09/08/2026
Time for a Joey update—and, surprisingly, it’s a good one. He is getting better! Honestly, I was not expecting this turnaround, but I am incredibly grateful.
For the record, Joey is severely overweight—a 9 out of 10 on the equine obesity scale, according to the veterinarian who examined him within hours of his lameness beginning. He was not “attacked” by my dog, despite what a concerned neighbor apparently believes. Joey has struggled with obesity for quite some time, and he is far from neglected—unless allowing him to graze instead of locking him in a barn now qualifies as neglect.
He will remain on stall rest and a carefully controlled diet while we work on getting his weight down. He is mad about it. He is also extremely vocal about it—especially now that he is feeling better.
The reality is that our cows and donkey have access to far too much grass. The cows are also quite round. We tried putting a grazing muzzle on Joey, but someone removed it. I have repeatedly asked people not to feed him “snacks,” yet that has continued too.
I cannot stand along the perimeter of my property every hour of every day monitoring what other people do to my animals. But given the recent increase in concern, commentary and outright bull crap, trail cameras are being installed.
My sincere hope is that people will calm down, get their feelings together, educate themselves before making accusations—and please stop interfering with the care of animals that do not belong to them.
