Winding Path to a Small Ass - Part 6of 6

Lessons to Learn

We placed the donkeys in the fifty foot round pen which sets inside the north pasture and made sure they were comfortable. I opened up the paddock gate to let Lakota and her friend Polly (the babysitter horse) into the north pasture. They went right over to the round pen to smell and be with the new ones. Polly, a five year old quarter horse mare, ran around the pen a couple of times, kicking up her heels with excitement about the new adventure. Lakota however, was quietly standing beside the round pen; she lowered her head and I could feel the love pouring out of her towards these new friends. Polly quickly tired of her exuberant behavior and settled down to exchange sniffs and meet these new exotic creatures.

While the four-leggeds got a chance to get to know one another through the round pen barrier, Damaris and I ran a strand of white electric webbed fencing below the existing line of the south fence. It was not actually “hot” but it was visible and we needed to make something low enough to keep these little girls from wandering to the grass pastures on the other side. To make sure that they noticed it, we decided to tie  little orange plastic flags on the white fence as well.  We put our tools away and watched the four communicating together. I knew in my heart that there was not going to a fuss.

We opened up the round pen gate and led the donkeys out, closing the gate behind us. I did not want anyone to get confined in that smaller space when they had the whole north pasture to work things out.

We left the halters on the donkeys as a precaution and stepped back to see what happened. Lakota moved up to the donkeys and extended her nose ~ she reminded me of a mother with her babies ~ that was my sense of her energy.  Hillary (Hilde) was friendly towards her but Piñata (Penny) told her in no uncertain terms that she was eight years old and did not need a mother, thank you very much! She turned her little butt to Lakota and backed up menacingly. She did not actually kick out, instead she just hopped her back legs off the ground a couple of times. It was hysterical to Damaris and I, but Lakota read the energy for what it was and backed away from Penny.

For the next week, Lakota followed the donkeys around the pasture at a respectful space. Hilde and she were becoming friends, but Penny needed to tell her off every once in awhile. No one was remotely close to being in harms way, they were establishing the boundaries. I watched them very closely for the first few days, in fact I wanted to quit my job and just “be” with this new herd.

One day it began to rain and I looked out to check up on “my girls.”  I was surprised to see Lakota under the pole barn. Yeah! She typically stands out in the rain ... right in front of her shed ... and gets soaked. If the temperature drops she gets cold, which can lead to shivering, which could lead to a bout with colic. I constantly monitor her during the winter and she has a series of blankets to ward off the chill. I have been known to throw a damp and stinky blanket in my cloths dryer to dry, warm, and fluff it up before I carry it out and fasten it around her torso. Thank the lord for the “Mountain Spring’ scent of dryer sheets to freshen up my laundry room.  

But on this day when I looked closer I could see that Lakota had her two babies in the pole barn and she was angled across the entrance to keep them in and out of the rain.  It was so sweet it made my heart quiver. She finally had a chance to mother another little being. And I gave yet another prayer for my two new darling miniature donkeys. If they could get Lakota to come in out of the rain, then they were more efficient teachers than I.

Of this I have no doubt.

It is undoubtedly the first of many lessons that they have come here to teach us.

And I am ready and willing and open to learn new things.

So be it!

6 of 6 but Not The End.

This is not the end of the donkey stories. I look forward to years of hilarious tales and ass jokes to share with you. Did you know that donkeys have a possible life span of forty years or more? I have every intention of growing old with, and learning from, these two wise sentient beings. I only hope I can keep up!