Zekey is still hanging in there. He lays down and looks terrible, and then gets up and walks around. Pat separated the horses and donkeys today, so the horses wouldn't accidentally step on him. The other donkeys won't do that.
Dr. Carla showed up today. She is someone who showed up on Pat's doorstep a couple years ago . . . when Zekey almost died. She helped Pat and told her how to get him well. It worked. Now they're friends, and she just happened to show up again with Zekey sick. She said she didn't think he was suffering. She thought he was in a state of blissful confusion that comes before death. When we asked her about putting him down, she asked if we wanted to relieve his distress or our own. She didn't think he was in any distress. I'm so glad she came right now, because she made Pat and I both feel better about the whole thing. It's all overwhelming sad, but it's a comfort knowing Zekey's not in any pain or suffering.
Carla's boyfriend's name is Ray. He is Navajo. We asked him about the religious people telling Navajo's that speaking Navajo and practicing Navajo ways wouldn't get you to heaven. He said that they had it all wrong. He said it is not a religion, but is a way of life . . . being at one with nature and all their other "natural" beliefs. Pat and I thought that was interesting.
Today, I took Chaco out to practice "whoa-ing", but he totally wanted to dominate me. He didn't want me to lead him, he wanted to lead me. I kept turning around like Pat showed me, but he wouldn't have any of it. There is this pallet that he likes to get up on because he gets a cookie for it, and when we got close to it, he started really pushing me. I immediately took him back to the corral, took his halter off, and left him. Pat asked what was going on, and I told her. She thought I should go back, move the other horses out of the corral, and round pen Chaco.
So, I moved JD and Skeeter out of there, and went in with a rope and a whip for Chaco. I got him going around and around, and he didn't like it one bit. Then I gave him a chance to come to me and be a nice boy. He wasn't ready to be a nice boy. He put his head down for me when I asked him to, but he immediately thought he should have a cookie for it, and he started getting pushy again. Round and round he went, and when he stopped he was a better boy. He has to learn who is the boss, and that is where a lot of my troubles with him stem from. I'm not assertive enough with him.
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