I'm waiting for a phone call from the hay delivery. It's coming from northern Arizona & they are suppose to be here around 7am...........!!!!! They certainly started early this morning, I guess...........!!!!!

John is on an emergency run to Benson. Mother called this morning & the pump in her fish pond quit during the night & she had 5 dead fish this morning from lack of oxygen. So he took off to take care of that crisis. I told him he might run onto a load of hay on his way home, & if so, just bring it home with him.......!!! (G) I'd like to go out & get everyone in their pens, before the hay gets here, so we can open the driveway gate. BUT, I have to stay in the house & wait for the call......!!!

It's hot enough today, I hope this picture will make us feel cooler..............!!!

Sha'ba seems to be back to normal, although he still isn't cleaning his feed bucket. In fact this morning he wanted out & left about half of his breakfast. I don't think he is a big mesquite bean eater, although a lot of the others are eating the green mesquite beans hanging in the trees. They haven't ripened yet, but I anticipate they will pretty soon. We are watching poo for beans & when they start dominating the poo, some of them will be staying in pens for awhile.

I'm waiting for Courtney to come out to trim the ones that need it. The victims had to stay in their pens this morning because we didn't know for sure when she would get here. Daisy has stayed by Chester's pen most of the day. I didn't even know she had a "thing" for him, she's usually with Frijolita.

Speaking of Frijolita this morning while she was finishing up her hay I casually reached down to pick up her foot to see if she needed to be trimmed today. Well, she took off like I had insulted her. Sigh.................... chasing her was not what I had planned, so off we went. She caught up with Tula & started following her. Tula certainly didn't want to be chased by me, so she started trying to escape, & of course Frijolita kept following & I kept following. Heard a noise behind me, turned around & there was Daisy, also following. Frijolita would stop, I would pet & as soon as I reached for her foot, she'd take off again. And the entourage continued............!!!! On about the 3rd trip thru the pen area John what I was doing. He was picking up poo which is what I was suppose to be doing.....!!!! One time Tula started to go into her pen, because she knows that is neutral territory. As she got close to the gate, she started kicking back at Frijolita. I guess she had figured out Frijolita was the one I wanted & was trying to tell her to go away. Daisy girl was hanging in there. After about 3 or 4 more tours around the 10 acres, she stopped, planted her feet, I walked up petted her, told her what a silly girl she was, reached down & picked up her foot. After a couple of seconds I tried to put it down & she held it up in the air. I guess she was trying to tell me after all that, the least I could do was get a good look.......!!!! (G) One thing I did notice, in all that walking around she never once hiked her hind legs up with string halt, which is great. Maybe the acupuncture Dr. Weaver did, has made a difference.

Yesterday when they all came in for breakfast, Chester & Pepper came in about the same time & were standing outside the pens. Old Pepper started pushing his chin out at Chester & tried to intimidate Chester by putting his neck across Chester's neck. Silly old fool, Chester could clean his clock if he wanted to. Pepper doesn't have a clue that he is old, crippled & really should take life easy. He chases the girls, tries to intimidate the boys & in general seems to think he's "hot stuff".....!!!!!!

Daisy's Dad & his friend Tim, made it by yesterday as planned. We hadn't met George before, & we always enjoy meeting the people that have molded personalities of the donkeys, good or bad. In this case very good. You can tell what kind of home donkeys have been in, by the way they interact with their surroundings. Daisy is very very gentle & has the sweetest nature of any of the donkeys. I worried about her when she first came, because I don't think she has a "stand up for myself" bone in her body. But she adapted very quickly, if someone wants to eat where she's eating, she just goes someplace else. We always make sure there are more places to eat than donkeys. Both Lynne & George said she was a wild roping donkey when they got her 16 years ago. You can tell she has had nothing but love in a comfortable home for all these years, by her personality, totally trusting. She does do one thing that is out of character. If I stand in front of her to pet, she will usually push me with her nose, pretty hard, just one time. Not sure what that is about, but it seems to work for her.

