Will my mini donkeys be friends or foes?! Gulp!

Sep 23, 2023

Happy Saturday friends!

Whew, what a week! It's been all donkey, all the time with our new Boy George!

SIDEBAR: I can't help it! It's what keeps coming out of me! Little Man is older and more mature and Boy George seems younger. And every time I tell him, "Good boy George!" it gives me a chuckle. Back to the story!

So, Boy George is bringing change to the Mother Ranch herd in a big way. After a week of getting to know each other through a fence, B-Rad forgot to latch something and when we looked out to check on them, they were all together in the pasture on Tuesday morning! The horses and Boy George had already met so they were fine—actually they were fine from the get-go but the donkeys...that was another story.

Little Man on left:

Below, Little Man says, "Freaking interloper. Who the hell said you could be in my herd?!" (Actually he did but whatever. He said to, "Try it!")

Rayn needed to release some stress:

Later that evening, we took everyone up to the upper pasture so they'd have more room overnight. Once we let the little boys off their halters they started up with Little Man charging after Boy George in a fury (that's part of the video above):

This fight lasted all of 20 seconds but it was pretty scary to watch! Little Man has a grip on Boy George's neck, gawd!

I've not seen a fight like that since then luckily. By the next morning things had deescalated to the point of one of them taking a step and pinning ears at the other and the other moving away. The last time they got fussy with each other, Rayn just pinned her ears and stepped between them.

Boy George has his moments of sweetness with the horses and with us but he's still deep in uncertainty and is spending a fair amount of time being pushy with us. Except for ManChild—he really likes him! Yay! We can build on that!

Clicker training has him curious and he's smart. Getting down low and petting him and talking to him makes him happy—until something changes, his eyes get shifty, and he's back to playing dominance games. So strange. All in all, he feels young to me—emotionally, but that could just be because he's brand new to our farm. He's 6 years old, 2 years younger than Little Man and reminds me of Little Man's yearling self. I'm hopeful that it will work out and we will all eventually become friends. Needless to say, he won't be with coaching clients for quite awhile :-)

THE RANCH:

Heading out to do chores one morning and found these two in the backyard. I had my big straw hat on (to keep the ticks off—fat lot of good it does) and it shielded my eyes. I've had this happen before with wildlife, hide my eyes and they are unsure about me and will stay put. Mom came around the deck, saw me and took off and the babies followed.

Mid week text to my brother ❤️

Once Rayn told him in no uncertain terms, "No means NO." they were buddies:

I snapped this pic of B-Rad making ManChild a sandwich for school lunch, I loved the way he was in shadows and I Love Lucy was in the light. He always feeds her tidbits of turkey ❤️

I had to laugh at her face:

Morning plant and fairy shadows in my pink bathroom

I was sick of summer so I boycotted mowing for a month. Not my smartest move. Now the grass clippings are ridiculous!

Sunrise Thursday morning:

Playing ball with Lucy (she's on a super long rope because she's the only Border Collie I've ever had that just takes off) and she got thirsty—thank goodness for the birdbaths!

I sat on my front patio to write this post, the wind blowing through the wind chimes—what joy to feel a breeze again! 80º and breezy, is fall really and truly here?

Because of the private boarding barn next door, we get people (mostly teen girls) riding all around these 5 properties and it's so beautiful to see. People sometimes ask if it's weird for me to see riders on my property and I'm always so surprised! What's better than seeing people enjoying their horse friends in nature? They ride in the open spaces and it's beautiful to see and hear (I love hearing their laughter in the distance sometimes.)

I've always liked to share my farms—it makes me happy to see the calm settle over people when they arrive. I know how peaceful it feels here and want others to experience that too. If you've been wanting to visit to see what I offer here, fall is a great time! I offer free farm tours where you can meet me, the animals, and learn more about what I do and how what I offer might be a good fit for what's happening in your life. Contact me and we'll set up a time for you to visit!

A sweet memory from 2011 when ManChild was 4 years old. Now at 16 he really is about this much taller than me lol:

Found this sweet pic of Aunt Katy and Mom from...2018 I think:

And this one from my 50th birthday lol. My face exactly describes how I feel about my birthday and getting to spend time with my mommy 😂

THE MEMES:

Ditto for these:

No kidding, my first set of skates were like these. Hit a bump and promptly broke my wrist. My parents bought me real skates from that century and I was fine on bumps from that point on.

Second cutting hay is $15 a 50lb bale. Ask me how I know 🙄 Hay Chix hay bags are a money saver!

One time my brother and I were on a trip and I saw a beautiful heart rock that was maybe 18" in diameter. I pleaded and begged until he hauled it out of the ground and put it in the car for me. It moved across the country with me and is now in the beds next to the walkway to my office!