We are pleased to announce that two episodes from our Jasper series—Jasper: A Precious Valentine and Jasper: A Turkey Tale—have each won a bronze Telly Award this year!

The Telly Award statuette is produced by the company that makes the Oscar and Emmy awards. They receive over 13,000 entries annually from some of the finest agencies and corporations in the world, so it is a remarkable achievement to be selected for recognition by their judging committee. The Silver Telly Council is comprised of many top industry professionals, including past winners of the Silver Telly, which is their highest honor. We previously received Silver Tellys in 2005 and 2007 for the “Lucky Three Ranch” and “Walk On” episodes from our documentary series, Those Magnificent Mules.

We’re proud of you, Jasper! Make sure that you’re part of the fun by checking out all of Jasper’s adventures here!

Checking out the new threads!

Spuds and Augie had another fine adventure this morning! Here is what they said…

Augie: “Hi, Mer”

Good grooming is really important!

“Hi, Mer!” “ Oh, Hi Spuds!”

"You say that's what?!!!!”

"Oh, it tickles my nose…ah-chooo!"

"What do you think, Augie, is this your size?"

"Boy, I don’t know about this!"

“Maybe a little too big?”

“Mmm…the bit’s hangin’ a little low!”

“I can’t see, I can’t either…which way are we going?!!!!”

“I thought you said this was a Mini harness!!!”

“Guess we still need to go shopping!”

Goodbye to our dear friend, Rock

Everyone who has followed the story of Rock and Roll knows it has been an uphill battle, especially with Rock. With great sadness, but continued inspiration, we regretfully announce that this will be the last update to include our gentle giant, Rock.

After some down time in Rock’s exercise regiment due to some swelling, I decided to resume his physical therapy the day after Christmas and did just two rounds of his therapy pattern. Trooper that he was, he tried with all his might, but his hips were listing terribly to the left and he knocked every one of the three ground poles as he went over them the first time. The second time over the ground rails, he only hit two and cleared one. The third time over, he just grazed one. Afterwards, when I put him back in his pen, he lay down immediately and just went flat out for a few seconds before rolling back onto his chest again. It was then we noticed the bulging in the coronet band of his left hind foot. He was “sinking!” We called the vet immediately and he confirmed my fear. The lamina was pulling away from the hoof wall and allowing the bones to “sink” into his hoof. It wouldn’t be long before the other feet would follow suit. It was clear he was in agony and would have to be put down. Of course, it was Monday, a holiday, and no businesses were open, not even the renderer. I suggested to the vet that I would like to do a necropsy to find out just what we were up against and to salvage his skeleton for teaching purposes. My vet said he would check with CSU, but that they would be on vacation until January 17th. I knew Rock couldn’t make it much longer and just resolved myself to the fact that it would have to be the renderer. So, my vet loaded him up with anti-inflammatory medicine and said he would be back the next afternoon.

The next day, my vet called and said the president of CSU had agreed to pull in a team for the necropsy and preservation of the skeleton. He thought perhaps the assembly of the skeleton could be done this summer as a project for the veterinary interns. Then, after saying our goodbyes, it was time for us to let Rock move on. He took his last steps surrounded by his Lucky Three family that afternoon.

When the necropsy came back, it didn’t show a fracture of Rock’s pelvis, as we had thought, but instead, multiple fractures in the ball joint of the hip. The better part of the socket of the joint was almost completely gone on the bottom, with a hole the size of a dime on the top part. The head of the femur had no cartilage left and there was fibrosis and cysts the entire length of the stem of the femur. It was an incredible amount of injuries for a single mule.

Every day for the entire year, I had prayed for a miracle for Rock, and each time I prayed, he got better for awhile. I wondered why God hadn’t given us yet another miracle and let him live. But I realized that I HAD gotten a miracle. The miracle was that our courageous and noble Rock had been able to live a quality life for one more year…that he had proven our therapy can work… and that he lived long enough so his half-brother of 20 years, Roll, was able to bond with people who would love and care for him the rest of his life!

God bless you, Rock! We will all miss you and are thankful for all you have taught us.

Wishing you and your loved ones a very happy New Year, from all of us in the snow at the Lucky Three Ranch!

I took some new pictures of the mule and her offspring last week, the baby is now three months old and she has grown a lot! They are gorgeous!!

Photos by Luzma Osorio, Criadero Villa Luz

What a beautiful, loving pair! Chuchureña truly proves that mules are good mothers, too!

1. Check mail for note from Santa — DONE!
2. Play trick on Meredith by hiding in statues — DONE!
3. Grab a little lunch — DONE!
4. Relax in the Ga-Zee-Bow — DONE!
5. Be thankful for all our mule, donkey, horse & human friends — DONE!

—Spuds

• Sunkissed Acres Horse Rescue, in Summerville, GA
• Peaceful Valley Donkey Rescue, with locations across the country
• Bluebonnet Equine Humane Society, in College Station, TX
• Quantum Leap Farm, in Odessa, FL
• Horse Plus Humane Society, in Oroville, CA

Among the other clubs and organizations we will be making donations to are: Southeast Region of Florida Whips, Lucky Duck Rescue and Voice for the Horse.

Thanks to all of our readers who nominated a group to receive our donation, and for all of the wonderful work that these charities and clubs do on a daily basis! We hope our books prove to be a welcome resource for them.

We are already planning more twitter events and giveaways to come, so keep an eye out, and congratulations to all our winners!

Do you know of a nonprofit equine rescue or shelter that could use some additional resources in their library? Or maybe a therapeutic riding or rehabilitation center that needs training materials to better aid their services? Do you represent a nonprofit equine club that wants to auction off our books to raise funds? We want to hear from you!

Nominate your favorite equine charity by tweeting their name to us @LuckyThreeRanch, or by commenting on this post, between today and Wednesday, Nov. 30 Friday, Dec. 2. Get your friends, followers and fans to Tweet, Retweet or Comment, because each one by a different user counts as another vote. The 25 charities with the most votes will each receive at least one set of both books –to use for training, libraries or auctions! Of those, the top 5 charities with the most votes will receive 10 sets of both books–a value of over $500!

We have lots of books we want to help find a better home, so get those nominations in and spread the word, so we can start giving!

Get in the holiday spirit–donate a tweet, and we’ll donate a book!

We are happy to announce that voting has now been extended through Friday!

*Limit one vote per user. All tweets must include @LuckyThreeRanch and be received by 11:59pm PST on Dec. 2, 2011. All charities must be registered as 501 (c) 3 nonprofits and must be verified prior to donation.

We had a big adventure when we went outside and everything was covered in white, really cold stuff—Meredith said it was snow. I was pretty worried and not sure how to walk in it—this SNOW stuff came all the way up to our bellies! It was pretty fun once we got used to it. And the best thing about snow is you never have to look for your crimped oats!

–Spuds