Donkey Deliverance Day
The happily ever after you've been waiting for
It’s been five months and 22 days since Filha and I rescued a Very Sad Donkey from the Very Sad Sheep farm around the corner from our quinta. This morning, Senhor Bonanza Cinnamon Toast woke up in his brand new donkey barn in the daisy-spangled pasture of his forever home.
If you’ve come to this space recently, you might want to pause and read the beginning of the donkey story over here so today’s Happily Ever After makes you even happier.
The horse trailer arrived yesterday morning at 9am. Filha and I had already been up since 6, packing all of Toast’s belongings (fly mask, hoof pick, curry comb, water bucket, alfalfa bale, and sack of oranges because omg does he love his oranges) into the back of our car.
Toast wasn’t exactly thrilled about being asked to hoist himself into a trailer, no matter how posh it might be (it was on the fancy side, as far as horse trailers go). But David, the horse hauler, was an expert in donkey loading. During the Palmela fire two summers ago, he hauled several terrified donkeys away from their field as the fire bore down the hill. It took five men, he said, to get the frightened creatures safely aboard.
It only took four of us to get Toast in his taxi—Filha inside the trailer rattling a tasty cup of grain for enticement, David on the lead line, and Marido and I ready to shut the trailer door swiftly to keep Toast from backing out.
The drive to Toast’s forever home is a short one, but we took it slowly. I called his new family, Filipa & Ricardo, to let them know we were minutes away. They were waiting at the gate when we arrived, and Ricardo took Toast’s lead line to show him the way to his shiny new barn. (The one so many of you kindly contributed to make happen!)
As Ricardo led him down the driveway, Toast began to hurry ahead, ears pricked forward and eyes on the blue and red shed as if he already knew he was home.
Filha and I stayed long enough to be sure he was settled, to watch him explore his new surroundings and bray at the neighbors. And then we left him there with his new family and promised to visit soon.
On the drive back home, Filha and I couldn’t stop smiling. “I thought I would feel more sad to see him go,” she said. “But he’s so happy there! I’m just brimming over with joy.”
This is what it was about, always, since the day last October when I decided to do something about the sad donkey around the corner. All I ever wanted was to give him a chance at a happily ever after.
As we stood together and watched the no-longer-sad-at-all donkey amble about his new pasture, Filipa told me that the veterinarian who comes to see her flock of chickens knew exactly who Toast was when Filipa described him. He had seen him, two years ago, tied on a short rope to that scraggly tree at the Sad Sheep Farm.
The vet said he had tried to reason with the sheep farmer: “Why do you have that donkey tied to a tree like that?” he said. “Why don’t you at least let him go out in the field with the sheep?”
The farmer got angry, face flushing as he threw his arms up in the air. “Why does everyone ask me about that stupid donkey!” he said. “I should just kill him and be done with it!”
I am so glad we got to him first.
Thank you so much to every single one of you who donated a few months ago to build him his gorgeous home! He’s going to be so cozy there when the rains come this fall. Also, Ricardo said the roof (and side panels that you see letting in some light on the right) are designed to keep the barn cool even in the blaze of August. The blue and red paint are also specifically treated for horse barns.
It’s really a thoughtfully designed space. Especially for a fella who spent too many years tied to a tree—baked in the summer and soaked in the winter.
I’ll leave you with one final thank you from the handsome long-eared man himself…
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Truly the best thing I've seen. Thank you for sharing his new home and thank you for not giving up on him.
Yay - finally! So happy to hear that sweet Toast is home!!! Bless you for rescuing and taking care of him.