Yesterday, we had planned to leave early to go up to Rainbow Meadows to pick up some more Thrive for the older horses that live here. Well, you know the saying....the best laid plans..... We have divided the 6 donkeys into 2 herds which works better and keeps all of them from fighting. We have the bigger ones in the north pasture and the smaller ones in the south pasture. Cruiser, Belle and BJ are in the north pasture. At feeding time yesterday morning, these 3 were AWOL. This is very strange as they are always at the barn when it's time to eat. Gary took off on foot with a bucket that had a small amount of grain in it. I got the rest of the equines fed and out of the barn, water tanks filled etc. All done. Where is Gary with the 3 donkeys???????? I'm getting a little worried so I take off on foot up north. I meet Gary (without the donks or feed bucket) at the shop. He's getting the truck???? The donks were on the wrong side of the fence. Crap!!!! So much for leaving early. We take fencing materials in the truck with us and head north. We meet Cruiser about half way. He was heading to the house. When we get to the fence, there is Belle on our side of the fence, running back and forth. Little BJ was still on the wrong side! We had to cut the fence and let BJ come through. OK, fix the hole we made and start looking for the one that they got out of. Finally found it and the 3 top strands of barbed wire were broken. Now, before anyone screams over the words barbed wire, remember we live in Oklahoma. Perimeter fence is barbed wire. There are cows on the other side and that's the only thing that will keep cows out. We figured that several deer got spooked and just ran through the fence, yes they will do that. The north fence is very old and we will have to replace it soon. My point to all this is...I think Cruiser was coming to the house for help. What makes me think this???? Gary left the feed bucket by the fence where we let BJ through. The feed wasn't touched. Getting BJ back in safely was more important to Cruiser than eating. Now, if my tame donkeys are so attached to each other, how do the wild burros and donkeys feel when the BLM rounds them up and only lets one go free. What in the hell is up with that!!!! ONE??? The BLM is just plain stupid and money hungry in my book. The equines they have control over don't mean a damn thing to them. Anyway, all donks are back where they belong and are safe. No harm done except to the fence and that can be fixed pretty darn easy. BJ is the grey and white donkey in the photo above.
