Signs of the Season

Luigi and Francesa

Yes, indeedy, those little faces are getting fuzzy all over again. Seems like they just shed out!

Before daylight savings changed,  the advent of fall was apparent as morning chores were being done in the pitch black with the help of a lantern. Now I have daylight to perform those duties.  But, of course, the evening hours of daylight are dwindling.  I scurry home from work to be able to take advantage of pre-dusk time.

Have I told you about our new bedding arrangement in the shed?  No, I think not.  Rick proposed we place small gravel-like stones as a base over about three-quarters of the floor and lay leftover stall mats on top.  He  drilled holes in the mats to allow drainage.  Seems to be working pretty well.  The new arrangement means  I don't have to lay an extra thick straw bedding to act as insulation; the stone/mat combo offers a nice cushiony rise from the cold ground.  I do put a smattering of straw down just to make things comfy, but the three donks end up eating most of it.

And, the colder weather does mean longer breakfast chores to get the shed cleaned out from the night and fresh straw laid for the day (they're again hunkering down in the shed at night instead of enjoying the stars)

No more wandering out in my p.j.'s in the morning for five minutes to throw hay.  Heavy sigh...

The Evil Purple Beast

Yesterday I had the clever idea of snapping a picture of Fran wearing my witch hat and posting it as such a cute Halloween image.  Right!

Dragged Rick out with me to act as photographer. It happened that I wore the hat out to the yard.  Such a  reaction I certainly did not expect.

This darn hat was 

so so scary.  

Three donkeys ran around the yard like banshees.  I immediately took it off and clucked and cooed to get them to come up to me, holding the dreaded purple beast behind my back.  One of them would take a few tentative steps toward me, but then catch a peek of the evil  thing and high-tail it out of there.  Luigi was kicking out with his back legs to keep the monster away.
So much for clever ideas...

Inappropriate vs Just Plain Funny

I was recently doing a little horse tack-shop shopping, except not for Natural but for the three hyenas in the field.  Going to try some fly boots (made for ponies) and see if we can stop the hordes of flying pests landing by the thousands on those little legs.  As I was noodling around the website, I came upon this t-shirt.

Now how many times do you see a miniature donkey on a t-shirt.  Of course I had to get it!
And, I wore it to our annual weekend at Camp Michigania by Petoskey.  Rick's comment -- "how inappropriate".  However, none of the other 100 or so campers seemed offended.  In fact, friend Barbara broke into a big grin when she first spotted it.
So I ask you, inappropriate, or just plain funny??

Another visit from Koren, donk farrier, and now two of the three donkeys are in love with her!  Up to now, Luigi had been her amorous buddy, pressing up to her side (unfortunately, also showing off his manly backside), attempting to steal her tools, pulling on her farrier apron...  But on this visit, little Gabriella vied with Luigi for #1 assistant position.  Just like little kids at school, outdoing each other's antics to get the teacher's attention.  Gabs was literally wrapping herself around Koren while work was being done on Fran.  Fran was the only aloof customer.

Koren slowly disappears from view as Luigi cuddles up, backside first.

My Fabulous Guy

Today I'm going to digress from the three lovelies (hmmm, perhaps Luigi would not enjoy that title) and turn to Natural, the other equine in my life.  He's a 26 year old Standardbred, who's been with me for 20 years. Next to Rick (husband) and Dudley (black lab featured in previous posts), he's my main squeeze.

I don't ride anymore after a pretty bad fall six years ago, but do work him in the outside arena, about 80x120 Today he was a marvelous gem.

I took my lunge line and whip with me out to the arena and coaxed him in with some carrots.  But once in, he was not in the mood to be haltered.  Finally I quit chasing him and told him, "Fine, then you're going to run" and cracked the whip.  Lo and behold the boy started lungeing around this large area, just as if he was attached to a line.  I'll admit I had a much harder workout trying to keep up with him, but he went through all of his paces through voice commands - walk, trot, canter, ho.  My equine friends will know this is not out of the ordinary in a round pen, but not in a space this large.

I was beaming!

  

Training Begins!

Labor Day not only marked the one-year anniversary of entering life with the donkeys, but also marked the First Day of Training to Drive.  Dum da dum [drum roll in background]  We clipped on two leather dog leashes, one on each side of the halter.  I was in back as the "driver" and Rick was in front with a lead line offering a little direction when my voice commands fell on deaf ears.

We started with Luigi and things went rather swimmingly.  I was able to get him back on track, turned, and went down the driveway like pros.  Then it was Fran's turn.  Not so swimmingly.  Two steps, then stop and think.  I'd nudge her, we'd go another two steps, stop and think.  Didn't try Gabriella, the little teenage hellion.

I've been looking for books and articles to help me figure out what I'm doing and the pickin's are sparse. But one I found yesterday did say geldings seem to perform better.  So I guess our experience also points in that direction.

Now to start looking for some decently priced gear!

I do have to put a plug in for friend Jill who offered words of encouragement this past weekend.  She taught her pony to drive without too much effort -- only thing was it was about 40 years ago.  Hmmm....

Red Flags

OK, I couldn't resist.  On my way home from a small local art fair, I saw a handwritten sign advertising a miniature donkey and pony for sale.  Had to stop.  The owner took me out to a back pasture and there was the boy (names omitted to protect the innocent, namely me).  He was a cute little guy, a dark brown that doesn't resemble any of my three.  I asked his age and was told four.  Next I asked if he was gelded and the owner paused and then admitted, "he didn't know".  Red flag #1.  How could you not know!  I'm not bringing a little guy who can shoot bullets into my herd. Then I asked... what are you asking?  $400 was the reply.  I responded by saying I purchased all three of mine for $600 and the owner was astounded, naturally.  "I couldn't let him go for less than $400, he's too nice an animal."  Red flag #2.  Just standing there with a cursory glance, I could see his hooves needed trimming and he had something crusty at one nostril.  Red flag #3  Of course, now that he knows I'm not going to whip out my checkbook on the spot, he tells me he's got someone else coming to look at him.  Right.  Final red flag