Lulu plunged her nose into the hay and with a swish of her head pushed it all out onto the ground. She and Fanny ate the good stuff that was left at the bottom of the feeder.
When Merricat came over and started eating the hay off the ground I knew it was just a matter of time before Lulu lifted her head and nudged her away. The sheep sometimes come back to the donkey feeder to try again, but they never challenge the donkeys.
I could see that Fanny and Lulu had been rolling in the dirt, taking a dust bath. Their hair was full of dirt dried manure and hay. While she ate, I held the brush to Fanny’s nose, then brought it to her back and started brushing her.
She paused her head still low in the feeder, then lifted it and chewing slowly let me brush her. She seemed to be savoring it. Feeling the brush on her back for the first time since the fall, chewing lazily at the same time.
When it was Lulu’s turn and I ran the brush along her soft white belly she stopped chewing altogether.
When it’s cold the donkeys have no patience for brushing. And honestly, neither do I. But today was the perfect day to take out the brushes. It will be some time before the donkeys begin to shed, but they can still enjoy being groomed and I can enjoy grooming them.
