Looks like Tucker & Mocha might have a forever home in Las Cruces, New Mexico.  We are in the early stages of adoption, but it sound like this might be a good home for them.  Next step will be for us to do a home study, so we'll do a day trip over, have lunch & should make it home before time to feed. 

Eeyore will be going to the vet tomorrow morning, he's still not interested in eating anything.  We even tried syringing soaked hay soup into him last night & he just wasn't interested.  John discovered a lump underneath his throatlatch area, probably thyroid, at least that's my "don't know what I'm talking about" guess.  Enlarged thyroid isn't unusual for older equine, I doubt that is his problem. 

Everyone else right now seem to be doing great.  In fact I'm having to put Pepper on a diet.  The old buzzard is getting almost chubby.........!!!  Hasn't been down, not able to get up for quite awhile, but he doesn't need to be carrying anymore weight on his poor old legs than necessary.  About 3 years ago, I wouldn't have bet he'd make it thru the winter.  Every morning when I went out I was surprised he was still breathing.  That year he had to stay in at night, he was so thin & frail, he was blanketed & wore boots every night.  But somewhere along the way, he's done a turn around, still perky & still chasing the girls, BUT getting less to eat these days.  John is getting tired of him using his hard old head to try to get you out of the way so he can get to his mush though.  Also digging a hole at the gate as he waits impatiently for you to bring his mush.  I've told him if I fall in the hole he's dug & break a leg, he'll be sorry.  Unfortunately I don't think he cares.........!!! LOL  John put a stall mat at the gate, so now he's digging at the edge of the mat...........grrrrrr....!!! 

We changed Jenny's foot bandage this morning.  It's looking good, but I don't see a whole lot of hoof growth above the open area.  I've never dealt with a hoof resection before, so don't really know how it heals.  The only problem she has is one of her heel bulbs just won't heal.  They were icky when she came home from bandage pressure.  I managed to get one side to heal, but the other one is really being difficult. 

Courtney is going to try to get out this week to trim Jenny & Gus & whoever else needs it.  I noticed this morning Jenny has a false sole on her other rear hoof, at least that's what it looked like, didn't have much of a chance to look at it.  I don't know if she can stand on her "bad" foot long enough for Courtney to work on that sole, but guess we'll find out. 

John's BACK........YIPPEE....!!!

Boy things really go a lot smoother when John is here.  Two sets of hands are much better than one & the donkeys don't get quite so "antsy".  This morning John commented on how nicely they came in & rounded-up.......!!!!  It will only take them a time or two to figure out "easy going" John is back & they can come in when they feel like it........!!!! LOL  

When he gets caught up he'll go look for Boaz's 2 missing fly masks.  Boaz actually was missing 3, but this morning one of them showed up in the wash.  Haven't had time to look for the others yet.  This morning was the 1st time Boaz came in, in the last couple of days with a fly mask on, & he's the one that really needs a mask on 24/7.  He's one of those fly magnets.  So far this year, Cisco who has been my #1 fly magnet for years has been doing good.  I haven't had to do anything special for him, I'm not even giving him benedryl yet. 

Eeyore AKA Chief still isn't eating.  I have been giving him Vitamin B-12 shots which usually gives them a boost, but he still hasn't showed any interest in eating.  Earlier this afternoon John went out & found Rusty the white mule in Chief's pen eating his feed.  Rusty was more interested in the timothy pellets than the beautiful alfalfa hay I got specifically for Chief Tuesday.  Maybe that hay isn't as good as it looks.  Chief has an appointment at the Vet Monday to see if we can find out what's wrong with him.  I hope it isn't anything serious, although at 32, it could be just about anything.  Mules can be funny about changes in their lives, but this seems to be more than that.  

