CASPER IS BACK IN SOLITARY AT THE NEIGHBOR'S

Yesterday morning, a neighbor left a message on my phone asking if Casper was missing.  No, he wasn't he was here with the donkeys when it was round up time for breakfast.  She came by on her horse and told John that earlier, like about daylight 2 cowboys in a pickup were trying to catch him on the main road.  She said he must have spent quite a bit of time outside her fence, because there were little bitty foot prints all over the place.  Needless to say he outsmarted the cowboys and escaped to head home.

Casper fights horses.  When Kris's 2 mares were here, he thought Apache was cute and he and Mel went at each other thru the corral panels.  Always before he had only been around geldings as far as I know, but he and Mel sure didn't get along.  Of course Kris said Mel was a drama queen and she did seem to want to be in charge of everything around her.  She certainly wasn't going to be in charge of Casper, if he had anything to say about it......LOL   

So I have no idea why he was trying to get into an area that had 3 geldings in it.  As I said he was here for roundup, so we are left not knowing how long or how far he has been traveling.  We had caught him a few times hanging around outside our fence, and we'd yell at him and he'd scoot under the fence.  The neighbor is probably not a mile away by road, who knows what route he took to get there.  

He may be standing still, but you can bet that little mind is whirling.......!!

So we called Vic and he said bring him over.  Talked to Vic this morning and he said Casper is "pissed".........LOL  He won't have anything to do with them, won't take a cookie and is spending his time running the fence line looking for a weak spot.  If the little devil ever finds out how good mules can jump, I don't know what we'll do........!!!   I'm trying to find a little molly mule or mini mare that needs to be rehomed, but haven't had any luck so far. 

Doug's son Conor was here for a few days for a surprise visit.  He lives in Michigan and decided to drive down and surprise his Dad.  He left this morning, heading back to Michigan.  Not the best time of year to come to Arizona for a visit, it was hot the whole time he was here, but I think they had a good visit. 

We actually got 1/2 inch of rain last night which is much appreciated.  We are hoping for a good monsoon this year it's been so dry for almost 10 years the desert is starting to look rather bleak especially the prickly pear cactus.  They say a good chance of rain the rest of this week.  If we got 1/2 inch every night that would be great.  

I like the night rains, otherwise it usually rains at chore time, which adds a new dimension to chores.  Night rains also cut down on access to mesquite beans, because when it rains the donkeys hold up with their butts turned to the rain.  They aren't eating when they are standing, so that's a good thing.  They only have access to the 10 acres right now.  Hopefully we'll get enough rain to turn the fallen beans in Burroland black and the donkeys won't eat them.  Sure wish there were a lot of range cattle like there were a few years ago, so we could open the gates and let the cattle clean them up.  

Heard from Linda in Colorado, she actually sent pictures of Lynn's foot after he had a chain saw accident and sliced thru his heavy boot.  Not a good thing to do, especially when you have races with dog, and burro races planned.   Hope this doesn't mess up all the fun things they have planned for the summer. 

I THINK WE'RE ALL READY FOR WINTER..........!!!

We actually had a few sprinkles last night and today it's really humid, so hopefully we'll get some rain in the next few days.  I'd hate to put up with humidity without eventually getting some much needed rain.  

The donkeys are vacuuming up ripened mesquite beans as fast as they can.  The problem with mesquite beans is, if we locked them in their pens and that would have to be done for weeks, not days, the beans would still be there.  Unless we got a good soaking rain.  The beans on the ground turn black if it rains and the donkeys won't eat them.  That's a good thing........!!!!  

So they are staying in their pens until noon before they go out for the afternoon.  I was hoping it would be so hot by then they would just go find a shade tree to stand under.  They seem to be determined to eat beans no matter how hot it is.  

Gus has a routine of eating slow, so he usually doesn't go out until noon anyway.  He has a special soft place by the dog pen where he likes to lay most of the afternoon.  But once the beans started falling, he started spending his afternoon roaming around looking for beans.  John and Doug put up corral panels around the area, so now he is locked in for the afternoon.  He is chronically foundered, has to wear special shoes on his front feet, and doesn't need the extra sugar and starch in the beans.  None of them do, but, as we say mesquite beans are like "crack" for donkeys.  

Doug took these awhile back of Gus in his "spot" hanging out with Saddik

I guess they are "best" buds

Linda sent more pictures from Colorado, this time it was a doggie outing in the mountains.  They all looked like they were having a lot of fun, in the tall grass.

