like Christmas is NOW.   Even had a decorative sign saying only 30 some days until Christmas.  Guess I'm getting old.........!!!   LOL  

And poor Thanksgiving gets stuck between adults dressed up for Halloween and the Blitz of Christmas shopping.  Do people still make homemade costumes anymore?  I don't even think they had store bought costumes when I was a kid.  If they did, I never saw one.  

As for Thanksgiving, John has given me a pass, again, this year.  We will go out to eat, but I have promised him I'll cook a breast, so he can have sandwiches.  I think he likes that more than the original meal anyway, as long as there is lots of cranberry sauce, lettuce, onion and mayo.  

I am still checking Rosie's belly every day, but except for that I'm officially out of the doctoring business.  Her belly still has 3 areas that are scabbed over.  I have thought before she was about healed and the next thing I know those areas get bloody.  Have no idea exactly what it is, it's not down the middle, which is normal for ventral dermititis.  Earlier this summer I heavy dosed her with wormer in case it was neck worms.  But it didn't seem to make a difference.  The homemade salve made with DMSO and Nitrofurazone seems to help, but you have to keep using it past the time you think it's healing.  I guess next spring I am going to start doctoring before anyone has skin problems.

I'M IMPRESSED.......!!!

Those of you that know me personally, probably already know, it doesn't take a whole lot to amuse me. I have been blessed with curiosity, (thank you Daddy) and usually try to figure out a better way to do something......especially if it's something wasteful and/or messy.

The vet salve made with nitrofurazone and DMSO is messy.  If you scoop it up with a gauze pad, you usually get more than you want, "ie" wasteful and and more than you want usually ends up messy.  So I got the brilliant idea of putting it in a 60cc syringe with an end cap.

I'm so impressed with my "fix" I have to share it.  I can envision all sorts of salves than could probably be dispensed this way, as long as they are "runny".  There is one small problem.......getting the salve into the syringe.  This picture shows the 2 instruments I'm using.  The spoon is a tad too wide and the plastic knife is a tad too narrow, which is why I'm on a hunt for a tongue depresser.  Ellie in Florida said they have them at WalMart, 25 to a package.  Nice to know, but it would take me a LONG time to use that many, since I'm not a "use once and throw away" type of gal, goes back to that wasteful thing.  John has been to the doctor recently and I forgot to tell him to ask for one.  It was his primary care physician, which might actually have one.  Most of the specialists probably wouldn't unless it had something to do with their specialty.  His next appointment is with his gastrointerologist.  I know that isn't spelled right, but my spell checker isn't any help.....!!  Probably won't have one, but I'll send John with the request anyway. 

I'm down to only doctoring Rosie and Quilla, still checking the others each morning, but so far they are doing great.....!!!   

John is almost back to normal, except he doesn't like to kneel on that knee.  Yesterday he was working on my race car for next year.  One thing that has to happen is the key start has to be disabled, so we can start it with a button.  The wiring is inside the dashboard.  At his mature age he doesn't bend as well as he use to and in order to get underneath the dash, he had to take the steering wheel off and take the seat out.  Even then he said he got under there and almost couldn't get out.  It took a lot of squirming and using the roll cage to pull enough to get out.  I guess I'd have found him at feeding time, but by that time, he probably wouldn't have been very happy.   He did get the wiring out and the button installed, which is a good thing.  If he hadn't have accomplished his mission, he would have really been unhappy, I would imagine.....!!!  LOL

31 DEGREES THIS MORNING....!!

Not sure what these are, the info said India asses, they look like Kulans a type of Onager.  Onagers can not be tamed and are pretty dangerous to work with.  Peaceful Valley Donkey Rescue has 4 of them, they picked up as strays a few years ago.  Texas has canned hunt ranches, where people that don't want to waste a lot of time, can go and kill an animal of their choice.  The ones at PVDR probably escaped and of course the ranch wasn't going to go looking for them.  They have to be kept in special high pens because they can jump, anyone working with them have to be aware at all times of where they are.  Mark told me about one of the workers leaning on the fence on one side of their pen a few years ago, talking to someone.  This was a smaller pen only about 30 feet square and the Kulans were on the other side watching him.  He was talking, not paying attention and all of a sudden his arm had been bit and he had been kicked.  By the time he reacted, the Kulan was back with the others, watching him.  Mark said they never tame one little bit.  But they sure are a pretty animal.  

Still not having to put on fly masks, which is a good thing.  At the rate they were tearing them up and losing them, where we couldn't find them, we wouldn't have enough masks to last if the weather stayed warm enough to keep the flies happy.  I'll wait until after the holidays to order masks for next year.  I order in the winter, when Colorful Equine probably isn't as busy.

We had a little bit of excitement around here yesterday.  John and Doug were out doing whatever it is guys do and I was on the computer, as usual.  Doug comes in yelling, couldn't tell what he was yelling about, but it seemed important.   I finally understood that John had fell off the ladder and was laying on the ground.  Memories of about 4 years ago, flashed thru my mind, when John fell off a ladder in the courtyard and compound fractured his arm.  Sure enough, got out to the feed room, where they had been trying to run an antenna thru the roof and ceiling, and he's moaning on the ground.  Said it was his leg, so I started poking and prodding, didn't get much reaction thank goodness.  Although he was a little touchy with the muscle and tendon behind the knee.  Then he complained about his ribs.  Poked them a little bit and not much reaction, so we decided to get him up and standing.  That went good, and except for complaining about not being able to take a deep breath, he was good to go, even did chores.

