Impatiently Waiting.

I went to see the donkeys the other day and spent some time haltering them to see which ones would lead. I love them all.

These two are wonderful. The spotted girl on the left likes to back into you for a but rub & has terrible feet. The white girl likes to be constantly physically attached to you and has OK feet but a hump in her back.

Here you can see the spotted girl's spots better.

This little girl is very sway backed and we thought she was in foal but the owner insists she just has a big bag all the time.

I had to run away to try to get a pic. They like to stay close.

This girl looks so much like Bob. John named her Marion.

I think he really enjoyed meeting them today.

I've been a little undecided about her name, but I'm pretty sure she will be Juniper. She looks different in the rain. And she likes me a lot better when I'm not holding a halter.

This tiny baby girl is so adorable and soft! And look at those whiskers!

Juniper likes John & John likes Juniper.

After reading more about incisor eruption, I think she's a yearling or maybe even older. I hope she still grows some.

I love this picture. John looks like such a happy dork. He said I need to quit taking pictures of him when his eyes are closed.

What a happy ass day. :)

Looking Up

I saw my baby again last night and it sounds like they're getting things straightened out. Thank goodness. But I still don't know how long it's going to take.

The vet saw her yesterday and said she is 6 months old, not a yearling. That means she would be highly unlikely to be bred. The jack was supposedly in with all the ladies 3 months ago and not since. Not that I wouldn't welcome a cute baby, but she's too young.

She's about 12.1 hands according to my rough measurement, so she should be big enough to ride in several years.

The vet gave her a body condition score of barely 3. Her spine sticks up so far! I rubbed her a lot (felt all of her bones) and she really enjoyed it, but her main focus is food.

The donkeys ate a whole mineral salt block overnight and are emptying a 150 gallon water tank 3 times a day. Obviously they haven't been getting what they need. One will foal very soon and quite possibly die in the process. Another is pretty imminent too but in better shape.

I can't remember if I posted this pic of the little boy:

I'm still tempted to take the baby boy as well, but the idea of having to train two of them to pick up their feet makes my back hurt. I tried picking up a foot on one of the adult girls (who looks a lot like Bob) and she threw a little fit. I like her a lot too, but again, ugh, hoof training.

The sweet girl who looks like Bob:

Good news on my ongoing injury symptoms! The dizziness and nausea I've been having are probably due to my neck, not my head! So it can be fixed. I think. There is hope for me yet! I like my new physical therapy doctor.

Excitement! Disappointment? and Last Chance Creek

This is the yearling girl I picked out to bring home.

She's the only one with decent feet, but even before I knew that she was the one who caught my eye.

I was going to pick her up today but now there's a hitch in the rescue effort. I don't know the full story, but I hope these guys don't go back to the owner, who had a stroke but obviously wasn't caring for them before that happened. She had 30-some donkeys and the Jack kept "getting out" so now all these skinny ladies with HORRIBLE hooves are nursing and pregnant.

I would love to take this little guy and his mama too, but I don't have time for that many equines. Look at those hooves.

Look at these hooves. So much bad going on there.

This is my girl again, at an angle that shows her poor condition.

I'm really bummed and I hope it all gets straightened out and we can move forward with this. And I hope these donkeys get the care they need.

I think I'm going to go up today regardless of the news just to love on donkeys and help with vet and farrier work. Unless it's pouring rain.

We went hiking out at Last Chance Creek yesterday. 5 1/2 miles of fairly level at a good pace. My sister and nephew rode while my step-dad, Henry, and I hiked. The horses are generally slower than the humans, which I think is funny.

We were pretty soaked and cold at the end. I wasn't prepared for rain. But we still had a great time!

Down the Road with Duncan

 Our next little hike wasn't really a hike at all. Duncan and I went for a 5 1/2 mile walk.

He has recently learned how to trot next to me thanks to some Warwick Schiller training videos I've been watching.  So we did a little jogging too. One negative effect of the time he spent at the trainer's is that he's more apt to think about refusing. It's kind of momentary scared response, then a "No." Not a very big No, but it wasn't there before.

In other news, there is a group of standard and mammoth donkeys in need of rescue right near me and John has emphatically said No and he means it. I feel like a spoiled toddler and I want to throw a fit. He is right, we don't need another mouth to feed or 4 more hooves to care for. But really, it's not like a donkey costs much to care for. I haven't given up yet.

Kamiak Butte with Winston

Winston and I hiked Kamiak Butte in the middle of the Palouse area the other day.  it was a gorgeous day, and a nice quiet hike.

If you look closely in this first photo you can see where they had a small fire get out of control, started by some idiots. Fires aren't allowed up there. I think it was put out by plane.  Luckily before much damage was done.

Winston wasn't real excited about posing for pictures, but he enjoyed the hike. And he was so well behaved! He didn't pull or get in my way. He was a perfect gentleman. Which is important when my balance is bad and hiking becomes a continuous controlled fall, always catching myself with the next step. The human body is amazing the way it knows how to walk regardless of what the brain is doing. (I only fell once, at a steep slippery spot. Thank goodness there was nobody there to see it!)

White Pass and the Tieton River

Over the weekend we traveled to my Grampa Stan's memorial service. On the way there and back we enjoyed the trip in the way he'd taught us. Loving the beauty of the natural world, observing and learning.

 Mount Rainier. Photos don't do it justice:

We'll hike here next time:

I can't remember the name of this falls but it was impressive!

We parked at the Quonset hut to get on the Tieton River Trail. (You need a Discover Pass.)

Oh happy day! It led right to the suspension bridge I'd read about. Imagine doing this when you don't trust your balance. I kept a good grip on the side cables.

I've never seen a green mushroom before. it made me wish I could still ask Grampa Stan.

I love finding heart shapes in the forest.

You don't want to get on a suspension bridge with these two!

I have always loved this section of highway because of the huge bluffs of columnar stone. I wish I'd gotten pictures of the other cliff faces. There were climbers up on one of them.

If we'd been there just a week earlier the aspens would have been stunning!

Heyburn, Mt Margaret, and Eden Valley

I'm going to post a few hikes together to get caught up.

My mom has been pretty much housebound for the last 3 years taking care of my Grampa, and she has a lot of health challenges of her own, so one day we chose a pretty level, short hike along Plummer Creek at Heyburn State Park. You can also ride horses here and I highly recommend it!

John, mom, and Henry:

I took Duncan with me to Mount Margaret, hoping to find a trail I know makes a loop, but I haven't been able to do the whole thing yet. Still haven't, but in retrospect we turned back at the right time. A big storm blew in on the drive home.

Getting pretty for hunting season:

Liam ahead, and Amy on Moose:

Love the fall color:

Next I hiked Eden Valley with Amy and Moose, on the Washington side along the Palouse River. I only took one picture.

I love how it's greening up this fall.