Jacob
A few weeks ago, my family and I attended a fur and feathers sale in a neighbouring town. We are fortunate to have a beautiful aviary in our backyard, and were looking to add a few new members. As we were wandering around, we spotted some adorable miniature donkeys. We had been talking about getting one to add to our equine family, currently three horses and two ponies, but weren't actively looking. We talked to the people who owned the donkeys, and took their card, intending to visit them at some point in the future. The donkeys were obviously well cared for, and socialized, and we felt that we would be happy with any one of them. Leaving the little guys behind was tough, and tougher still for our 8 year old daughter, who was already picking out names! As we got round the far side of the track, we were stopped by an older gentleman, who asked if I was the lady looking for a donkey. I said yes, and he led me to his stock trailer.
Opening the side door, we peered in and saw two of the saddest looking donkeys. They still bore the auction tags from the odd and unusual sale the day before. The guy said he had brought them down with him from Quebec a few days ago and tried selling them, but wasn't able to get the price he wanted. I suspected at the time, and still do, that he had bought them at the sale for a cheap price, and was trying to unload them now. The donkeys cowered at the back of the trailer, untied and scrambling to get away from us. I watched them from the door for a few minutess, and thought of the nice quiet gentle donkeys for sale on the other side of the field. I was sure that they would be the easier choice for us, but I was also sure that these ones needed us more. Sadly I could only afford one of them, and I couldn't choose. My daughter peeked around me, and one of them, perked his ears up and looked around to see her, he took a few steps forward, and it was done.
Jacob came home with us that day, scared, hard to handle, not even halter broke! His feet were so overgrown he was forced to walk on his heels. He was so wild and scared we had to have him sedated to trim his feet. Fortunately our vet and our blacksmith were willing to co-ordinate their schedules to have him gelded and trimmed at the same time. The vet figures him to be about three years old. That first week, we wondered what we had gotten ourselves into. Jacob ran from us every chance he could, and chased our dogs down when ever they dared wander near the barnyard. In addition, he got a severe infection from the gelding, and we thought for a while we were going to lose him. When he wasn't dying on us,. he was braying at the top of his lungs, clearly unhappy and still scared. But this last week with him, he has finally gotten past the infection, and he has started to come around. Every day we pet him and fuss over him, and then lead him out to the pasture where he gets a couple of hours of grazing on the new grass. He is getting easier to handle every day, and instead of running from us, he comes to meet us at the gate for his daily walks. Tonight when I went to bring him in, he walked over to me, and pushed his head into my leg. I reached down and began petting his head, pulling softly on his long ears, and he stood there eyes half shut, just enjoying the attention.
We haven't yet learned all the little things there are to caring for a donkey, but in the three weeks we've had him, we've learned how to love one.