“ Stubborn as a mule ” was all I could recall . Except he was n’t a mule — he was a miniature donkey . It was 9:30 on a Monday nighttime in November when we met . My horse , Red , came up lame that day , and I needed to keep him in the b overnight . All the horses at this farm lived happily outside in huge pastures , but I could n’t keep Red in the barn overnight without a buddy or he ’d tear the place down .
The farm proprietor suggested I bring in Razz , her miniature Equus asinus , to keep him company . Razz ’s round belly indicate a night off of the pasture would do him good , and I cogitate it could n’t be all that intemperate to win over a donkey to come up to a full stranger .
It took me more than a one-half hour to capture this donkey in the pasture : He ’d go right , I ’d go correctly . He ’d go remaining , I ’d go leftover . He ’d halt , I ’d stop . Then I ’d take a step , and he ’d start walking again . He was just walk , but what he lacked in upper , he made up for in strategy . When I at last wrangled him , he was n’t any more willing to cooperate — the trek from the far turning point of the bailiwick to the barn took several more minutes . I jazz the stalls for Red and Razz and wished them goodnight . From that night on , they were the best of friends .
It turned out Red bowed a sinew and needed months in a humble paddock while his ramification healed . hiss and I reciprocally ignored each other in the paddock each day until he caught on to my regular subroutine with Red , which included five to 10 minute of preparation .
Razz soon settle to rethink the misgivings of our first coming upon and stick out patiently ( or not so patiently ) behind me to await his routine for a scratch . As I dress Red ’s stomach , Razz would put his face against my back — a easy admonisher that there was more than one animal in that airfield who needed make love . I think Razz came to see this attention as his advantage for being Red ’s newfangled constant comrade , and I was happy to pay off it .
When I institute Red into the barn for whatever rationality , Razz would let off his he - haw alarm organisation , which the farm residents must have hump during my 6:30 a.m. visit .
Red and Razz lived in their small paddock until May , when Red was sound enough to turn out in the gelding ’ pasture . I was fascinated to keep an eye on how Red protected Razz from the rest of the ruck in the expectant arena . scarlet first worked Razz the way a cut gymnastic horse works a moo-cow , which I notice worrying — I think Red was chivvy his domestic ass ally . But when Razz run between a magnanimous tree and the fence for easement , Red leave him alone . This carried on a few times before I realized Red was putting Razz there for safekeeping .
Red would park Razz behind the tree , and then he ’d tolerate watch and chase off other horses as they arrive to audit the office . After a few hours , Red let Razz come out from behind the tree , but he keep to go after off the other horse .
In July , Red seriously coliced . As I walked him for hour over the next day and a half to endeavor to ease his discomfort , Razz came with us . I laughed at the absurdness of the situation as I rent them out of their stalls at 2 a.m. to let Red nibble grass ( he could have about three moment ’ worth at a clock time ) and get him walk again . I saw my moonlit apparition against the gage , Red snort and puffing his olfactory organ , walking briskly next to me , and Razz sweep up along behind me — in their usual position .
Razz hung out with us the whole next mean solar day as I realize Red was n’t going to pull through this bout of colic . Razz was calm through the whole ordeal , until he let out his wailing bray when we returned him to the pasturage after Red was put down .
To see Red and Razz stick out next to each other , you might call them The Odd Couple , but their human relationship work out . watch their bond evolve over eight and a half months and observing how it change each other ’s family relationship with the other horses was an interesting study of herd dynamic . I ’ve always been bewitch with beast behaviour and ruck dynamics — everything we do with horses boils down to these component . To see this horse and donkey , in turn , watch out for each other was heartwarming . Razz ’s charm and steadiness — not to mention the way of life he ’d protect Red from dogs , including my own , that entered the paddock — turn me into a miniature Equus asinus believer .
