TOOTSIE

This is Justin, meeting Tootsie for the first time this afternoon. Tootsie had been bought at auction to be used as a roping donkey. The owner decided he didn't need her & offered to sell her to one of his neighbors. The neighbor got in touch with us & we picked her up today. She's very young, probably a year old this spring sometime, very friendly & probably more comfortable since I cut the cockleburrs off her stomach. I don't know where she came from we don't have cockleburrs around here I don't think. The owner had been calling her Sally, but she looks like a Tootsie to me. I have a call into a woman that called last week looking for a companion for her donkey. So she might have a new home already.

TULA'S TRAINING

Tula & I are still in training. She's actually doing very good I think, considering her trainer has never done this before. She is getting comfortable enough to stand her ground, when I want to touch her shoulder. Her head is still off limits.........!!!!

She is very protective of her left side. If I come up to her, she will turn around, & get in a corner to protect that side.

I've been using a stick with a towel on the end to desensitize her. That way if she does panic I won't be close enough to get hurt. She isn't really scared, just very protective of herself.

I've been taking the stick, walking around behind her & trying to touch her on her left hip. She accepts that, but if I move around on the left side, where she can see me with that eye, she takes off. Equines are right & left brained, which means just because you do something on one side, doesn't mean it translates to the other side. We're not in any hurry.

In the last few days I've gotten 2 calls from people wanting companion donkeys for their donkey. They both sound like good homes, & I know of a "nuisance" donkey that could use a better home. Maybe he would work for one of these homes. We'll see what happens. I told John we might start taking more healthy donkeys that people want to give us. I think I saw a look of panic on his face.

SIDEBAR INFO

Lucy isn't interested in having her "toe-nails" done......!!! This was taken many trims ago. Now she could care less..........!!! (She also leads better....!)

I have been adding little tidbits to the sidebar, so when you get bored with the day to day stories, check it out.............!!!!!

FOUNDER WATCH IS OVER.......!!!

I'm happy to report that everyone seems to be just fine, after their little courtyard snack the other night. I guess there were some upset digestive systems. We noticed a few "cow patties" rather than "road apples" the last couple of days, but don't know exactly who was responsible for them.

Wednesday morning, while I was cleaning pens, I looked up & there were 5 donkeys on the courtyard, looking for leftovers, I guess. I yelled from the pens, & they all took off, so they know they aren't suppose to be in there. Later I caught Buster Brown snacking on a large peppermint plant that was overlooked in the first "attack". We are now shutting the gate, every time we go in or out. What a pain that is........!!!! We're use to just leaving it open, & it hasn't been a problem before. Tuesday night, they ate my parsley that was really doing good, & ate a little ash tree I nurtured over the winter. It had put out lots of leaves & really was looking good. They jerked it out of the pot, ate everything, except for the roots. Guess I'll be making a trip to the nursery soon............!!!!!

I made a place for Snowy's special feed in the feed room. Don't want to take a chance on the gang having another picnic..........!!!!

FOUNDER WATCH.....!!

Yesterday we went to a dinner in Tucson. We had to leave by 2pm, which means we would have to start evening feeding at noon. Some of the slow eaters have just finished at that time. So we decided to feed Snowy her extra daily feeding & wait to feed everyone else when we got home. We've never left without feeding them in the afternoon before.

We got home about 9pm, no animals in sight. The courtyard gate was open & the courtyard had been trashed. We had a container with Snowy's special feed in it on the courtyard. The feed room is small & this seemed like a good place to keep her feed.

The only good news is, there was probably less than 5 pounds of pellets in the container. The bad news is, we don't know if only one got most of the goodies, or if it was a shared "feast".

Max is the only one that can open the gate when it's latched. And if he got in first the others wouldn't go in with him. In that case he would probably eat it all. But, it's very difficult for him to get thru the gate because of his size, in which case BlackJack would take over & push his way thru.

This morning I heard a noise on the courtyard before I went out to feed & Buster Brown was on the courtyard, turning the container over & giving me the idea that he had been there before. So we have no idea how many or who were involved.