This morning he's still complaining about breathing, had to cough a couple of times and didn't enjoy that.  But the leg is OK except when he turns the ankle.  So I think he's going to be OK.  Now as to what happened.  For quite awhile after the earlier fall, he wouldn't get on a ladder, then he started getting on one and I guess had become a little too complacent.  Doug had been holding the ladder, but John told him to go in the feed room and see if the antenna was coming thru the hole.  While Doug was gone, John over reached the ability of the ladder to stand on uneven ground and down he went.  I think it's a guy thing.......LOL

Had some real nice people out today to visit with the donkeys and do some grooming. Now that it's cooling off, we're starting to have more visitors.  The donkeys really enjoy getting groomed, some of them like Frijolita will yell and scream until someone grooms on her and then when they go on to someone else, she starts yelling again.  I think she got groomed 3 or 4 times.

I'M REALLY REALLY TIRED OF HEAT AND HUMIDTY

I hate to whine, but I'm really ready for our normal hot dry desert weather.  LOL  I don't really mind it, but it's terrible on the donkey feet.  Falena is still recuperating from her abscess.  Gus probably blew an abscess a couple of days ago.  And Gigi is really sore on her crippled front foot.  Unfortunately when they have an abscess or that's what you think is the problem, you can't give them any bute.  It would slow the process of the abscess opening, which in the long run would make the process last longer.  I've left a couple of messages for Tyler, but he hasn't called me back.  He will when he gets time, he stays pretty busy. 

Gigi isn't the easiest thing to work with, but this morning I decided to try to soak her foot in warm Epsom Salts water.  Got all my toys together and out we went.  I mixed the water in a small bucket, but took an IV bag, planning on putting her in the redneck squeeze, because she has been known to kick like a machine.  

John opened up the squeeze and started trying to get her to go in it, but she didn't want to move much.  She got to where we tie her up when Tyler comes to trim her feet and she stopped, wouldn't go any further.  I gave John the halter and she let him put it on her.  She likes him better than me for some reason.  Tied her there and prepared for a rodeo.  She wasn't much interested in me picking up her foot, but when I did I decided to try putting it in the bucket rather than the IV bag.  Wonders of all wonders she left it in, tried to take it out a couple of times, but for the most part stood very good.  We only did 10 minutes, didn't want to push our luck.  Then she didn't want to take her foot out of the bucket.  Tomorrow we'll try it again, with warmer water and a longer soaking time.  

I'll be racing tonight.  For the first time this year the Hornets will be qualifying.  That means we will run 2 timed laps and our time will be used to line us up for the main event.  After tonight we will only have 2 more point races for end of the year points.  I am in 7th place right now, but within striking distance of 5th place, if I have 3 good races and 6th and 5th place drivers don't.  I'm not wishing them any bad luck, but 5th is better than 7th.........!!!  LOL

They are also going to have a trailer race.  That means they can use any car or truck as a tow vehicle, and any type of trailer.  They paint them all up gaudy, last year they had a full size house trailer.  They aren't allowed to hit the tow vehicle, BUT, the trailer is fair game.  It really makes a mess, when it's over, there are trailer parts strung all around the track.  Needless to say, that's the last race of the night.....!!! 

MULES ARE DELIVERED

REBA AND RUSTY IN THE DRY LOT

            

These two are so "been there, done that", loading and hauling was no big deal.  Got to Kris' place in early afternoon and Ruthie started yelling when she saw the trailer.

This was later when Kris put some hay in the mangers so Reba and Rusty would know this is a good place.  Ruthie after the initial nose thru the fence and a squeal or two, was more interested in what Kris put in the manger.  

 Rusty is really interested in the grass around the edge.  Wait till he gets out on 20 acres of the stuff...!!

Rusty and Reba in their stall

Ruthie and Reba in the barn

I'm sure they will all get along just fine once they are out together.  Hopefully Ruthie will get over missing her mustang friend quickly.

This morning Falena, one of the girls that just returned from foster care a few weeks ago, came in limping and laying down.  I checked her feet and they weren't that warm, but she sure is acting like she is foundering.  I gave her some bute and we soaked her feet in IV bags of ice water.  I HATE MESQUITE BEANS......!!!!  And this year we have so many of them.  There aren't enough range cattle in the area to clean Burroland if John opens the gates, but we can't let the donkeys go over there I'm afraid.  It's like playing Russian Roulette, will they or won't they eat enough beans to cause laminitis?  I'm afraid if we continue to let them over there, they will.  So.........Burroland will be closed and most of them will only have access to the 10 acres, which isn't exactly lacking in mesquite beans either.  Noticed I said most..........some of them are already overweight, or have been foundered in the past, or in the case of Falena, might be a good candidate for foundering now.  Those will not be allowed out of the pens for however long it takes to get control of the mesquite problem.  They might all end up in the pens, and we'll be out on the 10 acres with a rake and wagon, raking up beans....which doesn't sound like much fun at all............!!

