Donkeys

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August 4, 2012

Saturday Stuff

Posted by Morning Bray under Birds, Donkeys, Ducks, Farm, Saturday Parts & Stuff | Tags: bird nest, donkey, ducklings, ducks, E. Diddy, Muscovies, Muscovy ducks |
[14] Comments

I haven’t done Saturday Parts or Saturday Stuff in a long time, so I figure now’s as good a time as any to share pictures that I don’t know what to do with or don’t fit in a post of their own.

The ducklings. Back when innocence ruled and they all sought each other out for comfort. I think this photo was probably taken sometime in June of last year:

This jack used to live on the other side of the alfalfa pasture behind Morning Bray Farm:

Sadly, he was alone and brayed a lot, especially after Gracie came to live with us. We called him the “donkey in the distance” or DITD (Diddy). Later, because we believe that all donkeys deserve dignified names, we named him Eugene and called him E. Diddy. We walked to visit with him and give him scritches every weekend. He’s gone now; we don’t know what happened to him.

And last for this week, a nest in our barn. I’ve never seen a “sideways nest” and am wondering what kind of bird this might belong to. Sparrows, maybe?

August 1, 2012

Making a mountain out of a molehill

Posted by Morning Bray under Donkeys | Tags: crusher fines, dirt, donkey behavior, donkeys, mountain out of a molehill |
[40] Comments

The monsoon rains have left us with large cesspools in the corral these last couple of weeks. To rectify our putrid pools of water problem, Don had 13 tons of crusher fines delivered over the weekend.

After the delivery, Buck was our one brave boy:

Judging by everyone else’s reaction though, you would’ve thought the dump truck had left us with 13 tons of slithering snakes:

Run for your lives!

Ellsworth: Patrick, do you think we’re making a mountain out of a molehill?

It took a little while, but everyone finally gathered the courage to explore the mound left in the middle of the corral:

Surprisingly, ~~Dennis the Menace~~ Bernard was the last to work up his nerve:

Ellsworth meanwhile decided that digging in the pile would be fun:

And Patrick came over to say hello:

He looks so handsome all slicked out:

Fear of the crusher fine molehill was eventually replaced with a King of the Mountain complex. Ellsworth decided that it was his mountain and he didn’t wish to share it with anyone:

And general chaos ensued:

And then? And then it was lunchtime, and the mountain made out of a molehill was forgotten:

All’s well that ends well. ♥

June 20, 2012

Our brayers were answered

Posted by Morning Bray under Donkeys, For the love of donkeys | Tags: donkey roping, donkey roping competition, donkeys, Van Horn, Van Horn Texas |
[26] Comments

Our ~~prayers~~ brayers were answered yesterday afternoon when we got word that the Town of Van Horn had announced the cancellation of Saturday’s donkey roping competition.

We’d like to express our gratitude to each and every one of you who played a part in making this happen. Thank you for your phone calls, emails, blog posts, letters and brayers. They worked! ♥

If you have a moment today, please join Patrick in thanking the people of Van Horn, Texas for making the right decision.

Van Horn City Administrator: Fran Malafronte – franmalafronte@vanhorntexas.org

Van Horn Mayor: Okey D. Lucas – okeyd1@windstream.net

Culberson County, Texas Sheriff: Oscar E. Carrillo – culbersoncounty@msn.com

Coordinator, Van Horn Chamber of Commerce: Patricia Golden – patriciagolden@vanhorntexas.org

Editor, The Van Horn Advocate: Larry Simpson – lsimpson@vanhornadvocate.com

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“He can live without man. But man can scarcely do without the labour, the sacrifice, the suffering of the donkey… that has accompanied man since the dawn of time, in all weathers, humbly and patiently serving the most brutal of all animals.”

~P.A. Vieira, ‘Our Brother the Donkey’, in Kinship with Animals, ed. K. Solisti and M. Tobias (San Francisco, CA, 2006), p. 134.

June 18, 2012

Patrick’s plea to Van Horn, Texas

Posted by Morning Bray under Donkeys, For the love of donkeys | Tags: donkey, donkey roping, donkey roping competition, donkeys, Van Horn, Van Horn Texas |
[43] Comments

My name is Patrick. I used to be a roping donkey. When I was a roping donkey, I was afraid and unhappy.

