The Eddie Files...

I'm going to try and keep track of some of the things I do with Eddie who is now a yearling donkey.
Before he was gelded, he and another donkey called Thor were 'paddock buddies'. They were weaned from their mommas together and have spent the last 9 months together.

One of my main concerns was how Eddie was going to handle being separated from Thor.
I can tell you now, that Thor is having a rougher 'separation' issue than Eddie is.

According to the Veterinarian's orders we were to hand walk Eddie a little each day until he healed up.
This presented itself with a great opportunity to start Eddie on his preliminary work for eventually becoming my saddle donkey.
Eddie already has had 'basic' training in the halter and lead rope area. But here was the chance to get myself into a daily routine with him.

To my surprise, Eddie is an extremely willing student and has not shown any concern at all for his 'paddock buddy' who runs in circles and brays loudly each time I take Eddie out for some work. [They were separated last Friday.]

By now when Eddie sees me approaching with a halter and lead rope he stands at the gate and begins to bray, softly at first ... then louder until I step inside. Then he walks to me and waits. He seems to enjoy it, and yes, donkeys are very social creatures.

Each learning session begins and ends with a nice overall and relaxing grooming.

I don't know if what I'm doing is 'correct' or not~~but it feels right to me and seems to be working well.

Soon Eddie will be taking hiking ventures with me and Morris, my Jack Russell. Eddie has shown no animosity towards having a little dog bounce around while we do our work.

So far in 5 days Eddie has learned:

Step forward when asked.
Step backward when asked.
Follow quietly.
Don't crowd the handler.
Baths are nice.
Stand quietly while tied.
Little dogs are okay.
Hound dogs are a curiosity.
Pick up a hoof when tapped on the leg.
&
...Humans are wayyyy cooler than old pasture buddies.

original shot vs posted shot...

MJ, here is the original shot I took of Thor.
Of course he was reacting to the braying of another donkey.

I used Photoshop Elements to 'pluck' his head out of the shot and then used a method called blending two images with layer mask found at this site:
Photo Blending at Photoshop Cafe

The result is the shot you see.
The backround was too distracting, but once you isolate the head, it goes from HO HUM to Wow.

So yeah, I used Photoshop and Elements to do this:I hope that helps with your question.

I'll probably submit it to Mules and More Magazine for a Magazine cover shot. I've had a few cover shots for them before.

Some shots that have been covers for M&M:and

Thor

Thor, 14 months old.
Big and Beautiful.

Love those ears.

Addicted...

Have you ever noticed [if you are a rider...that you can get GRUMPY if you don't ride???]

[I used to do distance running...I was addicted to that, if I didn't run for a few days I got antsy and felt horrible...I think riding is the same for me!]

I am one of those.

Truly I am ...I get down right mean and ugly.
Today...er yesterday hubby stopped me when I had a halter and lead rope....

He said, *Whatchya doing?*
I said, *Grabbing Badger for a quick ride! Then coming back to hand walk Eddie and take in the sheets off the line...*

Grrr.
He asked if I'd dusted the furniture.

[Wasn't he grateful that I'd just spent the morning vacuuming, laundering, washing the bathroom floor, kitchen floor, tidying things up, and picking up things I'd been dropping here and there? My work schedule has been absolutely bizarre and I've been working nights so my whole life is upside down at the moment.]

I blew a silent head gasket.

DUST is dust. It is NOT important to me.
So I cleaned our HUGE house. [24' by 26' with a half story....4 dressers...]

I took all knick-nacs down. Cleaned every surface ... including the walls...and did it with a nasty attitude.

I'd wanted to catch a few minutes of riding with Badger to help sooth over my feelings for Sunshine.

NOT.


I am Grumpy if I don't get to ride.

And not ashamed to admit it!

[You know what? The thing is...the house really really did need a dusting very very badly~~you could write in the dust]

Me bad.

But boy the house sure sparkles this morning. I'm looking at the windows and wondering when the 'window fairy' will show up to clean them!

A visit to an Equine Vet

Veterinarians who specialize in equines are a bit few and far between. Generally we can call most any of our local vets and get wonderful treatment for our mules, horses, or donkeys.

But Sunshine's case seemed to be turning out a bit different. So we called the Riverdale Vet Clinic in Muscoda, WI and made an appointment for 'Dr. Clay' to see Sunshine and geld Eddie.

Eddie was prepped, drugged with Ketamine and Rompun. He stood quietly ... drooping until Doc laid him down. The surgery went quickly and quietly with the usual jokes men make while an intact male is becoming 'gelded'.