The donkeys usually aren't interested in the beans once they fall on the ground and lay for awhile.  The beans start turning dark and usually get worm holes in them.  I am really hoping that once we let them over there, if there are old dark wormy beans laying around, they won't bother them.  

We'll probably ice Falena's feet again this evening, hopefully we caught it early.

Penny seems to be back to normal, after her couple of days of acting sick.  

110* DEGREES THIS WEEK-END...!!

PANCHO AND I THINK SELENA.....DOUG NEEDS TO UPDATE HIS CAMERA DATE....lol

I sure am glad I'm not racing this week-end, it is suppose to be a scorcher....!!!  They say (which I always take with a grain of salt) that our El Nino this year will be very strong for the first time in 10 years or more.  If so it should be a good year for lots of rain.  

When I race I have to sit in staging before my race for as long as it takes for the race before mine to get finished.  When it's hot it is really hot in the car, with a fire suit and helmet on, even if the race ahead of mine is efficient.  Our good friend Larry will be racing, hopefully once the sun goes down it will cool off quick.  If it's humid it won't.......!!!

The donkeys are all doing pretty good, I can't get over how little doctoring I'm having to do, so far this year.  I only have about 5 that I have to doctor every day, and even then, no bloody sores and bandages like in the past.  Just places I have to keep covered with thuja zinc oxide.  I finished the 3 treatment, 2 weeks apart on the three I suspect might have neck worms.  Rosie is the worst one, she has 4 places on her belly that have to be doctored all summer every year.  I'm sorry to say her belly is still icky, but I don't think it's as bad as it has been in the past, so maybe the extra worming is helping.  

I finally broke down and bought cordless clippers.  So many times I run across mats or something that needs to be trimmed and it's not worth dragging out the "industrial" strength massive heavy duty clippers.  I usually just grab a pair of scissors and whack away.  On the long haired ones, like BlackJack he ends up looking rather moth eaten.  I've put it off, most clippers are for dogs or if they advertise for horses, they say for bridal paths, whiskers and fetlocks.  In other words probably not up to getting thru, sweaty matted donkey hair.  I went on e-bay and picked out 5 or 6 for John to read about and decide which one to try.  Of course he picked the most expensive one.  I don't know if he actually read up on each one, or just figured the more it costs the better it will work.  LOL  Anyway when the clippers get here, my first victim will be BJ.  The little bit of Poitou background he has makes his hair long and very fine, so of course it mats easily, especially in his armpits.  I really hate to go under there, with a pair of scissors, it's too easy to gather up skin.  He's really very good to work with and even forgives easily as long as there are cookies to be had, but I hate to hurt them if it isn't necessary.  

Salena and Falena have settled in really well.  It was almost like they remembered the routine.  Unfortunately right now we have no routine.  The beans are going into full ripen and fall mode and getting them to come in and eat hay and mush is a battle.  They are only getting about 3 or 4 hours access to Burroland each day, which they seem to think is unacceptable.  They get out about 1-2pm and are expected to show up for feeding around 5pm.  NOT HAPPENING..............!!!  John has to go over there 4 or 5 times and find a few at a time.  I've tried to show him how to do it effectively.......LOL  I go over with a riding crop, find Tula, start swinging the crop, jumping around like a mad woman, screaming at the top of my lungs.  She and all the ones with her, know it's time to go to the pens, and they take off at a rapid rate.  Along the way the others usually catch up, so I end up with the whole herd, running like their lives depend on it.  It's up to John and Doug to get them in the pens, because I've usually shot my wad on finding Tula and doing my "I'm going to kill you" dance, and end up slowly following them.  If I have to go find them, they better get moving.  John will find them and tell them to go.  So they go, but at their chosen speed.........maybe.  If we have to get involved in making them do, what they know they should do, from my point of view, it shouldn't be on their terms, they need to "fear" for their lives...........LOL

RAIN ISN'T ALWAYS CONVENIENT, BUT IT ALWAYS APPRECIATED IN THE DESERT

We must officially be in the monsoon, we've had 4 or 5 days of afternoon rains passing through, with ongoing humidity in the 50's, which for us is high.  I think the weatherman says we have to be above 55% to get rain.  It's appreciated.......BUT.........why does it have to usually be at feeding time.  LOL  Not good for the people and not much better for the donkeys.  Some of them will not stay in the shelters with rain making noise, so we either put their hay in the rain, or they stand out in the rain and eat later.  

John got to search for a fly mask this morning, Pancho, Ruger and Wister takes turns losing them, I think John said there are 3 out there he can't find, not to mention polo wraps and leggings.  The leggings will be impossible to find except by accident, once it rains on them, not only are they pretty flat, but they become mud color.  

My next race is suppose to be the 4th.......but..........I still haven't heard back from the track on the tire problem.  John has the car ready to go, but it won't go, if we can't put some more camber in.  I do plan on being in the pits and if anyone asks me where my car is, I will be more than happy to tell them...........LOL

Saddik's trip to the vet went pretty good.  He is no longer anemic, although we are finishing out the Vit K.  BUT, we brought up the fact that he seems to cough a lot, so they sent off blood to check for Valley Fever.......SIGH....!!  He's already on Doxycycline, just in case, probably find out Monday. The vet still thinks, he probably ate a rodent that ate rat poison.

SO FAR, SO GOOD.......!!

