Unsolved Mystery on a Donkey Farm

Abbey our Maremma Dog spends all her time outside guarding all the animals and people on the Farm. Nothing happens around here without her knowing and keeping us informed. She is one of the hardest working animals at the Refuge and she is greatly appreciated by us. We couldn't do it all without her as she patrols the perimeters keeping unwanted prey away from our animals and chickens.

A picture of Fifi and Sara going for a walk in the fall of 2008. Fifi was very scared and hard to catch when we first received her in August 2008. She was soon settled with some work and is a very nice donkey to take for a walk. I would say someone spent some time with her and she had been well trained at one time in her past. She took to the pack right away and would probably be easy to train to the saddle.

It has been some time since I last wrote so I have a lot of news to share. The latest diagnosis from the Veterinary about Lady after another vet visit and X-ray of her foot is two small cysts on her coffin bone which is in her hoof. She is now in a new stall in the barn and she will be there for a month in the hopes that the rest will enable her body to heal the cyst. We are seeing some improvement and she seems to becoming a nicer donkey in the process.

Saturday we attended the Seed Saver Event in Enderby and we were very successful with our worm composting and worm casting sales. Bob also received lots of interest in the Donkey Refuge display with some donations greatly received and appreciated.

Sunday we were walking down to the barn and Fifi was out in the middle of Pasture #1 up to her belly in snow. After we recovered from seeing her there and spending an hour getting her to a gate and then digging the gate out of the snow bank so we could get it opened We walked around on top of the snow to see where she got out of the paddock. It is a mystery. She must of jumped the fence which is a least 4 feet high. What we don't understand is why she would have jumped a fence and why she would then head out into the pasture in all that snow. She may have been spooked but I would think the dog would of barked if there was something around the farm. This is one mystery that we may never solve. We are very thankful that she didn't hurt herself and didn't get a chill standing in all that snow waiting for us to discover her.