We had a group of kids come out this morning to visit with the donkeys & do some grooming.  I think they were all city kids, although one boy said his family had horses.  The donkeys really appreciated the brushing, some of them really needed it.  They are so funny, if they want to be groomed, they stand absolutely still, don't even move a muscle.  BlackJack even turned around, I guess he was afraid the girl grooming him wasn't going to do both sides. 

Got a call this morning about a very PG jenny that needs a quiet place to have her baby.  She is in a rescue right now that is over crowded.  The only place we could put her would be in Jenny's pen in the hay barn.  Unfortunately we are going to have to get hay in the next couple of weeks or so.  A double semi load fills the barn up, side to side, front to back.  John said something about us getting a car trailer load of 48 bales as a short term answer.  But what if she didn't have her baby by the time we used up the 48 bales?  That is, if John & I survived unloading & stacking 48 bales, I remember those days.........!!!  Or even if she did have the baby, we have no pens we could put her & the baby in.  The woman that called was talking about cleaning out an old goat pen she has.  It's terrible to have to say no, but we have to be realistic on what we can & can't do.  

I do have some good news, I got my wrist cast off yesterday.  The doctor said it was healed & I'm good to go.  On the way home I went ahead & got a splint to use when I'm doing something I shouldn't, like racing............!!!

I know I said the racing was over for the year.  They've changed their minds again, I'm starting to get whip lash.......!!! LOL  They are not racing tonight, but "SAY" they are going to have a "Grand Reopening" next week-end the 26th........!!  I guess there was some negotiations, between the owners & FedEx to buy the property for a distribution center.  Sometime between Tuesday & Thursday the deal fell thru, so the racers win at least for a little while..........!!! 

I doubt that I'm going to be very "talkative" the next few days.  John left for Indiana yesterday afternoon, so it's just me until Friday afternoon.  Explaining this lack of personnel to the donkeys hasn't gone well so far.  John just lets them wander in at feeding time.  I think they should show up, get in their pens & wait for me to show up with the piece of carrot.  It usually takes me 2 or 3 days to get my point across, since John is coming home Friday, it won't be worth it for me to have a tantrum over going in pens..............SIGH.......!!!!  I started at 4:30 last night got in the house at 8:15............!!  This morning went about the same but Lysa was here to help & pick up poo, so it only took about 3 hours........!!! LOL  Usually tomorrow wouldn't be a regular day for Lysa, but she's going to come in the morning anyway, bless her heart.  

What really gets me going, for instance, this morning when I got up there were donkeys & mules everywhere around the house.  I went out to feed the birds & got brayed at, & once they saw movement at the house, they started moving closer.  LIFE IS GOOD.....!!!  Went out to the feed room, had to work my way thru the gaggle of equine, went in to cut up carrots, came out & there wasn't a donkey or mule in sight.  WHERE DID THEY GO..........????  I didn't really have time to go looking for them, so I fed the chickens & mixed up the feed.  They finally started wandering in, well except for Ruger, Ruthie & Boaz, they come in like they are escaping from a fire & get right in your face, they haven't trampled me yet, but the thought has crossed my mind........!!!  Actually they are very good, about slamming on the brakes before they bowl you over..........!!! LOL

We have a new visitor, Eeyore came in Sunday.  He was a rescue last year up in Phoenix & our neighbor's offered to take him.  But they are moving to Colorado, this summer & right now are visiting family in Ohio.  It's easier to take care of him here than have to go to their place, so he "visiting".  We haven't talked about if he is going to go back home until they move or not, we'll just have to see how it goes.  

He's blind in one eye & about 32 years old.  He's a typical mule I guess.  If they don't know you, you have no right to touch, look or talk to them.  He won't take treats, in fact he hasn't eaten enough to keep a bird alive since he's been here.  Vic said he goes thru spells of not eating.  Usually I'd let him out on the property & he could eat wild food if he wanted to.  But until John gets back he'll stay in a pen.  Vic said the only way he can catch him if he's out is to rope him..........!!!  I'm not a roper, so for now he'll stay in a pen.  I even bought a bale of alfalfa yesterday to entice him.  He just looked at me like he knew what bribery is, & isn't going to play the game.........!!!! 

