foot trimming | Morning Bray Farm

Dear Fergus,

We promised we would take care of Nigel when you left us, and want to thank you for being here when Nigel had his feet trimmed for the first time yesterday.

Nigel was so brave, but he was incredibly frightened. I know you were here because you heard my little prayer to you… “Dear Fergus, Please be here to help Nigel right now.”

Nigel shook like a leaf and made the first sound we’ve ever heard out of him.

We were all thinking about you, Fergus. Daddy told me afterwards that for reasons he couldn’t understand, he kept whispering your name in Nigel’s ear.

Unlike you the first time you had your feet trimmed, Nigel never really tried to kick Daddy or Shorty. Instead of kicking when Shorty went to work on his back feet, Nigel kept sitting down.

That was okay, though. With his gentle voice and patient hands, Shorty got all four feet trimmed.

I cried. It was everything I could do not to completely sob.

We will always miss you and love you, Fergus. And we will always take care of and love Nigel. We still promise.

Love,

Mommy and Daddy

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Ellsworth had a huge breakthrough moment with the farrier yesterday. We’re so proud of him.

It was the very first time Shorty was able to trim Ellsworth’s back feet.

Ellsworth, we’re so proud of you buddy!

Like I said, this was a huge breakthrough for Ellsworth. Unfortunately, a couple of mishaps at the place he came from really had him freaked out about having his back feet touched. For those of you who initially followed Ellsworth’s story over at The 7MSN Ranch, you’ll remember that Ellsworth was “accident prone.” At one point, according to his previous people, he had a nail stuck in one of his back feet. To remove it, they tied a rope to his leg and let him kick until he got tired so they could take the nail out. At another point, he had barbed wire tangled around one of his ankles. So yes, he really was freaked out when anyone tried to touch his back feet.

We realized some pretty important things yesterday. We were reminded that we have so much to learn from our animals. These donkey boys have taught us more than I could have ever imagined about patience. Shorty has been absolutely wonderful about this too. He coached Don on working with Ellsworth and getting him used to having those back legs and feet touched. I have a lump in my throat right now just thinking about this transformation in Ellsworth.

So, Ellsworth is an old pro at this now. When it was Bernard’s turn, Ellsworth ran right over to comfort his best friend and to let him know it was alright.