Okay, so he's not really a miniature farrier, but he does a great job on the Miniature Horses and Mini Donkey. I know it's a pain in the patootie for Travis Crain to practically crawl around on the ground to get them trimmed, but he's patient and never fusses. And the ponies are good, so it doesn't take him long.

Another thing I love about him is he's an educated farrier. He believes in continuing education, and I know I learn a lot from him. He's great to talk to about horses in general, and feet in particular. And I'll credit his excellent work with keeping Hawk from actually foundering when he got a little "ouchy" late this spring on too much grass.

Hawk's weight is down, he's looking much better, and Labor Day weekend will be spent building a dry lot for all the easy keepers I own now.

So, I don't know if there's a Farrier Appreciation Day, but I think there should be one.

There have been a lot of cases of rabies in my state and county this year. Everything on my farm (except the chickens) is vaccinated against rabies to protect the animals and the humans.

There has been an resugence of West Nile virus, especially along the West Coast.

I just wonder how many horse owners don't vaccinate against these two diseases?

The weather in Kentucky has been cool this weekend, and that means fun times for the animals, so it seems.

While I know it's good to have the Miniature Donkey Molly in the field with the goats as a protector (it took me six months before she'd let my dogs and cats in the field, but that's another story), they really don't "interact" unless it's to convince each other to move out of the way.

Last night, however, Molly and C.J. the neutered Boer goat were having a grand ole time with each other. I just stood amazed and watched them at first, then, of course, I had to offer some encouragement.

C.J. would do his "stand on the hind legs" goat thing that initiates play, then would drop down on all fours and buck and kick and squirm his body all while standing in more or less in place. Molly would watch, then would duck her head, buck, kick, gallop around (which doesn't really cover a lot of ground considering her short legs), and slide to a stop to see what C.J.'s next action was. This went on for 15 minutes or more!

Honestly, I'd never heard Molly give out a bray while cantering before; didn't know it could be done. She's not one to waste a lot of energy, and her braying always seemed to be a full-body exercise while standing.

Just wish I'd had the video camera. I nearly cried I laughed so hard. I think after a while they were just doing it to keep me laughing and yelling encouragement at them.

The other goats and horses, I should say, were appalled by the goings-on and pretty much ignored them as much as possible, of course staying out the the way when Molly went tearing around the horse feeder where the remaining goats were huddled trying to look dignified.

I get lots of books across my desk to review; some I like, some I don't.

Today comes Horse Crazy! 1,001 Fun Facts, Craft Projects, Games, Activities, and Know-How for Horse-Loving Kids.

Okay, I'm not a kid, but this book looks fun. It's 375 pages just crammed full of interesting stuff, and every page is different. For example, there's a section with illustrations on braiding manes and tails, and in that you can find a sidebar with the names of the equine constellations. Opening randomly to another section I come upon the end of the Customizing Your Model Horse, with a facing page of Horse Talk Around The World that contains the English, Spanish, French, and German words for various things to do with horses.

In the back there's several pages of Keeping a Life List of Breeds, whether you have seen, touched, ridden, or owned the horse has a place to mark it off on the list.

Author Jessie Haas, a horse owner herself according to her bio, must have had fun putting all this together.

It was just put out by Storey Publishing, and it's available on Amazon.com anywhere from $9 to $11.50.

Do you have a favorite fun horse book you'd like to share?

I'd like your input on something: two Miniature Horses without jobs.

My daughter who lives in Wyoming owns one and I own the other. Neither has papers (that's another story). Right now there aren't enough hours in the day to work them in harness, which was our original intention. So that means they are standing around getting fat (actually they are losing weight because they are still in food jail).

I believe all horses need jobs. The old Paint gelding who is retired has earned his pasture time, but these are young geldings who need work.

What are your suggestions on what they should be doing?