Unfortunately, the race track has more problems than just the ones we saw last Saturday I guess.  As of now, they have closed down the track for the rest of the year.  They are blaming the racers for not appreciating having a local track to race at.  I would imagine once the manager left last week, they didn't have the people to keep it operating.  We heard that a lot of the workers left when he left.  Dang......... I was in 5th place for end of the year points in the Hornet division.  My goal this year was to finish better than last year's 6th place finish.  Guess I did that, but I really expected a little longer season........!!!

Talked to our son last night & we'll be going up to ET Raceway the 26th of May, with his Super Stock.  A couple of the other local racers are going too, so it should be fun.  Just wish it was closer, it's 200 miles up there, which makes for a long night.  Rod said he could build me a Bomber if I wanted to race up there.  I told him by the time we rushed around & fed the donkeys, drove 200 miles, raced, drove 200 miles home & fed donkeys after a couple of hours sleep, I probably wouldn't be having much fun.........!!!  They don't race the Hornets, so it would either be Bombers, which basically is knock out the glass & put in a couple of pipe bars in the driver's door.  Or Dirt Dolls, which is like Powder Puff, in Bombers.  I think I'll pass, if we can keep Rod's car competitive for the season up there, that will be good. 

Went racing last night.  The guy that has been doing track preparation, quit & the new guy..........well to put it politely, has a lot to learn about track prep.  We went out to wheel pack, which means, they dump a lot of water on the track, & we drive around slowly to work the water into the clay.  We were kicking up dust........sooooo you can imagine how dry the track was for the races.  

I finished 4th in the heat race.  In the main event on a dry slick track things got really interesting, the words "crash fest" come to mind.  I was doing pretty good, think I was running 7th & someone, don't know who because John couldn't hardly see my white car, let alone a black car, slammed into the back of me, shoved me thru turn #2 & spun me into the infield.  Then the car wouldn't start for a little while............Grrrr......!!!!  Finally got it started & back up on the track I go, starting in the back of course because they threw the yellow flag for going off the track.  OK, started working my way thru the cars, saw cars flying off the track, bunches of cars having some kind of party in the middle of the track.  And one standing on it's nose with another car crammed under it's rear bumper.  I was having all sorts of fun & managed to work up to 4th.  Going into turn 3 a car in front of me slid sideways, so the driver's door was lined up with my front bumper.  So I spun to the infield.  I know the drill, so I lined back up in the rear, & the flagman "BLACK FLAGGED" me......!!!!  That means get off the track, NOW......!!!  To say the least I was not very happy......!!!  Actually that was an understatement.......!!! LOL 

After the races I ferreted out the flagman, to find out what he had to say.  I know the rules, if you cause 2 yellow flags in a race they black flag you.  I asked about the guy that bump drafted me thru the turn until he spun me, who actually should have been black flagged for rough driving.  He told me the spotters told him I spun by myself.  Well that really made my day & I preceded to make his.....!! LOL  I told him to come to my pits & look at the pristine front of my car & then look at the back & all the way up the side, if he wanted to see what happened. I've got little pieces of bumper & tire material stuck in the cracks & crevices of the side.   For some reason he didn't want to.  But he did say that there are going to be some changes.........sure there will be.  Stay tuned, looks like it's going to be a LONG summer.  This is the same flagman I almost ran over last year when I plowed into a tractor tire he thought he was safe standing behind.  He also told me a few weeks ago, that I had drove brutal that night.................  I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS.........!!!  But it's become the catch phrase for the racers we hang around with. 