Saddik surveying what looks like an old burn area

Cute picture of Lola

I think this is Lennon getting a drink, looks like he knows how it works

Thanks Linda for sharing your adventures with us.........!!!

YESTERDAY AFTERNOON WAS RATHER EXCITING.........!!!!

We got a call from our neighbor that relies on John for everything, from shopping to fixing any and everything that breaks, that her ride hadn't shown up to take her to a doctor's appointment.  Years ago John found out that she can call in advance and get rides to the doctor, which is a good thing for him.  It was getting close to time, so John said he'd take her and off he went.  

Not long after he left, I heard the most horrible noise, sounded like metal crashing and banging around.  Looked out and there was a Devil Duster going thru.  Went outside and Doug come flying out of his trailer, said he thought it was going to turn over.  Looked towards the pens and this is what we saw.  

This was 2 shelters for the donkeys, one was actually 2 pens away.  It flew up in the air and hit a gate on it's way out, that John had to straighten so it would close today. 

 

This was Gus' shade area, Doug was trying to figure out how to tighten it up.  Gus was under it when it collapsed, but it didn't take him long to get out.  I guess Cheyenne is the "sidewalk boss" for the project

Doug and I were out in the pen area trying to organize the mess and heard this funny noise, sounded like it was coming from the neighbor's but she wasn't there.  Sounded like a horn.  I hopped on the quad and went over to investigate.  Saw nothing, came back and the sound got longer and more desperate, Doug thought it sounded like it was coming from the east side of the pens.  He went down that way and started shouting there's a car in the wash. 

Yep, looks like a car..........!!!

 We went down to investigate and found the woman that was suppose to take the neighbor to her doctor's appointment.  The wash is between us and the neighbor.  She said the GPS told her to turn right, so she turned right.......!!!  She was in far enough she should have figured out she wasn't on a road..........LOL 

It doesn't show just how much gravel is over the axle, from her spinning the tires in deeper and deeper.  

We all waited a couple of hours for what we thought would be a tow truck, but instead her boss came out from Tucson with a 2 wheel drive pickup to fix the problem. 

I have to say this is NOT the best way to get a car unstuck

Needless to say there was no way a 2 wheel pickup was going to get that SUV out of there.  What's really funny is the SUV is 4 wheel drive, I don't guess either of them knew that.  Once the boss showed up, tried to pull it out and said he was calling a tow truck, Doug and I came home to do chores, since John was still in town with the neighbor. 

After John got home he was out surveying the damage and planning what he had to do today, just before dark, and saw a tow truck coming in to get the SUV.  The driver managed to get it and get out,  I bet that wasn't cheap.  If John had been here he might have been able to get it out with the Bronco, but it would have taken quite a bit of digging to clear the back wheels.

Linda sent pictures from a local parade they did Saturday.  Everybody was all decked out for Independence Day and looked great.  Don't know if there were prizes or not, but they should have won, hands down..........!!!   Well maybe I'm a little partial.........!!!   LOL

Leddy, Linda, Quilla and Steph, ready to go

 

Turbo and I think that is Lynn.........LOL

Always have time for visiting with new friends

THANKS LINDA FOR THE GREAT PICTURES.....!!

It's almost like we are there too

 

I BET THE DONKEYS WISH THEY HAD GONE TO COLORADO WITH BOAZ AND QUILLA

It's not getting any cooler, well it is, but it's still over 100* every day, so it's hard to tell.....!!  LOL  John stays out in it most of the day, I'm a "woose" I don't handle heat if I can stay out of it.  Still no chance of rain, although the humidity is rising.  They tell us the high humidity is necessary to get the rain.  BUT, many years we get the heat and humidity and not much rain if any.  

I raced Saturday night as planned and did pretty good, finished 3rd, running pretty close behind my two nemesis.  Brandon broke our tie, as I knew he would unless he had bad luck.  He's now 9 points ahead of me.  The other guy is about 40 points behind me, but he won and passed inspection this time.  As long as I keep finishing good, it will take him awhile to nibble away at my lead on him, but I'm sure he'll catch me before the end of the season.

Actually they both were having problems.  Brandon's car was over heating, I was close enough to him to get his water all over my face shield.  The other guy's car was smoking and by the end of the race, John thinks it blew up on the last lap.  Maybe if the race had been 5 laps longer, the finish would have been different.  John says I can't wish them bad luck, so I'm just making an observation......!!  LOL

Our son Rod, set fast time in his modified and finished 3rd in his main event.  I teased him that he didn't want to let his mom finish better than he did.

