Waylon Nelson Tales of the Pink Donkey

Waylon is undoubltedly the sweetest Donkey, but I feel that way about each one of his four companions.  Even Paco the scared (goat killing?!) Donkey has finally decided we can touch him.  Paco is our best guardian and keeps dogs in check around the property.  He has come along way since the curved feet.  We love him and look forward to his big face in the truck window wanting a handout.  His favorite treat are old fashioned rootbeer candy from tractor supply.  He greets me when I come home and walks beside my truck all the way to the gate each time I leave.  There is no better friend I could have.  If only he could give me advice or carry on a conversation with me. 

Waylon spends his days playing with his donkey pals and eating, lots of eating.  He love toys and will create his own if he can't find his ball or rope toy.  His favorite thing to play with is the feed bowl, he will partner up with another donkey and they will carry the bowl in their mouths and walk all around the yard together as if they were in a contest that is being judged on skill.

Donkey Play

Echo's Field Trip

The most important thing we do in the summer is a paint the minis activity at the special needs camp.  Right in the middle of Summer the horses caught a cold, not quite half the herd, but more sick horses at one time than we'd ever had before. Since we usually have none, this was frustrating for me and I had to get to the bottom of it.  The vet wasn't too concerned and said the virus would run it's course in about 10 days.  We were grounded and all activity had to cease for 10 days.  We missed a volunteer week and the next week not all the minis that participate were well enough to go so we enlisted in our healthy donkeys who were never affected by the virus and with one spot left we filled it with our mascot Echo, the smallest (and now fatest) mule in Texas.  Echo has been known to be honory and never worked out going to parties and events like some of his pals, but we needed him. He was placed under the supervision of his daddy Tibideaux the whole day.  He did very well and stayed patiently tied to the trailer like his dad.  He was even good about being hosed off after he was painted.  Echo doens't mind these things normally anyway, but it is usually on his time schedule not ours.  OK he's spoiled, extremely, not only by us but the other minis and donkeys too. 

Echo's field trip started out with a good brushing and an hour ride to the camp. He then ate hay and waited for his turn to be painted.  The whole day went well and he was such a trooper to fill in for the mini horses!

When a Horse Chokes!

The scariest thing I have encountered in horse ownership is a choking horse.  I have been through colic, parasites, cuts and stitches, seizure, moonblindness illness, but next to a life threatening disease, Choke is the one that springs you into action.  The horse will have mucous and salivia, coming out the mouth and nose, they may thrash or just get up and down, Their ears may twitch from the discomfort every time they try to swallow.  Horses don't throw up or burp and what goes in must go through to come out. They are also nosy and touch things with their lips always looking for a morsel of food.  So one track minded the horse.  They can't even seen their mouth to know what they are putting in therir body.  Once they have been given treats, they will always be checking things out just in case their is some declicious tidbit just for them around every corner or every knook and cranny. I've had only two horses choke and they are both minis. 

Sparkle our oldes mini at 23 years had choked twice, both times we know the cause. Once was on acorns, which is her favorite thing to eat in the fall.  The next time she bolted her food.  Now she gets her food soaked and we keep her contained in the fall as acorns are not suppose to be good for horses due to the toxins they contain. Sparkle doesn't agree and she will still compete with the squirrels for acorns every fall. 



Mariah sharing hay with her best pal Dreamer

 Mariah is next oldest at 21 years. She has choked twice,both times we have no idea what the cause was.  Her teeth were blamed both times.  She has also suffered colic multiple times and her teeth determined as the cuase.  Mariah was born with split molars in the back of her mouth and that has caused her many problems. finally last year on set became loose enough for the vet to pull them out.  She still has the other side to go. Maybe when she has her teeth worked on this year.  Mariah is called the cookie monster around her because she will gladly take anything out of your hands and gobble it up, so you have to be careful wht is in your hands around Mariah.  She has to have her molar cleaned out when she eats fresh grass or alfalfa. She chews dry hay the best and loves her mush of senior feed.