Donkey walk, donkey #2

Yesterday I cleaned Baasha up for a walk to Herr Braun's donkey. (This is so easy with his clipped coat; he rolled in the mud just minutes before, and I sprayed him off and he was dry about 15 minutes later. Na, na!, you're clean again!)


On our walk there, Baasha wanted to take this left turn on a little street I'd never been down. I thought, OK, why not, so we did. I was admiring each new, fancy German house (mostly modern eco-homes) until I stopped dead. WTH. Is this a joke?

Right in the row of typical German homes, I found an American one. I had to laugh.

You don't believe me, do you? Well as soon as this fog clears I'm going back there with my husband and a camera. But feel free to brainstorm what features make your homes typically American in comparison to the German features! One point per correct feature. The winner gets a home-cooked German meal on visiting us. (PS - you cannot play if you travel back and forth between the States and Germany often!)

This little street that Baasha chose actually became the street that Herr Braun's stable is on. Uncanny huh?

We walked right thru the gate and up to the donkey's stall. I stopped Baasha about 10 meters back so he could take a look and not feel too much pressure. The donkey had his huge head sticking out over the dutch door and on either side of him were horses doing the same - a big huge Fjord and a bay Welsh stallion, making a lot of noise at us. Baasha froze, big eyed, braced, ready to flee. I knew this might take a while.

Then something clicked. He saw the horses on either side of the donkey and realized they didn't care. I let him come closer and carefully positioned him so the horses couldn't reach him (it was a tight spot, the Fjord's paddock jutted out from the donkey's stall. Baasha stared at the donkey, ignoring the horses.

I just stood there and then suddenly Baasha reached his nose forward and made contact. That was the first time he's ever touched a donkey. I was so surprised. That was too easy!

I gave Baasha lots of carrots and I admit, I gave some to the donkey too.

Then Baasha got bored and wanted to meet the other horses but I wouldn't let him cuz I didn't want to get in trouble when someone found us. And someone did - this lady came up and was shocked to see me. I immediately said Herr Braun invited us. She relaxed and answered my questions about donkeys in general. I was honest and told her this donkey is a little too big for us, and I wanted a girl.

We chatted about the type of driving they do- they take their horses/coaches to jumping shows to demonstrate driving dressage (!!) and other things they can do with driving horses.

She said she rides with Mr. S, the endurance rider, but her horse cannot keep up with his. I told her when I finally find a riding horse, I'll be riding with him again!

She asked about Baasha and said he looks great for almost 27. I think his clip makes him look way younger. Older horses are typically hairier and take that away and it's like taking off years: )

As we talked Baasha nosed the donkey. I was so pleased!

Finally she left and I said I would just spend some time standing there. I spent a half hour total. By the end of the time, Baasha had worked his way closer til his head was in the donkey's stall! He actually "pushed" the donkey back, and the donkey politely let Baasha move him. Baasha nuzzled his neck and started nibbling on his rough coat. Smells different, doesn't it!

That Fjord kept knocking the top half of the dutch door into Baasha's head, or the donkey's head, whoever had his head in the doorway. This place is so unsafe - all the dutch doors are not fastened open, they can swing around in the wind. Horses can get so hurt by this from wind, not to mention that the Fjord would knock it HARD with his nose, to shut it quickly. Loose nails were poking out, it was just a horse-trap. The Fjord's water trough was empty. The yearlings in that pen were coated in their own filth, literally, not just a little, but obviously they'd been lying flat on their sides in urine/manure mix. Horrible!

I asked if it was a boarding stable and she said no, it's private. Aha, that is why it is so crappy - there is no one paying to board there so they can do whatever they want.

Ugh, I won't be buying my gas at Herr Braun's gas station.

This reminds me of those TB farms you hear about (nuzzling muzzles wrote about one recently) where they have horses in race training that are healthy, and in the "back areas" they have the TBs that aren't, and they're in deplorable states. I cannot fathom having horses and only caring for a portion of them, and letting the others go.

I got out of there and felt much encouraged about Baasha and donkeys. He'll be fine.

March 31 is the day. We still have to divide our stall in two, and add another rail to the paddock fence by the gate.

Exciting!

I don't have any pics from our walk, so here's my man and cat looking cute together.