 

This is Rita Race Cat.  Rod has had her for years, she was a stray and like most cats has become indispensable by having her curious nose in any and everything going on in Rod's garage.  She sleeps in the seat of his modified and when he brings the car home from the track, he said she goes all over it, checking it for damage I guess.  Or heaven for bid, some other cat being on "her" car....!! 

All the donkeys are doing good, unfortunately mesquite bean season is getting here in a hurry, I guess the hot weather is quickening the process.  The last few days we have noticed the tree limbs are really moving around a lot.  Perhaps because the donkeys are grabbing the limbs they can reach and shaking them until the beans fall or they break the limb, whichever happens first.  We have 5 that I already consider obese or close to it.  Sure wish the range cattle were still around, so we could let them in to clean the beans up in Burroland.  But they aren't so we will have to try to get thru the season without weight gain or colic.  

It was about this time last year when Miss Penny Packer coliced with an impaction of mesquite beans in her gut and had to have surgery.  Sure don't want to have to go thru that again, but we would.  I know the clinic thought we were crazy, having colic surgery on a 20 some year old, unfriendly donkey that is hunchbacked and has had a broken jaw and lousy teeth.  But she came thru the surgery with flying colors and has had a chance to eat a lot more animal crackers, so why not.  When John lets her out at bedtime, she follows him into all the pens and if he doesn't pay her with animal crackers as quick as she thinks he should, he says she pokes him in the back with her nose.  If that doesn't work then her head goes under his arm and she starts pushing and lifting his arm.  Last night when he came in she followed him all the way to the gate.  When he disappeared into the house she started yelling.  I told him Penny didn't get enough cookies, but he didn't want to go out and give her a cookie, because by tonight it would become a habit........!!!  Poor little Penny...........LOL   

 Linda sent some more pictures

Being in Arizona in 100* temperatures right now, if I was there, I think I'd be making snow angels, or just "rooting" in it for fun.........LOL

Dogs and donkeys headed out for adventure

Boaz must be sneezing or got a bug up his nose.....!!

POOR QUILLLA AND POOR LINDA..........!!!

As of this week, Quilla is having to have his legs covered, so although being in Colorado does help with the skin problems he has on his legs, it isn't a perfect answer to the problem.  He left here with leggings on and has been up there 2 months, so it certainly does help being in a cooler climate.  

Linda is getting to try to figure out what is the best treatment.  Believe me, I know how that goes, the vets usually have their favorite treatment for skin conditions.  It's something that has worked for them over the years and they swear by it.  

After years of trying to heal sores on different donkeys, I have come to the conclusion, the skin conditions are not all caused by the same thing, they all don't look the same and on different donkeys, different "cures" work better or worse.  So it's pretty much a guessing game.  I have discovered Cortizone10, found it at the end of the season last year and it seemed to work really well.  But the fly season was winding down,  so were they getting better on their own, or was it really making a difference?  This spring I started out using it and it is pretty good, it is keeping Rosie's belly under control, which by this time her belly is usually a dripping bloody mess.  Hopefully Linda will be able to keep his legs under control with the first aid stuff I sent with her.  

Things around here are about the same, it's been so hot no one wants to do anything.  It's suppose to be a little cooler next week, but all that really means is, it won't be hot enough to break records..!!!  LOL

I race tomorrow night, it's suppose to be 108* tomorrow, hopefully it will cool off when the sun goes down.  I've been having a problem with the car jumping out of gear.  It doesn't happen often, but when it does it's very irritating.  I'd mentioned earlier about getting another shifter, John talked to a racing buddy that also works in a transmission shop.  He had actually had my tranny apart last winter to lock me out of 5th gear, which I seemed to have an affinity for finding when looking for 3rd.  Believe me the 2 gears are NOT interchangeable on the race track........LOL  Ray said the tranny looked good when he was in it, that it was probably the motor mounts.  As soon as John hung up from talking to Ray, he ran up to the garage to pull a motor mount.........well after we watched a How-To remove motor mounts on you-tube.....!!  John is a Chevy man, and isn't real sure about these little 4 cylinder cars, although he is finding out that underneath, they all are almost identical.  We've had Kias and the Dodge Neon and he said the motor mounts were alike.  He's ran across other things like that too. 

