Welly and Noah go to a wedding.

In the middle of the monthWellington went to a wedding, this time with Noah.

They met the bride at the New Inn where she was staying and escorted her to the Red Lion where she was to be married. Here's Welly on the left and Noah on the right.

There were LOTS of guests and they made a big fuss of the donkeys. It was a lovely day and while the wedding was taking place they went to sleep in the sun.

Welly enjoying the harbour scenery.

Noah did better by finding himself a flat piece of concrete to stand on.

After the wedding lots of photos were taken.

Noah with a guest.

Noah with a bridesmaid.

Noah with the Bride.

Mules at the Sidmouth Donkey Sanctuary

Some friends from the British Mule Society kindly took Sue to the Donkey Sanctuary to see their mules.

They have some wonderful mules of all shapes and sizes.

The Mule Society had adopted a sanctuary but it closed when the lady who started it became too ill to continue. Many of the mules were sent the the Sidmouth Sanctuary and this is them in their own group.

The next group contained avery friendly young mule called Paco who is looking for a home BUT he has to go with his two friends.

One is the mule on the left and the other is....

This lovely big mule called Billy

The next group were older mules.

Henry is the gey mule behind who is very friendly and cheeky but too old to be re-homed.

In the front is Figit. He has to have an operation to remove a large sarcoid growth but he reacted very badly to the vet. The ladies who keep him have worked very hard on making him less afraid of the vet (and everyone else!) because if he could not have the operation he would have to be put to sleep. They have done a wonderful job and very probably saved his life.

These are two small, young mules who came to the sanctuary recently.

This is Ami, one of the oldest mules.

A horse psychology student came to the sanctuary to do some experiments to find out how intelligent the mules were compared to horses and how quick they were to learn new things. Ami got the highest scores in all the tests so she is officially the most intelligent mule in the sanctuary !

WELL DONE AMI !

We all had a lovely day and were made very welcome by the donkey sanctuary staff.

Thank you ladies for showing off your lovely mules.

To visit the mules yourself and find out more about the Donkey Sanctuary visit their website at:

www.thedonkeysanctuary.org.uk

Donkeys and June

The start of June was dry and sunny - some warmth at last !

Donk, Toby and Eli shared the photos-in-the-street job. Donk and Toby have special food so it is convenient to take them because they can eat in peace without the other donkeys trying to steal their dinner. Eli is our new donkey and we wanted him to get used to all the fuss and attention. No need to worry - he loves it all !

Toby getting some attention as well as his dinner.

When it is so sunny the donkeys go to sleep after their dinner - just like us they like sunbathing.

Toby likes this spot in the sun but he can go into the shade if he wants to.

Eli has the right idea.

Donk begs for his last dinner at 2.30

Sometimes Toby's friends come round to put him in the frame !

Meanwhile, up in the stables,some of the other donkeys are getting ready to give donkey rides. There's Sinead with her saddle on.  Kiwi, the black donkey,and Giffy the mule are dozing in the sun and JakeyTed has sat down on the cobbles! (He often sits there although he has a good bed to lie on in the shed.)

Jasper is also off to give rides......but Charlie has gone to sleep too.

Here are Peter, Kiwi and Charlie asleep in the shed.

Sometimes we leave them the horsebox to play in so that they are not frightened of it.

 Charlie likes anything that looks like a new stable.

Giffy just loves travelling !

...and Baby Kiwi likes standing on her log !

Well, we suppose he is comfortable !

Welly and Kiwi go to a wedding.

A lovely lady who works in the village was to get married in our Big Church. She brought her dear dog Harley and asked if the donkeys could come too.We took Wellington who is one of the older donkeys and very calm and reliable.Kiwi went too because one of the lady's guests had adopted her.

On the day before Welly and Kiwi went over to the church for a practice to see if Kiwi would go into the church. Unfortunately she was too scared of the big steps but here she is posing in front of the beautiful doorway which has been specially decorated  with scented flowers.

On the day Welly and Kiwi stood each side of the doorway and greeted the guests as they arrived.

Here's Kiwi keeping the guys busy and Welly entertaining the ladies.

Then when the bride arrived they followed after her along the church path under the special hand-made bunting -  the donkey's had matching blankets and special rosettes too.

The donkeys grazed the succulent new grass in the graveyard while the wedding service was taking place.

Afterwards the happy couple and the guests made their way to the Court Gardens for the photos.

Kiwi was photographed with all the guests......

....and with the bride......

..and with ladies and gents.She was kept very busy !

Meanwhile, after such a lot of eating in the churchyard, and so much excitement, and after all it was quite hot, Wellington went to sleep under an apple tree.

The little ones made a big fuss of him.....

The big ones took pictures over the top of him.......

...and someone even made a phone call !

He slept peacefully through it all.

In fact, he was quite cross when he had to wake up to go home.

On the way home we had a conversation with a herd of English Longhorn cattle which was good experience for Kiwi because she had been scared of them before. Perhaps all the excitement had made her a bit brave?

The New Barriers

Bart has made some smart new barriers for the stable yard.

Mother and Baby Kiwi had a good look. Peter and Giffy thought the camera looked more interesting.

Mother said they were good for resting one's heavy head upon.

Giffy said they were good for scratching bums.

Jake said it worked well for ears too.

Charlie went to sleep with his nose on one.

And Baby thought that was such a good idea that she did it too.

The barriers in place. Noah has found a log to scratch upon.

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The DENTIST !

The donkeys have been visited by the dentist. She is a very nice lady recommended by the Donkey Sanctuary, Sidmouth, and she comes every year to file off any sharp edges the donkeys have on their teeth. Donkeys' teeth grow all their lives and wear down while they are eating grass. Sometimes they don't wear down evenly, particularily in older donkeys, leaving sharp edges.

Kiwi and Peter think Gill's toolbox looks suspicious.

They put the gag on Giffy so that they can see clearly what they are doing. Giffy looks a bit worried but they are so quiet and confident that she doesn't make any fuss.

Filing teeth is hard work.....

But it all goes well.

Noah's turn. The headstand helps to keep the donkeys' head in the right place. The donkeys seem remarkably calm about it all.

Even the electric file doesn't worry them too much.

Peter is too young to need any attention but he is fascinated by the goings-on and watched the whole time. His Mum,Sinead, thinks the dentist looks scary and stays out of the shed..........but she keeps dropping in to make sure Peter hasn't got himself into any trouble!

If your donkeys need a dentist we can recommend these ladies.

Contact Gill Spinney at contact@equinedentalservices.org.uk