Friday, March 09, 2012

We now have Donkeys!!!

I'd been contemplating getting a donkey for a while before Mum died. After she died and I got so ill and depressed I was glad that I didn't have any more animals to be responsible for.As time went on and I had absolutely no interest in anything, I told Ken " I guess I'll know I'm getting better when I start hankering for a donkey again. Well, it happened, out of the blue in October. And what do you know, this little jenny and her colt  were for sale on Craigslist. We went over to Boones Mill to take a look at them and they were perfect. Nice sweet dispositions. The little colt hadn't been handled much so he was very shy but he was curious so I knew he would come around with a bit of time and patience. 

Their names are Rimfire and Damascus. 



Here's Ken leading Damascus out of the horse trailer.

And here they are settling in to their new surroundings.

Since then, Rimfire has been weened and separated into his own paddock. He's now halter trained and leads nicely, and  they're both on the six week hoof care schedule with the horse farrier. While they'd never been abused, they had been pretty much left in a field to guard sheep and never had any hoof care. Their hooves needed a lot of work but we have a good farrier who loves donkeys. She's really getting them into good shape.

I plan to breed Rimfire to our little Welsh/Arab, Crystal. Should result in a nice little mule to help work the farm!

Blogging again!

Yeah! I'm back in the land of the living. It's been a long year and I hope I never have to go through another one like it.

Even though I haven't been blogging I have been quite busy around the farm, mostly building stone walls. I've found it to be the best "therapy"; something I can lose myself in.

Pictures to come.