Boaz, Frijolita & Tula, eating what's left of John's wood pile

This morning when John went out to do morning round-up, Jenny was in her old pen, with Frijolita.  Frijolita has been eating in that pen since Jenny wasn't using it.  I guess Jenny decided she wanted her pen back.  She wouldn't move, John got her halter & she still wouldn't move.  He came to get me to help.  I could tell from the set of her feet, there was no way she was going to move without a fight.  So Frijolita moved back to her little pen that has no shade & Jenny got to keep her pen. 

John's going to be gone most of this week to Indiana.  He leaves Tuesday & will get back Friday, just in time to go racing Saturday.  He usually goes in June to visit, but there isn't going to be a "cousin" reunion this year.  So he'll just be going to see his Uncle Bob for a couple of days.  

I'll be "chief cook & bottle washer" for 3 days.  SIGH.........I'll be lucky if I get thru feeding & doctoring in time to start the next feeding..........LOL  The donkeys are so unappreciative when you are by yourself.  They yell & scream at you to hurry up.  I always tell them there is just one of me & a lot of them, so they need to be patient. That word is not in their vocabulary I'm afraid.    

Changed Jenny's foot bandage this morning.  She was having an absolute fit in her hay barn pen.  Didn't want her breakfast, shoving the corral panels around trying to get out.  We thought changing the bandage was going to really be fun.  Haltered her & when she got out of the hay barn, she headed west............the garage is east............. ooops.......!!! We had to get her turned around & then get her to move, not an easy task.  Once we got her in the garage she was Miss Sweetheart & cooperative.  Raise her foot without us getting a hernia & actually holding it up in the air, while I wrapped.  Amazing.  

Got all the layers on except for the last elasticon.  All of a sudden Boaz brayed out on the property, & she immediately peed & clacked her jaw.  John had said something about PMS & we laughed.  Guess he knew what he was talking about.....!!! 

Needless to say she was ready to go, as soon as the garage door went up.  Don't know if she ever found him or not, but she left in a hurry.  

This morning Gus got his usual Jiaogulan cookie to help with circulation to his compromised feet.  He was standing by the feed room & I stuck it in his mouth.  Later on John put him in his pen, & I went in the house for something.  When I came out he started yelling for his cookie as usual.  Hmmmm..........   Nice try....!!!

They are filming a western over at the movie site tomorrow.  Two of the cowboys were practicing in the wash & when John talked to them he discovered that they were expecting donkeys tomorrow.  First we had heard of it.  Guess Jay forgot to tell us.  Tomorrow is racing, so John went over & told the director we couldn't be there.  He said they will be back later, so maybe then.

Ruthie & Ruger were absolutely fascinated with the horses.  Well, Ruthie was, Ruger went along because momma was there.  She was sticking her head thru the fence trying to get closer to them & everything.  She hasn't been around horses the last couple of years, but it looks like she's been around them before & enjoyed the experience. 

RUGER IS IN TROUBLE..........!!!!

When I went to Benson this afternoon I picked up a radiator for the race car & also new spark plugs.  Since it got pretty hot, John wanted to put in new plugs.  We unloaded the van & put the radiator & box of spark plugs in the golf cart to take up to the garage.  Went in the house for about 30 minutes, came out & no box of spark plugs.  The box was gone, & the spark plugs were buried in the dirt.........!!!  There were no donkeys in sight, but poor Ruger is getting blamed because of past history.  He likes to eat paper, cardboard & other assorted items that you wouldn't think of as donkey food. 

This is how Boaz's knee looked this morning.  It's really looking much better, thanks to Kris' idea of using Silver Nitrate I think.  I have found out she was right about making sure you don't get it on anything you don't want stained.  The first couple of days I was SOoooo careful with the syringe, making sure it didn't drip.  

You should see the counter in the feed room now, not to mention my hands.  Between the cast that is getting rather grubby looking, & all the staining from the Silver Nitrate, I'm afraid to touch anything edible. 

The tissue on his knee is much thinner.  It still thicker than a "normal" knee, but it really is looking good.  