When he got the 1st one out he brought it down for me to see.  YIKES, all of the rubber do-nut inside the medal was torn up and allowed the motor to shift around under acceleration.  They all were really torn up, and desperately needed to be replaced.  That's what he's doing today, he just came in to tell me 2 of them went in real easy, but the 3rd one isn't cooperating.  That isn't exactly what he said, his language was a little more "colorful"..........!!!     No wonder the poor little thing couldn't stay in gear.

Here's the guy that is tied with me for 1st place and will probably surge ahead tomorrow night.  

THE HUMIDITY IS RISING..........!!!

The temperature is down a few degrees, but the humidity is rising, so it's still miserable.  LOL  Everybody is in "it's too hot to do anything" mode and probably will be for the foreseeable future.  I know I am..........!!!  

John spends almost all day outside or in the garage.  I don't know how he does it, he keeps saying he's working on my race car.  But it's ready to head for the track Saturday night, so I don't know what he's doing.  He has been trying to figure out why it jumps out of gear sometimes.  It cost me a win and has allowed other cars to pass me, some of which I managed to pass back, some I didn't........!!!  We got the shifter at a junkyard, it's probably worn.  So the next thing to find is another shifter I guess.

Heard from Linda in Colorado again.  They found a 5k race close to home for people with a parade afterwards.  They asked if they could race donkeys and I guess the people in charge were enthralled with the idea.  Lynn was a little disappointed he wanted to run with Saddik, because Saddik loves to run, and Turbo hasn't gotten the idea yet, that racing is racing, not mosying.......!!!

Lynn said Turbo did real good for a couple of miles and then wasn't interested in trotting anymore.  A man they had met at an auction was there with his donkey Taz and Linda said Taz was more than willing to trot.

Where's the starting line? 

 After the race, they had a parade, so the boys got "dressed" in their mining "clothes" for the show.

Leddy's ready to go

WOW. must be time for breakfast........!!!

 

After the parade, time to mingling with their adoring public

  

Donkeys and children are a perfect match

This was Taz's 1st adventure into racing and parades and he seems to enjoy all the hoopla.....!!!

IT'S NOT COOLING OFF..........!!!

That is an understatement, the last couple of days in Tucson have been 115*.  We're a little bit cooler, but not much.  The humidity and  dew point are rising, which could mean rain in the next few days if it continues.  In the meantime, we just cook. 

I feel sorry for the donkeys, although they find shade and just wait for it to cool off, when it's over 100* even in the shade with a breeze, the air is stifling.  

We went to town the other day and picked up a large tarp. I was looking for camo netting, which is a tarp that has been slashed all over, so air can go thru it, but it still is shady.  No camo nets available in Sierra Vista, so we dragged home a tarp and I went on-line.  Gus likes to spends his afternoons laying down over by the dog pen.  Although it's surrounded by trees, his favorite spot to lay is right in the center of the trees and isn't that shady.  SIGH

It isn't easy to hang a 16x20' tarp in between mesquite trees, they aren't lined up and mesquite unless they have been manicured have little limbs everywhere to interfere.  But we managed to get it up..........and in the afternoon the wind came up.  John was coming down from the garage and noticed it had collapsed and he wondered where Gus was.  He was standing under the tarp with it draped over him.  He's pretty bomb proof, didn't know he was that bomb proof though..........LOL

Next morning John and I redid the tarp, this time with less grommets, since a lot of them had pulled out.  That afternoon the wind came up again.  Grrrr......!!  Yesterday morning we were out there again, the area of shade is getting smaller and smaller, but we managed to salvage it.  Low and behold it stayed up yesterday afternoon, so we didn't have to do damage control this morning. I have a camo net on order, don't know when it will get here.  The camo nets hold up real good in wind and don't come apart like a tarp does.

Heard from Linda in our Colorado satellite, they've been out with the donkeys running.  I don't think they waste a minute of time, they are either working or playing.

A few days ago Linda and her friend Steph were going to go out with Boaz and Quilla.  Linda said Quilla has been vocally complaining when Turbo and Leddy get to go and he doesn't.  I guess Boaz is a homebody, he wasn't the least bit interested in going out and exploring, so Leddy got to go instead.

Looks like a parade

Quilla is "game" for hill climbing, one of the neat things about pack burro racing is, if you get tired and the burro isn't, they learn to pull you along.  I have a feeling Leddy being in front has something to do with Quilla's willingness....!!  LOL

I guess a good time was had by all.  I assume the picture with the dogs was a different adventure, since there aren't any in sight

Boaz and Turbo, the stay at home guys

Nice picture of Leddy, I think he's learning to pose that the dogs do........LOL

Turbo enjoying a break

HOW HOT IS HOT........????

