Teeth And Toes

Yesterday was another dental visit - this time for the donkeys.  The donkeys would have been done when the horses were, but Chloe was up to her usual tricks... refusing her halter and refusing to even let anyone near her.  Under normal circumstances, she never behaves like this - but if something is about to happen, she is very much aware and wary!  So we scheduled the donkeys for yesterday morning and Sunday night I set about getting a halter on Chloe.  (Daphne is never a problem - she is always a willing donkey.)

As soon as she saw the halter in my hand, she turned tail and headed in the opposite direction.  I knew it would take some patience (cajoling never works).  So, I sat myself down on the front stoop of their run-in shed and waited.  Daphne came right over to me (of course) so I rewarded her with lots of affection.  I placed the halter on her and took it off and made a fuss while Chloe just watched.  Eventually, Chloe sauntered over as well and after a few minutes of affection, allowed me to place the halter on her head.  It just has to be her idea - a common trait of donkeys.

  Donkeys were sedated and teeth were floated without incident.

Although, Chloe did share her party tricks with us.  Not only can she fold her tongue in half lengthwise, she can also bend it at a 90 degree angle to the side.

Yup, give her a little mind-altering substance and she's ready to party!

After the donkeys were finished, I slipped out into the front pasture with the pigs and the sheep... hoping to get the opportunity to trim pig hoofs.

Before hoof trimming...

a cat scan!

This was actually the first time that Moll cat ever climbed up on Ginger.  Usually, it's MaryAnn she chooses.

Meanwhile, my little black lamb (who now looks exactly like her Mama looked... dirty grey with a black face and legs) looked on.  She spends a lot of her time in the company of the pigs.  When the sheep shearer was here, he asked me if I thought that Faith was lonely since Hope passed.  I'd like to think that she is not lonely.  Thankfully, she has her piggy friends for company.

I sat with the horses for a little bit... tying a little experiment.  There's a phenomenon called interspecific yawn contagion - yawns are contagious amongst certain group-oriented species.  I wanted to see if I could make my horses yawn from my yawning.  So, I yawned, and....

There he goes...

a contagious yawn!  I have noticed that the opposite works as well.  When my horses yawn, it often makes me yawn as well!