I also have been trying another remedy for a yearly problem we have with stable flies making bloody sores on Quilla & Gus' lower legs.  Quilla has no hair on his legs below the knee on one side where the flies have eaten all the hair & destroyed the hair follicles, so the hair doesn't grow back.  The flies love it, & of course it sunburns.  

I've tried sun screen, thuja zinc oxide, putting on different types of coverings that keep the sun off & in general anything that sounded like it might work. Most of them do the job, but are messy, or in the case of coverings end up missing & I've already discussed my lack of sewing abilities.  

Somewhere I heard about using WD-40 to cover areas like they have.  Figured it wouldn't hurt to try, so every morning for the last couple of weeks, I hit them with a "spritz" of WD-40 & rub it around with a gauze pad to cover all the bare area.  So far..................no flies or sun damage.....!!! Whoo, whoo......!!!  The flies are out in force, I just took down 5 full fly traps last night, & replaced them with new ones.  So the flies are out there, John says we'll see how it goes, when the monsoon season & humidity gets here.  So far though, it's the quickest & easiest fix............!!!  Quick & easy is my middle name.........!!!! LOL

OBTW

Thanks Terry, made my day....!!

Boy we've had a busy time lately.  Went racing Saturday night.  My wrist & hand managed to hold up pretty good.  Finished 3rd in heat race & 6th in the main.  Car was hot at the end of the main, John hasn't even had a chance to take it off the trailer to see why.   Additional information:  John just informed me when I went thru the infield because another car thought that's where I should be, I cracked the "plastic" part where the radiator hose attaches.  PLASTIC........!!!  whoever heard of plastic in a radiator, I sure haven't.  Now he's trying to figure out how to put a skid plate underneath the radiator, so I'll slide up on the berm rather than plow thru.  That radiator is not useable, so we have to find another one.....!!!! SIGH! 

A couple of years ago some people from Pennsylvania came out to see the donkeys.  Nancy had kept in touch & they want to move out here sometime in the near future. I offered to show them around, so they could get a feel for what's available & what areas they prefer.  We went out yesterday & looked around the Benson area, where is where they think they want to be.  Today we were going to look around some more, but George decided he wanted to go to Tombstone & Bisbee & do some sightseeing.  They spent the night last night & don't know what their plans are.  I told them the bed was there if they want to use it.  They were pretty easy to entertain & were good help with the donkeys.

This morning we had a tour.  They got here just about the time all the hay was parceled out, & I figured it wasn't going to be much of a tour, with everyone's head buried in hay.  But the people brought carrots..........even with their heads buried in the hay, the donkeys all saw the carrots & acted accordingly.  Even Tula took a carrot from Paula.  Tula's really getting brave, for her.  It's still on her terms, but it's really neat to see her take treats from other people. 

Today was bandage changing day for Jenny.  She's actually being fairly cooperative at least for her.  The foot still looks good, hope she continues to improve.  I'm so glad she can go out & roam around the property.  I don't know that she is laying down at all now.  It's been days since I saw her down.  I am hoping that once the hole on the sole of her foot, grows out the front of her foot, & the bottom doesn't have a hole in it, that I won't have to bandage the whole foot top to bottom.  If I can just bandage the square hole in the front of her hoof & keep it covered without dirt getting into it, she will be able to go out overnight.

Jenny seems to be doing real good.  The maybe letting her out a couple of hours a day went out the window the first day.  She's out all day, & we're keeping her in at night.  The only reason is, to keep the duct tape boot from wearing out  too quickly.  They seem to last about 36 hours, before I  have to add a new boot over the old one.  

The 1st day she went over by her old pen before the afternoon feeding, I closed the gate so she couldn't go in, we got the halter & lead, put it on her & she became an immovable object, not going anywhere, no way, no how............!!!!  I finally had to get the quirt aka bat & started popping her on her hip.  It started out with maybe 20 pops to get one step.....SIGH.......!!!!   Took awhile to get her to the hay barn.  