June is usually our hottest month in the desert and I guess this one is no exception.  The thermometer on the back porch read 117.4* at one time this afternoon.  I don't think it was that hot, at least I hope not.  The thermometer is hanging on the back side of an upright post, to protect it from the sun.  But when it gets that hot I doubt that the post makes much difference.  We had wind and a dust storm, and clouds and late this afternoon a few sprinkles.  It's so hot they didn't last long. The humidity is rising, as we head into the monsoon season.  Hopefully we'll have a good one this year, the last 10 years or so have been pretty disappointing for the most part.  Our poor prickly pear cactus, look like survivors of a concentration camp.  It wouldn't take much to kill the pads completely, but if and when they get rain, they will come out from the roots, if that happened.  They are survivors. 

I raced Saturday night as planned, and thankfully when the sun went down it cooled off enough to be fairly comfortable.  I finished 2nd in the heat race and 4th in the main event.  Unfortunately the guy that "won" was suppose to have 50 pounds of lead added to his car, because he had won 2 races in a row.  He was 4 pounds shy on his weight, so he got disqualified and we all moved up a spot, so I got points for 3rd.  The positions were posted today and one of the guys is tied with me for 1st place.  We race again the 1st of July and he'll probably surge ahead.  He was only 11 points behind me, so I surprised he didn't at least get a point or two ahead of me.  So I can bask in being in 1st place for a little while longer............LOL

When it's this hot, the donkeys don't want to do anything.  They actually spend quite a bit of time laying down, which I find odd.  I don't know if being in contact with the ground is cooler than standing and having the hot air circulating around, but we'll look out and there will be 6 or 7 of them laying out by the driveway, in the sun.  We went to town today to get a camo net to make shade.  Guess they don't sell them anymore, so we ended up buying a 18x24 tarp.  John is going to hang it in the trees in one of their favorite places to lay for shade, so they will probably go find someplace else to lay in the sun......!!!  

Coquette, my little skin problem queen, finally broke out today with a sore on her leg.  She is wearing men's crew socks on her legs and has been doing good, but for some reason it is difficult to keep  socks way up on her legs.  We all pull them up all day when we see her, but obviously today she had them down for awhile.  Luckily it's above her knee, in a place I can actually bandage, so if her socks slip down, at least it will stay covered..............I hope.....!!  So far the others are "sore" free, even Rosie and her ventral dermatitis is doing real good, in fact this morning was the 1st time she hasn't had scabs on her belly since probably March.  I put Cortizone10 on her belly every morning and it seems to be doing the job.  Every year I have fought the good fight, with just about everything available up to and including Dex shots, which did absolutely nothing. 

This last week-end was Saddik's 1st race with Lynn in Colorado.  Linda said he did great, I guess so, as a team, he a Lynn finished 1st in Lynn's age group, and 3rd overall.  I guess she and Lennon finished at their own speed, she didn't say, although she did say Lynn and Saddik were headed down the mountain, when they were going up the mountain and Saddik wanted to go back up with them..........LOL   Guess he wasn't ready to quit. 

Saddik showing off his medal

Linda and Lennon, planning their strategy

Boaz and Turbo helping with chores

We had planned on taking BlackJack and probably Buddy Brat to Tombstone this Saturday for a parade to salute the Buffalo Soldiers that were stationed at Ft. Huachuca in the 1880's.  They have a horse mounted group that dress in period costume and ride in many of the parades in Texas, and Arizona.  Maybe other states too, I don't know for sure.

It would have been fun, BUT..........this heat is suppose to last at least another week.  When it's like this donkeys don't want to move around, and probably don't want to put on a pack saddle or a blanket, not to mention walk 4 blocks on asphalt at high noon.  I don't think John was looking forward to dressing up in his miner's outfit, complete with red union suit and knee high boots either.  So I sent our regrets to Bronco Billy this morning.  I don't know why they are having it in the summer, maybe it's a special day or something.

Not sure what type of outfit this is, doesn't look like a miner.  This was a few years ago, when John, BlackJack and Cisco were in a movie being shot up at Gammon's Gulch the movie site that is just up the road from us.  John had to go to "wardrobe" and they dressed him. 

THE GIRLS WENT HOME TODAY

Krista called this afternoon and although the pre-evacuation hasn't officially been lifted, the fire has disappeared over the Dragoon mountains to the east.  So unless something really strange occurs, like the fire to do a 180 and come back thru burned areas, it should be over on this side of the mountains.  

