18th August 2006
Well you would hardly believe it but here we are miles from home, at a place called Rodabaston College in Staffordshire, and we are at the Donkey Breed Society Supreme Championship Show. I have been given a huge stable all to myself, and so have Capella and Annabelle and Lawson. Lawson and I could have shared but it is said that I am a bit of a hooligan when it comes to food, so I think we are what is called 'single occupants' You humans have to pay extra if you want to be on your own in a hotel room, but I don't think donkeys do. We seem to have bought an awful lot of stuff with us and also an awful lot of people ? Marian and her mum are in charge of keeping us all together, because my special human is having to balance on a walking stick. Ted is in charge of tack cleaning, and lots of people have asked if he could do their bridles another year !! I don't think so because then he might forget ours. It is very exciting here because there are donkeys everywhere ? and I haven?t met some of them, and they haven?t met me!! Marian has gone to get our tea and is fussing around us which is rather nice and she says tomorrow is a big day??.me I am off to make sure that Lawson can?t reach my hay net through the bars that separate or stables ?......... I can?t think what people mean when they say I don't share!
11th August 2006
Now I heard a conversation today whilst I was leaning against the kitchen door, about hymn sheets, and blessings and things, so it seems we are going to the Donkey Breed Championships after all, and that previous stuff was just a storm in a haynet. In fact when the 'Blessing Rosettes' arrived today you would have thought we had actually won the Supreme Championship there was so much fuss going on.
We are going to have baths, that should be very interesting ? I hope the water is warm otherwise it will be going further than just on me!! Still it is quite nice really to have ones coat shampooed ? it's a bit like when you have your hair washed, except the shampoo is mixed up in a bucket of warm water and sponged on then rubbed in to make lots of suds to get the dirt out; after than lots more water is used to rinse all the soap and dirt out, finally we are scraped with a rubber thing to squeeze out the water, rubbed all over with a towel and then we stand in the sun to dry. Of course the best trick of all is to escape to the rolling patch before we dry, the result being a sort of 'muddy overcoat effect' ? however that is not very popular with the humans, so best kept for less important occasions. Anyway bathed I am - dry I am not, so I am off to see what the kitchen door has to offer as I have spied a better patch of sun?????????
5th August 2006
As a result of last weeks calamity it might even be that we donkeys don't get to go to the most important show in our year ? The Donkey Breed Society Supreme Championship Show. Now that would be really sad as Lawson and I have qualified for the championships. But our human is resting her leg and seems to spend a lot of time on the telephone making things called arrangements so maybe it will be alright after all. There is lots going on, grooming, more grooming, even more grooming and foal training !! well I ask you why would you want to take a foal to a show for anyway?
Our Rudgewaypark Annabelle can't trot nearly as fast as I can, and her mother Capella is so neurotic, braying all the time and makes so much fuss about everything ? it would be nice to go away for some peace. Still I doubt that will happen. We donkeys often get criticised for the noise we make, and having had to put up with Capella since the foal was born I can quite see why that is - but perhaps you don't understand why we need our special noise.
Braying is how we communicate with other donkeys and check out where they are - we can't travel very fast (well I can - but I 'm special) so we need to know where the other donkeys in our herd are hiding, so we can all keep close together in an area for safety, or if we got separated we can bray in the hope that a reply would be heard that would help find the rest of the herd. To make the noise we suck air down into our lungs and when it is squeezed out again it has to pass through a very narrow section in our windpipe and the air makes than funny roar with every squeeze. My friend Patrick has the best bray I have ever heard, it takes fourteen squeezes to empty his lungs!!!! You can hear him for miles.
