A few inches of snow fell yesterday, then in the evening temperatures rose and it rained. When I went out to do chores, the back yard and entire pasture were glare ice. I have aggressive ice grips on my boots, but still walked very carefully. Spirit goat was very unsure about walking to the milk stand, but with some encouragement, and slow going, she got there and back. The poor donkeys didn't want to set foot out of their shed, and I couldn't blame them. Hard, slick soled feet on top of wet ice would be a dangerous combination. They couldn't reach their hay rack or their water tub. I didn't have a lot of time, but I quickly scooped all the bedding out of their room, and put it into my trusty two wheeled cart. Then I walked towards the hay rack, tossing a fork full of shavings every few feet, to create a little bit of grippy surface on top of the ice. They figured out what I as doing in a twinkling.
Sarah, above, would walk only as far as I had spread the shavings, then wait for me to come and toss another fork full on the ice. I made a trail to the hay rack and the donkeys tried it out. Then I turned and walked to the water bucket, and the little guys followed along, checking out my activity every step of the way. They took a big drink, then ambled back to the shed.
If you look at he picture above, you can see that Sarah has a little boot on her left rear foot.
Several of you have asked how she is doing. The farrier was here three days ago, and cut a good deal more of the front of her infected hoof off. The White Line disease had reached almost to where her hoof joined her leg. I wasn't really sure what I was looking at that was under where the hoof had been removed, and to be honest, it made me feel a little squeamish. Our veterinarian came the next day, and said it all looked pretty good. I got brave and asked, "What am I looking at under where her hoof was?" She gave me a sideways glance and replied, "Actually, that is bone." I was right to feel squeamy! Poor little girl. The vet said, "It's going to be a long haul. It will take 6 months or so for that hoof to regrow, but she's going to be ok, and she's not in pain. She's a happy donkey."
The doctor brought a boot for Sarah to wear to protect her foot as it heals. Actually, she brought two. One more expensive, soft and squishy. The other hard and not as nicely made. Of course I wanted the squishy one, but sadly it was too big. The other one fits perfectly. I cut some padding to slip inside and make the bottom more comfortable. We will try to get the better one in her size. A girl's gotta have nice boots! In case you are wondering, they look something like this, below. Stout Velcro holds it snugly to her foot. After the first moment or two, she has paid no attention at all to it, but I suspect she wishes it came in designer colors!
The donkeys seem to be bored, there is not much to do with all the snow and ice on the ground, and they are not getting as many visitors as they normally do. Chris nicely bought a special treat to distract them. It's a hard ball, about the size of a softball. It is made of seeds and grains, and compressed with something sweet. It's as hard as a block of wood. The instructions are to hang it, about eye level, where the donkeys cannot press it against a wall. I slung a rope up over the rafter, and they watched with great interest. As soon as I was done, they tested it out, pronto. They nibble and lick, and the ball swings and sways. Soon both of their heads were covered with the sticky sweetener, but they didn't care. They have spent hours playing with it, but have barely made a dent in it. It's a nice distraction these long, dull days.
It was dusk when I hung it, so the picture isn't very good, but you can see that the donkeys are quite entertained. And that is only fair...
because they certainly entertain ME!
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