So last Thursday we were surprised not to be woken with the usual cacophony of braying from our 2 beautiful boys. 

Anyway it turns out there was a reason for this. George was stood in the middle of the field on  3 legs  with his trusty steed at his side. He couldn’t weight bear on his front near side leg ( left front). There were no obvious wounds or signs of injury so we called the vet immediately. 

He came within 30 mins and after great inspection and finding the point of pain …. Poor George, decided that it was likely a twist to the knee joint or a sprain of ligaments/tendons. He injected George with anti-inflammatories and pain killers and left us with some pain killing granules for the next 4 days. Within 30 mins  George was walking around, although on the advice of our welfare officer Sophie we restricted the area they had to aid recovery and rest. I have to say George kept himself pretty still for a couple of days and close to his stable. Sensible boy. 

He had his pain killing meds in a jam sandwich ( raspberry on brown!) on the advice again of Sophie. Of course Little Lad couldn’t miss out …. He just had the sandwich minus the meds!!! 

Within 2 days George had shown great improvement and by Tuesday this week was back to normal with no swelling in his knee. Great to see. Little lad really stepped up to the mark, not trying to encourage George to run around as he normally would. He also didn’t leave Georges side when the vet was with him. Very brave for a donkey  who is wary of new situations. 

This was our first emergency but we were all calm and just hoping it was nothing more serous. 

George has a small patch of fur shaved off where the vet had to inject him, but he wears it like true badge of honour to show us all how brave he was. 

So on Monday Sophie,our wonderful welfare officer and Canny,from the welfare team at Sidmouth came to visit George and Little Lad. 

Our boys are growing in confidence and definitely did us proud as they behaved impeccably. Little Lad showed Sophie how he responds to voice commands and both him and George enjoyed the attention from 2 extra females !

These 2 donkeys have such a close bond and are by each other’s side whenever there is general maintenance to be done. Little Lad likes to hold onto to Georges lead role at every opportunity…..just to keep him in check! 

Yesterday we reseeded an area of our paddock that is still slightly bare from the winter. We have a special mix for equine pasture and with it we are incorporating beneficial meadow herbs for donkeys. 

George as usual was very curious as to what was going on. I’m not sure if is was because I had the seed in a bucket similar to their feeding buckets or the smell of the seed but he would not leave me alone while I was doing it. It was a bit like a seen from “Britains got talent” with girl and her dancing dog. 😀 

It felt like he was trying to say ” hey let’s cut out the middle man here – I’ll just eat the seed straight from the bucket ” 

I know everyone thinks their animals are the cutest, but these two are just so funny and adorable! Life is good!  

This is to be sung in 10 green bottles stylie !

3 silver birch planted in a field

3 silver birch planted in a field

Little lad bit the top off as he fancied a meal

Now there are 2 silver birch planted in a field 

2silver birch planted in a field 

2 silver birch planted in a field 

George bit the top off as he fancied a meal

Now there is 1 silver birch planted in a field 

You must by now get the drift of where we are going with this one …… There are no silver birch planted in our field 😦 

Hahaha they were even protected but clearly not donkey proof !!! 

Not sure that I would describe today as “Good Friday ”   

After the winter our grass is taking a little while to come through on the section of paddock the boys are currently on. However on the section they don’t have access to it seems they think the “grass is greener on the other side.” 

We have spent most of today gently coaxing them back into the area of field they should be on rather than the bit they shouldn’t. And they have such front as a couple of times they just ploughed straight through the fence while we were stood there watching !!!

Perhaps it is time turn on the electric ⚡️.  

Maybe they heard there was an Easter Egg hunt lol !! 

Had a great and funny grooming session with the boys today. 

Little Lad was first to be pampered today and George decided he would help by bringing me over the grooming kit ( well the hold-all at least ) !

  
And then when it was Georges turn Little Lad decided to keep him from dancing around his lead rope by holding on to it !!!

  
And finally I was grooming George, George was grooming Little Lad and Little Lad was grooming George but nobody was grooming me 😦 lol !!

Little Lads voice has finally broken and this morning we were greeted by a duet of eeyorrs !

George has been braying since we got him but Little Lad has never quite managed it. Over the last couple of weeks he has been making more effort and a little sound but not the great tenor that George has become. 

It must be the weather, after the great deluge of rain yesterday he decided to celebrate the glorious sunshine we have here this morning with a song !

It is one special alarm clock……

Luckily I had only started poo picking the field when George decided to empty the contents out again. 
   

“It wasn’t me ….. Honest ! I’m just trying to enjoy some  straw, you can see a bit hanging out my mouth !!! ”

  
It’s like he is saying ” I know this wheelbarrow is good for your jobs , but it’s also good for scratching my itch ” 

This is just one little fella that likes to be around you as much as possible, it’s too cute for words 🐴🐴😍

Spring ( literally) is in the air with our donkeys. They had a good time running around playing together. I have not seen them run that fast before. 

George as you will see gave Little Lad a good clonk on the jaw, which stopped Little Lad but it was sweet to see George go back and check his buddy was ok. 

These two are just flexing their limbs and giving their muscles a good warm up after a long wet winter !!! 

Just look at the amazing progress this donkey has made ! He is calm, trusting and wanting more and more attention……. I cannot put into words how this makes me feel.