 GOLDFIELD NEVADA 1904

 
Saddik, was back to normal the next morning, doesn't even act like anything happened.  He sure was glad to get his breakfast, we broke it up into a couple of feedings, so he wouldn't get sick.  He spent the night in the stock trailer and we did sneak him some water.  It's just too hot here to have an animal going without water for too long.  

So he's back to playing with the donkeys and trying to take off fly masks.  That seems to be a fun thing to do, no matter what species is involved.

We're heating up again, suppose to be in the 100's for the next few days.  Usually by this time I am fighting skin problems all over the place.  So far this year I've had a few outbreaks, Boaz has been the worse so far and a few days of Underwood Horse Medicine seemed to take care of the problem, the hair is growing in really well.  Haven't had any bloody legs, because we covered legs before it became a problem.

Well, forget that....!!!  I took a time out to go doctor after everyone got thru eating.  A couple of days ago Boaz lost one of his socks.  His leg looked good and I didn't bother to put another sock on.  When John and I went out to doctor (he's my vet tech...LOL) the 1st thing I noticed was Boaz's leg from knee to hoof looked like it had been painted with shellac.  Got some water and a rag and started trying to soften it up.  As it softened the hair started sloughing off to slick slimy skin.  Only one little bloody spot thank goodness.  This is the same thing Cisco has had in the past and looks different than what Boaz had on his body that is healing.  SIGH..........  Thank goodness my new supply of Underwood showed up earlier in the week, looks like I'll be going thru quite a bit of it in the next few days. 

Coquette usually has skin problems like Boaz had, but clipping her seemed to halt that problem, at least so far.  She also hasn't had any dandruff, at least that's what it looked like.  Of course now we can see all her fat pockets, so now she is on Magnesium Oxide again.  She doesn't mind the Mag/Ox but she sure doesn't like the short rations.  Of course she knows who leaves hay, so when we let her out, she runs the pens, running off anyone that got there first. 

I've got a problem with my stable fly trap.  The way it is built lizards can get in and of course can't get out.  So far my murder rate is 3, saved 4.  That isn't an acceptable ratio, so I'm think of taking it down for awhile.  I'm not really catching that many flies, they seem to be more prevalent later in the summer. 

MEN ARE FROM MARS, WOMEN ARE FROM VENUS OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT......!!!

As far as interpreting what is going on with the race car.  We are having a real problem with keeping right front tires on the race car.  Everybody and I do mean everybody is trying to figure it out.  A few days ago John unlocked the differential by removing 1/2 of it.  Not sure who's idea that was, but he jumped on it to try in practice Friday night.  Also playing with the tire pressures and using the springs to redistribute weight.  

MEET AND GREET AT THE TRACK, HAVE NO IDEA WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT

When I went out on the track, the 1st thing I noticed was I hadn't got the steering wheel locked, which means it was loose enough I could have removed it from the column.  Not a good thing.......so I limped around the track to the guy that's waves us off and on the track and asked him to please lock it.  Geesh!  Actually I couldn't tell much difference between how it handled with or without the steering wheel, it was that scary.

When I came in I told John it was squishy, which I immediately figured out, isn't a technical term to guys.  LOL  I thought it explained the problem pretty good, but obviously not.  So he played with the tire pressure and sent me out again.  When I came back in he said I was about 2 seconds off on my speed.  And I told him it was still squishy.  We did this 3 or 4 times, he actually gained some knowledge about the tire pressures and the right front didn't start chunking, so we loaded up and came home.  

The next morning John unloaded the car off the trailer and drove it around the driveway a couple of times, came in and asked how I could drive it?  AHA......vindication......!!!  I asked if it was squishy, but he didn't see the humor,  he did say taking out one side of the differential wasn't probably a good idea.  

I don't race again until the 20th of June, so he has time to play with it.  I sure hope he can figure out how to keep a tire on it, or I probably won't get to finish the main event.  

Seems like I'm doing really good on skin problems, so far.  Of course it isn't really that hot yet and the humid monsoons haven't started, but if I can stay ahead of them, maybe we won't have so many open sores.  Penny will finally allow me to re-wrap her hind legs with polo wraps without her being in the redneck squeeze.  John pets on her and tells her what a good girl she is, and she will actually stand still.  When she came here about 3 years ago, she was a very scared fear kicker, any and everything would cause her to kick viciously and a lot of times we couldn't even figure out what caused it.  These days she will just avoid you if she can.  We don't let her get away with that, and eventually she gives up.  She is still very protective of her head and face, we don't know for sure what caused her broken jaw.  My WAG (wild ass guess), because of the way she acts about her front legs, I think her front legs were roped, which is unusual.  I also think if that is true, that her jaw probably got broke from her front legs being jerked out from under her.  And I'm sure there was no sympathy given if they did break her jaw, they probably didn't even notice.

Dogs all seem to be doing good.  Anubis is back to normal, and Boofer is back to sitting in the driveway, barking at nothing, so I guess life is good.  I'm anxious to see how his blood test comes out Wednesday.  Doug is going to keep Saddik in his RV Tuesday night, because he can't have anything to eat or drink after midnight in preparation for his "corrective" surgery.  LOL  He's been real good about letting Doug know when it's time to go out, don't know if someone has worked with him, or if he just wants to be a good house guest.  Doug says he loves to sit on the couch and watch TV, or sprawl on the bed.  He's big enough if he sprawls, he's probably got more than his share of the bed.  