We will be closely watching them, especially those three for any signs of founder. An equine system operates within about a 72 hour time frame. So we should know by Friday if everyone is OK. And we will have to find a new place to store Snowy's special feed.

TULA & I IN TRAINING..........!!!!

Tula & I had our first "lesson" this morning after she finished breakfast. We didn't make as much progress as Kathy did yesterday, but we did OK. I touched her 4 or 5 times without her trying to escape. She seems to like to have her shoulders scratched. And she took a gingersnap cookie from me, as I left the pen, so I assume she isn't holding a grudge. So I think it was a good start. Hopefully we will be able to make a little progress every day, until she gets bored with the procedure.

TRAINING DAY FOR TULA....!!!

This is a picture of Kathy Dean from Longhopes Donkey Shelter working with our Tula this morning. Tula has been here since last August & has never warmed up to people. Kathy offered to show us how to work with her. She accomplished more in an hour, than we have in all those months. As you can tell from the set of Tula's head, she isn't thrilled with this turn of events. Kathy did get the halter on her 3 or 4 times though. It will be up to us to continue working with her on a daily basis, so she can learn that people are not going to hurt her. Kathy said Tula acts like she is waiting for something bad to happen, even though we've never forced ourselves on her. She obviously has unpleasant memories from her past.

This is John & Lucy watching the "training". Actually Lucy was about to fall asleep, especially after John quit petting.

MORE VISITORS

More visitors today. Some of the donkeys & of course Max, the horse, have always been thrilled when people show up & have treats. Some of the others stood back & watched what was going on. Shiloh recently figured out how it works & comes right up to people. Or he will stand still if they come towards him. Either way, he's learned that visitors are a good thing. Jack the mule, is another one, that has started interacting with the people. He use to stand on the other side of his pen & ignore them. But the last few times someone has been here, he's come over to the gate & takes food from their hands. Unfortunately he's a messy eater, so the people get slobbered on, but I'm glad he's decided to join in the fun. And we always offer to let them wash their hands before they leave.

Tula is still stand offish, although today she took a couple of steps towards the people. That's progress, always before she would spook around in the corner, almost daring anyone to come towards her.

We've started letting the guineas out of their pen during the day, so they were out running around too. John's going to start dismantling the pen, so we can build more corrals. Actually we're thinking of building just one big pen. That way when the mesquite bean season gets going, we'll have a large area for all the ones that shouldn't eat the beans. Right now that should be at least 4 of ours, & the 3 little minis, if they are still here. Hopefully this won't be a good year for mesquite beans. Some years we don't have very many, for some reason. About 3 years ago, we had a bumper crop, the ground was literally covered with them. Not good for chubby donkeys, although the local rancher's cows, certainly enjoy them.............!!!!

HAY.......!!!

We unloaded hay in the dark tonight. I don't think the gang appreciates the effort we go to, so they can eat on a regular basis. In fact when we got home it was over an hour past feeding time. They really get "anxious" when it's time to eat. I think if they could put a hoof on their hip & stomp a foot, they would. The farm had some fresh cut alfalfa hay, so hopefully it won't be long before the bermuda is ready to bale. Probably in May sometime. We will find out then, if the big truck can get in our driveway. We sure hope so......!!!!

MEMORIES OF THE GOOD OLD DAYS

This picture was taken a few years ago, when we had just gotten a load of pretty good looking hay. The guys were "helping" unload, at least their idea of helping.................!!!

We are going tomorrow to get a load of better hay than the last load. We went to town last week & got enough hay to last thru tomorrow. I won't say they were grateful, but they are eating it better. Hay right now is about $13.00 a bale at the feed stores. It's a little cheaper on the farm, & the owner promised me he had some better hay, so we'll see.

It's still getting cool enough at night that Snowy appreciates her blanket & boots. I would imagine in the next week or so, it will be staying warm enough at night, she won't need them any longer. I've been noticing a few more flies. That means putting fly masks on everyone, & hopefully most of them staying on, rather than becoming "toys"...........!!!!