donkeys | Morning Bray Farm

June 18, 2012

Patrick’s plea to Van Horn, Texas

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! ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

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 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 3, 2012

We can say weed control and fun in the same sentence now

Posted by Morning Bray under Donkeys | Tags: donkeys, weed control |
[25] Comments

Year after year, we wage battle with the weeds that grow along our driveway. No more.

Over the weekend, we fertilized and irrigated our pasture. To the displeasure of the Boyz and Gracie Belle, this means the pasture is off-limits for the next several weeks to give the grass an opportunity to grow.

Cutting off pasture access is a serious offense in these parts. With the inmates running the asylum on only day two of the pasture ban, Don and I realized we needed to do something.

We can say weed control and fun in the same sentence now.

Look at Patrick bolting with happiness up the driveway:

It was obvious they all felt like they were getting away with something, which definitely made it fun.

Patrick: Mama, we’ll take care of the weeds from now on, okay? Whenever you need help, you just let us know.

This is the best weed control.

Ever.

♥

March 25, 2012

The blessing of good friends

Posted by Morning Bray under Donkeys, Ducks, Friends and Family | Tags: donkeys, Lei Photography |
[55] Comments

It was a grey and cold day when our good friends Cindy and Stanley visited us a couple of weekends ago. Cindy’s parents were in town for a visit and came along (there were two new donkey converts in the world before they left). As always, Bernard and Ellsworth were excellent donkey ambassadors:

Cindy and Stanley were eager to meet Patrick, Gracie and Buck for the first time:

And Don and I were eager to meet Cindy and Stanley’s new baby, Tristan:

Good friends are such a blessing, aren’t they? As always, they left us with beautiful images of the critters that we love:

Thank you, Cindy and Stanley. ♥ ♥ ♥

February 23, 2012

Is this seat taken?

Posted by Morning Bray under Donkeys | Tags: donkey curiosity, donkeys, Ellsworth, Nigel |
[12] Comments

January 24, 2012

Who’s who

Posted by Morning Bray under Donkeys | Tags: Bernard, Buck, donkeys, Ellsworth, GK, Gracie, Nigel, Patrick |
[14] Comments

Last week, CeeCee left the following comment for us:

“With 6 donkeys in the family now, could you do a little tutorial on identifying each one. Obviously, Ells is the only redhead, but I struggle to tell them apart in a group photo. I believe that Buck is red, but much darker. The rest leave me wondering.”

While she was here on Sunday, I asked our friend GK if she would help with the tutorial. She was able to point to the Boyz and Gracie and identify them each by name without batting an eyelash, after all. (I was so impressed!)

Here’s Buck and Nigel:

Buck is definitely red, and is darker than Ellsworth.

Ellsworth is bigger than Buck and his face is much whiter:

Nigel is also unmistakable:

Such a strikingly handsome boy.

And here’s Bernard:

Bernard is short and has shorter hair. Most of the time, Bernard will be next to Ellsworth.

Patrick, however:

Patrick is fluffy all over; his body, face, legs, ears. He has the longest mane of all, and has very cute leg stripes:

By the way, I have to say that it really, really touched me when (out of the blue) GK said she was so happy that Patrick was here at Morning Bray Farm. She’s a young lady who’s so wise for her years.

From a distance, I still sometimes confuse Gracie and Bernard. Here’s Gracie and Buck:

Look at Gracie with GK:

GK was right when she pointed out that Gracie’s nose is more wrinkled than Bernard’s:

Gracie’s taller than Bernard and Patrick too:

It’s all relative. Sometimes, it just takes time to see who’s who. ♥ ♥

January 19, 2012

Tail swishing, feeders, etc.

Posted by Morning Bray under Donkeys | Tags: donkeys, feeder, feeding donkeys |
[16] Comments

There are few things I love more than watching and listening to the Boyz and Gracie eat. (I find it very therapeutic.) Because I spend a lot of time observing them, I know that when Ellsworth swishes his tail, it’s a signal he’s getting ready to move.

In this case, he’s probably doing the tail swish because he thinks Bernard is getting too close:

Otherwise, an Ellsworth tail swish at mealtime is a prelude to his rear end swinging from side to side… gradually widening his arc… until he decides which way he’s going to go.

With six donkeys in our herd now, our old round feed tub was becoming more and more problematic. Things were tight, and Ellsworth’s need to shift positions every so often was disturbing the peace.

That’s why we decided to get a new feeder last weekend:

And, bless his heart… Ellsworth still has the need to move. While I was out watching them with camera in hand, Big Red thought he would move forward over and across the new feeder (notice where his front feet are):

Maybe it was because I gasped, or perhaps it was because his brothers and sister started snickering… Ellsworth realized this wasn’t a good idea (Do you see how hard Gracie is laughing? Poor Ellsworth.):