THIS PICTURE MAKES ME LAUGH.....!!

Hope it makes you laugh too.  You have to admit it's certainly different.......!!

The test for Valley Fever came back for Anubis and it was negative, which is a good thing.  Of course that leaves us not knowing what is wrong with her.  My personal opinion is stroke, the vet won't say.  If we want to continue trying to figure it out, we'll have to take her to one of the specialty clinics in Tucson.  We went to one of them with one of the cats years ago and since they have all the fancy machines you can get any type of test needed.  

This is how she looked yesterday, very lethargic, although the predizone (spelling doesn't count) is keeping her appetite good.   She finally went poo today after 3 days and quite a bit of pumpkin.  And today she isn't quite as rocky on her feet.  She was stumbling so much she would fall on her face.  I left her harness on, so we could pick her up when she fell down.  

Today she is stronger and more engaged in her surroundings.  She also has more control over her tongue.  It would go out the right side of her mouth and she didn't seem to have the ability to pull it back.  Today was better.  I'll watch her over the week-end and see if she continues to improve, before calling the clinic.  

Poor Rusty the mule.  He's still gimping around on his bowed tendon and swollen fetlock.  He got them at different times on the same leg.  My experience on bowed tendons is, you can treat it, keep them penned and it takes weeks, or you can let them decide on how much they move around and it takes weeks.......!!!  At least for donkeys.  Since he's a mule, I hope he has enough sense to take care of himself like a donkey and not have to be babied like a horse.  He seems to be doing OK, spends time laying down and hanging around the pens.  He likes to slowly paw the air and look sad.  I've told him I can't fix it, but he seems to think I should.  

I finished clipping Quilla today.  I got a little bit better with the clippers, finally got them adjusted, boy does that make a difference..........LOL  Daisy will be next and then Coquette.  Coquette is going to be a challenge.  I'm trying to decide whether to give her a chance to behave herself, or just go ahead and drug her.  The last time I wish I had drugs........!!  

Tonight at feeding time John said Boaz had a bloody place on his lip.  Sure enough, I took 5 or 6 habronema larvae out of a place about the size of a dime.  Didn't notice it yesterday, it's at the back corner and hard to see.  Just finished a 5 day Pancur Power Pac worming for Rosie.  Not sure a Power Pac kills habronema, but figure it can't hurt.  

We're doing pretty good so far with skin problems.  I wish someone would do a study on the link of summer skin problems and poor immune systems on equine.  And find a cure............!!! 

GOOD NEWS............!!!

I got my computer back and he didn't have to re-format it............so I didn't have to reload everything, and try to figure out where everything was...........YIPPEE.....!!!  I'm still trying to catch up from being without a computer for 3 or 4 days.  I"m not sure what it is I do, but there does seems to be a lot of it to catch up on.........!!!!  

Yesterday we took Wister and Ruger out to Kartchner Caverns as planned for a day of being available for petting and hugging.  I was very proud of them, first of all, they hopped in the trailer like veterans, even though they had just been dragged away from their morning hay.  When John and Doug got them out there, they had to be tied to the trailer, while the pen was set up.  John said they wiggled a little, but mostly because they were gawking and  looking around. 

They did great, until late afternoon.  They had been in the little pen all day and the parade of “admirers”  had slowed down and they were full of timothy pellets.  So full in fact, we had to stop people from feeding them pellets, Wister was so full he refused to eat anymore.  For a young donkey that is definitely not normal behavior.  Since there wasn't anything else to do, they started trying to play fight in a 12x12 pen.  But other than that, they were perfect gentlemen.  Little kids with tiny hands and fingers fed them pellets all day and not one accident, one little boy was only 2 years old.

We hurried home, changed from donkey rescue to racing clothes and headed for the track.  Doug and Amy fed for us, otherwise we wouldn't have gotten there before the races started.  John was pitting for friend that runs a Pro-stock, I just went along, so I wouldn't miss anything.  

Didn't get home until about 2am.  Needless to say today isn't very dynamic for either of us.  We mostly just try to stay awake until bedtime..........!!!   LOL

John has been busy tweeking this and changing that on my car for the next race the 2nd of May. I don't think they are going to have a practice, so I probably won't get a chance to try all these new ideas he and everyone else has.  He says it's ready to go except we have to go to Tucson this week to get a tire to replace the one I wore down to the steel belts in 17 laps.  We're going to try a harder compound, the softer tires grip the track better, but if they won't last 25 laps, I'll have to give up grip for longevity.

Everyday there are more flies.  Tomorrow I'll put out one of my stable fly traps.  Stable flies will not go to the normal fly trap bags.  They feed on protein and like to feed close to the ground, which is why they spend so much time on legs below the knee.   I'm hoping if I start catching them this early, maybe they won't be so bad.  I do have Quilla's legs covered already, his bare legs are just too tempting.

FINALLY........SPRING

I guess I should pay more attention to the passage of time.  I think this has been the longest I've gone without updating the blog.  The last week hasn't been all that busy, not sure what happened.

We've been in the 90's the last few days, the mesquite have leafed out like crazy and the weatherman says get use to it. Still not putting on fly masks although there are flies out, they just aren't bad enough to start with the masks...........yet........!!!  

