Day 3 - Wednesday, March 4

Sad, sad day.

Called a farrier recommended by a well known local horse trader we met along the road, to pull Ruth's front shoes, look at and trim all 4, reset the fronts and put shoes on her hind feet.

Sam Harris turned out to be a very knowledgeable and talented certified farrier. He pulled Ruth's shoes, stood up with a sigh and pushed back his hat.

"I hate to deliver bad news ma'am, but this mule won't make it another three days."

My concern about the look of the soles of her feet turned out to be well-founded. She had virtually no heels, the bars were squished together and constricted so much that the frog had withered to almost nothing on one foot and had died back to nothing on the other - a deep hole where her frog should be. Without shoes you could see how thin her hoof wall was and that she had no hoof wall - none! - on the toe of her left front. She was walking on tippy-toes and directly pressing on the tender inner "white line." In short, her feet were a mess.

The good news was that it was due simply to poor trimming, and reversible over six months to a year of very light use and monthly farrier care. The bad news was that I was stranded 1500 miles from Tucson with no way to provide that care. Because I was concerned about Ruth's feet when I bought her, I had asked for and gotten a guarantee on them from her seller. I phoned him.

Long story short, the next day he came and got her. I gave him the farrier's number. Ruth is the sweetest, most willing mule I've met. Ruth's previous - now again - owner told me his daughter cried when he sold her, and that he decided he'll never sell her again.

That night, another mule search was on. Things were looking desperate.

Did I mention the Fannins' response? "Stay here as long as you need to." And... Every member of this big-hearted family started phoning everybody they knew. And they know everyone around these parts!