Paco

6/2008 - Donkey days at TIER!  The passing of Pedro left Annabelle without a donkey friend.  (Pedro was euthanized due to scarring on his trachea. The scarring grew and was creating shortness of breath.)   Annabelle is a Senior Citizen and gets along fine, but we felt she was happier when she had one of her own kind as a companion.  We kept our eyes open for a Donkey that needed a home that might be a friend to this dear old lady.

Although we were not actively searching for another donkey, one came to our attention at an auction house.  Several donkeys had been brought to the auction in the back of a pickup truck.  As the donkeys went through the ring in a group, the bidding began.  A few of the dark brown donkeys were sold and there were a few left.  Once of which was a donkey that was the same color and Pedro & Annabelle.  Sigh......that gray donkey came home to TIER.   Welcome home Paco!

Fortunately, Paco had been handled before.  He haltered easily, led nicely, loaded into the trailer with a little encouragement and came to TIER.  Paco was in need of a trim and we thought we might have a rodeo on our hands to accomplish feet trimming.  But, Paco was a dream for the farrier who was impressed as quite often, donkeys are difficult to trim......at least Pedro was!!!

Sadly, Paco just isn’t the best companion for Annabelle.  Due to the fact that he was still intact, he was quite agressive toward our little old lady and they are just friends through the fence now.  Paco was gelded shortly after his arrival.  It took about a month for Paco’s testosterone to mellow out and he is not quite as agressive towards Annabelle......but, we just don’t trust him to be put together with her.  She’s older and just can’t get away or defend herself.  Although Paco hasn’t worked out as a companion for Annabelle, he is an absolute delight!  He loves to run in the arena and play with some of the horses that are Donkey Tolerant.  Some of the TIER residents like Buck are NOT donkey tolerant and go after him!  But Paco does enjoy playing with Pepper.  They will run, rear, chase each other for awhile (Paco hollers with glee as they are chasing each other) and then they will settle down to eat a meal together. 

Paco likes people and horses but he’s not fond of dogs and will go after them.  Since he is so easy to handle, Paco became our TIER Amabassador at the Yorba Linda Pet Faire!  He met many people and didn’t bray once!  We had hoped he would let out a Hee Haw for the folks at the fair, but he was quite and well behaved until it was time to go.  I think we spent an hour trying to load him in the trailer to go home.  He had slipped on the pavement just as he was walking up the ramp to the trailer and he quickly decided that he wasn’t going in.  It took a lot of persuasion and muscle to convince him to load up so we could bring him back home. 

6/1/2010 Vet Visit - We purchased Kenalog for the seasonal fly allergies that tear up the legs on Annabelle & Paco our sweet donkey representatives.  Both of them have their summer Vet Wrap leggings on as the biting flies are out and have already started to wreak havoc on these two.  The Kenalog will help with the allergic reaction to the fly bites.  They will receive injections as needed.  Recommended use is every 30 days during fly season, but we are careful to only administer when it is really required, as we don't want to cause founder.