MY RASCALS ARE AS STUBBORN AS MULES

roSie cHAttAWAY, 19, is studying to be a primary school teacher and lives with her parents near Market Harborough in Leicestershire. She has two dinky donkeys, Gary and Brian. rosie says:

EVERY morning I take my mini donkeys for a walk in the fields, but Gary always insists on having a roll on the pavement first. And if he doesn’t get his own way, he stands still and won’t budge — as stubborn as a mule, you might say!

They may be smaller than standard donkeys, but my boys have huge personalities — it didn’t take them long to open the gate to their field and escape: it took five people half an hour to catch them.

We bought Brian and Gary from another farm three years ago when we set up a private educational farm where children can come to learn about different animals.

Originally, I’d been to look at a standard donkey but when I spotted this cheeky pair I was smitten, plus they don’t require as much space.

Brian’s eight and Gary is five and although they’re not related they look identical and are best friends.

It’s comical to watch Brian trying to give Gary piggy backs in the field, but not so funny when they refuse to go into their stable. On another occasion, they escaped into a 50-acre field nearby and gave me the run around, which they thought was the best game ever.

The first sound I hear every morning is the pair of them braying for their breakfast — thank goodness we don’t have any near neighbours to complain. They love to eat carrots and I give them Polo mints as treats.

Despite being naughty, they’re incredibly funny and are much-loved family pets. They’ve never been involved in a Nativity, but I’d absolutely love them to be, although I’m sure they’d be the most mischievous members of the cast!