It was kinda fun having horses around.  It makes you realize just how different horse and donkey behavior is.  So many people think of donkeys as little horses, and nothing could be further from the truth.  

Doug and John are still filling water buckets by hand twice a day.  The Clorox smell is almost gone from the water coming from the storage tank, but it is still foaming straight out of the faucet.  So they will continue doing it this way for a few days, just to make sure, the donkeys find it drinkable.  

The temperature is rising daily, this week-end is suppose to be 109-114* and they are saying it might get to 122* in Phoenix.  I guess the high temperature is necessary for us to have a chance at a decent monsoon season, but it sure makes being outside miserable.

When it's hot like this the donkeys don't move around much.  Of course they insist on going out of their pens, you'd think their pens were the most miserable place on the planet once they finish eating.  But they usually find a nice shady tree and stand in the shade until it's time to go back in the pens to eat again.  They do move around a little more at night after John lets them out at bedtime.

Heard from Lynn and Linda about the race at Creede, Colorado last week-end.  Leddy and Linda finished ahead of Lynn and Turbo.  Turbo decided racing 10 miles wasn't what he had planned for the day, and it sounded like Lynn was determined enough to finish, even if he had to carry Turbo.....LOL  But they had fun anyway from what Linda said, although I'm sure Lynn was disappointed.

Looks like Turbo and Leddy were planning the race

This must have been before Turbo decided to take his time.......LOL

Linda and Leddy ready to race.......!!!

This week-end they will be racing in a people race that also lets dogs run.  Linda will be running with Lennon, and Lynn will be running with Saddik.  This will be Saddik's 1st chance to show what he can do.  He loves to run, so I don't think Lynn will have a problem with him.  

GOT THE FINAL BILL

Like all things, it could have been worse, but it was bad enough........LOL  I'm just glad we have a good well, and won't have to worry about it in the future.  At least I hope not.  

John and Doug are still toting water to fill the buckets for all the equine.  By the time they get it down to a science, the fire will hopefully be over.  Last I heard I think they said 62% contained and today is calm, so hopefully they can get it out and people can go back to their lives.  

We know we always have skunks and raccoons in the area.  John puts out dry cat food for Julius, the indoor/outdoor cat and the critters check it out every night.  We had some eggs that had gotten forgotten in the frig, for some reason.  I put them in water and they almost jumped over the side.  So I broke one just for fun, and it was pretty dried up.  We had 7, so John decided to put 3 out after dark to see what would happen.  The 1st night, they ate one, left one and took one with them.  I think there must have only been one, unknown type of critter.  Last night he put out 3, they ate one and the other 2 were missing.  I guess the first one told a friend, I don't think a skunk or raccoon could carry off 2 eggs.  Tonight will be the last two eggs, if there is two critters, I bet they will carry them off, rather than eat them here.  It's always fun to try to figure out what they will do.

The horses have settled into our routine and seem to be fine, except when Casper comes to visit with his girlfriend Apache.  That sends Mel into hypermode, which triggers him into murder mode.  I swear, it's a good thing he isn't 1000 pounds, he'd really be a problem.  He's also quick as greased lightening.  You can run him off pretty easy and Mel quits as soon as he is away from the pen.  I think Apache rolls her eyes, and thinks, "whatever", she is really mellow, thank goodness..........LOL

Isn't he cute?   LOL

Yesterday our neighbor came over to help John put the roof back on the well house.  That's her standing by the gravel pile.  If you look closely you will see her Gator behind the gravel on the left and one of her dogs is in it.  That is the reason for the herd gathering, they'd like to stomp the dog.  The dog is a working cattle dog, and wasn't about to take any nonsense from this rag tag bunch of equine.  There's actually two dogs in the Gator, so he had backup.

 The closer they got the more he barked and the more he barked the closer they got.  When they got closer than he thought they should, he would try to bite their noses and would have if they had misjudged their distance. 

They finally had enough, and started to wonder off.  You'll notice a little white butt, on the right in the middle, that is Casper, right in the thick of things.........!!!

They do the same thing when people come out for a tour and have their dog or dogs in the car.  They will completely surround the car which really  upsets city dogs that have no idea what they are and why there are so many of them........!!!  Jorgia's dog wasn't upset, he was ready to rumble if they were..........LOL 

It's suppose to be around 110* in Tucson Saturday, hopefully when the sun goes down it will cool off.  This morning it was so cool when I got up, I put on long sleeves for about half an hour.  I'm wishing for that kind of night Saturday..........!!!!!