April 30, 2010
Oh, the wind. I never knew it could be the way it is here. Some days it’s relentless.
Like yesterday. Oy. According to the National Weather Service, gusts in the valley where we live reached as high as 74 mph.
Fergus and Nigel don’t seem too affected by it.
Neither do Bernard or Ellsworth. As is always the case, wind or no wind, they’re in line ready for dinner before it’s served.
Don’t worry Mom. There’s no place like home.
April 27, 2010
Sunday afternoon, I looked out the window and saw Nigel and Fergus doing something that up until then, I had only seen illustrations of in The Donkey Companion. They were mutually grooming each other.
Then again, in the exact same location, yesterday afternoon. In this video, notice Ellsworth in the background rubbing his head on the pipe fencing.
I wonder why Bernard and Ellsworth don’t do this. Do George and Alan do it? What about Chester and Beau? Ruby and Gracie? What about your donkeys or horses or other critters? I wonder if it’s a trust issue. Surely Bernard and Ellsworth trust each other; they freak out if they’re separated for five seconds. You equine enthusiasts out there must have some thoughts, and we’re all ears.
April 26, 2010
Each time a horse and rider pass the road in front of Morning Bray Farm, time seems to stand still for the boys.
They watch with rapt attention,
and gentle curiosity.
I always wonder what they’re thinking.
April 25, 2010
Fergus’s front feet are a teensy bit too long.
It’s not earth-shattering, nor is it an emergency, but from watching the way he walks, I know he’ll feel better once his feet are trimmed. He walks like you’d walk if you had shoes on that were too big.
So, we’ve been working on rubbing his legs and touching his feet this week.
Yesterday afternoon, I was in the corral hanging out with the boys and figured I’d give it a shot.
Other than putting his head down as if to say, “Umm… excuse me?”, he really didn’t seem to object. The jerkiness of the video and the abrupt ending came along when Bernard decided he wanted to pay homage to the hockey playoffs by coming up behind me, taking the hem of my shirt in his mouth and trying to pull it up over my head. ♥
In any case, you are now an official witness to the very first time one of Fergus’s feet was picked up.
April 24, 2010
Treat times have become quite a scene here over the past week.
Day by day, Nigel is losing his fear.
Fergus has lost a lot of his shyness. Shocking, huh?
Not to worry, Ellsworth is still in charge.
Nigel is becoming more and more accustomed to us, the camera and our daily activities.
As was the case with Fergus several days ago, Nigel is becoming increasingly curious.
My goodness, they’re so easy to love. I can’t wait to be able to kiss Nigel on the nose.
April 22, 2010
Fergus and Nigel are making remarkable progress during their first few days at Morning Bray Farm. By Monday, Fergus was taking carrots and apple slices from my hand.
On Monday afternoon, he was coming to me out of curiosity. (Thank goodness I’ve since been able to remove his eye boogers.)
And let me touch him for the very first time.
On Tuesday afternoon, Fergus allowed Don to brush him.
And even permitted a hug. Nigel is still never far from Fergus.
It was also Tuesday when Nigel took his first apple slice from my hand. No picture because I didn’t want to freak him out with the camera, but I was doing the happy dance in my head.
Yesterday morning, I looked out the window and thought, “Oh look, Bernard and Ellsworth are playing.” I had to do a double take. It wasn’t Bernard and Ellsworth, it was Fergus and Ellsworth! And Bernard and Nigel!
April 20, 2010
We physically introduced all four boys to each other early Saturday afternoon. There was a lot of the flehmen response going on as everyone got accustomed to new smells.
We knew there was going to be an adjustment period as they figured out their hierarchy. Bernard’s introduction to Fergus and Nigel was completely uneventful.
Given Ellsworth’s status as head donkey, we thought things probably wouldn’t play out as smoothly with him. Even before we allowed them to meet physically, Ellsworth was charging the fence with his ears pinned back each time Fergus or Nigel got close. Sure enough, once we let him loose, Ellsworth went straight to Fergus and Nigel to let them know he was in charge.