It sure helps with Doug here to help with feeding and being here to let the donkeys out, when we come in late, like after the races.  This week-end when we got home at about 2am and I opened the door to get out of the truck, I heard this little tiny pathetic voice calling from the direction of Cheyenne's pen.  Sure enough she had gotten left in at 10pm when Doug let them out.  That isn't the 1st time someone has gotten left in, just the 1st time for Doug.......LOL  We have 4 pens that are actually a pen within a pen and it's pretty easy to forget, if you get distracted.  She was happy to get out and the other 3 minis were waiting by the pen for her, so they could go do donkey business.  

I've had to start keeping thuja Zinc Oxide on Cisco's sheath, even though he's getting benedryl every day.  That will be an all summer project, otherwise he gets itchy and scoots on the ground until it's bloody.  Of course that makes the flies happy............SIGH

It's about time to think about body clipping Quilla and Daisy, my 2 Cushings kids.  The last couple of nights have only been down in the 40's, so if we don't have any nights in the 30's for the next week, I'll probably get out the clippers and relieve them of that excess hair.  When Quilla came back from Claire's he had only been on pergolide a few days.  One thing I noticed was his hair was curly and sticking out all over the place.  We decided to up his pergolide as he was still on a minimum dose.  A few days after the change I noticed his hair was laying down, it's still long, but it didn't look quite so wild.  Must be the pergolide.

Tomorrow we are taking Cheyenne and I think Lynn to see the donkey dentist.  Cheyenne quids quite a bit.  She is fed a mush, John gives her a handful of hay for fun, but she chews it up and spits it out for the most part.  Recently both Daisy and Penny have quidded off and on.  Daisy is 30 years old, although she's always passed her check-ups and of course Penny has had a broken jaw.  But right now both of them aren't quidding, and John has found some quids in Lynn's bunk, so it will be her turn.  

Well the races Saturday night weren't too bad I guess, although my battery quit with 7 laps to go.  With the newer cars that have computers, the battery has to be working or the car won't run.  This is the 2nd time this has happened, last year at the dirt track it quit before I even got on the track........!!! John's tried new batteries, using the alternator, not using the alternator and even has added a switch, so we can disconnect the battery when the car is just sitting.  It will do just fine for awhile, which lulls us into thinking it's fixed...........then........SURPRISE...........!!!   Poor John, he felt so bad.  BUT, it might have been a blessing in disguise.  All the tires were brand new and you know how long it takes to wear out a new tire 30,000 miles or more......... It only took 18 laps on a 3/8's mile track to take all the tread off the outside of the right front tire, it was down to the metal cords.  It probably wouldn't have made 7 more laps without blowing out, which is a one way trip to the wall.  I'm really not interested in meeting the wall, if I don't have to........!!! 

We took the car into our son, Rod today.  He called tonight and said the spring on the right front is probably original and is very weak, which means the tire was rolling over on the side, especially in the corners.  John has changed struts many times, and after 3 years of pretty rough dirt track racing, probably should have thought the springs might need to be replaced too, but it's hard to keep track of all this stuff sometimes. Besides the stupid battery problem is very distracting.........

OBTW, we chickened out on the termite tenting project.  A friend had treated for termites and had studied the pros and cons of different methods.  She had even checked with the UofA and after all the rigmarole  of finding a place to keep 4 cats, and making sure all food stuffs were kept safe, and at least 3 days of major disruption, there is no guarantee that next week a swarm of dry wood termites wouldn't come in again.  Besides our house is not conventional, we don't have open spaces in the walls and an attic.  We have 2 foot thick adobe walls, and our ceiling is the roof, with a coating of painted foam covering it.  So there is no place that needs to be permeated by the gas they use.  We know of at least 3 different areas in the house, but they can be treated locally by a different method.  Need to call the company Susan recommended this week and get the little devils sent to termite heaven.....!!! LOL

HAY DAY TODAY.......!!!

 One of BlackJack's relatives, look at those ears......!!! 

Today we got hay delivered.  I was really surprised it only went up about 60 cents a bale.  This time of year can really sock it to you, in price sometimes.  A truckload is lasting us about 5 months.  Amy that cleans pens, gets hay to feed her critters, so if that wasn't happening I guess a load would last us about a year.   Chris doesn't mind driving her squeeze out here to unload a split load, which is 1 trailer, out of 2 trailers, so that works out great.

Haven't heard from Diane on how Ruthie did without the boys, last night, so I assume no news is good news. I think I heard Wister bray a couple of times last night.  He hardly ever brays, so we aren't sure it was him, but it wasn't a bray we recognize.  This morning he was busy playing with Pancho before John went out, and later on he was playing with Ruger, so I don't think he is too traumatized.  Ruger might be a little shocked though, last night John saw Wister attempting to nurse on Ruger.  John said Ruger took off in a hurry........LOL

MY WORLD IS A LITTLE BIT SADDER WITH PEPPER GONE.........!!

