This is old Pepper headed out for a day of adventure. You will never see a more curious equine interested in what's going on than he is. He's finally put on a little weight, so he doesn't look like a walking skeleton. He's on 5 or 6 different supplements & doing so well right now, I'm afraid to mess with success by trying to figure out which one or ones are making a difference.
We haven't had to roll him over so he can get off the ground in quite awhile. We assume he's figured out he can't lay on his right side, so is only laying down on the left.
Looks like Maddie & Zorro are going to a new home tomorrow. A man came out this week to see the donkeys & hopefully adopt some for his wife. She is in the hospital, coming home this week & he wanted them to be there when she gets home. She's had horses, jumped, shown all that good stuff, but like a lot of us is getting older & not up to riding anymore. He also picked out Pepsi the little mini, because his wife has always wanted a mini.
We did the home study yesterday & decided that it wouldn't be a good place for a mini. They have 20 acres of pretty rough country, covered with scrub mesquite & lots of native grass that is pretty tall from nothing eating it. It's so far out in the boonies, they have no electricity, & the last 2 miles or so of the "road" is like a proving ground for tanks. John said it will probably take him an hour to drive in because he doesn't want to bang the donkeys around.
Since these 3 donkeys are not bonded with each other, at first they wouldn't be a herd. Don't know if there are deer in the area but if there are, it's a good chance there are also mountain lion. Of course a mountain lion could take a standard donkey too, but a mini wouldn't have a chance. They also can be killed by dog packs & packs of coyotes. The minis are more of a "token" donkey in a lot of ways. They are "designed" as urban equine for people that live on the outskirts of town & want to be farmers.
If Pepsi got out in the brush & got into trouble, on 20 acres they might not even know it. We had a coyote take a red bourbon turkey one time that was within 20 feet of where we were. The grass was tall & I guess the coyote was determined.
After a couple of phone calls back & forth they agreed that it probably wasn't a good idea. It's going to be like a Donkey Wonderland for Zorro & Maddie though, in fact I told Bill that they probably won't even need to be fed hay. They are both very gentle & tame, but a few days or weeks in such an invironment & they might decide not to come in for treats or pets. We're taking them a bell to ring to hopefully get the donkeys use to coming in when they hear the bell. Not much fun to have donkeys you never see.......!!! (G)
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