Fear filled the stall when the donkeys arrived. Betsy, the foal, and Chloe, her jenny, cowered in the far corner, away from the smiling little woman offering them food at 4 a.m. Every day. She always stayed to talk and watch them until she had to leave for work.
At first the animals “would not have anything to do with me. They were so scared of people. They were taken away from a man who had thirteen pairs of mother and baby donkeys. Their pasture had a falling down fence so the animals frequently got out and onto the highway. Neglected, causing hazards on the highway, with an owner that did not respond to warnings, the authorities stepped in and began removing the animals.”
All of the animals needed homes. Having recently lost her horse of 25 years, the little lady knew her three acre pasture could house one jenny and its foal.
The donkeys were delivered directly to their stall. The equine lover closed the stall gate until the pair became settled into their new environment.
“They would not have anything to do with me. They were so scared of people. I went up every morning with food and grain for them. I would put the pan down close to them. After a couple days that little one got to coming to me. She was not afraid. The mamma could not stand it. She moved closer to protect her baby. Each day, I scooted the pans closer to me.”
Once the donkeys became comfortable with their new owner and expected her to bring them food, she turned them out in the pasture.
Three years have passed. Now Betsy and Chole call when “they see me come in from work. I brush them. I just rub them and pet them. They are just as tame as any dog. I can call them, and they will come.”
The mamma donkey remains protective of her full grown foal. If a dog comes near, Chloe puts Betsy behind her.
“Now they want me to pay attention to them. They will stand by the fence and call me. They want me to bring them treats. When I get home, they recognize my vehicle and know it is time for treats. They want the grain and the petting. The mamma would almost rather me brush on her than get the grain.”
“If they see me in the backyard, they will come around and see if I will give them a treat. They are really fat, because they have plenty of grass in the summer and hay in the winter.” In the winter, if it is really cold, she will feed them hay twice a day. For water, the two have a clawed-foot bathtub.
The donkeys love to be petted and vie for the woman’s attention. “They want to be petted at the same time. I stand between them with an arm over each donkey’s head.”
Recently the little woman has noticed that as she pets Betsy, she stands perfectly still and makes a little noise, like a cat purring, “I wondered ‘What in the world is she doing?’”
She decided, “That purring was her letting me know she liked being petted. Now the mother is starting to do it. They just come to me to be petted.. They are not hungry. They just want attention.”
As she finished her story, the little woman concluded, “I can hear them hollering now. The little one is saying, ‘You’ve been home long enough, it’s time for supper.”
She had to go, the donkeys awaited her.