 2005

Last night at bedtime he was down in his pen with just John and I to try to get him up. We tried pulling him up with the halter and John helping his back end, but weren't accomplishing much.  John went to get the tractor so we could move him on a 4x8 piece of plywood dragging behind the tractor.  Went to all that trouble and I guess he decided no ride for him.  He managed to flop around and get on his feet.  We had to steady him for awhile until he got his legs organized.  We encouraged him to go down into the wash with animal crackers, which was fine with him.  The ground was so much softer in the wash and was a good place for him to lay down or just stand.  So what does he do..........follows us back up the side of the wash, thought we should have some more animal crackers, which of course we did. 

This morning he was in his pen waiting for breakfast, I of course made sure he had extras and many more Fruit Loops than he normally got with his pergolide.  We were trying to watch for when he got done eating, but he managed to lay down before we could stop him.  We  wanted to get him out of the pen, where it would be easier for John to use the tractor to move him, but as usual, Pepper did his own thing. 

Dr. Nancy and Tanya got here on time and for the most part it was an easy transition.  She had to find the vein thru his old tough hide and he got tired of being poked and fussed a little, wouldn't have expected anything else from him.  He never was one to "go along to get along".

2010

 Pepper came here in 1997 or 1998.  He had been a family roping donkey.  I think that means they didn't dally the rope when they roped him.  You can see thru the years he got much greyer.  He actually was black in his hey day according to the owner.  

We have no idea how old he was, but he was here 16-17 years and was with that family till the kids were grown.  On tours we usually told the people he was on the wrong side of 35, which was probably pretty close.  

If determination and enjoying life counted for anything he would have lived forever.  But between the cracked hip, blown knee and 2 feet that were a jumbled mess inside, not to mention Cushings disease, even though the ears were up (never saw them any other way) and the eyes bright as diamonds, it was time to let him rest. 

I hope he is running on strong legs as he was many years ago, with those ears up and finding all the mesquite beans he can hold.  We always said, he could always hear a bean pod hit the ground at 100 yards.  They are all special, but some are just really special.  

  2013

PEARS............????

One of the neighbor's gives out lots of fruit boxes to employees and clients and had a lot of pears left over this year.  He brought a few down a couple of times after Christmas.  Yesterday he called and asked if we'd like some more.  BlackJack is the only one that doesn't like them.  Of course he's the one that will eat chicken nuggets and pizza if given the chance.  He was raised with a little boy, consequently his eating habits needed a little tweeking when we got him. Everyone else thinks they are just fine. They are a little messy to put in their feed bowls, since the bowls are piled on top of each other for ease of carrying and ripe pears are rather soft. 

This time Larry brought probably 25 pounds of pears in assorted stages of ripeness.  I fed them last night and then remembered a friend has a pig she is fattening up for......... well you know.  I have a bet that this is not going to happen, she keeps talking about how cute he is and when it got cold I told her he needed a blanket.  So now he has a blanket.  Does this sound like she is going to be in charge of his murder and then eat the body........??  LOL

She will be here today, so I'm going to see if she thinks the piggie would enjoy the pears, I'm pretty sure he will, pigs don't turn down anything that can be eaten.  I guess I'm a terrible mom, not willing to go thru the mess so they can have a little treat.  Since they all should be on a diet if it wasn't so cold, I don't really feel too bad about cheating them out of a few goodies. Well, not much anyway.....!!!

Janice and a couple of friends are here today grooming and leveling out some dirt in the pens.   I don't know where the dirt goes, I guess it gets picked up with poo and pretty soon you have an indentation that has to have dirt hauled in with the tractor.  However it happens, I hate to step in the holes.  I was going to mention the "pee ponds", and actually did mention it a couple of days ago to John.  Didn't get a "that's a good idea" back.  They have to dug out with the backhoe until you get to a level that hasn't become saturated with pee.  Then it all has to be filled back in with fill from the wash.  Sha'ba and Max the horse had terrible pee ponds, I don't think either of them ever went anyplace else on the property. 

  Most of the donkeys have very good potty manners, at least for peeing, pooing not so much.  Frijolita is a prime example.  She has a pee pond right in the middle of her shelter, which isn't very big.  If we try to put her bunk in the shelter she will throw it out, because that's where her potty place is.  She will hold it till she gets to her spot.  Road apples, she's not so fussy about, she can string a line of poo 60 feet or more..........one at a time.  I've told John walking probably makes the system work better, he thinks she does it just to be irritating......!!!  LOL

GIGI

Gigi has been struggling since Tyler took the shoe off her right front foot.   I checked her foot a couple of days ago, it's not hot, started at her shoulder and felt all the way down to her foot.  Didn't find anyplace that was ouchy, so I don't know what's going on.  I've got a call in for Tyler, but haven't heard back so far.  She's laying down like she did when she first came here.  Hopefully she isn't getting an abscess.  I can't imagine trying to soak her foot, although she did let me lift her foot to make sure she didn't have something caught in the bottom.  Of course that was after John put her in the "redneck" squeeze, she just will not allow us to do anything with her out of the squeeze.

