We get to babysit Three Mini Horses and a Mini Donkey!

Well, I am always getting myself into something! A girl at work asked me about places to board horses. Her mother-in-law lived 2 1/2 hrs away, moved here and wanted to get her babies closer. Boarding 4 critters, even if they are mini's, would add up...especially with winter coming on. So I offered to babysit them for as long as we need to. They won't eat much, so that won't cost her much, and taking care of them won't add much more time to what we already do.

There is a mini donkey who likes people as long as the people are minding their own business away from her! Her name is Summer.
The halter that is on her is mine - we put it on her in the trailer and one of the guys unhooked the lead when we got to the pen. I did finally get a hold of her and we had to wrestle a couple of times...but I finally got it off. I have decided wrestling a mini donk is much easier than my standard donks! But my choice would still be to have a gentle one. I will be working on that.

Here is Joker meeting the group. Just a lot of curiosity.




The black mini is Ruby. She has a white splotch on her forehead, and her Mom says that white spot turns black in the summer after she sheds off.
The buckskin colored one is Robin, and her baby is Hood. Get it? Robin Hood???? I thought that was cute.

Hood is 2 1/2 yrs old - and the only one I know the age on right now. Forgot to ask on the others...Duh! Hood is probably only 24" tall - I am going to measure all of them when Brian gets home and can help me. Hood has dwarfism, his front legs are bowed out, and he has 'banana hooves.' I have never seen a mini like this up close...just in pictures. I will be doing a lot of research - especially on the hooves. He walks on the sides of his feet and I just don't know if that can be fixed or not. I have never been in a position to have to know.

Over the July 4th weekend we saw a horse show that was mini's and small horses.
We really did enjoy most of the sporty horses and ponies, but let's just say that trying to breed smaller and smaller has screwed them up, and I was disgusted and saddened by what I saw. People bragging on the height of their stallions, but the eyes were bugging out of their heads and their foreheads were bulged out, and their legs were angled way in or way out. It broke my heart. Now little Hood is dealing with the results of all of this breeding. And how do you know if it is going to happen to yours or not? Is there a way?

Here is Ruby, Hood and Robin.



Here is Hood walking over the landscape timber, which gives you an idea of his height. I think it is a 'him'....I will be checking soon. Summer the mini donk is behind Hood.



All of the horses are very friendly, and they were talking to me after everyone left. I hung out with them a while just to visit. I had to get a smaller water container for Hood. He can reach the other one if it is full, but once they drink it down it will be tough. I have one of the smaller feed pans with water in it. Hood has captured my heart!

As you all know we got two new cats. The cats are doing fine - they run and play all the time and are a lot of fun. Someone mentioned that my old cat Bob didn't get his time with the camera, so I got a picture of him. His back looks choppy because I had to cut hair balls out of his furr. He can't groom himself as good as he used to, and when I was gone for work for three weeks, nobody wiped him down with a damp towel like I do almost every morning. So I cut the ugly chunks out. I thought that would be more pain free than trying to comb them out. Here is Bob just hanging out.



Here is Thomas trying to invite Bob to play - the size difference in the picture is for real! Bob has gotten smaller with age as we all do (I am not waiting to get old - I am just waiting to get smaller! Ha ha) and Thomas is young and a big boy!



Everyone else is doing great too! The only ones looking forward to winter are the dogs. Two full bred husky's and a husky cross. The rest of us are already growling about it!

Have a great day!

Karen and Tripp