Sunday Stills - White

It's still Sunday isn't it?

Ever wonder how you can up the challenge level of your photography?  It's simple really.  Just drop your camera one too many times so that several of the settings, including macro, and the view screen in the back, both quit working properly.  Then, set out to take pictures of flowers that are only a quarter inch across.  It brings a whole new meaning to the term 'point and shoot'.  'Aim and pray' is probably a better term for it.

These are more tiny woodland wildflowers, I don't know what they are.

And even tinier ones.  Why do you suppose woodland flowers are so miniscule?

Except for the Trillium that is, which are all coming into bloom right now.

As are the last of the frog eggs....

and the swamp thing.

Kelsey, who is such a Border Collie!

And last, a glow-in-the-dark calf.

Happy Mother's Day

Of Donkeys, Roping, Blogging and Activism

I have gotten several emails about another Donkey Roping event in Texas coming up on May 25.  I have mixed feelings about posting this.  One of the things I have learned well in the past year is about the immense power of social media, for good and bad.  The last time I posted about donkey roping, it  touched off a firestorm that still amazes me and frightens me a bit.  The end result was that we managed to cancel two donkey roping events, which is fantastic, but the whole thing also left me feeling a bit singed and wary.  I believe that radical fanaticism in ALL its forms is a dangerous and ugly thing and I have found that is difficult to be involved in any sort stand against injustice without encountering such radicalism.  On the other hand, if we don't speak out against cruelty, if we hide from it, is that not a way of condoning it? 

I believe that animals can and should work for us and with us.  My horses enjoy trail riding as much as I do.  My donkeys absolutely love going for walks in the woods with me and they would be perfectly happy to carry a reasonable load while doing so.  I know that roping is a very valuable skill, and there has been more than one occasion when I wished had such skill.  I even know that donkeys can be used in roping practice without harming or frightening them, I have seen it.  I could go out right now and toss a rope around Ramsey and he would think it is a fun new game.  He would bite the rope, tug on it, play with it and ask for more.  However, if I were to climb up on Gabe and chase Ramsey at high speed, only to throw a rope around his neck or his back legs and jerk him off his feet...well, if Ramsey survived, he would never be the same again.  He would not be the sweet, lovable, trusting friend/child/pet/companion that he is.  He would be what so many people have made of so many other animals, nothing more than a means to an end. A way to win a prize rather then being the prize he is.

My blog has become many things to me that I never envisioned.  It is a creative outlet for my long neglected interest in writing, a way to share my budding fascination with photography along with the joy and tribulations of donkey ownership.  It is, more and more, becoming a way to connect with people I would otherwise never know about.  It is a way to organize my thoughts and share some of what I have and am learning.  It is never going to be just one thing; just donkeys, just horses, just pictures,  just hoof trimming, just activism.  It is not just one thing because I am not just one thing.  I have many interests and I care deeply about many things, just one of which is how we care for, treat and think about our animals.  So I am posting this and will probably post other such things when I feel the need to.  That is after all, the beauty of blogging, it is and can be whatever the blogger chooses.

Today is World Donkey Day.  A day to think about and celebrate donkeys, which are wonderfully intelligent, loving, quirky, beautiful creatures who are more than a means to an end.  They are amazing animals who do not deserve to be brutally roped, dragged and thrown about as though they were no more than animated garbage.  So lets use our powerful, collective voice to once again stop this brutality.  Lets do it politely, resolutely, with kindness and without harsh words or hatred, because the means are the ends. 

The following information comes from donkeysdeservedignity
They will be posting further contacts and updates as needed. 

Organizers:

Casey Round 918-520-5208
email: caseyaround@yahoo.com and Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/casey.round.3)

Dan Conway 806 339 5328 (Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hornytoadsaddlery)  

Brad Ingram 918 244 3732 (Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brad.ingram.946)

Guthrie Murray 918 533 6926

 Town contact info:
PO Box 277
Welch, OK 74369
918-788-3616
Mayor is Winston McKeon

Craig County Sheriff: Jimmy Sooter 
E-mail: sheriff@junct.com
210 West Delaware Suite 101
Vinita, Oklahoma 74301(918)256-6466

I have been unable to find actual Chamber of Commerce info for Welch, but have the following info for the county seat of Vinita, OK. You can contact them and tell them that you will not be spending any money or visiting their communities due to the cruelty to animals going on in their county.

Vinita Chamber of Commerce
PO Box 882
Vinita, Oklahoma 74301
Phone:918-256-7133
Fax:918-256-8261
E-Mail:chamber@vinita.com
The following contacts are in state government and both serve on the Tourism Committees. Please write to them to make them aware of the event as well as the cruelty to animals #1685 law that is at the bottom of this blog post. Both of these men represent District 1 that includes Welch. (Thanks to the National Miniature Donkey Association for providing us with these two contacts).

Senator Charles Wyrick
2300 N. Lincoln Blvd. Room 535-A
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73105
Home: 58500 E. 155 Rd.
Fairland, Oklahoma 74343

Representative Curtis McDaniel
2300 N. Lincoln Blvd. Room 539-B
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73105
Home: P.O. Box 366
Smithville, Oklahoma 74957

A Semblance of Normality

I am still recovering from a very bad case of bronchitis and a sinus infection, which has been especially annoying as this is my favorite time of year and the weather has been unusually wonderful.  I have to admit, I have been feeling just a bit sorry for myself.  Still, I am getting a bit better and it is Spring, so things are looking up.