This year for Thanksgiving we went to some friend's house and had a great time.  Unfortunately when you go out  for  the holiday there isn't any leftovers, which John is always ready to tell me about.  SIGH......!!!  I promised him that I would fix him a holiday dinner sometime between  Thanksgiving and Christmas.   Well I looked up and discovered Christmas is coming pretty quick.  So today is the day I make good on my promise.  I cheated by cooking a turkey breast and getting John  2 drumsticks, since he loves the drumsticks and sandwiches.  And I'm cooking all the other stuff that goes with it, dressing, potatoes, gravy, waldorf salad, and of course pie.  Was going to do pumpkin pie, one of his favorites, but my frozen pie crust looked like a road map with all the cracks.  You can use a cracked, put together crust with a pudding filling, not with pumpkin.  I learned years ago the crust will float to the top, which makes for an interesting visual.  So it's one of my favorites, chocolate........!!!  LOL

Needless to say for 2 people there's going to be a lot of leftovers, I've never been able to cook, just a little bit of all that stuff, so John should be thrilled for the next few days......!!!!

Our cold, high humidity weather lately has been hard on old Pepper.  His knees are really bad, but it doesn't stop him from wandering all over the place, I just hate to see him gimping around.  I put a cover on his worst knee a couple of days ago, and it seems to be helping.  

RAINY DAY AGAIN.......!!!

Well, maybe rainy is a little much, it's mostly been dreary, windy with occasional 2 minute sprinkles.  This morning when we got up it was 50 degrees, it is now time to do evening chores and it's 50 degrees.........!!!!  This afternoon it was a little warmer, but not much.  John said it wasn't going to rain, so I've been making fun of his weather reporting abilities.  

Of course the donkeys are grumpy, I went out this afternoon to make sure the heater was on in the feed room, and about half of them were standing in the "rain", I yelled at Cisco and told him he had a perfectly good shelter in his pen.  Unfortunately when I looked in his pen there were 4 mini donkeys already in his shelter.  There are plenty of places to get in out of the wind and rain, but a lot of them just turn their butts to the weather and wait it out.  

This is Rosie last January , with her pones and bubble butt

I took a picture of Rosie this morning to compare to what she looked like last January when she came here.  She is still a "little too short for her weight", but we are headed in the right direction.  She's lost the lumps and her tail is no longer embedded in her fat rump.  YIPPEE..........!!! 

GRADUATION DAY FOR GIGI.........!!!

Well Tyler is giving it a try.  This is little Gigi's shoe off her right front foot.  It will be a year next month, since we picked her and Rosie up, to keep them from being shot and buried.  

This is what her feet looked like when we picked her up.

 This is how her feet look today

As long as she doesn't start trying to turn that right front foot backwards, she won't have to wear the shoe again.  The other 3 feet although they looked pretty gnarly last year, never tried to turn backwards or anything like that.  She still isn't a very good candidate for farrier care........LOL  Let's put it this way, every time Tyler comes he seems to think she should be friendlier.  I think that on a regular basis too, but so far she's not interested in giving up her independence.

This morning John almost had a mess.  Coquette is trying to entertain the boys and this morning when John was putting everyone in their pens, she came into Pepper's pen, which is beside her pen.  Pepper picked up on the subject and started trying to figure out his plan of attack.  Unfortunately Pancho was also at the ready.  John said it didn't take long for Pancho to decide to get rid of the competition, by lunging at Pepper with his mouth open.  John started yelling, I asked him if he threw himself in front of Pepper to protect him.  Guess not, looking at a mouthful of donkey teeth seemed to make him think yelling would take care of the problem, luckily it did.  Well except for Pepper, he was still trying to figure out his next move once Pancho left the area..........!!! 

GETTING COLDER......!!!

 CUTE BABY WITH MOMMA

It was 16 degrees this morning.  I'm sure there are people in other parts of the country that get tired of hearing my whining, BUT.......... I'm a desert rat, I have neither the clothes or the thick blood for these temperatures and I'm not going to be silent about my displeasure........!!!  LOL 

The donkeys aren't willing to come in when it's cold.  They find a spot that gets early morning sunshine and there they stand, no matter how many times John rings the bell.  Usually we go ahead and feed the ones we have and then John goes out to rout the hold outs away from their nice warm spot.  Tula is particularly irritating.  She will ignore any efforts to get her to come in until the last minute.  Then she will show up, run in her pen, turn around and start yelling at you.  We haven't figured out if she is yelling to say, "here I am", or if she's yelling because her food isn't waiting for her.  Grrr.....!!!  

This morning Cisco didn't show up at all, even after everyone else had been fed.  That was worrisome, Cisco usually doesn't go very far and shows up pretty quick.  So John went out looking for him.  Finally found him standing in a nice warm sunny spot.  Cisco's got real bad legs from being a roping donkey in a roping school.  He gets along pretty good, most of the time, but I would imagine these cold mornings make his legs hurt.  He was moving pretty slow.  Pepper's not walking much better.  I'm sure they both have arthritis along with all their other problems.  

John's started cutting up hay for Cheyenne again.  For months all she's been getting is mush, but she started picking up little pieces of the other mini's hay when we'd let her out of her pen.  So John is giving her a handful each feeding.  All she does is chew it up and spit it out as little quids, but I guess she enjoys it.  Someone comes along and eats them later................YUCK!  

Still putting fly masks on about 6 of them that the flies bother.  There aren't many flies left thank goodness, but the few still around prefer those donkeys eyes.  I even had to put Cisco back on benedryl, his sheath got warm and he started scooting on it, which makes it bloody, etc, etc.........!!!  Two days of benedryl and everything is good, well except for doctoring the scooting scrapes.