The next day she was down between the 2 rows of pens, not interested in moving.  Get the halter, & lead & of course the quirt aka bat.  This time once we got her moving she walked all the way to the hay barn without stopping.  Of course John was following along with quirt aka bat in hand.

Today when John went out to do round up, Tula did one of her "I'm in charge & you're not", group kidnapping of about 6 donkeys.......!!!  John thought they went over on Burroland, because when he tried to get Jenny to follow him, she took off in that direction.  He ran ahead of her & shut the gate, which didn't improve her disposition.  I got the tools of the trade, ie, halter, lead & the quirt aka bat.  She saw me coming & tried to escape, but we finally cornered her at the chicken pen.  Surprise, surprise............didn't have to use the quirt aka bat, so I just followed along as John led her towards the hay barn.  I told him I'd catch up & went back to open the gate to Burroland.  Went to catch up, & they had halted about halfway.  Without me following with the "enforcer" she decided to stop.  When I came up behind her I didn't even have to show her the quirt aka bat, she started right off like it was her idea all the way to the hay barn.  

At this rate I don't know if we'll ever get her to go without someone behind to encourage her.  I hope so, this way isn't very efficient.  

We now have 3 fly masks out there somewhere.  John went out this morning determined to find at least one of the two missing.  So when we got home from town, Justin's was missing.  John says Tucker probably took it off when they were playing.  

Going to try to race tomorrow night, we'll see how it goes.  I told John to take his helmet & jacket.  I'll see how I do in the 6 lap heat race.  If I'm not competitive he can run the 15 lap main event. 

ANOTHER STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION

Jenny is "out & about" this morning.  My biggest worry is the duct tape boot might wear thru & let dirt get into her foot.  The layers are, gauze in holes, gauze over holes, brown gauze, diaper, duct tape boot, elasticon, duct tape boot, more elasticon.  So it's pretty well covered, but I know from past experience with duct tape boots, they do wear thru after a day or so of walking out here.  I've never had 2 duct tape boots on at once before, so we'll see how it goes.  I'll be able to see wear on the outside boot, so will check it often.  We'll start her out with a couple of hours a day & see how it goes.  She didn't want to come out this morning, guess she thought we were going in the garage for a bandage change...........!!!

John just informed me this morning we have about 35 days of hay left.  That means Jenny's side of the hay barn will be needed for hay pretty soon........!!!!  Been feeding cheap hay, relatively speaking for the last 18 months...........guess the party is over.......!!!!!  

We've about decided to maybe put Jenny in Boaz's pen.  It is the largest pen, largest shelter, & if we put down a lot of straw or shavings it should be pretty soft.  All of her bed sores are gone, she came home with 5 or 6.  I guess Boaz will go in her old pen.  Next month Eeyore the tri-colored mule will probably be coming to stay.  Our neighbor's gave him a home last year, but they are probably moving to Colorado.  Since I was instrumental in them giving him a home, it's the least we can do.  He's in his 30's blind in one eye, not much vision in the other, but still likes to go out & roam.  Maybe he will buddy up with Jack & Rusty.

Sunday we had a couple of tours stop by for a visit.  For the first time Tula actually took a carrot from a man.  I didn't see it, but John said the man was holding the carrot thru the corral panel, & she just walked over & took it., like no big deal  Amazing.......!!!  Over the years usually during an Open House she has taken treats from 3 different women at different times, but never a man.  It will be interesting to see what she does next time. 

I need to try to body clip Daisy.  Because she has Cushings, even though she's on Pergolide she doesn't shed very well, & I've been clipping her the last few years.  Unfortunately right now, I have a splint on one hand & a cast on the other.  Needless to say my dexterity is lacking.  John said he'd try, but I can imagine how that would go, she'd look like a tractor went thru a field without a driver........!!! LOL  It's still not real  hot, so I'll "think" about it for a little while.  Janet you need to come visit......!!!! LOL