Sunday, February 24, 2008

Meeting the Basic Needs of Your Donkey in His Early Years

I have added three pictures to illustrate this post. I can't over-emphasize the importance of intellectual pursuit and travel in the formative years of the young donkey.

You will notice that the young male human in the first illustration has a clear understanding of a donkey's thirst for knowledge. He has invited the donkey into the house and onto the sofa so they may explore the world of reading together. Donkeys love being read to and retain everything they hear. No doubt the female human whose offspring is shown here shortly thereafter rushed into the room shrieking about "barn animals" being allowed in the human abode. I speak from experience; my own woman has behaved exactly this way when I ask politely to explore her residence.

The second illustration is of the preferred means of transport for long distance travel. This very young donkey shows the correct way to exit a motorized vehicle. Notice his poise and obvious inate good breeding. He is disembarking in an almost regal manner and allowing the human to feel useful while holding the door for him. This encourages the human to stive for an even greater level of service in the donkey's employ.

The third illustration is of an infant donkey being transported in an overnight bag. His human has recognized the inherent donkey need to travel. We donkeys posess Romney blood and have an incurable sense of wanderlust. This mode of transport allows the young donkey to view the wider world without tiring himself unduly. The pouches on the front of the bag are for donkey snacks and a thermos of tea that the two can share. I cannot over-stress the importance of travel in the early years. Without it a donkey grows jaded and weary and spends his days looking over the fence and wondering what he might be missing.

Of course these are just the most basic elements in the education of young donkeys. We crave artistic expression, especially music. A mere two or three thousand dollars will equip the barn with a modest system. Fine dining is also critical to our well-being. Paper, leather, compost - we like to experience a broad range of taste sensations . We savour works of art on both paper and canvas, to mention only two of the media that appeal to our aesthetic nature. Canvas is chewier, paper more ethereal.

In short, if you wish your donkey to be content and well-rounded in every sense of the word, you must nourish his desire to expand his mind and body.

5 comments:

robert5721 said...

Shaeffer, I commend your young relative's choice in automobiles to travel in....A Rolls Royce Silver Cloud....obviously this is in England, where Donkey Owners have an innate sense of their value and PROPER care..your explaination makes perfect sense to me, but they won't let me out of here until friday, so at least I have that to look foreward to....
Mr Gale

ponymaid said...

Mr. Gale! Are you being held prisoner till Friday?? What crime have you committed? When we are kept in, it means the VET is coming to torture us. My advice to you is - run fast, run far.

Re: the RR Silver Cloud (so that's what it is), we donkeys prefer transportation with lots of wood inside and this model has some tasty Rosewood trim. Also very spacious so a donkey can move around and snack at his leisure.

robert5721 said...

Shaeffer, there are those who believe me to be somewhat loony-tunes due to my donkey like mental processes....what seems totally proper to me seems to upset some of my neighbors and relatives, not to even mention the local gendarmes..the rosewood in the earlier rolls royce was far superior to what is in them now, much denser and chewier with a great flavour of wood oils..great for doing oral hygene with the toothpicks and splinters. By the way, as the only donkey candidate so far in this election, it appears that you will have it after me and mrs Gale vote....Obama and Hillary will be in a pile in the gutter in a heap of turbans and old summonses and legal papers and stuff. The polls are pretty accurate on some things, I hope they are right on this one!! Will talk at ya later, the walls here are padded and do not taste great, believe me....SMILE....Friday is coming!!
Mr Gale

ponymaid said...

This was the most exciting day this winter! Every day the woman frog marches me down the lane to the mailbox and today, there was a tee shirt from the lovely Dicey! She's even more lovely on the front of the tee shirt. Long, coltish legs and spectacular ears - it's enough to make a middle aged donkey's heart race. I may let the woman wear it - I'll see if it fits me first. My very hearty thank you to my three good friends - Gale, Mr. Gale and of course, the wonderful one herself.

Gale said...

Sheaffer, this post has given me ideas. I tried to bring Muddy up on the front porch yesterday, but he declined. I must not have had enough cookies in my pocket. When I was a very young girl, I convinced my mother that Donda the donkey should come into the house, and she agreed! Getting him IN was easy...getting him OUT involved quite a bit of pushing.

I'm sure glad I don't have to carry any of our donkeys around in an overnight bag, never mind trying to stuff one in there. The metal box on wheels will do nicely, thank you very much!

Haven't ever tried reading to our donkeys, but I frequently sing nursery rhymes to them, changing the words as needed; this is one of their favorites:

"Sing a song of sixpence,
A pocket full of rye,
Four and twenty donkeys
Baked in a pie........"