My mom and dad rescued me and I’m very happy and safe now. But I’m very worried about the donkeys in Van Horn, Texas, because I know how they feel.

It’s very important you know that Peaceful Valley Donkey Rescue; America’s largest donkey rescue, is ready, willing and able to take in all the Van Horn roping donkeys.

Please do the right thing, Van Horn, Texas. Please cancel the donkey roping competition scheduled for this Saturday, June 23 at Van Horn Frontier Days.

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If you’re looking for a way to help, please call Jason Owens; the promoter of the event. His phone number is 432-940-9051. He has said he will take all calls. Please explain to him why he needs to cancel the donkey roping competition in this Saturday’s (June 23) Van Horn Rodeo. We hope that if he receives enough phone calls educating him about why this should not happen – he may decide to bow under pressure.

Also, please write to the editor of the local paper in Van Horn, Texas: Larry Simpson, at The Van Horn Advocate: lsimpson@vanhornadvocate.com

We thank you. And Patrick thanks you. ♥

June 14, 2012

Gracie’s first trip to the beauty parlor

Posted by Morning Bray under Donkeys | Tags: Buck, donkeys, Gracie, Gracie Belle, grooming donkeys, Nigel, Patrick |
[15] Comments

For the first time on Tuesday evening, Gracie let me rub her back until my arms got tired. After that, I figured last night was a good time to try taking things one step further by brushing her.

By Gracie, she got it!

Good girl, Gracie!

I talked to her the whole time and told her how beautiful she is:

And how proud of her we are:

I also had to explain to her that she’s now joining the ranks of those at Morning Bray Farm who love to be brushed.

Witness Patrick. He came over and backed right up so that I would brush his butt:

And lookee here. Buckaroo too:

And, as if all that wasn’t exciting enough, Don’s been working with Nigel on his feet:

It’s all for the love of donkeys! ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

June 7, 2012

Buck’s first fly mask

Posted by Morning Bray under Donkeys | Tags: Buck, Buck's first fly mask, donkey, fly mask |
[25] Comments

Oh, how our little roan has grown.

Summer is coming and he has a task,

He needs to be fitted for his first fly mask.

It fit him perfectly,

He’s so proud,

Now he can say he’s one of the crowd.

♥ ♥ ♥

May 31, 2012

Faces only a mother could love

Posted by Morning Bray under Donkeys | Tags: Bernard, Buck, donkey, donkeys |
[18] Comments

And you too…

May 30, 2012

Wordless Wednesday – Itchy butt

Posted by Morning Bray under Donkeys | Tags: donkey, Patrick |
[12] Comments

May 5, 2012

Saturday Stuff – Happy herd

Posted by Morning Bray under Donkeys, Farm, Saturday Parts & Stuff | Tags: donkey herd, donkeys, donkeys grazing |
[14] Comments

April 23, 2012

Donkey (and people) play date

Posted by Morning Bray under Donkeys, Friends and Family | Tags: Carson, Cinco de Mayo, Danni, donkey play date, margaritas, The 7MSN Ranch |
[17] Comments

On Sunday morning we backed the trailer into the corral and said, “All aboard to anyone who wants to go to a party!” I’m sure no one will be surprised to hear that Bernard was the first to climb aboard, completely unaided.

Bernard was followed by Patrick, then Ellsworth.

We did our best to convince Buck of the great time that was in store for him, but in the end he decided to stay with Nigel and Gracie at Morning Bray Farm. Maybe next time.

It was a beautiful day and our drive was uneventful:

The 7MSN herd was waiting to greet us when we arrived:

Bernard, Ellsworth and Patrick were so happy to be back, they didn’t waste any time getting the party started:

Patrick got us into a festive mood by modeling the latest in Cinco de Mayo fashion, along with George, Hank, Lucy and Don:

When Carson brought out the first round of her Thirsty Rancher-Woman Margaritas, we were all excited – people and equines alike. Carson makes a really good margarita:

We went out and did some ~~game~~ donkey driving in the Ranger, with the hope of spotting the rare and elusive feral donkeys of Morning Bray Farm. (The last couple of times we’ve visited 7MSN, the Boyz turn into the Wild Boyz and want nothing to do with us while they’re exploring.)

Alan came over to see if he could talk Danni into giving him a taste of her margarita: