Just thought I'd share my experiences with my new donkey!
I got "
Vessa"
in August this year, a birthday present from my husband for my 50th. She also came
with a large hay cart! I love donkeys, and have wanted one for years. Now that we have the room
and outbuildings for one, there was no stopping me. My husband and a friend went to a horse/donkey
fair in a village about 40km away. Unfortunately there was nothing suitable.
However, living in a small village, word soon got around and the local plumber said his donkey was for sale.
We went to see Vessa, and found she was ideal. Very placid, not feisty and 8 years old. The deal was done!
The stable was all ready, and we'd bought all the straw and winter feed from the local farmer.
I think we were a bit nervous when she arrived, but she settled in really well.
We hooked her up to her cart the next day. It took us ages and I'm sure Vessa must have thought we were
complete amateurs! She wasn't wrong - as soon as we got out onto the road our neighbours came over and
showed us how to put the harness on the correct way!
However, I found the cart too large for me to handle, so we were on the lookout for something a bit
smaller. As usual, no secrets in this village, and a man offered to saw a bit off the cart and then join it
together again. We politely refused his kind offer! Another neighbour beckoned us into her garden one
morning, and lo and behold, in her little shed was a small cart. Just right, so my husband and son who was visiting,
pulled it home. That was good for a few local comments!
Our son and his girlfriend then decided it needed freshening up, so painted it red and yellow for me. It now looks
great.
It's great fun riding around the village and surrounding area, and I think Vessa really enjoys it too.
She's escaped a couple of times! 1st time was in our garden when she pulled up her tether. She had a good
few mouthfulls of our cabbages before we caught her! 2nd time was when we tethered her outside for the 1st
time. She somehow managed to unchain herself from a tree, but luckily a neighbour caught her and tied her up
outside her house. We thought Vessa had been stolen at first!
We also underestimated the length of her chain. We came back from shopping one day to find she'd eaten 2 of our melons,
only leaving the seeds. Oh well, you live and learn!
Anyway, that's the story of Vessa. Wouldn't change things for the world!

What a lovely story Scunnered as you say you live and learn she sounds a lovely companion, but secretly I think she is trying to tell you in her way who is boss. Ha! Ha! You will have to put some pictures on for us to see.

What a lovely story and to think that this is a donkey , you would only expect a more domesticated pet to be like this :Hearts:lets have some pictures.

Scunnered wrote:

Just thought I'd share my experiences with my new donkey!
I got "
Vessa"
in August this year, a birthday present from my husband for my 50th. She also came
with a large hay cart! I love donkeys, and have wanted one for years. Now that we have the room
and outbuildings for one, there was no stopping me. My husband and a friend went to a horse/donkey
fair in a village about 40km away. Unfortunately there was nothing suitable.
However, living in a small village, word soon got around and the local plumber said his donkey was for sale.
We went to see Vessa, and found she was ideal. Very placid, not feisty and 8 years old. The deal was done!
The stable was all ready, and we'd bought all the straw and winter feed from the local farmer.
I think we were a bit nervous when she arrived, but she settled in really well.
We hooked her up to her cart the next day. It took us ages and I'm sure Vessa must have thought we were
complete amateurs! She wasn't wrong - as soon as we got out onto the road our neighbours came over and
showed us how to put the harness on the correct way!
However, I found the cart too large for me to handle, so we were on the lookout for something a bit
smaller. As usual, no secrets in this village, and a man offered to saw a bit off the cart and then join it
together again. We politely refused his kind offer! Another neighbour beckoned us into her garden one
morning, and lo and behold, in her little shed was a small cart. Just right, so my husband and son who was visiting,
pulled it home. That was good for a few local comments!
Our son and his girlfriend then decided it needed freshening up, so painted it red and yellow for me. It now looks
great.
It's great fun riding around the village and surrounding area, and I think Vessa really enjoys it too.
She's escaped a couple of times! 1st time was in our garden when she pulled up her tether. She had a good
few mouthfulls of our cabbages before we caught her! 2nd time was when we tethered her outside for the 1st
time. She somehow managed to unchain herself from a tree, but luckily a neighbour caught her and tied her up
outside her house. We thought Vessa had been stolen at first!
We also underestimated the length of her chain. We came back from shopping one day to find she'd eaten 2 of our melons,
only leaving the seeds. Oh well, you live and learn!
Anyway, that's the story of Vessa. Wouldn't change things for the world!

Super story scunnered my Annette wants a donkey and cart when we get to BG, if we actually get one I dread to think what it will be used for. Bringing us back from the local bar has been mentioned, but will we ever find our house, it's not easy in the dark, plus the fact our brains might well not be functioning properly. It could well be used for funerals as I was a funeral director in the UK, can't imagine what I will look like holding the reins wearing my top hat and tails!!

I know this is a little off topic but I wanted to share it with you all

One day a farmer's donkey fell down into a well.

The jackass cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally, he decided the animal was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway;
it just wasn't worth it to retrieve the donkey.

He invited his neighbour to come over and help him. They each grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone's amazement he quieted down.

A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well. He was astonished at what he saw. With each shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up.

As the farmer and his neighbours continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and happily trotted off!

Life is going to shovel dirt on you, lots of dirt!

The trick to getting along well is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our troubles is a stepping stone. We can get out of the deepest wells just by not stopping, never giving up!

Shake it off and take a step up.

Remember the 5 simple rules to being happy:

1. Free your heart from hatred - Forgive.
2. Free your mind from worries - Most never happen.
3. Live simply and appreciate what you have.
4. Give more.
5. Expect less

NOW . . . enough of all this happy crap . . .

The donkey later came back and bit the heck out of the farmer. The gashes from the bites became severely infected, and the farmer eventually died in extreme agony from septic shock.

MORAL OF THIS IS

When you do something wrong and try to cover your ass, it always comes right back to bite you !!

Photo of Vessa, my 83 year old mum and myself!

What a lovely story and the picture says it all it looks like Vessa is more than happy and ready to enjoy herself . Thank you for sharing this and thank you too Blink.

What a lovely picture Scunnered, you both look great sitting there and Vessa looks very proud to be pulling you both and the lovely painted cart along.

Scunnered wrote:

Photo of Vessa, my 83 year old mum and myself!

What a lovely picture and I see Vessa has had a good brush before you took the picture. We want to get over to BG even quicker now!!

Just thought I'd share what happpened to my husband and Vessa this week.

Vessa had been outside for most of the day eating grass just beyond our garden. When it was time to bring
her in, my husband thought he'd take Vessa for a little walk. (Still don't know why!) As he started off down the
road, our 6 month old puppy Lizzie escaped from the garden and followed them. As she is very bouncy, she was jumping around
Vessa, who doesn't normally bother. Unfortunately another dog appeared on the scene and snapped at Lizzie. Vessa was
obviously spooked by this and started to run off! My poor husband, who has run marathons in the past, had to run with her, but
he was wearing his wellies! He eventually had to let go her leading rein and could only watch as she galloped off down the road.
Meanwhile, our other dog had also escaped and I was trying to get her back, completely oblivious to what was happening
elsewhere!
Eventually Vessa decided to stop and roll in some earth. Just as Stewart caught up with her, she ran off again. Luckily, a
neighbour had seen what had happened and managed to stop Vessa just by holding out his arms towards her. Then Stewart, Vessa
and Lizzie got home, with me demanding to know where they'd been!
I so wish I'd witnessed all this and had a video camera handy! My husband has not walked Vessa since. :Roll laugh: :roll:

Well Scunnered what a day you had. Perhaps a Donkey Derby event will be in the offing for next year. I am sure you would be able to train your husband and Vessa to get a speed up for the day. I owned an equestrian centre for a few years and can give stories of similar things happening with owners grimly hanging onto their steeds in the unlikely event that they may be able to stop this pacing, steaming animal from running off to enjoy themselves somewhere that the owner didn't want them to be. I had horses even jumping over stable doors and running off into the sunset pursued by a posse of grooms and other owners hoping to catch them and bring them back for their hay net. Owners being dumped by their pride and joy in the manege whilst taking riding lessons and being laughed at by all the young riders watching this amazing feat. But at the end of the day everybody enjoyed themselves and the animals were all cared for in a loving environment. Happy days!!

I had a similar incident the other year, whilst staying in the village with my wifes parents, unfortunatly her father was taken ill and had to stay in hospital overnight. One of the problems was the donkey was tethered within sight of the property, so like a fool i said I would get it in that evening, it started of ok but as soon as I pulled the tether out the donkey was of at speed heading for home with me hanging on behind, it reminded me of water skiing, anyway i saw a tree coming up, so the donkey went one side and i quickly went the other side and wrapped the chain around the tree to give me a rest, with my wife shout 'mind the tree' and half the village having a laugh at my antics.

Fantastic what a wonderful story and a brilliant picture you really are settling into life well in Bulgaria we are truly delighted for you both, Thanks a million for sharing

Oddy