After all of our donkey loading adventures our relationship with Sparky had been strained. For anyone who by chance missed our donkey trailer loading adventures you can find part one of the saga here and part two here. Although Sparky seemed quite happy with his move to our farm and pleased with his circumstances, he was not very happy with us. We were allowed to feed him, give him treats, and put his blanket on him with no issues. However any time we produced a halter Sparky would immediately decide it was time to exit stage left. Sparky made sure we knew we had made his not-to-be-trusted list. After 17 years of doing nothing but cater to his needs I was a bit miffed by this, but what can you do.
Yesterday Sparky finally let us know that he had (mostly) forgiven us. His favorite person in the world, Gwen, was coming to trim his hooves. As I walked out in the pasture to put his halter on I was pleasantly surprised when Sparky just stood there and let me halter him with no issues. He then proceeded to be all snuggly and friendly. If you have never had donkey snuggles they are the best, better than a horse. For the moment Sparky has mostly forgiven us for winning the battle of the trailer. Maybe if we don't have any more transgressions in the next 17 years he will fully forgive us and let the whole experience go.
But maybe not. After all he is a donkey, and he has proven to be the most stubborn of his kind.
Jason's response to these pictures was now "how cute" or "so glad Sparky likes us again" or anything like that. Instead his comment was "it was 65 degrees and sunny but you look like you were dressed for the arctic."
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Calimba, Norman, MyLight and Dolly having a peaceful afternoon
Johnny found a good place to nap. That is Donovan grazing in the background and Rocky, Toledo and Clayton with their faces buried in the hay
Griselle and Miracle
Johnny and B-Rad; I don't think you can get more relaxed than this.
Silky
Slinky and Snappy
Sam and Wiz
Levendi, Homer and Tony
Apollo and Hemi
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3 comments:
Aw, Sparky! I have never been loved by a donkey but I imagine it's one of those hard-won relationships that make it all the more special when they give it to you.
Love the fuzzy ponies! So much nicer to have fuzzy retired horses than my current beast who haired up way too fast this year and is giving me no end of headaches with blanketing and deciding whether to clip or not. Canadian winters are no fun at all when it comes to horse blanketing!
Donk snuggles ARE the best. We have 5 minis and nothing beats being covered in donks. Except maybe 5 little donk noses reaching up to get a treat. CUTEST THING EVER!
As for the forgiveness, you did pretty good. A month isn't bad. We have a nervous donk and we took her on a day trip for a play day to let her know that, no matter what, she always comes home. Oh boy did that backfire! About 3/4 of the way through the play day, she got really mad and kicked my husband. Not hard, but hard enough to communicate her discomfort at being taken out of her home and forced to WORK like a COMMON ANIMAL! At the end of the day, we took her home, gave her lots of treats and put her back with her buddies.
It took Chloe SIX MONTHS to talk to us again. She allowed us to feed her and catch her for maintenance, but if you walked up to her with the clear intention of loving on her, she would turn and walk away. We were beginning to worry that she would never talk to us again. Then finally she let me itch her ears, and we got her back.
Chloe will never leave the property again.
So, yeah, only a month of pouting is pretty good!
Sparky is adorable!
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