Mindy Hammond
Every week in S Magazine As life becomes ever more sad for lonely little donkey Rosie, our columnist weighs up the options
We love Rosie, our dark brown donkey. Her heehaws are legendary and although she loves cuddling us, she loathes foxes and we always know when Monsieur Reynard has dared enter her paddock from her angry calls echoing across the fields. But her life has changed dramatically. Her best friend, Rex, a grey donkey, sadly passed away some time ago, and although we considered finding her a new friend, she seemed content while she had Chico, the miniature Shetland, and Scout the Dartmoor hill pony next door to her. They were great pals.
But we lost Chico in spring when he failed to recover from a shoulder injury, and Scout left us to begin a new life as a little riding pony. He has blossomed in his new home, but that left Rosie with only the goats for company.
We tried putting Romeo in the field next to her and they seemed to be getting along. I remember calling Willow to come and watch as he leant over the fence and began affectionately grooming her, and being delighted they had made friends.
But when Rosie reached to nibble at his neck, Romeo let out an almighty scream and I watched in horror as he pulled away and she held on with her jaws. Thankfully, his mane had been very well groomed and his silky hair helped him slip free of her grasp, but she had made her feelings known.
We ran to inspect him for damage, but guessed he’d squealed in surprise rather than pain, as we couldn’t find an injury.
We assumed Romeo had understood, but the silly dun pony went back a few minutes later trying again to woo her – with the same result. We had no choice but to move him back to his old paddock, where he could admire from afar.
When Star arrived, he quickly overcame his fear of the strange, hairy, horse-like thing in the field next door and was soon grazing near Rosie while out for his daily exercise – although he jumped out of his skin the first time she brayed.
It was lovely for our sometimes stroppy donkey to have his company during the day, but even though she had the goats at night I suspected there must be one hell of a language barrier between them.
She’d never enjoyed sharing her hay with them and they only understood her frustration when she attempted to take a chunk out of one of them or turned 180 degrees and demonstrated the speed of her almighty kick. Fortunately, she only managed to connect once, and although the goat learnt his lesson well, his horn hasn’t grown straight since.
So when Fleur arrived, I was more than a little nervous about turning her out next to Rosie. But Willow insisted it was better for Fleur to see what was making the strange noises. Incredibly, they seemed to click. Fleur adored her strange new friend and began mirroring her every move, ignoring Romeo and Star who were desperate to catch the eye of the glamorous new redhead.
Still, I was concerned. We’d lost Rex so long ago, I guessed the girls had forgotten how Rosie once behaved. Yet I recalled her galloping around the field, chasing and playing, enjoying grooming Rex and blissfully closing her eyes as he nuzzled her.
So two days before the clocks changed, knowing the horses would be outdoors for fewer hours and Rosie would be alone more, I called the donkey sanctuary for advice. There were two options. Get a friend for Rosie or find her a new home with another donkey. Leaving her without donkey company wouldn’t work. The lady at the sanctuary said
donkeys and horses are not great companions for each other.
We had a long chat about Rosie’s situation, her behaviour, her health, and her age. I grew quite tearful. She’s shared our lives for 12 years, and has been such a lovely girl, but lately she’s seemed so sad at times. It was clear she needed to be with one of her own kind and the sanctuary would be able to find a friend she could bond with.
A lady from the sanctuary will be coming to assess Rosie in a couple of weeks and we’ll see what she thinks…