'Is his voice going to be higher now Doc?
I don't know, Rich, can you improve a donkey's bray?
Dang Eddie, you are now going to sing a different tune!
Yep Rich, no turning back now....'
and so forth

Next he examined Sunshine. She was a stellar patient. She is shown here getting prepped for a nerve block at the fetlock. Doc didn't think the problem was in her hoof or ankle and wanted to make double sure. [He'd already tested her foot for a possible abscess.]
She never moved a muscle when he poked a needle into her fetlock. Jeeze, I cringed.

She moved out when asked and gimped swinging her leg as she limped. Doc shook his head and said ~~
'I'm really concerned about her knee. I think the problem is in her knee. I'll need to do some x-rays to she if she has a fracture or slab fracture. I have to rule that out.'[Here Sunshine is going to have x-rays done. No flash so the pic is a bit blurry, but you get the idea.]

Imagine how my heart skipped. A fracture, a slab fracture is very bad news.

The x-rays turned out negative and we took the next step.

The diagnosis was this:
Probable severe tear in the collateral ligament that holds the knee straight for equine. This would be very much like an ACL tear in a human.

Doc was a bit glum about her injury. Her prognosis was not great.
We are treating her with stall rest to limit her movement. In 4 weeks we are to check with Doc and see how she is healing, if at all. He wants her to go 8 weeks in a stall.

If that doesn't work, he said we had the option of going to the University of Wisconsin Madison Vet School and having surgery. No real guarantees on ligament repair for equine, as you cannot immobilize them like you can a human patient.

I spent the last 24 hours agonizing over this. I don't want her to suffer in the pain that she must be in. She can barely walk.
[you may have guessed this already if you follow my blog...I am walking around with tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat.]
This is where we get into the touchy field of quality of life. I really don't want to face those choices right now, but I have decided to go with a positive attitude that
Sunshine will get better with stall rest.

So we wait and see.

Oh by the way.
Eddie feels better today.
I am headed out to hand walk him.
He is one of the most willing donkeys I've ever laid hands on.

Guilty as charged

My husband says I'd rather ride than do anything else.

Well this is not exactly true you know.
I did some 'outdoor' work yesterday morning.
I HAD to saddle Badger and have him help.
He carried the essentials, like:
Water
Nippers
Saw
Hand Nippers
Snacks

...and Morris.
Well Morris simply supervised and found disgusting things to roll in.

I was clearing burdock off the trail that we ride through on the neighbor's property. There is one stretch that is so bad you will have a Burdock-Mule if you don't cut them down.
I mean it was work right?

I could vacuum the house on any rainy day. I could hem his pants and do my sewing jobs when the weather was nasty right?

His shirt didn't need a button RIGHT now, after all he has other shirts.

But you know, if it envolves riding in any way shape or form...
or if I could ride and vacuum the house....
hang out laundry while on a mule...
[wow maybe I could tie sheets to the saddle and gallop up on the ridge to air dry them?]
dust with a mule tail...

Well I think you all are getting my drift.

I'm guilty as charged, I will do anything to ride.

A perfect day

Our perfect day started when 'run around' Sue came home. [she was found on a neighbor's porch eating catfood...some hounds have NO discriminating tastes!]

Sunshine was standing in the rain softened pasture on ALL 4 legs...I think as it dries she'll be sore again. [she still is going to the vet's on Friday]

We did a trip to town, had lunch out, and spent the afternoon working with mules. I worked with Siera and Rich worked with Dyna. [no pics of Dyna, as she was inside the shed and I was outside with Siera][this is Siera practicing patience]

After supper, we saddled up [Opal and Badger] and went for an evening ride. My goal of course besides riding was to get some fantastic shots of the sunset.
We stopped at our favorite berry patch and to our amazement something VERY large had been through it.
We wondered if it was the local bear.

We rode down through the back valley and did some bush whacking. Then out onto the ridge top to watch Mother Nature put on a show for us.
I wanted a silhoutte shot of my hubby and Opal...so we did that.

Then it was down into the 'first' valley and up through the dense brush and undergrowth towards home.
Hah!

I think I was glad that I couldn't see some of what we were going through! It was getting very dark and I was more concerned about dodging branches than anything else.
Ruts? Washouts? Rocky ravines?
All in a night's ride of course.

Neither mule spooked when 3 turkeys 'rained' down on us from their night roosts!
True to our mule's good sense of what is going on around them...the turkeys didn't even warrant as much as a flick of the ear.

Not even when two bedding bucks jumped and ran in front of us ... did the mules react.

What can I say, it was one of those perfect days.