Fergus and Nigel really weren’t having it. I admit there were moments when I felt I couldn’t breathe.
Ellsworth looked maniacal at times.
Don would step in to calm things down.
And then it would start back up again.
Thank goodness Ellsworth always knew to keep his chin up.
He did get kicked square in the chest quite a few times though.
In the end, it appears Ellsworth maintained head donkey status, along with a healthy respect for both Fergus and Nigel. It’s clear they aren’t going to tolerate being bullied, Fergus especially.
Ellsworth got a lot of extra love and attention that afternoon.
And peace once again returned to Morning Bray Farm.
April 19, 2010
Most of you know by now that we went to Colorado with the intention of adopting one burro and ended up coming home with two.
When we arrived at the East Canon Correctional Complex on Friday morning, we discovered we were the only ones there for burro adoption. I had to stifle a guffaw when the man in charge looked directly at me and with laughing eyes said, “There’s one rule for you today. Don’t fall in love with the babies. There’s two of them down there and you can’t take them yet.” I think the look on my face in response was probably along the lines of, “What? Why are you looking at me? Is it that obvious that I want to load each and every single one of the burros you’ve got here on our trailer and hightail it out of here right this second?”
As we walked down the hill to the burro pens, my emotions were all over the place. I willed myself not to cry. “There’s no crying in prison!”, I told myself. And then, suddenly, there they were. Two pens full of burros. What a gorgeous sight. What beautiful animals. There were indeed two babies; one born just the day before and the other born on March 31st. Oh my. It took all I had not to run right in there and put my arms around them. They were ALL ears and legs and fuzz. And jumping and bucking without a care in the world. I remember saying to Don, “That’s what Bernard must have looked like as a baby! Can you just imagine?!”
And then there was the jenny with the broken ear. And the gentle grey jenny who kept going to Don to have her head scratched. The image of their faces is etched in my mind. All the while, I kept telling myself, “Let him pick you.”
Thank goodness Don – the best husband in the world – was there to keep me focused. We walked into the pen with the jacks. As we walked around that pen, it was like ripples on a pond. As we moved, the jacks moved away from us. Except for one, who moved toward us. Burro number 2493; now known as Fergus. I remember thinking how soft and fluid his eyes were – they were so doe-like, so beautiful. He walked up to Don and lipped Don’s fingers, and then did the same to me. Don and I looked at each other in amazement.
But wait, there was another burro. While all of the other jacks continued to hang back, this guy was ever trying to summon up the courage to move closer. It was as if he wanted or needed to stay close to Fergus. He was burro number 2492; now known as Nigel. The strong bond between them was obvious and we couldn’t stand the thought of breaking it.
Turns out that Fergus and Nigel have identical “capture data.”
Date: September 27, 2009
Location: CAOOOZ Outside Herd Area (Ft. Irwin)
City: Barstow, CA
County/State: San Bernardino/CA
This means that they’ve most likely been with each other all their lives. It’s even possible that they’re siblings. According to the BLM, Fergus is two years old and Nigel is three.
The area in which they were captured lies between Fort Irwin Army training center and Death Valley National Park. With summer high temperatures commonly running above 120 degrees F, Death Valley is one of the hottest places on earth. This explains why Fergus and Nigel have such short coats.
As we completed a small hill of paperwork and waited for Fergus and Nigel to be loaded into our trailer, we had the opportunity to talk with and observe staff from BLM and the Wild Horse Inmate Program (both paid staff and prisoners, who were working with wild mustangs). Across the board, it was clear that all of these people have a tremendous amount of love and respect for the horses and burros that they work with every day. And their jobs are not easy or without challenge. As we were preparing to leave, I told wonderful Lona from the BLM that I had a pretty good idea that we’d be seeing her again someday.
April 18, 2010
So you know who’s who… in order:
Bernard, then Ellsworth (stinker cut the corner), then Fergus, and last but certainly not least, Nigel.
Bernard is having so much fun. He always seems to be floating effortlessly when he runs.
On the first day, the boys are acting and moving as a herd. Yipee!
April 17, 2010
Morning Bray Farm 