Sha'ba seemed back to normal all day yesterday, but last night when John went out at bedtime he was uncomfortable, with lots of gurgling going on in his tummy. I'm assuming we are dealing with gas colic still. So he got another shot of banamine. I checked him this morning & he took a treat, but hadn't eaten last night's mush. That was at 5am, we're getting ready to go out & feed pretty soon. I'll decide then whether to give him another shot or not. I read up on colic last night, & it seems barometric pressure changes can cause colic. The vet said something about that too. Other than that, nothing fits unless he has something going on internally we don't know about. I might quit adding the Calf Manna to his feed. That is the only change in his routine we've made lately.

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

Sha'ba seems to be back to normal this morning. I gave him another shot of banamine before we went to bed last night. This morning he is perky & was "huffing" for food. Last I saw of him, he had his little head buried in his feed bucket enjoying his breakfast. I hope that is the last colic for awhile. We're all wore out today...........!!!! (G)

I think it was gas colic. While we were sitting with him in between feeding the others last night, a couple of times he laid down & tried to roll. The wiggling & squirming seemed to get things moving, & judging from the sound he had a lot to move, poor little guy.

I'm so glad he's feeling better, at his age anytime he doesn't act "normal", I worry. I told the vet I wanted at least 10 more years out of him. She said she doubted it, but it gives us something to shoot for.

Daisy's Dad is coming to see her today. Her Mom came down a few weeks ago with a friend, but this will be the first time George has see her since she left home. I wonder if she will recognize him? Bet she will...........!!!!

This morning when breakfast was served, Sha'ba wasn't interested after sticking his head in the bucket, which is highly unusual for him. I watched him for awhile & thought he had choked on his first bite or two. We worked with him in between chores, & about an hour later I gave him a shot of banamine. Watched him for awhile & finally put in a call to the vet. She said she could make it out this afternoon, & by the time she got here, we knew he was colicing instead of choking. So far he isn't popping back to normal very quickly. He's too small for her to palpate, so we have no idea what is going on inside. She tubed him, we had to put him in our little homemade squeeze because he really was being uncooperative. As it was, he tried to rear and/or climb out the corral panels. Got a hoof caught thru the panel, & I had a heck of a time getting it back on the right side. He stepped on my finger in the process. John ended up with a bloody hand, & no idea how it got that way. After the vet left & we started feeding, we took turns doing feeding & setting with him. He seems to be more comfortable, but still isn't back to normal. Not the least bit interested in eating.

It's odd that the last few posts I've made to the blog were all about him. Hopefully I'll have good news in the morning, at least I hope so. He's too old to start having to doctor & colic can really be nasty.

It seems like right now we have a lot of bees, going after water. So far no one has gotten stung but I worry about someone gulping up one, which wouldn't be good. It's starting to get hotter & drier, so I assume the bees will keep coming. I spend a lot of time fishing them out of the water, unlike wasps I guess they can't land on the water.

Sha'ba & I are still fighting the battle of the habronema larvae on his sheath. We're down to 2 small areas, which is a piece of cake from my point of view. I clean him up in the morning, & cover the area with invermectin. At night I cover his sheath with swat, figure that will slow down reinfestation.

I was asked about his history. Everyone is doing pretty good right now, so I'll give a little background on him. He came off one of the local Indian Reservations, I don't know which one. A horse trader got a good deal, 5 donkeys, but she had to take them all. Four of them were young, healthy & wild as march hares. We got a call about the 5th one. She said he was crippled, blind & there was no way she could re-sell him, would we take him? We said yes, & drove to Tucson to pick him up. He was in much worse condition than we expected. He was a small standard, should have weighed around 300 pounds, probably weighed 200 or less. About half his ears had been cut off, he had an old break at a rear fetlock. His eyes were so matted & infected we also thought he was blind. His face was raw & bloody from flies & habaronema larvae. He had a hole thru his nose that lines up with scars on his mouth, where someone had ran a chain, rope, bull ring or something thru to lead him or tie him up. I don't think I have ever seen a more pathetic sight. He had been in with 4 young strong animals & I have no idea how long it had been since he had eaten well. We were told he was about 40 years old, but since he has very few teeth & those are completely worn down, I really don't know how old he is. We loaded him as gently as we could & didn't know if he would make the trip home, about 65 miles.

That has been 6 years ago. We cleaned him up I started agressively treating the habromena, which as above, I continue to do annually. When we got his eyes cleared up we were thrilled to find out that he does have sight in one eye. We made sure he had all he wanted to eat & found out that he will only eat so much. He seems to have a built in "I've had enough" trigger, so we don't have to worry about him getting fat.

He's my little Muffin Man, he was emotionally shut down, (wonder why) but once he came out of that, he is one of the most loveable donkeys there is. He also can be the most stubborn. Thank goodness he self trims his feet, even the one with the broken fetlock, which healed crooked. He might be little & he might be old, but two people & a cross tie can't control him enough for a foot trim.

He seems to be very healthy, after getting bit by a rattlesnake a few years ago, which was scary. He's probably actually more healthy than some of the others that were fed too much or too rich for years & have developed insulin resistance & have other problems. I think his leg was broke early in his life, perhaps his mother stepped on him or if they were in rough country, who knows what happened. I don't think he was ever worked, because he has no concept of people/donkey working relationships. At least normal ones. (G)

SHA'BA BIT ME.............!!!!!!!

Sha'ba has always been allowed more freedom to misbehave (if he wants to) than the others. Once we found out he wasn't blind & we got a little weight on him about 7 years ago, we found out he was mentally shut down. He actually came out of the shut down, & started reacting to people, although he was & still is hesitant about being close to the other donkeys. Along the path of rehabilition he started showing a little spunk which we encouraged. One thing he has done for a long time is to butt me like a goat when I come in with his feed. I dance around & we've developed a routine that works for us that gets his feed in the bucket & he thinks he's personally responsible for it getting there.

Usually I can get from the gate & to his bucket before he does. Then it's a simple matter to dump it & back away, as he marches in & starts to chow down.

This morning for some reason, he was fast or I was slow. When this clash happens he will stick his head in the bucket & you can't dump the soaked feed. So I turned the bucket I was carrying upside down in his feed bucket & just stood there. I guess he got upset because not only could he not get his head in the feed bucket, but he could smell breakfast under the thing that was keeping him from getting his head in the bucket. He turned around & bit down on my arm. Usually when an equine bites you, it's a crisis of sorts, good opportunity for broken skin, crushed tissue, blood & not a pleasant experience. Getting bit by one that has very few teeth & those are worn off to gum level is a little weird. I don't think I've ever been gummed by an equine before, complete with lots of slobber. It was kind of a slimy "yuck" moment. Yes he won, I immediately took the turned over bucket out of his feed bucket, he dived in & his little world continued to rotate as usual. And I will try to be quicker in the future, so as to not upset him.........!!!! (G)

VISITORS TODAY...........!!!

Georgette & her friend Cilla (I think) came out today to see the donkeys. A few years ago, Georgette came out with a tour company & fell in love with Sha'ba. She has kept in touch, keeps track of how he is doing & has helped out when we have Open Houses. Last but not least she also adopted Sugar a couple of years ago as a friend for Jacque. She comes out to visit, when she has time, which isn't often, I think she said it had been 10 months. This is her & Sha'ba getting to know each other again. The cup of timothy pellets she is holding certainly helps.

Cilla has a donkey too. She originally got him as a companion for her horse, that has since died. So now she is down to a donkey, a goat & 5 dogs. She said the goat & the donkey get along real good.

We're suppose to get some rain tomorrow, at least they are forcasting a 40% chance. We sure could use it, everything is so dry. We make sure there is always water out on the ground, so everyone even the tiny critters can get a drink. The other day a gopher (king) snake was drinking out of the short stock tank. I ran to get the camera but of course by the time I got back outside, he was finished. I miss a lot of good pictures. It always amazes me at what neat pictures some of the blogs have on them. I'm usually lucky if mine are clear & not blurry.

RACE NIGHT

BlackJack & Buddy playing with dog rope toy

Had a good night of racing last night. John finished 7th in the main event out of 20 & our son finished 11th, after having to go into the infield for a tire change. Brought both cars home relatively unharmed, except for the back end of John's car. One of the other drivers used the left rear fender of John's car to stop, rather than using the brake pedal. He got blackflagged & fined, & John gets to do body work this week. Anytime you bring them home with the running gear OK, & the frame & body fairly straight, it was a fun night. We'll do it again next Saturday night. I found 2 pennies at the track last night, so I hope the good luck will carry over.......!!!!

After the races we went with some of the other racers to TTT (oldest family owned truck stop still operating in the U.S) to get something to eat. They gave John a birthday card with a donkey on it, a lot of the driver's had signed. All in all John had great birthday. Forty years ago when we started this particular hobby, I don't remember thinking, "gee whiz, I bet we'll be doing this in 40 years"................!!!!! (G)

Of course at that time we didn't know we would be doing donkey rescue either. We never know what twists & turns life will deal us, do we? The gang was happy when we got home about 1:30 am. They had been cooling their heels in the pens, while we were out having fun. When we come in late like that & they hear us unlocking the gate, they start yelling. Of course there is no sleep-in for the humans, the cats expect breakfast at the usual time in the morning. And once there is movement in the house, the equine also expect breakfast to be served. John use to use Sundays to wash the race car & check it over to get an idea of what needed to be done to get it race ready. But as the years pass, Monday or Tuesday or even Wednesday works just as well............!!! "Mature" people have to save energy where they can you know...............!!! (G)

We had to make a trip to Phoenix yesterday. That is always fun, we have to feed early, in order for the gang to have time to finish eating. Given a choice between eating early or staying in their pens all day, I can tell you which they would choose.............!!! Of course eating early is one of their favorite things anyway.

The day before Dr. Weaver came out to do acupuncture on Max & Frijolita again. He said Max's hips are actually more level than they were, even though he's been flopping around a lot & falling in cactus. Frijolita has string halt & she really has improved since he was here a month ago. I haven't seen her hiking her back legs at all. So he gave her another treatment. Hopefully there will be some long term improvement for her. She & Chester are kind of an "item" & they would make a wonderful addition to the right home. It would take some one that wasn't looking for perfect donkeys, but wanted beautiful donkeys with sweet personalities. They both love attention & even though Chester was a roping donkey, he doesn't hold any grudge at all.

Dr. Weaver doesn't think acupuncture would help Pepper, & said my white willow bark, substi-Bute, & hylaun is probably as good as anything to help with his poor old legs. The old buzzard was checking out the girls this morning, to see if anyone thought he was cute, so he's doing pretty good for the shape he is in. I'm not sure any of them appreciate his attention, but it doesn't seem to hurt his feelings at all. Earlier this year he was so very thin, & I couldn't get him to eat anymore than he would eat. But I've started adding a lot of water to his feed, & also have been giving him Calf-manna & he's actually putting on a little weight. Someone on one of the groups mentioned Calf-manna, so I checked it out. Good heavens, they need to change the name, you can feed it to just about anything, including chickens. It's been around since 1931 & is touted as a healthy feed. I think it has licorice in it, which seems to be a real hit, not only with Pepper, but with Sha'ba & Max. All 3 of those have a hard time holding their weight.

Today is John's 69th birthday, & he is going to drive the race car tonight instead of our grandson. I hope he keeps it between the fences, doesn't run over anyone, or get run over & keeps the greasy side down..........!!!!! (G) Our son will be racing our other car in the same races, so maybe he'll look out for his Dad. Actually it doesn't work that way, if he tried watching out for his Dad, he'd probably get run over. I just hope they don't run over each other, that would really be bad.........!!!! (G)