Saturday, January 31, 2009

Yuma, our clown

About 20 years ago I went to a horse auction in Couer d'Alene with a friend. They sold the run thru horses/equines first. A donkey that could not seem to lift her head all the way up walked in walked straight over to where I sat in the first row and looked right into my eyes. What could I do but buy her, and I did for 15.00. We named her Canary and we had her for a long time. She did not like having her feet done but you could do anything else with her. One time we had the vet out for one thing or another and he looked at her and said she was about 40. The next year She could not get up. We had picked her up several times but this time she did not want to any more. The vet came and put her down. I missed her so bad. We loved her and I wanted another donkey so bad. So about 8 or 10 years ago there was a horse/burro adoption at the fair grounds. It was Mothers Day weekend. So my gift for Mothers day was this cute little donkey about 6 months old. He had been gathered in the Yuma, AZ area so consequently we named him Yuma.
He was the easiest critter to gentle. In 3 days I was leading him all over the place. We had a mutual love fest. He loved us, we loved him. He is a real clown. No matter what time of the day, evening, night we get home he hollers at us. When we go down to feed he starts hee-hawing at us when we go out the back door.

He loves attention. He will come and put his head under your arm for a hug. He has had a pack saddle on but we have never tried to put anything on it. Bob has sat on him with no halter and just hung on while Yuma ambles around. But other than that he is just a pet. He thinks he is head honcho but isn't. When the other horses are out in the pasture he sneaks up for a treat of oats. He is the first to get a horse candy when we go out.
His only bad thing is he does not tolerate dogs. He did stomp on a little dog we had a few years ago and killed Shane. I wanted to do something bad to him but we didn't. I just make sure they stay out of the pasture. He is very protective of his area. Our friend Andrea would take him if we ever wanted to give him to someone but thats not going to happen any time soon.
This evening is our Northeast Zone awards banquet. I won't be getting any awards but will be giveing the Sportsmanship award to a worthy person. I did the shopping for some of the awards and took them out to the people setting up. Katie is going with me. It is always a fun evening.
Loved the sun today even if it was cold and windy. If it has to be cold and windy, I like the sun to shine.