It has also been unusually dry (worrisomely dry in fact), which is providing a very rare window of opportunity to get some things done that normally aren't possible this time of year.  I have had several loads of firewood delivered (which is just a bit bittersweet as it is great to have so early, but I am soooo sick of firewood at the moment), there are two truckloads of stone headed my way tomorrow to help deal with the major mud problems I had around the barn this winter and....well, the list is long, long, long.

With all of this going on, I have decided to take some time off from work and from the computer.  Blog posting the rest of the week could be a bit erratic.  With that said, I wanted to show you these pictures of Ramsey's foot that I took this afternoon, I find this fascinating and encouraging....

If you look close at this foot, you will see that the bottom third is smaller than the top with the heel pinched in.  I drew more lines on this photo to show what I mean...

The lower part of the foot is what was grown months ago and used to be above the surgical site.  It is still somewhat deformed and contracted.  However, I am very encouraged by the new foot that is growing in above it.  Donkey feet grow faster then horse feet do and Ramsey is already well on the way to growing in a good foot.  I don't know what exactly caused the lower portion of the foot to be so much smaller then what the new foot clearly indicates it should be, but I strongly suspect that it was from nearly four months of constant bandaging, lack of weight bearing and lack of exercise.  I also find it very interesting that the hair just above the foot is still growing in wavy instead of smooth as it is on his other foot.  That is also the result of the bandaging.  

Looking at the foot from the bottom, it is finally starting to take on a semblance of normality.  There is a little bit of concavity and the heels are much less contracted.  The frog is still badly prolapsed downwards, but the cleft at the back of the foot is beginning to open a bit, which is the first sign of healthy growth I have seen. 

For all of it's trials, this foot is beginning to look like a healthy foot.  Most importantly, it is functional.

I still find trimming this to be very tricky.  I have actually been trimming it almost weekly in tiny amounts rather then trying to make larger corrections less frequently.  I know I have made some mistakes and doing very small trims helps prevent me messing up too badly.  Mistakes do tend to show up fairly quickly so I can correct them before they cause too much trouble.

The one thing that still has me concerned is that the wall at to toe is still not growing in well.  It may be that it is because of the missing coffin bone and it will never grow in correctly, but I think I am battling some ongoing fungal or bacterial trouble as well and I have been treating it.  I think all this dry weather will help.

If you look close at the lower left part of the sole, you can see some pink areas.  That is inflammation that occurred weeks or months ago and is just now growing out.  When I first started trimming him after his last trip to Cornell, nearly the whole bottom of his foot was pink and bloody looking like that.  Then it was both sides and it is just now getting to the point where it only shows a bit in the left side.  There was a whole lot of inflammation in this tiny foot.

I have to say, this is one of the things that really takes a lot of courage to trim through.  That bruising shows up and you would swear that I was cutting into live tissue.  I know I let myself get scared off by this several times and I probably didn't trim as much as I should have at first.  I had to give myself some pretty stern lectures and get my courage up to keep at it, but I think we are getting it figured out finally.  I can understand why it takes a certain kind of bravery to be a surgeon and I can doubly understand why surgeons should never have to operate on anyone they love.  This would be so,SO much easier to do on an animal I did not have a connection with.

We are getting there though.  Compare this...

to where we were a few months ago...

We're not that far off form looking like his good foot.  Speaking of...there was quite a while that I could not trim his good foot well because it was too hard for Ramsey to stand on his bad foot.  This foot shows almost the exact opposite of his other foot, the lower third is larger than the top of the foot because it was bearing so much more of his weight for so long.  That extra weight and lack of trimming showed up as a somewhat larger hoof capsule and a slightly underrun heel.

When both feet look like the top potion of this foot, we will be in good shape. 

We've come a long way baby!:)

A Variation

I opted out of Sunday Stills this week as the challenge was 'emergency vehicles'.  I consider myself fortunate that I haven't had any contact with them lately.  Although, if my darned lungs don't start working better soon, that could change.  Still, the closest we got to an emergency today was when Ramsey thought he was about to get left out of something for more then twelve seconds....

After that  near catastrophe was averted, the rest of the evening was spent searching for that perfect Spring delicacy...

How to Ruin a Donkey's Day

"YO MA!  WHAT IS THIS FENCE DOING HERE!?!!!!"

"I'm sorry guys, but you can't have any more grass right now.  It's too rich and I don't want you getting fat(ter) or getting sick from it.  It's for your own good."

"You've got to be kidding, it's not like you're one to talk!  What are we supposed to eat, huh?  Tell us that!"

"Oh come on now guys, give me a break, you have nearly three acres behind the barn.  There is plenty of food out there for two donkeys and you get the hedgerow with all the little brushy stuff you so love to murder and there is hay in your net.  You just can't have the super lush lawn and pasture grass anymore.  You have plenty to eat though."

"Yeah right, don't you know that the grass out there is awful, skimpy, scrawny, tasteless stuff?!"

"Um, yes actually, I do know that.  That's sort of the point in fact, it should be safe for donkeys." (I hope)

"Oh the betrayal!!  Ramsey, I hope you're in there looking up the number for the donkey rescue.  Mom has obviously gone round the bend and is trying to starve us to death....I just can't believe this has happened....life used to be so good, now look what we're reduced to.  We're not talking to you any more today Ma!"

Morning Ablutions

Well, the verdict is still out, but early signs show that I might survive this plague.  In the meantime, enjoy a short video and take note that no matter where Ramsey is or how much of a pest he is being, Emma never, ever hits him when she rolls.  Such a good mom.

Oh, and for those who might be wondering, the critter in my last post is a Spotted Salamander.  I found him under a piece of firewood last week.  They are generally 6-10 inches long and can live 30 years!  Neat huh?