my 'teddy bear' of a donkey. I know that I do 'go on' about my donks, but of the four of them have probably said the least about Jack.
He is about 7 years old and I have fostered him from the Donkey Sanctuary for nearly 2 years. He is definitely the most affectionate of the bunch and if you stand still for too long he is likely to come up to you and plonk his very heavy head on your shoulder and will stand like that for as long as you will let him.
He is extremely strong and sometimes his youth and enthusiasm are a little overwhelming especially when he comes charging down the very steep, and often very wet slope in our field at me. He is the only one who has to wear a bridle with a bit in his mouth when we take them out for walks because he does have a tendency to pull.
Most donkeys form a very close bond with another donkey. This is known as their 'friend' Jack's friend is Lilly and they were bought together at a market before being relinquised to the donkey sanctuary and he goes into a blind panic if for any reason he is separated from her. The same can not be said for Lilly when she can't see Jack.
The donkey sanctuary only put a small percentage of their donks up for fostering and the ones they pick are those that most thrive on human attention rather than living happily in a large herd. Jack and Lilly were my second pair of foster donks and, unusually, I was allowed to visit the sanctuary and choose between several pairs. The yard where Jack and Lilly were when I went to visit had about 30 or 40 donkeys, some of which were enormous. When I got there the grooms who were supposed to be showing me the donks had not yet arrived so I stood by the gate to the yard waiting. Of course, donkeys being donkeys they all came over to see me.
When the grooms arrived they said 'Oh we see you have already met Jack' because he was the little donkey who had pushed his way through all the others to be first in the queue for some fuss. So my decision about which ones to choose wasn't too difficult in the end.
He and Lilly arrived at our house a few weeks later and within ten minutes of arriving Jack had walked over to me and put his head on my shoulder. Sold!
If you have got to the end of reading this...... well done!
He is wonderful. My daughter when she was young used to raise money for the donkey sanctuary by selling her toys in the front garden. I think donkeys are lovely and Jack is no exception. Really lovely capture of him and interesting to hear all about how you acquired him. Fav
