summer solstice, a new star in our constellation, and a very long night

We were very busy on the longest day of the year. We finally met the stellar young miniature donkey Redford, who will be coming to join our family in a few short months. He is a lovely red sorrel with a white star, and very loving and quiet compared to the bold, take-charge Rafer Johnson. (who is also very loving, but Rafer has a more insistent personality, I think)

We have photos, but so many that I haven't had a moment to sort through them. I'll post one as soon as I can.

We were lucky enough to meet several other young donkeys, including one born only 24 hours earlier. All I can say is, never ever go visit donkeys if you don't want your own herd! They are simply adorable and will steal your heart given about 10 seconds. If we had more acres we would have come home owning not only Redford, but three others to boot. What a herd that would be!

Upon return home Rafer Johnson seemed to know we'd been visiting other donkeys, because he turned on the "I am the most loving donkey in the universe and here, let me show you just how many hugs I can give!" He has been all over me and daughter since we got back. I explained to him that Redford is very special and will be a good friend to us all, but that of course Rafer is the first donkey and the one who stole our hearts first.

The longest day turned into quite a long night for us as well. At her evening feed, Salina had a choke episode. We had a very brief and easily resolved choke episode with Cody a year ago, and thus knew what to do in the moment. However, it became obvious that Salina's was not clearing, so we called the vet, who had us monitor for 30 more minutes just to be sure, and then she headed on over.

At one a.m. Sunday morning Salina was sedated in the barn aisle with a tube all the way to the opening of her stomach, which is where the blockage was. It cleared instantly when the tube touched it. Salina was thankfully very calm during the entire ordeal, from beginning to end. Rafer became a little agitated, so I took him back to visit the geldings in the field while Salina was totally "out" and getting the tubing done. As she woke up, I brought him back, and he helped her wake up the rest of the way. Thank goodness for wonderful vets and for miniature donkeys who are as loyal and loving as can be to their human and equine family.

Salina is now having both feed and hay soaked, and I've split her two feed meals into four to reduce the amount going in at one time. I'll probably leave her off the black oil sunflower seeds, but will have to replace those calories with something different. I'll be researching that over the next few days. Her teeth were just checked and were great, so we're assuming this was just one of those bizarre things that happened.

It was a relief to see though that her usual easy demeanor with vet procedures is intact.

Update, for anyone interested in dietary horse stuff: I'll be adding in Max-E-Glo stabilized rice bran meal in place of the black oil sunflower seeds. It will soak well, add the extra fat and calories, and give her lots of good Vit. E and antioxidants. She's gobbling down the soaked hay, and the geldings seem to think it's some kind of treat. They keep grabbing mouthfuls of it as I pass by with her tub.

And Keil Bay is turning into a roping man this week. Every morning he's been taking a lead rope off the hook outside his stall and twirling it in the air while I get breakfasts ready. What a crew!